CHAPTER ELEVEN
– SEVRIN –
I’m on edge. Going from pure bliss to fucked-up shit is a yo-yo effect that drives me close to insanity.
After Fosca’s fertile scent hit my nose I didn’t have a choice; I had to claim her as mine.
She deserved to know the truth, and it’s a good thing our bodies were locked together or she would have bolted.
Then we had a beautiful repeat before everything crashed and burned. Not to mention, Karev told me he couldn’t get a hold of Holton. I have a gut feeling the dead body could be Holton instead of an innocent guest. It’s another reason why I’m on edge, basically a chain reaction of everything.
Mostly the uncertainty, not having a grip on the whole situation. At least, with the dead body I know the fucker is still here and not after my niece. Hopefully, the knowledge of her existence and whereabouts are still unknown to the fucker.
He’s killed his own blood without thinking twice.
He killed my siblings, and is still out for revenge since the first drop of blood tainted his hands.
If the fucker knew the child of the woman who was promised to him, who was supposed to be his fated mate.
..a part of her is still walking this planet?
Yeah, her being a mere mortal or not, he’d hunt my niece down and kill her.
The scent of the ocean hits me and instantly calms the restlessness inside me as I park my bike. I hold my hand out for Fosca and she gracefully steps off.
Karev parks next to me and snaps, “It’s Holton.”
“Fuck no,” I grit and I hear Fosca gasp beside me.
I barely manage to grab her elbow to prevent her from rushing past me, and rumble, “Stay close.”
We move toward the two cops who are about to stop us when Nathan bellows, “Let them through.”
A man is near the headless body, taking photographs.
“Dave,” Fosca acknowledges the guy and starts to talk to him.
Nathan steps closer to us. “We can’t find the head. It was a clean decapitation by the looks of it.”
“Someone was standing behind him. I’m pretty sure he didn’t see it coming,” Fosca states.
I let my gaze go over our surroundings. It’s the same place the other body was dumped, as if it’s a statement telling us “I did it again.” This time it’s one of our own, a direct hit. One of the resort maids is standing behind the police tape.
Not pointing at her, I ask Karev, “Wasn’t she working the same night the other body showed up?”
Karev’s gaze turns in her direction and the woman quickly turns and makes a run for it.
“Fuck,” Karev grumbles and jumps into a run.
I’m torn between staying put and giving chase until I get a hard shove against my shoulder.
“Go,” Fosca orders. “Don’t worry about me, dammit. I’m staying right here with a horse shifter who has a gun.”
“Don’t take your fucking eyes off her,” I order Nathan and rush around the building.
It’s a fifty-fifty chance the maid went straight through the main lobby when she ran inside. There’s no one out there when I get there, but I do hear Karev cursing a few feet away from me.
“What happened?” I ask.
Karev spins around. “She vanished before my eyes.”
“Vanished?”
“Yeah. One moment she was running, the next she’s gone. Poof. Fucking gone,” Karev growls. “And I could smell it on her, Prez. I could smell sulfur wafting off her.”
I rub the back of my neck. “Maybe she’s a demon, helping Cassius.”
“Well, she’s definitely not human.” Karev walks back through the lobby and I follow behind him.
I reach for my phone when I hear a notification of an incoming message. Triton is here along with a handful of other brothers. It’s a good thing too because I need him to throw some magic around.
The tension slightly ebbs away when my gaze hits Fosca. Funny how hate can build high fucking walls as vengeance festers under your skin. Especially when it comes to the Decimus family. Though, somehow over the past few days Fosca got under my skin in a whole different way.
I don’t mean it in the sense of love, but more in the way of opening my eyes to see the benefits of having her as my mate. We’re not on opposite sides. The doubt and insincerity has evaporated. Through the link we’ve established I can say...I can feel...my mate is sincere in her actions.
What we have isn’t linked with love, and we’re not exactly friends. I consider it more something in the lines of a compromise acceptance. It also makes her mine, the president’s old lady, and I’ll be damned if I let anyone take her from me, especially her fucked-up brother.
We walk back to where Nathan and Fosca are standing, along with a handful of our brothers.
“Where is she?” Nathan asks.
“I blinked and she was gone,” Karev grumbles.
Triton frowns. “Maybe she actually blinked, or did she shimmer, flash, dissolve, what did it look like?”
Karev glares at our club brother. “Fucking poof, man. She was running one moment, she turned and froze, then she was gone. Like...there, not there.”
“So, she did blink,” Triton muses. “Do we have a visual of this woman? Who is she?”
“A maid who works here. I recognized her from the night Nathan and Fosca were here due to the dead body.” I pull my phone from my jeans and type out a message. “I’ll have Stingray give me headshots of all the maids and other women working here.”
“You don’t know everyone?” Fosca asks, surprise in her voice.
Karev answers for me. “We only help out at the resort every now and then, or sleep in one of the rooms when the clubhouse is full. Holton is the one who runs the resort. We have a few other businesses. The members are divided over all of them and we all have our own jobs to keep them afloat. Prez here for instance, he likes our latest acquisition...the brewery.”
I thumb through the pictures from the IDs Stingray messaged me and snap in annoyance, “Why was she here, wearing one of our uniforms, if she’s not on the payroll? How the fuck does that happen?”
“Are you sure she’s the same one you saw the night of the other murder?” Nathan asks.
Karev gets in Nathan’s face. “Innocent people don’t jump into a run the way she did.”
Nathan shrugs. “You’d be surprised.”
“Do we know if she left anything? Touched anything?” Triton asks.
Karev’s attention shifts to Triton. “Follow me.”
I move with them and watch Karev explain to Triton how the woman touched the counter when she rushes past it.
Triton glances around him to make sure no human eyes are near before he lets his hand hover above it.
Lightning crackles between the counter and his hand as Triton inhales and closes his eyes.
Triton removes his hand and turns to Karev. “She blinked.”
Karev is wearing a “duh” expression and waits for him to clarify.
The whole thing is annoying and taking too damn long, it’s why I grit, “Out with it.”
“The woman’s a genie,” Triton states.
“A genie. The kind that comes with a fucking bottle?” Karev asks.
“No bottle, but yeah, the wishing and fulfilling kind for humans that comes with a deadly twist. I have no clue why she’d be here, or involved in all of this.
Genies mostly stay far away from supernatural beings, not to mention steer clear of trouble.
Hence the reason why I mentioned not understanding why she’s involved.
” Triton steps closer to me. “But if a genie is involved? This shit has blown out of proportion.”
I’m about to ask why when Fosca comes to a stop next to me. “What’s going on?”
Triton’s nostrils flare and he glances at her belly, eyes go wide when he snaps, “Seriously? No. Fuck. Why the hell didn’t I see this coming?”
He holds out his hand and without thinking Fosca glides her palm over his. Triton’s eyes cloud over with a sheen of white. It’s only a mere moment and then he’s pulling his hand away, backing up a few steps as he shakes his head.
“We need to take her back to the clubhouse and not here in the open. Now,” Triton grits.
“What’s going on?” Fosca repeats.
Triton’s gaze lands on me. “Soundproof us.”
With a twist of my fingers I make a dome to cover us, shutting out everything around us and making Karev and Fosca step closer.
Pointing at Fosca’s belly, Triton rambles, “You two conceived when you completed the fated mate bond. I don’t know how or why, but those twins she’s carrying? They are equal to Neptune and Jupiter...brothers...sons of Saturn...god of...time. Fuck.”
Fosca places a hand on her belly and I hate the shocked expression on her face. Stepping closer, I sneak my arm around her waist to pull her close. Fuck knows what it all means, but one way or another? We’re going to find out and deal with it together.