CHAPTER SEVEN
Two days later
– SEVRIN –
The sip of beer in my mouth is disgusting and I barely hold it in long enough to spit it into a bucket. “Fuck. What is this nasty shit?”
“Cotton candy cream beer with a hint of pickle,” Shock states with a straight face.
“A hint?” I ask with a load of sarcasm.
The man snatches the bottle from my hand. “No new flavor for you.”
“No flavor of that kind is going into production period,” I clarify.
Shock walks off while he mutters, “We’ll see.”
Karev passes him by and shakes his head. “Did he make you taste that awful shit too?”
“Tell me again why we thought it was a good choice to make him think about a few new twists?” I grumble.
“Because the first suggestion he made was a good one, everything after sucked.” Karev smacks my shoulder.
My phone starts to ring and I pull it from my pocket to see who’s calling when I tell Karev, “We should reconsider and call a vote to let someone else take that position.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” he replies.
I answer the call and hear Levan’s voice. “Prez, your woman wants you to come by her house.”
“Everything okay?” I ask, and turn toward the door.
Karev is right beside me when Levan says, “Think so. She just told me to call you and ask to swing by.”
“Thanks,” I grunt and shove my phone back into my pocket.
“What’s up?” Karev asks.
We walk through the doors to our bikes and when I straddle mine I tell him, “Don’t know. Levan is watching Fosca today. She should still be at work but he told me Fosca wanted me to come to her house. So, I guess she left early.”
Zara showing up at the clubhouse two days ago was actually a good thing.
She helped create a truce where Fosca took me up on the deal I had to offer.
Which basically means working together. I help her channel her powers, and in return she allows a round-the-clock bodyguard.
This time it was Levan’s turn to keep watch.
Karev lifts his chin. “Then let’s go.”
We ride out, and my mind is running with different possibilities.
The mere thought of Fosca being in danger tightens my chest to a painful level.
I have to focus, and do believe it would have been a different call from Levan if her life was in danger, right?
Fuck. I hit the kickstand and jump off my bike once I park next to Levan’s bike.
“What’s up?” I ask Levan.
The man shrugs. “No clue. She went home early, and once we got here she asked me to get you.”
“Thanks. You can go back to the clubhouse if you want. I’m staying,” I tell him.
Levan lifts his chin in the direction of Karev. “I’ll wait for VP and ride back with him.”
I nod and knock on Fosca’s door, waiting not so patiently until it opens.
Fosca steps back. “Come on in.”
I walk past her, Karev as well, and when Levan stays put, Fosca says, “You too, Levan.”
Levan’s gaze hits mine and I give him a nod. He closes the door behind him and we’re all staring at Fosca who is walking toward the dining table.
She picks up a file, hands it to me, and starts to talk. “The dead body at the resort was Tom Pierce. He was staying with his brother, Dirk Pierce.”
“Fuck,” I grunt when I see the picture of Dirk and hold it up for the others to see.
Karev curses while Levan whispers, “Oops.”
“Oops?” Fosca echoes. “I saw you bite the guy’s head off and all you have to say is oops?”
Levan shoves his hands into his pockets and grumbles, “How the hell was I to know there was such a thing as you being able to see through your mate’s eyes? Not to mention, you guys weren’t even bonded yet...still aren’t.”
Fosca throws a glance at the heavens above, and states, “Killing people shouldn’t be normal either. Especially with me doing what I do because everything about the body at the resort links to you guys.”
“Why?” Karev asks the same thing that just went through my mind.
She takes the file from my hands, plucks another photograph from the back and holds it up.
“This is Dirk’s wife, Brandy. Tom Pierce is dead, he was staying with Dirk and Brandy, who are both missing.
..I know Dirk is dead as well.” Her gaze locks on mine when she adds, “And I smelled Brandy on you the day we met.”
What the hell is going on? This goes beyond coincidence.
Annoyance hits and I snap, “I didn’t touch the bitch. She was in my damn bathroom when I woke up that day, and I kicked her out right away.”
She dismisses me and asks Karev, “There has to be a link between all of this. Oh, and I found traces of sulfur on Tom Pierce’s body, which means...”
“Either he was possessed by a demon, or had close contact with one,” Karev finishes for her.
