Too late

Headhunted

Jack's pov

It was odd. How much a person could change in such a short time. The woman in front of me this morning was, by no means, the woman I had talked to last night. Then, of course, I suppose, I wasn't the same man either. Last night I had been close to getting down on my knees and beg for her forgiveness, whereas this morning I put up the mask everyone was used to seeing. Haley must have done the same, cause the frightened girl from last night was gone and a confident young woman seemed to have taken her place. She sat between Tristan and Calvin Mercury, busy telling a story from her own academy days. The entire table was taking her in, swallowing her charm and cheeriness. Only Brandi had a small frown of disappointment upon hearing the trouble her daughter had caused the administration at Saint Croix

"I bet Mrs. Aldrige was happy to have you back," Brandi commented dryly.

"She was! I think she would have wanted me to stay there if it wasn't for the demand here at court."

Frederich nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, they managed to delay that hopeless surveillance decree, but that has only made it more difficult for the existing guards." It was true, they had managed to sway the council, finally convincing the new Voda Prince that complete surveillance of civilians was more of a violation than it was a benefit to society. It wasn't off, however, but had yet to go through the last two processes before it could be implemented.

"Yeah, they really need everyone they can get. I don't think I would have been cleared so fast under normal circumstances."

That got everyone to look at her startled. "Mr. Richard has cleared you?" Brandi asked in a shrieking voice and Haley nodded, seeming a little worried herself.

"Yeah, well as for next week. They need to pick an assignment for me first."

"Does your therapist think you are ready?" Frederich asked concerned and she shook her head lightly.

"No, but it doesn't matter. They need me in the field. I think Mr. Richard will try to get me an assignment here at court, so I can have some time to adjust before having to fight again, but I doubt he can. It is not like they need a lot more here at court, and they can't afford more at the academies, even though they should be assigning more." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "That is where they should hoard guards, not here at court." I think we all realized the truth of her words then. There had been a few attacks like the one on Baldrax. They had been a lot bloodier and there hadn't been attempted rescue missions at either. It had actually helped delay the surveillance decree: They had picked up on leaked information, and someone made the valid question as to how they would avoid information seeping out. They still believed they could with a better security program. They were idiots.

"They should let us fight, it would give us a major advantage," Kian noted bitterly. For some reason that made Haley laugh.

"Sidekick, I have seen your fighting style – if anything it would be more work, making sure you didn't hurt yourself."

Kian glared at her and Calvin stepped in to explain to the rest of us. "We took little Kennedy here with us to the gym yesterday – let us just say I am actually impressed he can sit with the number of times he landed on his butt. Then again, against me even Haley gets her ass kicked."

Haley spat out a bit of the swig of wine she just took. "Excuse me?! You know, I think I got some time after kicking Kian's butt again if you need a reminder of just how hard the floor feels when it is handed to you."

"No thanks, I think the bruise is finally fading from last time." I couldn't tell if he rubbed his backbone for the dramatic effect or if he was remembering the pain. Anyways, Haley smiled smugly.

They spent some time bickering back and forth before Calvin pushed out his chair. "Well as lovely as this has been, I have to get going. I have a meeting about barrier improvement at the academy in fifteen minutes, and Mr. Richard is someone you don't want to keep waiting! Thank you for the invite - it was wonderful to meet Haley's family and friends," he said mostly towards Brandi and Frederich who smiled politely back at him before he left.

"Sounds like you guys had a great time together," Alishia noted, and for once, Haley didn't scowl but just agreed.

"Yeah, it was great having him around. In a way, it felt like I got a chance to do my senior year over again," she answered truthfully, and I don't think anything anyone had ever said had hurt me that much. I had done nothing but ruin her life since I meet her. I had practically dragged her into battle when she wasn't ready. I brought her back to a place where fairies looked down on her, and teachers verbally abused her. I took her virginity and then broke up with her the next day. Then I had left her, prioritizing my career. Then treated her as garbage while undercover - kidnapped her, tried to kill her, then stalked her for several months, tried to kill her again. And then once I returned from my mission, not only had I convinced her I didn't love her, I also put the blame on her for everything that had happened. Every misstep and mistake. And if all that wasn't bad enough, I had given her up to our immortal enemies, sentencing her to 3 years of hell, causing her to have to re-earn her guard status and probably ruined her career. I am not sure if I had realized it before, but adding all of those things up, I was an asshole. A big, giant asshole. Suddenly she felt so far away, completely out of reach. I wouldn't get another chance with her, and frankly, I think it was best that way. If I had never turned up at saint Croix, her life would have been perfect right now. She and Alishia would be 18 and free to go to college and do anything they wanted. None of them would be on vampire-hit lists. They could have had a normal life, but of course, I had to mess that up.

