“Bitten many Elementals, have you?” he asked, his eyes, still as guarded as before, finally meeting mine.
I shrugged a shoulder, honestly unsure how I knew what an Elemental’s blood tasted like — it was just something I knew between the voids in my mind. I set my coffee on the table, kicking my boots up next to it. “Answer the question, please.” I wasn’t putting any command in my tone, trying a different tactic with the man whose power was almost as strong as mine, and his secrets just as deep.
He took another sip of wine. “Whatever possessed you to adopt a Vampire child?” His lips lifted into a cynical smile. “Are you to be the Queen of mercy?”
“No, being the Queen of the Shifters is queen enough for me.” I cocked my head and decided to answer his question in hopes he would return the favor. “And I fell in love with her the first moment I saw her. She needed me, so she’s mine.”
He watched me. “You are not at all what I expected.” His nostrils flared, and he motioned to his hair with his wine glass. “The Element’s in the hair.”
My gaze flew to said hair. “So it’s not spelled.” I had thought it was. And now I was in complete awe as I stared at his deep black hair that had tiny streaks of white. “Spirit.” The rarest of the rare Mysticals, even compared to a hybrid, which meant he was…double rare, I guessed. “Incredible.”
He snorted. “Cursed, is what I am.”
“I’ve often thought that about many parts of my life,” I murmured, then licked my lips, making myself look away from his hair to meet his dark gaze. “Life is cursed, most of the time.”
His gaze roamed over my face. “You really have changed since the last time we met.”
I shrugged and got to the crux of why I had asked him here. “John, I understand why you hide in the middle of the normal, but you’re not normal, and I’m not talking of your hybrid nature, either.” I nodded at his chest. “Your power rivals Rulers. You should be helping in the war from a Commander position rather than the infantry.” When he opened his mouth, ready to argue as I knew he would, I held up a hand, stating, “And you won’t. If I ordered you to be a Commander, you would run. I know this. But you’re also a fighter. You fight for what you believe in, which you showed by challenging me.” I watched his reaction. “Having said that, what I have in mind for you is more of a…singular position…working directly under me, by my command only. Your position would be completely undisclosed, this decision, and any future missions, between only you and me.”
He blinked. “A spy? Is that what you’re talking about? You want me to be a spy?”
My head teetered back and forth. “Think of it as being a black ops soldier.” I rubbed my chin, seeing I had sparked an interest by the way his eyes sparkled. “You could pass for a Com easily enough. And I have a feeling you have contacts worldwide I would probably prefer not to know about.” Hell, I had my own contacts like that since I had secretive houses all over the world, paranoid as I was. “The less you tell me the better. But I currently have a mission in mind you may be able to use those contacts for, and the skills I’m sure you’ve acquired through your years of occasionally running.” I would do it myself, but I was needed on a larger scale as Queen Shifter — being precise where I delegated my time for this war. So he was what I needed right now, someone just like me to do this job. “Interested, John?”
It didn’t take long. “You could say I’m intrigued.” His head cocked. “How do you know you can trust me to do as you ask?”
I shrugged. “I don’t trust you a hundred percent, but if you fuck me over, I’ll kill you.” And yes, that was truth spoken. No fanfare, only brutal honesty. This job needed to be done, and it was a long time coming. “You don’t know me, John. You thought you did at one time, and you were wrong. And I can tell you honestly, if you ever think you have me figured out now, you’d be wrong all over again.” And that was truth, too, since I couldn’t figure myself out half the time. “So, if you want this job, it’s yours, but know that I expect complete loyalty on your part with any mission I ask of you.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “Most women are softer when they become mothers.”
My lips twitched because that was fucking hilarious. “The answer to that is given.”
He chuckled quietly then finished off the rest of his wine. “I guess it is.” He placed the glass on the bar. “I’ll give you an answer by dawn.”
I nodded, even though I already knew what his verdict would be — as did he. “I’ll be waiting.” He was only playing hard to get, his ego not allowing him to do anything else. “Goodnight, John.”