Royal Pawn (Jacky Leon Book 6) Read online

  Royal Pawn

  A Jacky Leon Novel Book Six

  K.N. Banet

  Contents

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  5. Chapter Five

  6. Chapter Six

  7. Chapter Seven

  8. Chapter Eight

  9. Chapter Nine

  10. Chapter Ten

  11. Chapter Eleven

  12. Chapter Twelve

  13. Chapter Thirteen

  14. Chapter Fourteen

  15. Chapter Fifteen

  16. Chapter Sixteen

  17. Chapter Seventeen

  18. Chapter Eighteen

  19. Chapter Nineteen

  20. Chapter Twenty

  21. Chapter Twenty-One

  22. Chapter Twenty-Two

  23. Chapter Twenty-Three

  24. Chapter Twenty-Four

  25. Chapter Twenty-Five

  26. Chapter Twenty-Six

  27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

  28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

  29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

  30. Chapter Thirty

  31. Chapter Thirty-One

  32. Chapter Thirty-Two

  33. Chapter Thirty-Three

  34. Chapter Thirty-Four

  35. Chapter Thirty-Five

  36. Chapter Thirty-Six

  37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

  38. Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Dear Reader

  The Tribunal Archives

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by K.N. Banet

  Also By Kristen Banet

  Copyright © 2021 by K.N. Banet

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter One

  August 24, 2021

  I woke up relaxed, ready for another week, a new day, all that. It was early, but I felt rested. I didn’t get out of bed while I checked my phone for anything pressing I needed to do.

  I had texts from Zuri, showing me pictures of her precious son, my new nephew. There were several outfits, poses, and backgrounds, as though she’d had a professional photoshoot done. There were none with her or Kushim, her new mate, but little Amir was the right age for baby pictures. While he was still growing, it was safer to take pictures. They would have to stop once he was an adult, but for now, it was all fair game. I wasn’t the first of the family to see the pictures. Mischa had already replied in the group chat with all sorts of hearts and comments, talking about how much she loved her new nephew. Jabari was demanding Zuri drive to his territory and let him babysit. Niko and Davor were just asking for more pictures but made sure to say how grateful they were for the ones they had already received. After that, there was some conversation about how one of Niko’s fae contacts had disappeared, and everyone dove into other weird things around the fae. There were a lot of those recently, and everyone was having a somewhat interesting time watching the drama play out.

  It was a pleasant thing to wake up to, a reminder of how happy my werecat family was, even though I had brought so much trouble on them.

  I also had a text from Heath, repeating that he and Landon were going to be in Dallas all day, probably late into the evening. It was the first of several days they needed to be out of town to renegotiate contracts with some of their long-term clients. That was really all I knew. I didn’t stick my nose into Heath’s business beyond being a customer, but he kept me up to date about when he would be out of my territory because then Carey was mine to deal with.

  A good, quiet day and I’m getting up at nine in the morning, feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. This is nice. I can get some work done early, clean up a little, and run some errands.

  I didn’t know what put me in such a good mood to start the day, with my lover out of town and the bar was about to start a new week, but I decided to roll with it. I couldn’t let this good energy go to waste.

  I started with my house, giving it a once over, dusting where it was needed and vacuuming all my stairs. I even threw in a load of laundry, feeling proud and accomplished. I checked my phone again, seeing Dirk was headed over for a security check. The new systems were all in place, and I had a proper driveway he could use to get his truck to my house.

  Once he was there, I left.

  “Tell me if you see anything out of the ordinary,” I called out, waving to him as I walked down the driveway to the bar. Out of habit, I still parked my car behind Kick Shot and kept a set of keys in my office there.

  “Will do,” he promised. I smiled as he went into the security building and got to work. He still went to Kick Shot and played behind the bar when we had someone call in, but I was glad he was taking to his new job with what seemed like enjoyment.

  Not that Dirk often tells me how he feels. I can only guess. He might hate it. Who knows?

  When I got to Kick Shot, Oliver was already sitting at the bar, going over paperwork.

  “Anything weird?” I asked, standing at the bottom of the stairs.

  He seemed startled by my arrival but recovered quickly. I was there several hours earlier than normal.

  “No, I just wanted to get out of the office for a minute while I looked at inventory,” he said with a smile. “Do you need something?”

  “No, I was just going to clean up my office, then head out to run some errands. I need groceries. I’ve been eating pop tarts for three days.”

  He chuckled, nodding as he went back to what he was doing. I headed up and got busy with my task. There were a few weeks’ worth of papers and reports strewn about my desk needing to be organized or thrown out, so I got into it, riding my good mood, which was needed to get this particular task out of the way.

  Why didn’t I just ask Oliver to do this?

