CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
– SEVRIN –
Karev is right. My mother could sense evil.
She gained the ability after she completed the bond with my father.
It saved their asses more than once over centuries.
It’s the reason why I know about it, because my mother has told me more than once about the new abilities my parents gained through their bond.
The way Fosca describes it makes me think she gained the same ability. Doesn’t matter if I’m right or not; I’m going to listen to her instinct anyway. Putting my gun back in its holster, I grab my phone and shoot a message to Lucan.
“I don’t care if it’s the middle of the day, I’m bringing in the centaurs,” I announce and hit send on the message.
“Where do you need me?” Karev asks.
“The humans.” I jerk my chin in the direction of the shed. “Help Shock. Call Nathan.”
Fosca shivers when Karev shakes his head. “I should stay here with you guys.”
“Go,” I snarl and hold my hand out for Fosca to take. “We got this.”
Fosca links her fingers with mine and a strong gush of wind knocks down the frames hanging from the walls.
She gives me a firm nod and turns to Karev. “We’re stronger together. There’s four of us and only one of him.”
The floor starts to shake underneath us from the hum of power radiating from us.
Karev rushes out of the kitchen when I rumble, “Remember...”
She cuts me off by finishing my sentence, “Don’t touch him. I know.”
I’ve drilled this little piece of information into her brain. The first time we met she grabbed my wrist to make sure the blast of power went through me. She doesn’t need it anymore due to our bond and the work she put in to learning to use her powers.
Squeezing her hand, I give her a small nod. Our focus turns to the door where darkness crawls in through waves of black gray smoke. A rush of wind blows it through the room while the ground beneath our feet trembles again.
“Calm down,” I whisper, feeling the anger rippling from Fosca.
If there was any doubt about Fosca working with or for her brother? There would be none now. The anger I’m sensing can’t be faked. There’s only utter anger overtaking her emotions and it’s not what we need right now.
“Take a breath,” I urge, but it’s too late.
For the first time I come face-to-face with my nemesis. Gray smoke swirls around him. Black, beady eyes sunk deep in his gray face. There are deep purple veins pulsing under his skin, as if he’s carrying the mark of being struck by lightning several times.
His fingers are bony and look dirty with the dark gray markings on his skin. He doesn’t look like a man, more like a reaper of souls. No wonder he needed humans to do his work because the fucker can’t show his face out on the street unless it’s Halloween.
“This ends here,” I grit.
A dark laugh comes from Cassius. He doesn’t even spare me a glance, and keeps his gaze locked on Fosca.
“Cassia Fosca Decimus. The legend becomes you.” Cassius’s voice sounds as if there’s a deep echo following his words.
“Fuck you, brother,” Fosca snarls and flicks her hand, launching a water ball surrounded with lightning at him.
It smacks against some invisible wall right in front of Cassius, who doesn’t even twitch. The fucker has a shield surrounding him. No wonder he felt safe enough to show his face for the first time.
“We will meet again very soon, Cassia. We will face what’s really important, and it doesn’t concern him. Your part is done, now we can move forward. Know your place, your blood, your future. Meet me where you agreed to my terms. It’s time for the next step.”
His words create confusion, even more when the fucker suddenly snaps, “Gemini Neptuni.”
Fosca instantly releases my hand. I feel a rush blow past me and before I can so much as blink, both of them are gone.
“What the fuck?” I roar and rush forward.
There’s no trace of Fosca. I would say Cassius disappeared along with her, but I definitely feel watched. Following my instinct, I walk down the street and get a glimpse of gray smoke. I jump into a run and hear the fucker’s cold laugh as it slowly fades into nothing.
A car honking draws my attention and I notice Nathan sitting in the middle of the road.
He rolls his window down. “What’s going on?”
“Fuck if I know,” I growl and add, “Follow me.”
Jogging back to the house I wait for Nathan to park his car and have my phone in hand to shoot a message to Shock.
“Karev said you guys found the missing persons?” Nathan asks.
I throw my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the house. “The two who did it are dead inside. Had to shoot them, self-defense and all. You need to take it over from here on out. Here...”
