17. Seraphina
17
SERAPHINA
“ L amb, I wanted to let you know we’re headed out of town for a few days. Since, thanks to you, we did not actually blow our cover with the MC, we’re headed back up there to meet with a couple of the club members who might have information on what Onyx has been up to since we left. We won’t be gone long. In the meantime, we’ve left you what you asked for in the downstairs coat closet of our Airbnb. The address is 1457 Canyon Road, Unit 3, and the code for the door is 4558#. I’d tell you to behave while we’re gone, but given the item you asked us to procure for you, I doubt that will be happening .”
I listened to Loki’s voicemail for the fifth time as I sat in the Beem, which I’d parked outside the townhouse the guys were renting for the duration of their investigation. He’d called on Tuesday night while I’d been in the pool, and because I was so effortlessly smooth, I’d simply texted back a thumbs-up and a “thank you, be safe” instead of what I’d really wanted to do, which was call and beg to go with them.
It was now Saturday afternoon and T-minus five hours until I was supposed to be meeting my betrotheds at an undisclosed restaurant in an undisclosed location in the city. I’d been betting on my dads setting this next courting event off campus and in a public place to minimize the chance that I’d be willing to wreak havoc on it, and I’d been proved right.
How little they knew me.
I gathered my resolve and approached the front of the modern townhome. Sentinel had sprung for nice digs for the guys in a newer development just on the edge of downtown. Their rental sat in the center of a line of five three-story residences, each built in a boxy contemporary style painted in sleek grays and whites.
I punched the code Loki had left me into the front door’s keypad and waved at the camera above the door, no doubt installed by Hawk as a little extra addition to the house. Inside I encountered an open floor plan with a masculine living room, long wooden dining table with metal legs, and a modern kitchen that stretched the entire width of the house. A gym bag sat on the floor by the door, and some worn T-shirts that smelled like the guys had been tossed onto the back of the leather couch. A box of protein bars sat open on the table. Two pairs of running shoes and some work boots perched on the bottom of the stairs leading up to the second level.
As much as I itched to explore the entire house, smell all the smells lingering here, and roll around in each bedroom’s sheets, the clock was ticking.
I spotted the coat closet under the staircase. Hanging inside were three windbreakers with the Sentinel logo on them and a few more pairs of boots on the floor. There was a bo staff leaning against the side wall— what? —and a gray hard-shell carrying case sitting inconspicuously on the small shelf above the coats. It was about the size of carry-on luggage, and it contained a fun new toy that the boys were so sweet to leave for me without asking questions as to why I might need such a thing.
I pulled the case down and unzipped it to confirm that the contents were as promised. They were, and Hawk had even left me a little handwritten postcard with operating instructions.
The winds had shifted. I was now actually looking forward to tonight.
Paige sat on my bed, watching me with guarded suspicion as I finished doing my eyes with a flourish of mascara on my pale lashes. I’d borrowed her makeup mirror and had been working diligently on my face while sitting cross-legged in my desk chair. The window did give me the best natural light to work in.
“While that is certainly not an outfit any of the girls here would be caught dead in to meet the sons of several of the richest packs in the state for a courting event,” she said, squinting at me, “it is still extremely cute and so… normal. So not unhinged. What’s going on here? I’m freaked out.”
I stood up and shrugged on my leather jacket. I wore a sleeveless maroon blouse underneath it, tucked into some high-waisted denim shorts. I accessorized with a stack of silver necklaces that matched the double piercings in my earlobes, a black belt, and my trusty black Chelsea boots.
I grinned at Paige. “You’re overreacting. I’m certain whichever of my dads has been tasked with taking me to the venue tonight won’t let me out of here if I’m wearing the inflatable T-Rex costume I wore to that mandatory brunch with courting packs last semester.”
She snorted. “The dean’s face was priceless.”
“So, this is a compromise. Plus there’s an all-college party on campus tonight, so I’ll just pop on by after I’m finished. I’ll see you there, right?”
She shrugged coyly. “Maybe. I have a meeting with Professor Hart to grade Freshman Bio quizzes. Just depends on how long that takes.”
“On a Saturday night?”
“He doesn’t have a lot of free time to meet, Sera. He has two jobs.”