Fosca nods. We’ve been talking a lot these past few days, and not only about working on her powers. Her parents never had a chance to teach Fosca how to use her powers, since they were killed before she had full ability to use them. They did, however, teach her about different supernatural beings.
Dammit, the dead body at the resort is becoming more than a complication. Nothing about this shit makes sense...unless someone is fucking with us.
“Or a dark entity,” I muse and look at Fosca when I add, “A demon isn’t the only one leaving sulfur. A dark entity is the same soulless supernatural as a demon. Like your brother.”
Silence falls and yet I’m pretty damn sure our minds are loud, at least mine is. Fuck. If this is the case? He’s either been planning for a while, or some things are a coincidence.
“What would Cassius gain by killing Tom on the resort’s property?” Karev questions.
Fosca glances at the open file laying on the table, and it’s then I realize she’s the link.
“A perfectly arranged meeting,” I state. “The chick and her husband could have been a coincidence, or part of his plan somehow.”
“What would be the plan?” Karev steps closer. “I mean, putting his sister in your path wouldn’t benefit him.”
“It would, if Sevrin killed me, which would trigger Sevrin’s own death. Two for the price of one. I don’t think Cassius was counting on us having a civil conversation...which we didn’t have initially.” Fosca shoves a chair back and sits down.
I round the table and take a seat across from her.
Releasing a deep sigh, I have to be honest, and it’s why I say, “I did want you dead and was trying to find a way without a backlash.”
“Hence the cuffs with the runes,” she murmurs.
Honesty is a pain in the ass. “Yes. Though, when I saw you standing knee deep in the ocean with your guards lowered? I saw the real you and felt the good.” Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I add, “When anger has been boiling for decades it’s hard to see the whole picture.
I hated the thought of you, what you represented, why we’re fated mates.
..everything is linked back to your brother who didn’t give anyone a choice. ”
Fosca bobs her head, her eyes give me a warm and understanding look. Fuck. It’s most definitely not something I deserve.
“If Cassius is behind this shit? He was counting on you killing each other, which takes away the ability of both your powers to evolve. Meaning the fucker doesn’t have any left himself if he’s leaving behind sulfur,” Levan states.
“Yes, the human had blunt force trauma to the head. He used a weapon instead of killing him by using powers,” Fosca murmurs, more to herself than to any of us.
Karev shakes his head. “Let’s not underestimate the fucker. He could have simply picked a human weapon to kill to make the authorities look at us as the killer.”
“Okay, so now what?” Fosca asks and narrows her eyes at me. “And don’t say lockdown or anything similar. I have a job and refuse to be locked away inside your shady clubhouse.”
Karev moves closer to her and gently states, “If this is all your brother’s doing, it means he wants both of you dead. Taking one out of the picture leaves the other vulnerable.”
Fosca jolts to her feet. “Fine. I get it, okay? I’ll come with you guys and stay at the damn clubhouse. But I mean what I said, tomorrow I’m going to work no matter what.”
“As long as you take me or one of my men with you at all times,” I counter.
She rubs her temples. “Having one of your men sit in the parking lot is one thing, having them in my office is a completely different pain in the ass to deal with.”
“I’ll sort it out through Nathan,” I tell her.
“I’m pretty sure I can sort it out myself with Nathan,” she fires back.
The corner of my mouth twitches, and my cock along with it due to the little spitfire in front of me. Her eyes are blazing and it’s clear she’s telling me she’s going to use her powers to control Nathan.
“I can’t wait to see you handle him, Fos,” I huskily tell her.
Karev shakes his head and Levan rolls his eyes. Fuckers.
Fosca shoves her chair back and gets to her feet. “I’ll pack a bag.”
“Make sure it holds enough for at least a couple of days,” I tell her.
She gives me the finger. “Screw you, Sevrin.”
“Salty,” I murmur. “I like it.”
There’s a muffled sound of frustration coming from her and it makes me chuckle.
Funny how the reasons I’ve lived and killed for over decades of time can evolve when you hit pause and glance at it from a different angle.
The hatred I felt for the thoughts of Cassius’s sister being my fated mate has dissolved and in its place is a lust simmering below my skin.
Hate. Lust. Each are four letter words with a load of heat for different reasons. For decades I’ve felt the hate and could cope. The lust, though? Fuck. It might burn even hotter when I stare at her ass as she walks away from me.