Chapter 100
“Kit,” Jamie called, rushing up behind her but not tugging on her shoulder. “Well done. Brilliant kill.” His words didn’t match what he was thinking inside, that she’d gone over the top, but he thought it wouldn’t be appropriate at this juncture to point out that she’d gone a bit too far, not while she was still carrying the murder weapon.
“I’m sure you think so,” she muttered, turning steely blue eyes in his direction. “You wanted Wes to get the kill, didn’t you? Even though I was lead?”
“Oh, well, I just thought… I could see that Fritzy was interested in him, that’s all. I didn’t expect it mattered much, so long as we got her.”
Kit stopped a few feet from the end of the alleyway. “You never seem to think it matters much, but it does, James. You need to think about what happens every time you take over a hunt like that. You’re not the one calling the shots, you know? Grandfather was the one in charge, and he knew what she was capable of, knew it would be best to send in a woman. But you just did what you wanted to do anyway without any regard for the danger you were sending Wes into!” She continued to stomp off, and once she’d reached the sidewalk that ran along a busy street, she had enough forethought to slide the hatchet into her pocket.
Jamie stood and watched her, stunned, not sure what to say. Clearly, she thought he was making a habit of “taking over the hunt” or whatever it was she’d said, and while he didn’t see it that way, he needed to do something to calm her, to apologize. “Kit,” he said, catching up to her and gently pulling her shoulder this time. She shrugged away. “I’m sorry you see it that way. I didn’t know. I only picked up on the cues from what was happening.”
“And you picked up wrong!” she squealed at him. “This is not the first time, Jamie!”
He could feel his own blood beginning to boil now. “Oh, really?” he inquired, his own voice beginning to grow louder than he intended. “When have I ever….”
“Lots of times,” she interrupted. “At Ferguson last month. That time on the Potomac. What about Bourbon?”
He had no idea what she was talking about. He remembered the hunts, but couldn’t rightly put his finger on any decisions he’d made at any of them. “Kit….”
“Listen, Jamie! There’s something you need to understand. You’re not a leader! You don’t have it in you! You never will!”
Jamie felt all of the blood drain from his face. He’d never even thought about the possibility of asking to be promoted to a leadership position. He knew his place—at least he thought he had. He stared at her, his mouth agape, for several seconds.
Kit began to calm down some. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice better under control. “I know I shouldn’t…. It’s just, you’re a Healer. That’s what you’re good at. That’s what you’re great at. I can’t have you changing the plans in the middle of a hunt.”
Puzzled, Jamie tilted his head to the side and asked, “You can’t?”
She let out a long sigh. “I’m taking over here. Grandfather is moving on to… someplace else, someplace warmer. Jordan’s already agreed.”
“I had no idea….”
“I want to keep you on, I do. It’s only… this business between us would have to stop. And also, you’ve got to stop interfering, stop trying to take over. Do you think you can do that?”
Jamie couldn’t believe his ears. “Why haven’t you told me before?” It explained why she’d been so on edge recently and the conversation they’d had earlier in the day.
“I wanted to,” she admitted with a shrug. The gaslight on the corner illuminated her face as she tilted it up to look at him, and Jamie couldn’t help but notice how lovely she was. “I just didn’t know when the right time might be.”
“When you were in my bed last night or this morning might’ve been a good time,” he reminded her.
Exasperated, Kit let out a groan. “No, it wouldn’t have been. You were too busy talking about marrying me, Jamie. I don’t… I don’t want to marry you. You’d think you’d catch on to that by now. But instead, that’s all you can think about.” She took a step forward. “Do you remember how awful Jeffrey and Sol thought I was when I was first starting out, how they thought I’d never amount to anything?”
He remembered. He’d also agreed with them, particularly when she’d shot him. He only nodded.
“Well, I’ve worked very hard to prove them wrong, to prove everyone wrong. Now, I finally have the opportunity to show everyone what I can do. I won’t let you screw it up for me. I won’t let you take it away from me. So you can stay if you’d like, but no more bedding. And no more taking over.”
Jamie had never felt so dejected in his entire life. This whole time, she’d thought of him as a nuisance, another challenge to overcome. “I’ll be out of your hair by morning,” he promised, his voice quieter than the hum of the nearby light.
Kit let out a sigh, tears beginning to fill her eyes, though she didn’t dare let them fall. “Where will you go?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I can tell when I’m not wanted.” He spun around on his heel and headed back toward their hotel, thinking there’d be no reason to attend the meeting if he wouldn’t be part of the team by the time the sun came up. He knew he had options, knew plenty of teams who would be more than happy to have a Healer of his caliber. Whether or not Kit’s assessment that he always tried to take things over or not was accurate remained to be seen, but for now, he’d have to find his way--without her.
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