My eye twitched. “Paige. Hart is bad. Stay away from him.”
“You keep saying that. I know you and he don’t really vibe ?—”
“Ugh, it’s not just that. I promise I have real, serious concerns about him for reasons I can’t really explain in great detail. Just know that I have credible information because of… my job.”
She’d think I meant my internship with Jere.
Paige shook her head and got to her feet. “I accepted the position as his senior assistant. He’s been a valued member of the faculty here for years. I am not going to bail on my duties because you have a vendetta, Seraphina.”
She stomped through our shared bathroom back to her room.
I sighed. She was probably right. Hart seemed to be keeping his extracurricular criminal activities off campus and away from his real jobs, so Paige was likely just in for a couple of hours of humble bragging and not-so-subtle bicep flexing.
A knock sounded at my door. I checked my phone, confirmed everything was in order, then stashed it in my pocket.
When I opened the door, I learned it was Rodrigo who’d drawn the short straw tonight. The largest of my dads, he was built like a tank and hardly fit in the narrow hallway of the dorm. He wore a dark blazer over a crisp white dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the collar. His black hair was wavy and shot through with silver, and he had a permanent five o’clock shadow. He smelled of apple cider and home.
I was so mad at him it hurt.
He beamed at me like I was the single source of all the pride and joy he experienced in this life. “Hey, honey.”
“Hey, Pop.”
“You look very nice. Ready to go?”
“Sure.”
He arched a dark brow. “Really?”
“Am I allowed to say no?”
“Well, not really, no.”
I waved a hand. “Then lead the way.”
He frowned as if my lack of attitude was concerning. I followed him dutifully down the main stairs and across campus to the visitor parking lot. He opened the passenger door to his weekend vehicle—a Porsche SUV—but I ignored him and climbed into the backseat instead.
“Seraphina, come on.”
“I’d rather sit back here, thank you.”
He sighed and walked around to the driver’s side to stuff his giant body behind the wheel. I pulled my phone from my pocket, opened Hawk’s app, and punched the LAUNCH button.
Pop started the car and pulled out of the parking lot to begin the winding descent down the OFS’s entrance road. “I know you’re angry, Seraphina.”
“Livid, Pop.”
“But we all put a lot of thought into this match. We’re just trying to make sure you’re taken care of. We don’t want to lose you to the government system or to whatever plan you have to run away forever so you can pretend bonding laws don't apply to you.”
“And yet, you did all of this without telling me or even letting me offer an opinion on this pack you selected before you signed my life away.”
He scrubbed his large hand down his face. “We did. This may come as a shock, but we know you very well. You would not have been amenable to the discussion.”
“Mmm, yes, better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.”
He glanced at me in the rearview mirror, his coffee-brown eyes kind as he gave me a crooked grin. “Something like that.”
They sent Pop, the biggest Alpha but also the biggest softie, to butter me up. To kill me with kindness so that I’d have second thoughts about whatever I was planning.
Still underestimating me, all of them.
“I need some air,” I said, clearing my throat. “Will you please open the sunroof?”
“Sure, sweetheart.”
He pressed the button on the car’s ceiling, and the sunroof slowly rolled open. The warm air of the September evening seeped in, and the sounds of the traffic on the county road we were traveling on became louder.
I wasn’t surprised when Rodrigo drove us toward the Palisades, bypassing its gated entrance and continuing on toward one of the super-upscale shopping centers nearby.
I checked my phone again. Still on target.
I flipped to my messaging app and typed out a text.
Parking lot behind Neiman Marcus, La Bandera Mall. 10 min.
A thumbs-up hit my text bubble. We were a go.
Pop pulled the car into the parking lot of the nicest steakhouse in the city. I knew for a fact it had a private party room upstairs that was a perfect place to host a coerced courting event.
I flicked back over to Hawk’s app.
Target acquired, assholes.
I selected the steakhouse on the map and piloted my borrowed drone to hover high over its roof. Rodrigo pulled the car next to the valet station and put it in Park.
He turned around in his seat to smile at me again. “Here we are?—”
I smashed the big red button and launched myself out of my seat and up through the open sunroof.
Every light went out in the quarter-mile radius of the restaurant as my drone emitted a powerful EMP blast. The restaurant was the sole casualty, since only a bridal shop and a high-end shoe store shared this part of the mall with it, and both were closed for the day.
