Chapter 46
CHAPTER
FORTY-SIX
ALISA
Lyle is going to speak on stage soon and I’m getting hungry again. Looking around, I search for a waiter with a tray. Easton got tired of Kenny’s bullshit a few minutes ago and had him kicked out. He’s at the entrance explaining to the security team that he can’t be allowed back in.
Kenny is a maggot who licks the current mayor’s fancy shoes. I’m thoroughly disgusted.
“What do you need?” Niall asks.
“Food,” I sigh. “Did they take it all away yet?”
“Naw. How are your feet doing? There’s a waiter with the Mac and cheese balls you liked earlier over there. It’s a fresh tray.”
“Oh my god, yes! My feet are fantastic. Let’s go before Lyle’s speech begins.”
Niall smirks as he walks beside me. There are a lot of people here now, and I gasp as someone grabs my hand. Turning, I see Aster’s hair in her usual severe bun, her glasses trying to hide the pinch at the corner of her eyes.
“Is everything okay, Aster?” I ask.
“I need you to come with me.”
She’s very strong as she begins to drag me away, and I twist to find Niall. He noticed almost immediately I was gone, but the crush of the crowd hides me as I’m pulled away.
“Can you please talk to me?” I ask, my free hand gathering the skirt of my dress with my fingers. “Aster!”
I am a half a second away from screaming. I don’t care why she’s doing this. I’m not a fool to be dragged around. I have a fucking voice and I plan to use it!
“I can’t tell you,” she hisses.
“Let go!” I scream, startling the woman beside me as I’m dragged away.
“Excuse me,” she gasps. I’m sure I sound insane, but I don’t care. I will kick up a fuss, because loud women don’t get kidnapped in the middle of the day.
“Fuck you too and help me,” I snap. “Aster, stop!”
My knife is in my hand, and when she yanks on me again, I cut her arm.
“She asked you to let her go,” Niall grunts, pulling her arms behind her back. He doesn’t give a shit about the blood dripped from her arm, and he whistles loudly for help as my body trembles with adrenaline. “I don’t give a fuck who you are.”
“It’s a matter of life or death,” Aster growls.
“Whose life and death?” I ask, my heart beating wildly.
“Let me go.”
“I don’t think so,” Abbott says, his hands in his pockets as he stops in front of us. “You tried to drag away the future mayor’s omega. She's very important to my pack, and as such I think that’s going to require some serious questioning.”
My eyes widen as I hear the truth in his words, even as I don't understand them. I’m a nobody.
Guards zip tie Aster’s wrists behind her without preamble and drag her to the side for further instruction. No one asks why the employee of the gardens is being removed, they’re all chatting and talking.
These are all powerful men and women in this city, and so many ignore the issues in Savannah. How is this possible?
“Are you okay?”
I blink slowly as I shake off my errant thoughts and look up at Abbott.
“Yeah. Thanks. I still don’t understand what she wanted.”
“Give my regards to Lyle, would you? I’m going to go find out,” he drawls. “Trouble seems to find Alisa, Niall. You’re going to need to keep her close.”
“I thought I was. Aster threw me,” Niall admits.
“She’s not supposed to be a bad person,” I mutter. “I’m so confused.”
“Either way, touching you was unacceptable,” Abbott says, stealing a few napkins from a waiter’s tray as he walks by. “Clean off your knife and put it away. I’ll take care of Aster.”
“Thank you.” There isn’t much blood as I clean it off and Niall takes the napkins and tosses them in the trash. I have to turn slightly away to return my knife to my holster to keep from flashing anyone, and it’s as if nothing happened.
“Can I get Alisa to come to the stage?” Lyle asks.
“Shit,” I whisper.
“I’m almost certain he feels there’s something wrong,” Abbott explains. “Have him call me.”
“I’m going to put my hand on your back. I need to know when you move,” Niall says as Abbott’s long legs take him away from us. The guards follow him with Aster when Abbott signals to them, and still, everyone ignores her yelling and cries. “Is that alright?”
“Yes.”
Fuck my snack. I don’t really want it anymore.
We begin walking around the crowd, and Niall keeps his hand on the small of my back. Every time I need to shift, he moves with me. I can see how this keeps him from losing me again.
Lyle is in an anxious state by the time I get to him and he yanks me to his chest to hug me tightly.
“What the fuck, baby?”
“Aster,” I sigh. “Abbott is taking care of it. He wants you to call him later.”
“I can see he’s realized we’re terrible at asking for help,” he mutters.
Niall snorts loudly, and then shrugs. “Unless you’re paying us, you are shit at it.”
“I felt your anxiety,” Lyle says to me. “Thank you for reminding me of my faults, Niall.”
“You’re okay?” Silas growls, pulling me away from Lyle.
“I’m good. I swear it. Aster was really intense and I don’t know why. She kept saying it was a matter of life or death.”
