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“Even without my personal feelings influencing me, it would be clear Saxon has to go. So does Vandal and probably the Dark King. Our enemies are growing and plotting. We’re running out of options to protect the future.”
“Maybe you’ve just been hanging out with the Fire House too much.” Rye suggested. The Light Phases and Fire Phases had a longstanding, mostly-friendly, sometimes-deadly rivalry.
Job’s face stayed sad but determined. “I’ve always done everything I can to keep peace. To avoid taking lives. But at a certain point, you must stop bad people from doing bad things. Emphatically stop them. Otherwise, they’ll keep doing bad things forever.” He met their eyes. “And allowing that would make us nearly as bad as they are.”
Chapter Thirteen
As a final element to muddy the waters, there are the vandals.
Walter A. Goffart
After a nap and some dinner prep, Randa was back at the police station for her shift. She’d told Sullivan she was taking the day off, but practicality won out. Her job was important and she needed the money.
She diligently worked at her desk, while Sullivan dealt with the mess at the floral shop. The Light Phases milled around the otherwise empty office. Mannus and Daven read through arrest files, laughing uproariously. They’d been with her all day, asking questions about human crimes and trying snacks from the vending machine.
Julius sat across from her, pondering the eternal mysteries of a stapler. He’d shown up half an hour before, looking contemplative, so Randa could only assume he’d spent the morning doing things she wouldn’t like. Probably poking through every aspect of her past.
Kahn wasn’t there. He’d gone with Rye to investigate Ben’s condominium.
Which was fine.
Randa’s fingers hit letters on the computer keyboard harder than necessary. If Kahn wanted to waste his time searching a condo, she wished him well. If he refused to listen to reason, it was none of her business. If he didn’t want to spend the afternoon in her company, she didn’t care a bit.
Bastard.
Things had been going so well! Why did he have to mess it all up?
“So, about Kahn…” Julius said abruptly.
Randa’s head snapped up, half-afraid he’d read her thoughts and picked up on her tragic obsession. “What about him?”
“He isn’t so unreasonable to deal with, once you get past his unreasonable parts.”
Randa stared at him.
Julius cleared his throat and set the stapler back down on her desk. “What I mean is, Kahn never listens the first time. He’ll usually argue until you either agree with him or you give up entirely.” Julius paused. “But he’s also very, very smart. So, when he’s wrong, he’ll eventually realize it. He’ll reevaluate his position. He’ll learn. And that’s when you see the best of Kahn.”
Randa supposed there was some truth to that. Kahn seemed to have changed his opinion of her. Over the last couple days, he’d gone from insulting to downright protective. “When will he realize he’s wrong about Ben?”
“When he finds evidence that the human couldn’t be your stalker. Until he has irrefutable proof of Ben’s innocence, he’ll keep digging into his life. It’s just the way Kahn is.”
“And when will he stop digging into my life?”
“Probably never.”
Randa made an aggravated sound.
“Not because he doesn’t trust you.” Julius rushed to say. “He would never have fallen asleep beside you, if that was the case. You’re one of us now, like it or not.”
She did like it.
Randa collected travel guides, looking for someplace that fit her. She’d never found it before. But the Light Phases somehow fit.
Being around them felt more like home than anywhere else she’d ever been. That probably showed her mental decline, since she knew it wasn’t real. They wouldn’t even eat dinner with her! She wasn’t fully accepted by them, no matter what they claimed.
“It’s just when Kahn decides to care about someone, his devotion can be a bit…” Julius trailed off, looking for some vaguely positive way to finish that sentence, “passionate.”
“Pushy.” Randa corrected.
