Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
JADE
Something had happened with Casey; a few minutes ago, he’d switched from nervous to full-on panic.
This could not be happening.
Four fucking hours, and Casey was only supposed to be here for twenty minutes of it. He was supposed to be safe.
If anyone had so much as touched him, they were going to die a very slow death. I took the stairs by twos and slammed through the doors at the top, ducking into the laundry room.
Casey wasn’t here.
I crossed the room and peered down the long corridor.
Shit. There were still some bins of laundry by the elevator, which means Casey hadn’t finished bringing them all down here.
He’d been caught.
My mind spun out frantically, and I fisted my hands, trying not to imagine what was happening to him right now.
Were they hurting him?
This was not part of the plan. Anything could happen to him.
I pulled out the map of the place, frowning as I studied it.
Where might they take him?
There were a couple of options, and I looked between them as I chewed my lip.
I’d have to be methodical. Check the most likely places and hope to overhear someone talking about it.
I sent a message to Jewel and Hugo but got nothing back.
Surely, they should have realized something was wrong by now. Both Casey and I were a lot more panicked than we were supposed to be.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t getting much from them except lust.
Goddammit.
I guess a freshly bonded alpha-omega team wasn't the most reliable.
I headed back down to the second floor, where there were a couple of rooms Jewel had marked as “Interrogation.” I grabbed my cleaning cart again and walked past some of the offices.
On my left was a staff lounge. I hung back in the corridor, carefully listening to the chatter to see if I could overhear anything useful.
I froze as I heard an unpleasantly familiar voice. I’d only worked with Lars for a week or two, but that had been enough to cement him in my memory—in the “scum of the earth” category.
“I couldn't believe it when I saw him. Mo’s taken him to Val to get assigned. I mean, what are the chances?”
He was probably talking about Casey. I’d seen Valentino go upstairs earlier, to the fourth floor. That’s where I’d head next.
At least it didn’t sound like they were suspicious of him or that they had hurt him. Yet.
My heart was hammering in my chest as I went back to the staff elevator and stepped inside. Shit. The fourth floor was locked.
Staircase, it was.
The staircase door to the fourth floor was locked as well, but it didn’t stop me for long. I made my way along the corridor with silent footsteps, listening at each door.
It was quiet until the third one. The scream that I heard from inside made my blood turn to ice.
It was Jewel’s scream.
I clenched my fists, trying to process it. The scream sounded again and rang with agony.
“Stop! Don’t touch me! JADE! JADE, HELP ME, PLEASE!”
My scalp prickled as my brain went offline. Terror seared through me, pushing me forward. I surged through the door, pulling out my switchblade.
There were two people in the room, both facing a laptop. I targeted the closest one, wrapping around him and pressing the knife to his neck. The man next to him—Prince—scrambled back, eyes wide. The man underneath me tensed.
It was Valentino. I recognized his scent. “Don’t move,” I snapped.
From the screen, Jewel screamed again. “GET THE FUCK OFF ME! JADE! JADE, I NEED YOU!”
He was coated in sweat and kneeling on the ground in a plush room. His eyes were glassy and unseeing, and his face scrunched up as he let out another tortured cry, lashing out at someone next to him.
“Where the fuck is he?” I snarled at the stunned alphas.
“Jewel?” Valentino asked.
“Who the fuck else?”
I glanced back at the feed and felt my heart sink. In the video, Jewel’s hair was golden. Not black.
This was a recording.
I’d fucked up.
While I was distracted, Valentino’s aura split the air. He moved supernaturally fast, knocking the knife out of my hands and shoving me back. I hit the wall hard, and a burst of pain exploded in my shoulder.
My vision blacked out for a second as Jewel’s screaming continued.
I’d barely blinked before Valentino had his hand around my throat, dark eyes glittering as he took me in. He dragged me to my feet.
“Huh. Shade.” His voice was laced with amusement. “Here looking for Jewel? Seems an odd job for a thief.”
In a second, I made my brain switch gears, pulling out my Shade persona. I shrugged, shooting Valentino a grin.
“He owes me money,” I said, holding my hands up in peace. “Sorry, my bad. Didn’t know you’d be here, Val. Nothing personal.”
For a second, Valentino seemed like he’d let me go.
“Wait,” Prince said. He’d recovered his wits and was glaring at me. “That’s Laurel’s friend. I remember her from our engagement party.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a secret I work for the family.”
Prince narrowed his eyes. “No. They were close. I don’t trust her.”