“And she’s…”
“Taken care of for now,” Niall says. “Finish this event and then go from there. I think this may be a longer night than you had planned though.”
“Go, Lyle. They’re ready for you.”
My alpha makes a face and I take a deep breath. “Would it help if I stand with you?”
“Are you suggesting I need you to hold my hand?” Lyle asks, his lips twitching. “Fuck it. Yes, it would. I don’t want you out of my sight.”
Silas kisses my temple and releases me as Lyle takes my hand.
“I’m coming on stage,” Niall grunts. “She’s my charge until you’re done.”
“Glad you’re taking it seriously,” Lyle murmurs, walking up the stairs with me. He attaches the microphone to his lapel and moves to the front of the stage. “We’re ready to begin. May I have your attention?”
Everyone quickly quiets down and Lyle doesn’t seem inclined to release me.
“Thank you for being here. It was never my plan to run for office, but there comes a time where the only way to change something is to step up.”
I keep my eyes on him and ignore the crowd beyond us as he explains the reasons he’s running for mayor.
Safety, the sex trafficking, and the lack of accountability to help the unhoused people in our city rank high in his speech.
I find my eyes welling with tears as he continues and someone presses a handkerchief into my free hand.
I know exactly who that is and I hold tightly to it.
“I know this isn’t going to be easy,” Lyle says. “We need to stop ignoring our responsibilities.”
Thinking about how easily they ignored me, I struggle not to frown. This isn’t about me, and the last thing I want to do is to be dragged into his speech.
“People disappear every day in our city, and the last thing we need to do is continue to ignore it.”
Huh. Maybe I am influencing Lyle. I know our bond is definitely loud between us, and he’s very passionate as he speaks. I don’t hate it.
My alpha has everyone clapping by the end, and all I can do is hope Lyle can make some of these people give a shit.
If enough people vote for him, he can at least find a way to change things to make it safer for everyone.
Sometimes it’s about getting enough people to trust you so you can fix the things that are broken.
Lyle removes the microphone and places it on a table, and then he’s walking down the stairs with me.
“They’ve all had enough time to talk to you,” Silas says. “We’re out of here.”
Niall acts as our guard as he keeps anyone from stopping us as we leave, and Easton falls into place beside us easily.
“I hear there’s been a development,” he says.
“Isn’t there always?” I ask, allowing him to help me into the SUV as soon as we cross the parking lot.
“Touché, baby girl. Troy wants in on this,” he says, getting in as I slide down the row of seats.
“We’ll swing by and pick him up,” Lyle says. “I don’t want to be separated right now.”
“Is it terrible that I want to call Hollis?” I ask. Looking in the mirror I blot at any tears that escaped earlier and Silas shakes his head.
“Call her. Maybe she can shed some light on this bullshit. You never know.”
I dip my head as I pull my seatbelt on and pull out my phone. The strap on my purse kept me from losing it or I definitely would have. Taking a deep breath, I press her name to connect the call and lean back in my seat.
I hear her laugh as she answers, and I wince, knowing I might be derailing her day.
“Hey, Alisa. What’s up?”
“We’re heading home from Lyle’s event. It was held at the botanical gardens,” I explain.
“I will never think about the gardens in Minneapolis the same way again after my last experience there,” she sighs.
“Why?” I ask, pressing the speaker button. Shit, I should have done that sooner.
“I had the shit kicked out of me there,” Hollis replies. “I was in the hospital for a while recovering. Please tell me that wasn’t your experience.”
“No, I’m fine. The problem is that the employee there tried to drag me away. Aster kept saying—”
“Who? Alisa. I need you to repeat that. Who?”
“Aster Pheris,” Silas says, speaking slightly louder for her benefit. “She is in charge of the events at the gardens.”
“Fuck. That stupid fucking bitch just doesn’t know when to stop,” Hollis growls.
“Pardon?” Easton asks.
“She was involved in what happened to me. Aster swore she was being blackmailed to help someone because of her sister, and pulled me away from the people at my event. Cian wanted to kill her, but we let her go because it sounded as if her sister was a minor. Aster swore she’d leave town.”
“Goddamnit,” Silas breathes. “She mentioned to me that she was originally from Minneapolis and then bounced around until she landed in Savannah.”
“There’s no way you could have known based on those very few facts,” Hollis says. “Are we killing the bitch or interrogating?”
“Abbott is interrogating it sounded like,” I reply. “Oh, we should probably call him next. My first instinct was to call you.”
“As it should be,” Hollis says. “I’d like to be looped in, please. Call me back when the good shit starts?”
“Will do,” I say. “Bye, Hollis.”
Lyle is calling Abbott on the phone using his bluetooth once I hang up, and I take another deep breath. The laws of coincidence are screaming at me right now.
“Something is rotten in the state of Savannah,” Easton breathes.
My lips twitch as I dip my chin in his direction. Fuck yeah it is. Time to clean shit up.