Rodrigo’s car went dark. Its electronic locks stuck. Cell service and data were jammed for as long as I deemed it so.
“Well, looks like forced courting is canceled yet again, Pop,” I said as I crawled on top of the car. I stuck my face back over the sunroof’s opening and grinned down at him. “Electricity, computers, cell service—it’ll all be out for a while.”
“Seraphina! Get your ass back in this car.” He jerked the handle of his door, but it remained stubbornly closed. “You have got to be fucking kidding me!”
I rolled away and jumped down to the pavement, then I turned to give Pop a salute. It was hard to see through the tinted windows, but his face was probably turning a nice shade of maroon right about now.
I sprinted out of the parking lot, headed for the department stores across the street. The sweet, sweet sounds of panicking restaurant patrons streaming out of the doors behind me played me out.
My getaway car awaited my arrival behind the Neiman Marcus.
“Do I even want to know?” Dylan asked as I climbed into what appeared to be Derrick’s truck. She’d ditched her car, which was a Bryce Solutions special that could be tracked. Smart lady. Her Alphas were a tad paranoid.
“I borrowed a specialized drone, knocked out all the power, and jammed cell service in the restaurant, panicking the patrons and hopefully causing a closure for the night.”
She barked out a loud laugh. “Good one.”
I showed her the drone’s feed on the app. “See? People are still leaving.”
“Ruthless, yet risk of injury to civilians basically zero. Nice work.”
“Thank you. One can only hope this pack of entitled idiots has finally gotten the message.”
Dylan drove back towards the OFS, and we took the opportunity to belt “Getaway Car” at the top of our lungs as we went. Dylan’s dark red hair was in a high ponytail, which showed off the shiny bite marks my brothers had given her on either side of her neck. The blue diamonds in her engagement ring from Cam sparkled against the steering wheel. She wore a tank top and spandex shorts, which meant she’d probably driven out here straight from the gym. I scowled at her long legs, as I often did. Simply wasn’t fair for an omega to be that hot, tall, and strong.
“You sure you don’t want to just ride this out at the store?” she asked me when the song had finished.
I shook my head. “I appreciate it, but I’d rather not involve you more than absolutely necessary. I’m shocked we don’t have a tail, really.”
“I threatened Austin and Seth with no sex for two weeks if they tried to follow me. It’s for their own good—they’re trying very desperately to remain neutral in all of this. I’m sure Cam will cave to the urge to check my phone location at some point, just to make sure I haven’t winked out of existence in the forty minutes I’ll have been gone.”
“Mmm, probably,” I replied. “I’ll be fine. I’m just going to disappear into the crowd at the big all-college mixer being held on campus tonight and trust that my fathers won’t be storming onto the grounds to make a scene in front of the sons and daughters of their peers.”
“And half the student body of the city’s colleges.” Dylan grinned at me. “Ah, memories of when we first met.”
I snorted. “Yes, when I sent my brothers to their scent-matched omega and set them up for a nice little grovel. You should definitely name a kid after me.”
“Sure. Unholy Terror Bryce has a nice ring to it.”
We snickered together as she turned onto the OFS entrance road. I pulled up the drone’s app again, planning to release the restaurant from its hold and summon it back to me. The live feed had only just loaded when the crack of a gunshot sounded through the phone, and the signal went dark.
“Aw, damn,” I said. “Someone shot down my drone. Probably Jere.”
“He would be the one bringing a gun to a courting event. Austin said your mom was going tonight.”
“Jere was definitely carrying, then,” I replied. “He’s insane about Mom, as you know.”
She grinned. “It’s so romantic.”
“Ugh. My brothers are insane about you too. Of course you think that.”
“You get used to it.”
The idea wasn’t as abhorrent to me as it once was. Was that bad? Probably, but I had way worse problems at the moment.
Dylan came to a stop by the OFS front gate and shook her head ruefully at the line of random college students wandering up the sidewalks and gaping at the towering gothic shadow of the Main Hall. “Call if you need anything,” she told me.
I hopped out of the truck and gave my second salute of the night.
Then I slipped into the stream of students, flashed my ID at the guard, and disappeared through the gate.