I grab my gun and wipe off the prints. “It’s untraceable.
Put one of those dead asshole human’s prints on it.
You can say you were following a lead or something and managed to take their guns when one tried to kill the other.
Whatever. Think of something that’ll work. I have to leave. Fosca is missing.”
“What?” Karev asks as he and Shock come around the house with the three missing persons.
“I’ll fill you in later,” I grunt and turn to Nathan. “We good here?”
“Go.” Nathan nods. “I’ll handle it.”
Shock and Karev follow me as we head for the SUV and bikes.
Karev grabs my arm. “What the hell happened in there?”
“She’s gone.” I rip my arm from his grip and keep walking.
“I have no fucking clue what happened. Cassius came inside and started spouting nonsense. I could feel how much she hated him. She...she...fuck. I don’t know.
One moment she was there, then she simply dropped my hand and was gone the next second. Like she was ripped away from me.”
I run a hand over my neck and shake my head as I let the moment replay inside my head.
“Does Cassius have her? Did he take her?” Shock is in front of me while he walks backwards.
Grabbing the keys from the SUV, I rip the door open. “I don’t think so. I ran out and could sense him. I can’t feel where Fosca is, but she wasn’t there when that fucker was slithering away.”
“Fuck,” Karev grumbles. “Let’s get back to the clubhouse and hear what the others have to say. Maybe Triton can locate her.”
Without a word I get inside the SUV and start the engine. My emotions are all over the place and it’s something I definitely don’t need if I want to sense my woman. Dammit. What a fucked-up time to be riding in a cage. Riding my bike would be a hell of a lot better.
Time drags on and the restlessness inside me hasn’t diminished by the time I park the SUV in front of the clubhouse.
Levan and Drop park their bikes beside Karev’s bike. Most of the others are back from taking out the humans Cassius had a grip on. We get inside the clubhouse and once the door falls shut behind us, it’s Karev who gives a harsh whistle to get everyone’s attention.
“Cassius showed his face,” I bellow, and silence instantly follows so I continue, “Fosca tried to attack him but he was protected by a shield. He said some shit and suddenly Fosca was gone.”
“Gone?” Triton asks and steps closer. “What do you mean? What exactly did he say give me all the details?”
I release a frustrating sigh and try to remember. “He said shit like ‘The legend becomes you.’ He completely ignored me and only had eyes for his sister.”
“Is she working with him? Did she use you to get knocked up and then return to her brother or some shit?” Levan grits and I take a step in his direction, ready to rip his head off.
Karev grabs my shoulder. “He has every right to throw the question out in the open, Prez. We need to know what the fuck is going on and be ready for anything.”
Fuck. I know he’s right, but I do know what I fucking feel in my gut.
“She’s not working with him. I could feel the damn hate she has for him,” I grit.
Triton is looking at his feet and is silent. He gets like this when he’s inside his head, figuring things out.
“What, Triton,” I snap, getting more agitated by the damn second.
Triton frowns when he gives me his attention. “Did he say or do anything right before Fosca disappeared? Here, give me your hand.”
I hold out my hand and Triton covers it with his, red lightning dances from his fingers.
His eyes glaze over and he rambles in a detached voice, “We will meet again very soon, Cassia. We will face what’s really important, and it doesn’t concern him.
Your part is done, now we can move forward.
Know your place, your blood, your future.
Meet me where you agreed to my terms. It’s time for the next step. ”
Triton removes his hands and announces, “Gemini Neptuni.”
I nod. “Yes, that’s what the fucker said right before she let go of my hand and then she was gone.”
“He planned this,” Triton muses.
“Gemini Neptuni,” Levan recites. “Neptune’s testicle? Why the fuck would that motherfucker be talking about testicles?”
Triton shakes his head. “Twins. Children. He meant Neptune’s twins. And from what I could see through Prez’s memory? The fucker used it as a trigger. He must have put a spell on her, kinda like hypnosis, and ordered her to do something when he used a trigger word imprinted in her brain.”
A trigger? Ordered her to do something? What the fuck is going on?