Love and Other Crisis | Season 1

Episode | 19

Kaliope paced the lycan's den, waiting for him to pounce. Was she the cause of Ronin's agitation?

Here's the truth. I don't trust you not to cause trouble or get yourself killed out of your compulsion to be defiant...

So yes, Ms. Barnes, I am watching you when I have better things to do with my time, like stopping an entire society from imploding.

She plucked her thumbnail between her teeth. Was she causing problems for the team?

Your purpose here is to lighten the team's workload, Ms. Barnes, not to compromise the operations and reputation of the team and the company. Act accordingly.

We don't need her here.

Kaliope craned her head toward the ceiling. Causing strife was not her intent. But maybe it wasn't her. Perhaps it was the case. It was a high-stress situation with significant stakes. And toss in their conflict with the Assembly investigator. Ronin carried the world on his shoulders as the CEO of Sage Tower—the pillar of the occult world. Kaliope often forgot CMT wasn't his sole responsibility. How he managed to work cases and tackle his other functions was beyond her.

Yet he never appeared weary of his duties. Perhaps his long hours and the mounting workload were finally catching up with their boss. And it wasn't like he had anyone to help him.

Matthias wouldn't stand for it, either. He's the kick-the-baby-bird-from-the-nest-and-see-if-it-flies type. If it does, great. Another fighter for the pack. If it splats the ground, oh well.

And she thought she drew the short stick with her mother.

Kaliope started for Ronin's office door. Stopped. Turned away from it. What was she planning to do? Give him a shoulder to cry on? She pictured his curt, uninterested response to her sympathy. A proud man like him wouldn't appreciate or accept pity from anyone. She hated it herself. No. She'd go in. Ask if there was anything he needed her to do for work. Not him. Work. He won't refuse that. He'd accept her offer if she kept things professional.

Boss is big on etiquette.

Kaliope pushed up the sleeves of her shirt and spun for the door.

~

Kaliope stopped, hand posed to knock. Ronin had been listening to her heels wear out the tiles in front of his office for over thirty minutes. Tuned into her, he sensed nothing. No ebb and flow of her aura. Indiscernible traces of emotions. Although she should be rife with restless energy. Only the uneven rhythm of her heartbeat and constant pacing betrayed her mood.

Clever little human.

Or should he say...clever little fox? He sensed Inola's hand in it.

A mood stone was the simplest solution. Ronin recalled Kaliope's embarrassment when he stumbled across her in Sky Park. Misery wrapped her in a miasma of clashing colors. It beat at him like the gale-force winds of a storm. Then she'd bottled the flurry instantly, stamping it out as if it had never been. Kaliope's stubborn resolve was a blessing and a curse. To control her emotions with such absolution was amazingly...lycan.

Ronin laced his steepled fingers and rested them against his mouth. Kaliope was pacing again, her intention to knock postponed.

What was the woman up to?

Ronin's disposition matched hers—Restless. Agitated. The sensation dogged him long before her arrival, but ever since they met, he'd been spiraling. Losing control. It was not a good look. Not very...McIntyre of him to let an outside influence affect him this way. His father would give him a scolding for his blatant display of weakness. Ronin reclined in his chair, loosening his tie. His fingers tapped a tandem on his desk.