“So they’re going to protect the women who are targets?”
Alex nodded. “That’s the plan. They’re making a list now and hoping to pinpoint the potential targets. So far they’ve identified four, maybe five, more women.” He smiled at her sigh of relief. “Statistically speaking, that’s a rather high percentage, but apparently it’s not unusual for a lot of human babies to be born the night of a full moon.” Alex took a deep breath and reached out to touch Kali again before he could tell himself not to. “Your brother was quite accepting of the quick rundown I gave him on paranormal species and pixie assassins. I suspect he’s seen enough in the past day or two to convince him there is more to the world than he knows.” He winked at Kali and then turned his attention back to Ronan. “I spoke to my squad’s acting CO, Thomas. He discussed it with our new administrative supervisor, and they’ve decided to follow standard protocols and involve the Ruling Body. That means our little secret is out.” He reached over and grabbed Kali’s hand. “It also means we’ll have backup. Despite being on six months’ leave, PUP Squad Alpha is being called back onto active duty. I explained Kali’s situation to Thomas, and he’s assigned me to her protection indefinitely.”
Ronan looked relieved, but then he frowned as another problem apparently caught his attention. “You said earlier that pixies can follow your slip path.” Alex nodded. “Do we have a way to lose them if they send more than one?”
Alex grinned. Ronan was always thinking, always planning. It was why his business was so well known in the paranormal community.
“I spoke to Jason—he’s a warlock with my PUP squad,” he said for Kali’s benefit. Ronan had worked with most of the members of PUP Squad Alpha one time or another over the past decade. “Jason will transport us if it becomes necessary. Pixies can’t follow a warlock’s bounce tunnel, so all we have to do is get to him via slip travel and we’ll lose any pixie pursuers easily enough.”
“How will you find Jason?” Kali asked, looking intrigued rather than frightened.
“Sorry, beautiful, I should have explained that. Jason is the only member of PUP Squad Alpha to remain on leave. He’s dealing with a family issue, so all we have to do is slip travel to his home.”
Now Kali looked concerned, and if Alex had to guess he’d say it was because she didn’t want to intrude on the warlock’s private life.
“Don’t worry,” Ronan said to her, apparently sensing the same thing as Alex. “We’ll only go to him as a last resort.”
“Okay,” she said looking relieved.
Ronan wrapped his arm around Kali’s shoulder, holding her close as he waited for Alex to give him a report on the rest.
“Thomas is also talking to the Ruling Body right now, but at the moment their orders are to protect the potential targets in tandem with human law enforcement without revealing who we are. I’m not sure how effective my squadmates will be working alongside random police officers, so it might be an idea to call in your team.”
“Your team?” Kali asked Ronan with a quirked eyebrow.
Ronan didn’t look like he was going to answer, so Alex answered for him. “Ronan is the head of Deeks Security. They offer discreet, secure protection for some of the highest-profile people in the world—human and paranormal.”
“Oh,” Kali said, looking surprised. “My brother didn’t tell me any of that. I thought you were just an old army buddy.”
Ronan smiled then. “I am an old army buddy of Dave’s. I started the company around the same time he joined the police force.” He grinned as if remembering back to those days. “I actually offered him a job, but he chose to get married instead. Apparently he’d had enough of traveling the world.”
“But he didn’t know about paranormals until today?”
“Nope. Obviously if he’d come to work for me, I would have filled him in, but Dave seemed to want to put the whole army experience behind him. I was actually a little surprised that he joined the police force, but he seems to like it.”
“When he’s not tracking down pixie assassins,” Kali said with a frown as she stepped away from Ronan’s embrace. She still looked a little disturbed by her introduction to the world of paranormal species, but she was handling it better than most humans he’d known. Alex wanted to pull her into his arms—his attraction to this woman confusing and damn near overwhelming—but moved away instead. He glanced at the clock even though he knew perfectly well what time it was.