The Significant (30 page)

      
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said,
putting as much tenderness into her voice as she could manage. He put his arm
around her and she leaned against him. He smiled at her and put his head against
hers, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

      
They sat like that for a very long time.
Kailynn began to wonder why she was worried about being with her client in the
first place. He had done nothing more than sit with her and rest his head on hers.
She figured he was just lonely and he wanted to sit with someone for a while.

      
Once Kailynn started to relax, he turned
his head and kissed her forehead.

      
“May I ask you a question?” he murmured.

      
“Of course.”

      
“A few nights ago,” he started, his voice
quiet and even, “you were with someone.”

      
The hairs on the back of her neck stood
up. She could not think of a response that fit with the role he had asked her
to play. She hesitated before sitting upright and turning to him, nervous. She
forced a smile.

      
“I don’t know what you mean.”

      
“I think you do,” he said, a dangerous
light in his eyes. She backed away on the couch. “Don’t you?”

      
“No, I don’t.”

      
“You were with someone who is very
influential in the circles I travel in,” he continued, his expression never
wavering. Kailynn could feel her heart begin to race in her chest, though she
did her best to maintain her impassive expression. She knew that her picture
and name had been released to the public through broadcasts about the
assassination attempt, but she did not think that would encourage people to
become her clients. If anything, she thought it would cause her to lose
clientele because no one wanted to be associated with a criminal.

      
“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to keep her
voice strong, “I’m afraid I do not understand.”

      
One corner of Rek’s mouth curved upward
briefly and he leaned forward, touching Kailynn’s face.

      
“Don’t be coy,” he whispered. “I know the
truth.”

      
She backed away, standing.

      
“Clearly, there has been a
misunderstanding.”

      
She knew she was in danger. She could
feel it in her bones. Everything inside her was telling her to run as fast as
she could.

      
When a hand latched onto her wrist,
forcing her to sit on the couch again, her fear doubled.

      
“I don’t recall saying I was finished
with you.”

      
She jerked her hand away, glaring at Rek.

      
“
I’m
saying that I’m done.”

      
She tried to stand again, but this time,
the caretaker stepped forward to stop her.

      
“Why don’t you stay for a while?” Rek insisted,
also standing. “There are some things we need to discuss.”

      
“No,” she snapped. “I’m leaving.”

      
“What about your payment?”

      
“My company will sort that out,” she
said, walking to the caretaker with the intention of pushing past him. The
older man grabbed both of her arms and yanked her to the side, forcing her to
the ground. She barely had time to realize that she had fallen before the
caretaker had pinned her arms above her head.

      
She began kicking violently, hoping to
connect with something, but Rek’s hands grabbed her legs, pinning them as he
sat on her knees.

      
“You misunderstand,” Rek said, chuckling.
“I won’t hurt you.”

      
“Let me go! I will have you arrested!”

      
“Really?” Rek chuckled. “You think you
can do that when you’re a criminal yourself?”

      
“What the hell are you talking about?!”

      
“After all, you were the one who
attempted to kill Elite Isa,” Rek said, smiling as he leaned over her. “The
Intelligence Agency did not find any evidence against you, but isn’t it
interesting that you were back at Anon Tower only a few days ago?”

      
Kailynn blinked in surprise at the man,
stilling her struggle. Rek chuckled and tilted his head.

      
“You think that people don’t know?” he
murmured. “There are thousands that would pay more than you could ever imagine
to have Elite Isa dead.” He leaned closer to Kailynn. “And you, my dear, are
pivotal in securing the kill.”

      
Kailynn lifted her head quickly and felt
her forehead connect with Rek’s nose. He let out a startled cry and backed
away, getting off Kailynn’s legs as he nursed his broken nose. Kailynn thrashed
her body, pulling her arms free of the caretaker and punching him in the jaw.
However, with her position on the floor, the punch had little strength and did
nothing more than stun the caretaker momentarily.

      
In that moment, Kailynn reached for her
necklace and pressed the pendant, alerting Nyx that there was a problem.

      
The caretaker was on her once more,
trying to stop her as she kicked and punched, sometimes hitting him as he made
attempts to grab her.

      
However, Nyx appeared at the caretaker’s
back, pulling him off Kailynn and putting him on his stomach as Nyx kneeled on
his back to keep him down.

      
Kailynn turned her attention to Rek,
seeing that he was trying to get to his feet. She lunged across the floor and
grabbed his ankles, toppling him.

      
“Nyx!” she gasped. “Tie them up! They’re
plotting against Elite Isa!”

      
It took Nyx a few moments to process the
words before he used the one set of handcuffs he kept on him to restrain the
caretaker as Kailynn tried to keep Rek still. Nyx took off his jacket and tied
Rek’s hands to his feet, remaining on top of him to keep him still as he called
the Officials.

      
Kailynn stayed until the Officials
arrived and answered their questions as the two were hauled away. Kailynn could
not help but ponder the fact that she was in two situations where there had
been attempts or plots on Isa’s life. She was sure that the report would bring
up many questions and peg her as someone who was a danger to the Elite.