  The very idea made me shake my head, dismissing it entirely. This was my personal space at the bar, and I wasn’t willing to give it up, not after I had already given up so much in the name of streamlining and safety.

  I was nearly done cleaning up my office when my cell phone started to vibrate. I had very few quiet hours of the day, which made me curious who needed me at only eleven in the morning. Whoever it was…well, they were lucky I was even awake since it was only a day after a full moon.

  They were very lucky I was awake.

  And in a good mood, at that.

  I grabbed the phone on the third vibration and answered as I picked up the small trash bag I had been using.

  “Jacky Leon speaking,” I said as I started walking to the door.

  “Um…Hello! I’m Principal Cortez from—”

  “What’s wrong? Is Carey sick?” I walked a little faster down the stairs, my good mood forgotten as I hustled to get done with the trash and head out to save my human. I was one of her emergency contacts, but only if Heath or Landon were unavailable. Carey’s school never called me, and this was the principal, not the school nurse or school secretary. The principal.

  “Oh, she’s…she’s fine. We need you to pick her up and take her home,” the principal said.

  My feet slowed down as I went out the back of the bar and opened the dumpster. I let those words sit in silence as I considered the way P
rincipal Cortez had said them. My phone vibrated once in my hand, but I didn’t check the text.

  “Is she in trouble?” I asked softly.

  “We’ve already spoken to her father. We just need someone to pick her up, and he’s unavailable. So is her brother.”

  “They’re both in Dallas for business all day,” I said, more to myself than to the woman on the phone. “Okay…I’ll come get her.”

  School’s only been back in for a few weeks. Or is this the second week? What the hell is going on?

  “Thank you. If you come to the front office, we’ll sign her out to you.”

  “I’ll be there soon,” I promised before hanging up. I threw the trash bag into the dumpster before checking the text, sighing heavily to see it was from Heath.

  Heath: Carey needs a ride home. If you can handle it, I would be grateful.

  Jacky: Just got a call from the school. On my way now. You’re lucky I was awake.

  Heath: I know. I told them it was a shot in the dark and to call me back if they couldn’t get ahold of you.

  Jacky: Want to tell me what’s wrong?

  Heath: No. Make Carey explain. She’s the one who did it and needs to face it. Plus, I won’t know the full story until tomorrow, when I have to go to the school and meet with the principal. You’ll probably hear it all first, which is for the best. I don’t want to lose my temper with her.

  Which meant Carey did get into trouble…a lot of it.

  “Wow, what a way to start the week,” I mumbled, shoving my phone back into my pocket. Monday had been right after a full moon, so I hadn’t seen her for our typical Monday get-together.

  I went to find my keys, wondering how Carey found trouble in only her second week of school.

  Maybe I should have seen her yesterday. I was exhausted from the full moon and the all-nighter that always comes with it. Maybe I should have tried to take her out to a movie or at least to check in with her.

  It was a short drive to Carey’s new school, new only because she was getting older. The gravity of what was happening hit me as I looked at the sign.

  Shit, she’s a freshman in high school now, and she’s already in trouble?

  With a fresh foreboding, I walked into the main entrance and tried to find the offices. I found a nice-looking woman at the desk and recognized her as someone who frequented Kick Shot. Not too often, maybe once a month, but she was definitely a customer.

  Smallish towns. Everyone will be a customer, eventually.

  “Hi, I’m Jacky Leon. I’m here to pick up Carey Everson,” I explained, putting on my most professional voice. While I wasn’t wearing a suit and exuding power like her father probably would, I was at least wearing something that wouldn’t embarrass Carey, like old tennis shoes and torn-up jeans. “The principal called me, and her dad also reached out.”

  “Yes, of course,” the lady said softly, her lips pinched into a sour expression. “Right through those doors. You’ll find her seated outside the principal’s office with her things.”

  I gave her a thumbs up and started heading that way, catching the whispered insult just as I put my hand on the doorknob.

  “Hopefully you can teach that child the manners her father didn’t,” the woman mumbled under her breath.

  Ah…it’s going to be one of those days.

  “Her father teaches her manners just fine,” I retorted over my shoulder with a narrowed-eyed look to warn the woman to keep her thoughts to herself next time. “Unlike yours. I’m certain your parents told you that if you don’t have something nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all.”

  Then I went through and found Carey, who was staring at her bag. As I approached her, I could hear an angry discussion from the other side of the principal’s door.

  “I can’t believe you let that child into this school,” an obviously adult woman said to someone else. “Look at what she did to my daughter! How is she supposed to be at the games while she has a black eye? She’s a cheerleader, and it’s her senior year! This was supposed to get her into college, and that could all be ruined now.”