It was Fred who dismissed us, declaring he had more urgent things to do and Haley seeming relieved skipped off with Tristan, but not before giving Alishia a halfhearted hug. At least she was trying to re-establish a friendship. Then they parted in different directions and it would be almost a week till I saw her again.

This time she was with Tristan again. They spotted Alishia as she sat chatting with Kian on a bench. I knew she must have spotted me too, as I sat a few meters from them, but she ignored that. They strolled over and stood before the couple, Tristan with his arm draped around Haley's shoulders.

"There you are, we have been looking all over for you!" Haley exclaimed happily. Alishia raised an eyebrow in question. Clearly, this was what she wanted to hear, but it was very unusual considering Haley's usual behavior since we found her again.

"Really?" Kian asked just as mystified as the rest of us.

"Well yes, how could we have a party without you?" She asked as if it was oblivious. It was then I noticed something was off about her. Her tone was more pitched, her body language was more sloppy, and her attitude was happier. She was drunk. Perhaps only slightly, but clearly, enough to make her suddenly friendly. I couldn't decide if Tristan was soberer or just used to being drunk, but he seemed to be more collected than her.

"What party?" Alishia asked, not having spotted the source of Haley's change in behavior yet. Haley giggled and Tristan decided to answer for her.

"Haley got an assignment: She is going back to work on Monday," he said, voice laced with different emotions. There was definitely pride in there, and happiness, but also worry, and perhaps some jealousy and anger. It made sense, I knew he had wanted her all to himself.

Alishia's face was easily readable. She was hurt by Haley getting another assignment and sad that their friendship was still up in the air. "You got an assignment? Who?" she asked and Haley seemed to sober up a bit.

"Rufus Hale."

Kian gasped and looked impressed and Tristan nodded in agreement to the unsaid statement.

"Yep, word got around that everyone was after Haley Wright, and uncle Rufus thought his guard was getting too old, so he requested for Haley. She said yes."

Alishia looked at Haley both surprised and accusing. "You got to choose?" I knew Alishia had put in a request for Haley as well, hell she even tried to blackmail Mr. Richard into assigning her right away. Unfortunately, the system was more complicated, she was told. Mr. Richard couldn't overrule the decisions made by the committee, and who they were was very strictly confidential. I knew this. Guards were appointed by other guards, who made the decision based on requests and records. If they had a tie, then they would let the guard choose for themselves. Chances were Haley didn't even have Alsihia as an option, but I could see how Alishia would think that.

"Yeah, I had to pick between Kathy Hodgkins, a desk job, and Rufus. Honestly, I am surprised I was even offered a bodyguard position, and for a council member nonetheless," Haley told her with some excitement twinkling in her eyes. Lissa relaxed, feeling less denied.

"So, I guess that means you will be around here at court huh?" Kian asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, a lot of the time anyway. Rufus got a lot of business out of court, but mostly he'll be staying here. It is actually a great compromise: I get to stay in therapy as I'll get more time off."

"Anyway, we are celebrating Haley's last day in freedom, you want to come?" Tristan offered, holding Haley a little too tight for my liking, not that I could say anything about it.

"I am sorry, we can't." Alishia shook her head.

"We have to meet Aurora in thirty minutes, but you should try and find Dana - I am sure she would be up for it."

Haley giggled, but it was not exactly a happy sound. Actually, it was not a happy sound at all. I don't think I had ever heard such a sound of both ridiculousness and despair come from her. She couldn't have described her mindset better with a thousand words. Without further comment, she swung around and swayed away. Tristan staggering after her like a lost puppy. Guess she lost interest.

***

Haley's pov

Working for Rufus was even more uneventful than it sounded. I had just been following him around, not talking with him at all except when he gave an order. So, it was a surprise when he asked to see me in his office a half hour before my shift. He was on the phone when I entered and motioned for me to sit in the chair on the other side of the desk while he finished up. I didn't pay much attention to the conversation, it seemed to be one of those political small-talks - secretly asking a favorite thing. When he hung up, his attitude changed and he turned to me looking very serious. I searched my mind, looking for a reason why this might be a reprimand, but came up empty. Everything had been exactly after protocol since I started.

