“Come on. Our tea has been consumed. Helena, you need to rest. I know Molly does too. Let’s get to bed. Tomorrow is a long day.” Gage clearly wanted to be done with the subject.

And bed sounded really good, so she allowed it.

They all headed back to where the rooms were, Gage and Molly disappearing into theirs. Faine continued to walk her to her door. He knew she didn’t need it, heaven knew she was utterly capable of protecting herself.

And yet.

He liked being around her. Liked watching over her, even if to just remove a tiny bit of the weight she always seemed to carry for everyone else.

She opened her door and he leaned against the jamb. Startled, she looked up at him, smiling nervously. “Thanks for your help today. I got a lot of work done because you did all the driving.”

“It’s my job. But it was also my pleasure. Do you plan to work out tomorrow morning?”

She nodded. “I’ll get up at six or so. There’s a workout space here. I’ll run a few miles on the treadmill and then hit the shooting range.” She lifted one shoulder.

“If you don’t mind, come get me. I need to work out as well.”

“Sure. And we can leave from there. If you like, I mean. Since you’re on my personal detail. It’ll be good to have you with me. Just the sight of you will keep the violence-on-a-whim people back.” Her smile was genuine and maybe even a touch flirtatious.

He’d shifted closer and she hadn’t moved back. The tension between them heated, simmering as the scent of her blush reached his senses. She licked her lips and the scent of loam and fur rose.

Her eyes widened and she faltered a moment, and Faine knew his control had slipped. But she’d talked weapons, praised his size and then licked those damnable lips. A Lycian could only take so much.

“My beast.” He pondered whether he should continue. If he should explain to her how much the warrior she was called to him. She was so very strong, and yet, frayed at the edges. Fragile at times. Which was even more irresistible.

“Oh.” She blinked several times. “Should I be worried?”

He bent, brushing his lips over hers, savoring the heat of her before he stood again, taking a step back. “Not for your safety. Good night, Helena. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He left her there, but not before he caught sight of the way she pressed her fingertips to her lips.

SHE woke up without an alarm, at six. Pretty much the same way she had most every morning of her adult life. She lay in bed awhile and thought about her day. It was her way of meditating, of getting herself organized for the hours—and the challenges—she faced.

The meetings would be stressful because the state capital was so crowded. Mainly it was state business handled there. Sato had a senatorial office near the capitol building where he met with his constituents and held meetings. But due to the insanity of the security concerns, his people worked with the state folks and they’d let them use their conference spaces, even for federal issues. Of course the hearings they were going to dealt with State of California business, so Sato would only be there if they needed him to speak on federal issues.

It was mind-blowing, all the different local, county, state and federal issues they drowned in. So many different egos to soothe, everyone had their own turf, their own rules to adhere to, their own processes. At least all Helena needed to do was be sure no one got hurt. All the politics were Molly’s problem.

She pushed out of bed. A hard workout would help cut through some of the stress burning through her muscles. She’d run and lift weights and shoot at things and then she’d shower. By the time they needed to head over to Sato’s office to pick him up, she’d be in a better mental space for all the things she’d need to do that day.

She got dressed quickly, dealing with her hair, securing it in a ponytail after she’d washed her face and brushed her teeth. Her sneakers were on and she headed across the hall to knock on Faine’s door.

Faine.

He’d kissed her. Had gotten up in her face and kissed her. Her mouth still felt the touch, the brush of his lips against hers. The dirty truth was that she’d been hot for Faine Leviathan from the first moment she’d seen him. He was everything she’d never known she found alluring in a man.

She’d been standing with Lark talking about the hows and whys of a speaking event with Molly and he’d come around a corner with Simon. The two were clearly brothers, both dressed quite nattily in suits. But Faine was eleven thousand kinds of delicious. He moved in a long lope, and yet there was a predator’s grace in him. People got out of his way, probably without even realizing it. He’d smiled as Simon had spoken, and then his gaze, which had been taking in the surroundings, had landed on Helena’s and it shocked her to her toes.

It had only deepened the longer she knew him.

Cocky. Self-assured. He knew what he wanted and he simply considered it his due when he got it. He was a badass with his fists. She’d never seen him shift, but she had the feeling he was a big ol’ beast then too. He was gorgeous and his voice was a low, gravelly rumble she felt in her gut every time he spoke.

He watched her, she’d noticed, like a predator watches prey. Not the same way the human separatists watched her. It wasn’t that he thought less of her in any way. But like she fascinated him and he was taking down everything she did for when he decided to run her to ground.

She bet he was the type to bite a girl’s neck to hold her in place when he got her into bed.

A flash of heat raced over her skin at the idea.

So of course, that’s when he opened his door. “Well, good morning to you, Helena.” One of his brows went up like he knew she’d just been imagining him naked and sexing her up until she passed out.

She blew out a breath. “Morning. Ready to run?”

“Yes, I am.”

“THESE things are not allowed in the hearing room.” A burly human male—obviously a private guard of some type—blocked her way.

They’d spent the day before in one meeting after the next all over the capitol complex. That day they ventured into a town-hall-type space near Sato’s Federal Building office.

So this joker, with his prison white-power ink and his permanent scowl that said more about his lack of intelligence than his toughness, had no business at all stopping her entry to any public space.

Tosh was right behind her, Sperry on his other side. Fanned out in the hallway was the rest of the group with their various guards. It was monumentally stupid for this guy to think he had any chance at all of stopping them.

Helena ignored him, moving to go around him. And he made the mistake of touching her. “I said—”

She grabbed his wrist, twisting and bending it, levering his arm, forcing him to his knees. She leaned down, getting close enough to say in a low tone, laced with magick, “I don’t give a fuck what you said other than, Please let me get the door for you, ma’am.”

He began to grab for a weapon and she bent his wrist harder. Just a bit more and she’d break something.

“I wouldn’t recommend that.”

“Get off me, bitch.”

Helena kept his wrist, though other security had begun to gather around. Harsh, whispered orders were being given all around her but she put all her focus on this asshole at her feet.

One thing she noticed more than anything else was the presence of a handgun at his back. She’d had to go through a full-body pat-down and a metal detector. So how was it this asshole had a gun?

“Why does this man have a weapon?” Straightening, still keeping her tight hold on him, she managed to ask this calmly, feeling anything but.

“You need to let him go. Now.” A police officer approached.