  “Let’s go,” I ordered Carey without sitting down, trying to keep my emotions out of my voice and my expression. “Now.”

  “I’m sorry,” Carey whispered, not looking up as she got to her feet.

  I didn’t respond because it was a lie. Carey was feeling a lot of things, but sorry wasn’t one of them.

  “Ma’am, we don’t judge children based on who their parents are, and this is a public school.” I recognized Principal Cortez. “We’ll have a meeting with everyone tomorrow—”

  “Why not right now?” the enraged parent demanded. “Sweetheart, go sit out in the car while I talk to your principal.”

  I grabbed Carey’s shoulder and started pulling her away from the door as it opened. Out came an older teen with the beginnings of a black eye and swollen nose.

  “That your mom?” the teen asked Carey.

  “Do not talk to that feral—” The mother looked out to chastise her daughter, saw me, and paled under my glare.

  “The only thing feral in the building right now is you,” I said softly. “Let’s go, Carey.”

  “A child raised by monsters will be one,” the woman said boldly once my back was turned on her. “She was raised in violence, so she is violent. Werewolves don’t know how to raise—”

  “Don’t finish that,” I snarled. “You don’t know monsters, but I will gladly introduce you to one of them,” I hissed, looking over my shoulder, knowing my eyes were gold with my temper barely leashed. Werewolves weren’t this lady’s problem now, but a werecat certainly was. “But you’re right. A parent’s behavior does impact the decision-making of their children. If your daughter says the same types of things you do, I can see why Carey felt the need to give her that shiner. Maybe you should learn to think before you speak, so your daughter doesn’t have your bad influence.” I grabbed onto Carey’s elbow, a lifeline to my humanity, and started walking, ignoring the woman’s furious sputtering. I marched straight through the school, not caring how my expression probably terrified a few people as I passed—not caring that the doors slammed behind me and echoed in the halls.

  I needed to get Carey out of the building before any other small-minded humans had the chance to hurt her with their words and piss me off further. I didn’t breathe again until we reached my car, afraid I would catch the scents of the humans around. I didn’t want to know how they felt because I had a feeling it wouldn’t make me feel sympathy for them.

  “She—”

  “I don’t need an explanation right now,” I simply said as I opened the door for her. “I can put together what happened pretty well on my own.”

  “But she—”

  “Carey…” I pointed at the seat I wanted her butt in. “Let’s just get out of here, okay?”

  She nodded, and I closed the door on her as she put on her seatbelt. Once I was out of the parking lot with my charge, I let my body relax and finally opened the topic up for discussion.

  “You hit a senior on the cheerleading squad?” I asked, clearing my throat and trying to control my temper. I wasn’t really angry with Carey. I was mad at the situation, but I was more pissed Carey felt the need to hit someone than I was mad that she actually did.

  “Yeah,” she answered in a small voice. “Dad always taught me you need to deal with bullies early on before they escalate and get worse.”

  Oh, all the ways that could be taken…

  “We’ll talk about it at my house,” I said with a heavy sigh. “If you want to.”

  She didn’t respond, staring out my window as we went through town.

  I drove us back to Kick Shot and my home, knowing I was in for a long afternoon.

  2

  Chapter Two

  When I parked behind the bar, Carey jumped out without saying anything more. I sat in the driver’s seat, watching her head down the driveway to my home, her shoulders hunched over and head down.

&n
bsp; I was in two frames of mind and needed to decide how I had to approach this. Was I an extension of Heath, the werewolf father who wanted his daughter to have a normal life, or was I Jacky, the werecat, willing to destroy the world for her? I never really tried to be an extension of Heath, but then, Carey had never gotten into a fight at school.

  Jacky. Today, I’m just going to be Jacky. Her father can have his turn when he gets home.

  I got out and followed her, staying a good twenty feet back to let her have space to clear her head. Before we even made it to my house, she stopped and let me catch up.

  “I’m your chance to speak your case,” I told her softly. “I shouldn’t condone violence, but…”

  “Dad is only going to be mad because I got suspended, and I’m going to miss class,” she said, kicking a stray rock off my paved driveway into the trees surrounding us. I wasn’t so sure about her judgment there, but I didn’t argue as we walked at a slow pace. “They’re going to give me a weeklong suspension. They thought about expelling me, but it’s my first offense.”

  “They decided that without your dad?” I didn’t know much about the school system Carey was in, but I was nearly certain parents needed to be there when a kid was suspended. Nearly certain.

  “I heard them talking about it. They were whispering about how my dad would throw a fit if they expelled me and not other kids for similar incidents. They ‘don’t need that sort of attention.’ Then…then they said they would ready the expulsion paperwork because I’ll probably get kicked out before the end of the semester…because, you know…like that lady said…”