"I know, I haven't had time to talk to you, since you started - I apologize for that. I trust that you have been shown around and settled in?" I nodded, confirming I had. His housekeeper had shown me around the first day and given me a key to my room. It was actually a lot nicer than I had expected, rather big with a queen-sized bed. A big closet and a mirror three times my size. There was no desk, but I figured I wouldn't need one. However, there was a big plush armchair by the window, which gave a great view of one of the court's public gardens. All of the furniture was in dark wood and looked like something that had been here for at least a century, which it probably had. "Good, good. I heard excellent things about you, Miss Wright. However, I also remember you used to be very opinionated, so I will make one thing clear: Do not interfere with my business. I do not appreciate your opinion, nor do I want it. If you feel the desire to be an activist, then I would recommend you reassign immediately. Do I make myself clear?" I thought about it briefly – did I want to be politically active? Quickly, I decided it didn't matter anyway – no one listened to dhampirs. We had very little influence on the fairy-world, being here mostly at the mercy of the other race. Dhampirs were usually bred from a vampire father and a human mother. Most vampire females were infertile, making it hard for them to reproduce, but the men, for some reason, didn't have a problem. The pregnancy was usually hard for our human mothers, leaving them either handicapped or dead after giving birth, which was why very few of us had siblings. Dhampirs, as a result of being a hybrid, was infertile as well, unless that is, we found a vampire mate. Jack's mother was one of those. She had three kids with a vampire that she had fallen in love with. As nature had it, he didn't love her, but he did grow fond of the blood supply. My parents, my father was a fairy, my mom a dhampir. It was basically a miracle that they had me.

"Yes, Lord Hale, perfectly clear. I assure you that won't be an issue."

He nodded, satisfied and a little bit relieved. "Good, then there is another thing I need to inform you about. Aside from my business and meetings outside court, there will be certain visits, once or twice a week, that I will have to make. The same acquires here: I do not want your opinion. I don't want you commenting on it, or telling anyone about it. Your job is to protect me, that includes my reputation."

I felt like I had a good idea of what he was referring to, but decided to ask anyway. "Your business is your Lord Hale. As your guard, everything that happens during my shifts is confidential. However, if you don't mind me asking – what kind of visits would it be?"

He shifted a bit uncomfortable in his chair and looked at me with squeezed eyes for a while then decided to tell me. "I, like many other men in my position, tend to like variety in my personal life. I love my wife and my family, but in order not to get, what is it you young folks call it, burned out? In order, not to get burned out, I take certain luxuries. That includes three mistresses, two of which are living outside court."

It didn't surprise me. Tristan already mentioned that years ago at dinner with his parents when his father pestered him about learning from his uncle Rufus. It did surprise me, however, that we would be going outside court.

"I am going to need names then, Lord Hale, for a background check. I know it has probably been done before, but it is standard procedure as I am sure you know." It wasn't a lie, guards did check up on the company their charges kept, but secretly I was curious too.

"Of course, I would have been disappointed if you didn't." He actually smiled, as if this had all been a test and I passed.

"Their names are Elenore Martins, Alexandra Korfnoch, and Cecilia Jameson. Elenore and Cecilia live outside court," he offered, knowing they were my primary concern. I nodded, telling him I appreciated the small offering.

He went on: "Also, I wanted to talk to you about another thing: I can't control your private life, no matter how much I wish to. However, I have a few things I would like to ask of you. Do mind your behavior in public, it falls back on me if you do something stupid. If you go for drinks, do so quietly and make no scenes. Mind your clothing, I won't give you a dress code but try to keep it sober. Miniskirts and shirts with deep necklines aren't appreciated, but as long as your privates are covered, I won't say anything. Also please mind your company. I know you and my nephew have a history, and I will accept a close friendship, maybe even a clean relationship, but I will not look kindly on public displays such as french kisses and humping. That goes for any other romantic relationships as well. Do keep close to princess Alishia Daray and your other fairy friends, but don't socialize anymore with Jack Donnovick. No matter what they say, he is still not someone to be associated with."

I took all this in. I didn't like being restricted in my clothing, but his demands didn't seem unfair. It wasn't as if I owned something like a miniskirt anyway. Staying close to Tristan and away from Jack? Already part of the plan. "Was that all Lord Hale?" I asked, keeping a straight pokerface.

He smiled a real board smile that showed a shiny gold tooth, which seemed weirdly pirate of the polished gentleman. "Yes, except one more thing: Please call me Rufus."