“Look, this is all a misunderstanding,” I turned back to Valentino, making my eyes as wide and innocent as I could. Valentino, thank god, let me go. “I got some info Jewel was coming here. He’s got a bounty, you know? Easy money.”
I had to fight not to look back at the video.
What had happened to Jewel?
Why was he screaming my name?
I couldn’t help another quick glance. He was fighting Prince now, drawing blood with his nails and teeth. His hair was plastered to his face, and his skin looked flushed and sweaty.
I’d seen Jewel like that last week.
Where were you? he’d said. I called and called and you didn’t come.
My jaw tightened as I realized.
Prince took two steps toward me, glaring. “Don’t let her go! She’s an enemy.”
“Hush.” Valentino held up a finger to Prince. He tilted his head to the side as he turned back to face me. “Surely you know that I was the one offering the bounty. So why would you come and try to steal him from me?” He laced his fingers together.
I steadied myself. I was sure I could talk my way out of this one. Before I could speak, there was a knock on the door.
“Boss?”
“What is it?” Valentino called.
The door opened, and a large alpha stepped inside, pulling Casey behind him.
Oh, thank god Casey was okay. He looked shaken but otherwise untouched.
Casey’s eyes widened as he saw me, and his mouth opened. I frantically shook my head, but it was too late. “Jade! I’m so sorry, Lars was here—”
“Jade?” Valentino’s head snapped back to mine as I winced internally.
Shit.
Casey snapped his mouth shut, looking panicked.
Everyone stared at me.
In the background, Jewel continued screaming, my name cutting through the electric silence.
“I told you,” Prince hissed, stalking over and grabbing my arm.
Ah, well.
Guess that cat was out of the bag now.
“A beta?” Valentino looked astonished. He looked at the recording and then back at me. “Jewel was in heat, begging for a beta?”
I shrugged, feeling a true smile creep onto my face. “I’m pretty good in the sack. Don’t even have a knot, yet clearly a better option than your buddy over here.” I turned and winked at Prince.
My chances of escaping this situation were already drying up faster than a splash of water on hot asphalt. I couldn’t resist giving the pot a big ol’ stir, anyway.
Plus, if they were focused on me, they’d forget about Casey.
“Boss?” called a voice from the corridor. “It’s Jewel! He’s back, and he’s got a dark bond.”
?
JEWEL
Now that I was slightly less horny, I realized something was off.
Casey and Jade had both been pretty panicked for a while. They were calmer now, but I had a message from Jade telling me Casey was missing. Hopefully she would find him, otherwise I was blowing this whole plan to bits.
No one was going to hurt Casey.
“I knew we shouldn’t have let him come,” I told Hugo.
At that moment, the door opened, and Valentino arrived.
I perked up as I saw Prince trail in behind him.
Oh, we’d get to kill two birds with one stone tonight. Once we confirmed Casey was safe.
As expected, Valentino folded his arms and watched me with a triumphant smile on his face. No doubt gloating that I’d been captured and dark bonded. My claim on the inheritance would be completely null, and he could use me as leverage to get Laurel to step down, yadda yadda yadda.
I kept my gaze unfocused and leaned to the side a bit. If they thought that I was drugged, it’d make our work here a lot easier.
To my surprise, they didn’t come over right away. Prince tugged on Valentino’s arm and muttered something in his ear. I didn’t like the way they were looking at my alpha.
“Hugo, was it?” Valentino said, coming over. Prince scuttled after him, a nasty little smile on his face.
“That’s right. Who are you?”
“I think you have something that belongs to me,” Prince said, staring at me.
Hugo’s hand settled on my head as a growl built in his throat.
God, just the sound went straight to my dick. It was hard to keep my thoughts straight.
Hugo shifted, pulling me closer. “My bite on his neck says otherwise.”
“It’s a fresh mark, right?” Valentino took a step toward us. “Seems to be a lot of that around tonight. We just met two betas earlier who also have fresh bonding marks. What are the chances?”
Hugo hesitated.
Ah.
Well, that did make things a bit more complicated than I’d anticipated.
Hugo stood, a dark scowl on his face. He wasn’t much bigger than Valentino, but he still made the two alphas he was facing seem small. His voice was low and deadly. “If I find you’ve harmed a single hair on their heads, I will tear your throats out.”
Prince audibly swallowed.
Valentino folded his arms. “I’ve seen what you’re capable of, Omen.”
A shudder rippled through Hugo at the sound of his rut-fight name, his scent getting sharp.
“It would be a bad move to attack us, though. We have your betas, and their well-being depends on how well you listen.”