If I didn’t know better, I’d think that someone in the Agency was setting me up.
It wasn’t a pleasant thought to be having. He’d dedicated his entire adult life to the Agency. He’d thought that the Agency would be at least somewhat dedicated to him.
But what had cut the most deeply during the investigation wasn’t the way the panel were interrogating him – it was the way that those he most respected had been acting toward him. His immediate superior, Robb Lockwood, and his mentor from his academy days, James Eyre, had both been present at the hearing, and neither had stepped forward to defend his character or his skills.
Despite the fact he’d spent the last several years working for Robb, when Rhys had caught his eye during the hearing, he hadn’t seen anything familiar in it – Robb’s gaze was as cold as if he’d never seen Rhys before in his life. This had left Rhys shaken more than anything else that had happened. He’d thought that he could trust Robb with his life… but he was starting to wonder whether this was the case.
And James had just said a bunch of useless horseshit likePull your head in,andDon’t run your mouth,andStay out of fucking trouble, okay?Even the somewhat more supportive statements, likeYou’ll go far if you can keep your temper under controlwere rubbing him the wrong way. He’d had ice in his veins when he busted Aaron out, and he’d interpreted the information he was given in exactly the way he’d been trained. His temper had nothing to do with any of this.
His fingers tightened around the handle of his tiny coffee cup, even as his griffin screeched in fury and confusion.
None of that was our doing!the griffin cried out, its sense of justice in a state of outrage at what was going on.Why arewegetting the blame for something we did not do?!
Because we’re the ones wholook likewe fucked up,Rhys told it.We said our piece – we told them everything we had to say. Now we have to just wait and see if they listen.
Disgusting.His griffin ruffled its wings.Is this how pathetic you’ve become? Waiting around for others to tell you your fate?
Rhys grimaced. Well, apparently so. He didn’t think it waspatheticso much asdoing his damn job. Or trying to. If anyone would listen.
His griffin took his silence as a signal that it was a victor in this conversation, and Rhys decided to let it think that this was, in fact, the case.
He sipped glumly at his cold coffee, forcing his fingers to relax before they broke the cup, and stared out the window. The griffin helpfully provided him with an – extraordinarily detailed – fantasy of picking the entire disciplinary board up with its talons and dropping them into the Echidna Chasm, and he almost managed to crack a smile, but never quite made it.
He was drawn out of his morose thoughts by the sound of his phone vibrating on the table in front of him. Rhys grabbed at it, but he already knew it wouldn’t be any news from Robb or James about his suspension or his future at the Agency.
u want me to come back, then?
Rhys grimaced at the message from his brother, Hector.
nah,he texted back.won’t make any diff.
Which was true, but still. Rhys still knew Hector meant what he’d asked, and he was grateful for it.
Hector was in the United States right now with his mate, Myrtle, and their daughter Ruby, meeting Myrtle’s family for the first time. Ruby, an alicorn who’d hatched from an egg Hector and Myrtle had recovered from the bikie gang who were trying to sell it as an exotic animal specimen, had only recently learned to shift into her human form after having been stuck in the shape of a tiny, winged, horned horse for the last few years – which meant, at last, she could spend more time out in the open.
And it meant that Hector and Myrtle could actually buy her a plane ticket and fly her across the world to meet the restof Myrtle’s family in the United States. Ruby looked like an ordinary girl when she was in her human form – albeit one with extremely striking pale, silvery hair and light blue eyes, which, from what Rhys knew, seemed to be traits that were shared with all alicorns when they were in their human forms – and at last, she was able to live a life that wasn’t hidden away, in case the secret of her existence got out.
Hector and Myrtle’s younger daughter, Opal – another alicorn – had been adopted more recently after her egg was found in an abandoned opal mine. As she was so young, she was still unable to shift from her alicorn form, and so she was staying with Evie and Evie’s wife, Penny, while Ruby and the others went to meet Myrtle’s family.
From all accounts, Opal was handling it remarkably well – which wasn’t really that surprising, given that Evie and Penny lived on a vast farm in the country that was probably baby alicorn heaven.
Also, they both spoiled her completely rotten.
Rhys felt his mood lighten a little as he scrolled up through his messages while he waited for Hector to text him back, looking back over some photos Hector had sent him. They looked so happy – Hector, Myrtle and Ruby at the beach with their wide, joyous smiles, holding up seashells; Hector, Myrtle and Ruby, her face covered in spaghetti sauce, eating out at a restaurant; Hector, Myrtle and Ruby camping, sitting and roasting marshmallows around an open fire.
If he was being honest, Rhys had to say he’d never given much thought to finding his mate. In some ways, it had seemed like more of a hassle than anything else – if he had a mate to worry about, how was he supposed to focus on his job? It was an extra complication in his life that he just didn’t need. He had enough stuff going on without romance and a mate bond to contend with.
But…
But, looking through the photos Hector had sent him of his ridiculously happy family, combined with the fact that each of his teammates had found their mates – Callan with Ella, Euan with Delilah, and now, Trent – Trent! The biggest playboy of them all, a family man! – with Zina – Rhys had to admit…
…It looks kind of nice,he thought wistfully, as, without even really meaning to, he opened his camera roll and started scrolling through photo after photo of smiling faces and happiness.
His fingers hovered over the screen for a moment. Despite not being the type to let others know what he was feeling – beyond when he was feeling pissed off or happy, he supposed – part of him did want to call up his other teammates and talk for a bit, let off some tension, even if it was disguised as idle chit-chat.
But he knew that he would endanger the investigation into his conduct if he talked with his teammates – and, more importantly, he risked getting them in trouble, too, which was the last thing he wanted.
They’d all already contacted him off the record, one way or another, to let him know that he had their full support, which he appreciated more than he could fully put into words. But he couldn’t risk jeopardizing the process. No – for now, he had to go it alone.
