Page 2 of Briggs
It was only a minute at most when the door opened, and Felix came through. He looked at us and then turned to his left and started walking down the hallway. We quickly caught up, but when Raiden gently bumped his shoulder into Felix’s, the fae didn’t say anything.
“All good?” Raiden asked when he hadn’t received an answer from Felix.
The fae sighed. “Yes. I’m not in any type of trouble, but he feels that what I said might have a deeper meaning to me and the other fae. Now they’re going to be upset with me because we are all going to be questioned about how we feel we’re being treated here at the council. The last thing any of them is going to want is to be questioned.”
“Maybe if you give them a heads-up, they won’t be upset? It shouldn’t be an issue if the council talks to us enforcers though. We’ve all been checked up on periodically,” Raiden told him.
“Yeah, I get that. But we’re already the outsiders here. That’s why we stick together so much. None of us are mated, and we don’t have any family here. Well, except for Evan, and now Beau is mated and has a baby, and Evan spends some of his free time with his brother’s new family.”
Hearing how Felix was talking made me realize that the rest of us hadn’t done a good enough job in making the new fae enforcers feel welcome. I could relate to not having family in the area. Although my pack wasn’t too terribly far away, I hadn’t been back home since I’d joined the enforcers. I didn’t have a bad relationship with my family, but we weren’t exactly close. Icalled my mother every so often, and my father would say hello through the phone, but that was it. My pack was one of many that just had so many members that it wasn’t too big of a deal when someone left for other things.
That didn’t mean that I should be so antisocial now. But I had really been enjoying having my own place and not being dropped in on every evening after work. It seemed like I’d been enjoying it a bit too much since I’d obviously not done anything to help make the new enforcers feel as if they were wanted here.
“You’ve gone quiet,” Dimitri said. “That is not like you.”
I looked up at the dragon shifter. He wasn’t what I would expect from the created dragon’s grandchild. But Alpha Sergei and Alpha Mate Chin were both incredibly down-to-earth. I sighed inwardly at the thought about Apha Dane. He was…another who I was surprised by.
“I was just thinking about how I’ve not done enough to help the new fae enforcers feel more welcome here. I grew up in such a busy house and pack that I think once I joined the enforcers, I might be taking the ability to have peace and quiet a bit too far. I don’t really talk to anyone outside of work.”
Dimitri looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded once. “Understandable. I had much the same growing up. But Yéye would not let me be too much of a recluse here. Although he isn’t too intrusive, he is very happy that I am willing to come to supper every so often.”
I snorted. It was no secret that Alpha Mate Chin was all over Caspian and the baby dragon that Dimitri’s mate had given the alpha. Would I ever find my mate? I was not going to go down that path of thought again. At least not right now. It seemed as if the enforcers were lucky when it came to finding mates. Several had done so since I’d been with the enforcers.
“You must be doing it again.”
I nodded at Dimitri’s comment. I didn’t feel up for having that conversation with the dragon shifter. He was nice, and I honestly trusted him with my life, but I didn’t want to have a deep conversation at the moment. We were about to go on an assignment, and now wasn’t the time for such discussions.
We were back at our office, and it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Carrington was sitting on Benjamin’s desk. Damien wasn’t around, but that didn’t mean the hellhound wasn’t nearby. I had to assume that the warlock had already been briefed by Master Edison since he was in our office waiting on us. Perk of being one of Master Edison’s warlocks, obviously. Not that they seemed to be getting special treatment.
“Damien had to go back to his office to grab something he forgot. Personally, I think he just wanted to go kiss Ledger, but that’s my opinion,” Carrington told us. I chuckled, Dimitri snorted, and Raiden smirked. If Felix did anything, I didn’t pick up on it.
“I cannot blame him for wanting to spend time with his mate,” Raiden said.
“I wouldn’t know,” Carrington said. “But perhaps someday.” The warlock slid from the desk and picked up a folder. “I’ve already been briefed since someone had to take Benjamin’s place. I didn’t have anything else going on, so I volunteered.”
“When do you plan on leaving?” Raiden asked.
“Just as soon as everyone is packed and ready,” Carrington said. “I was told you already knew to expect an assignment.”
“Yes,” several of us responded.
“If you need to go get bags, please do so. If you need to go kiss someone goodbye, also recommend you do that. I’ll be hanging out in the cafeteria waiting.”
I shrugged as the others left the office. I’d brought my bag with me, because yeah, we had been told we were going on assignment. I didn’t know if I’d brought all that I would need,but I’d make do. Carrington raised an eyebrow at me. I just pointed to the bag that was on the floor by my desk.
“Ah. You are prepared, then.”
I raised one shoulder at him. “I don’t have anyone at home to go say goodbye to. And I can’t exactly just poof my bag here to me. Although I guess I could have left it at home since even Benjamin hasn’t told us we had to leave immediately.”
“That’s all you are taking?”
“Do I need more? I have several days’ worth of stuff in there.” I sighed. “Not enough?”
“I’m not one to tell you how to pack. If you are comfortable with only that bag, I have no issues with that. We are going to be gone for at least a week though, most likely two.”
I groaned. Not that I had someone to come home to whom I would miss. I didn’t. But I hadn’t realized that the assignment was going to be that long. “I guess I didn’t realize we were going to be out for so long. I’ll run home and grab my other bag,” I told him.
Carrington just nodded before he left the office ahead of me. While he went to the cafeteria, I left the council building. I checked out with Slater on my way out and then looked up at the morning sunshine. It was probably going to be a gorgeous day today, but we wouldn’t be around to enjoy it. I hadn’t ever been to New Mexico, but that was about to change.