      
Nyx took her back to Companion, both of
them silent. When they got out of the car and were about to head into the
building, Nyx took her arm. She whirled around, still on-edge.

      
Her guard pulled her to him and hugged
her tightly.

      
She did not understand what had prompted
him to hug her or why she felt like the hug was exactly what she needed, but
she was grateful for the attention.

      
“Everything will be alright,” he
whispered.

      
When Kailynn got to her room again, after
a lecture from Jak about how she was getting into trouble so often, she got on
her bed and stared at the ceiling, allowing her thoughts to form and vanish as
they pleased.

      
The beeping from her phone caused her to
jump out of her stupor. She grabbed the phone from the desk, popping out the
earpiece and putting it in place, cringing at the discomfort.

      
“Hello?” she said when the soft beep told
her that the call was connected.

      
“Good evening,” Isa’s voice said, her
tone worried. “Are you alright?”

      
“How do you already know what happened?”

      
“Rayal called and told me about the
arrest,” Isa answered. “Are you alright?” she repeated.

      
“I’m fine,” Kailynn said. “I’m worried.”

      
“Understandably,” Isa said. “Did he hurt
you?”

      
“No,” Kailynn assured. “I promise, I’m
fine.” She heaved a sigh. “Are you going to kill him?”

      
“No, not yet, at least,” Isa admitted.
“Rayal and his team will try to get information from him about a plot.” Isa
hesitated before speaking again. “Kailynn…your account about what he said…”

      
“I didn’t lie,” Kailyn murmured when Isa
did not continue. “He said I was pivotal.” Kailynn opened her eyes. “Does that
mean anything to you?”

      
“Unfortunately, yes,” Isa whispered.
“Kailynn…I know it’s asking a lot, but I would like you to come here. It’s
safer.”

      
“Isa, he said he saw me in Anon Tower.
They can monitor where I am, apparently. Going there would be more dangerous,
wouldn’t it? They might be waiting until I’m there to attack you.”

      
Isa heaved a sigh on the other end of the
call.

      
“It worries me not having you close,” she
said gently. “I won’t be able to protect you if you need me.”

      
Kailynn could not help but chuckle.

      
“I broke that asshole’s nose,” she
reminded the Golden Elite. “I’m pretty good about protecting myself.”

      
Isa let out a soft laugh as well, but her
tone did not lighten.

      
“Perhaps in some ways,” she agreed. “But
when it comes to politics, things get far more vicious.”

      
The two were quiet for an indeterminable
amount of time, acutely aware of the other person on the call, but not sure
what to say. Finally, Kailynn spoke.

      
“I have a few things I need to take care
of. I probably won’t take my phone with me,” she explained. “I’ll be alright, I
promise.”

      
“Will you let me know when you are back
on the radar?” Isa said with a light chuckle. Kailynn smiled.

      
“Of course I will.” She was quiet for
several more seconds. “Isa…”

      
When she did not continue, Isa asked her
what was wrong.

      
“Please be careful.”

      
With those words, Isa understood the
intensity of Kailynn’s fear. She had been trying to quell Tarah’s fears ever
since the assassination attempt. The caretaker was constantly terrified that
something horrible was going to happen to the Golden Elite. Now that Kailynn
had uncovered another person plotting on Isa’s life, the Elite was sure that
the Significant was nervous.

      
“I will,” Isa whispered. “I promise.”

      
Kailynn was thoroughly irritated when she
was sent to various locations in Trid trying to find her brother. The Heart of
Trid gang had been staying quiet since their release, waiting for the worst of
the anger to blow over before resuming their normal activities, which including
drug trafficking. Kailynn found one member of the gang in one of the exchange
alleys who told her that her brother was at Aron’s house.

      
However, Aron told her that Theo had left
nearly an hour previous, saying he was going to the car garage to grab a few
things.

      
Kailynn could only roll her eyes when she
went to the car garage and no one was there.

      
As she was walking back to find Raphael
and spend some time with him, she ran into another member of the gang, who told
her that Theo went to Sonya’s house.

      
She went to the woman’s house, recalling
that Sonya and Theo were in a difficult-to-define relationship. She kicked
herself for not checking there before.

      
When she knocked on the door, it took
several minutes for anyone to answer. Theo pushed the door open, fighting the
rusted mechanisms. He had his shirt off and his pants were undone, causing
Kailynn to roll her eyes, already irritated from her searching.

      
“Lynni,” he greeted, surprised. He walked
forward and hugged her quickly. “I have been looking everywhere for you.”

      
“You have?”

      
“You’ve been gone for
weeks
. I thought you had been killed and
dumped somewhere.”

      
“Thanks for having so much faith in my
ability to take care of myself,” Kailynn groaned, pushing her brother away. She
glanced back into the room, seeing Sonya walking around naked, picking up a
bottle of alcohol and taking several gulps. Kailynn rolled her eyes and reached
into her pocket, pulling out a card. “Here.”