Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
A sudden surge of aggression had his fangs tingling. “And Remis and your father don’t suspect you?”
There was a long silence, and he knew she was trying to keep her emotions in check. So he reached out and took her hand.
“No, I’ve never mattered enough to be considered a threat to them,” she said roughly. “I broke up with Remis and then told Crawie to take the papers to the Audience House. I went up to Camp Ghreylke just long enough to make sure she was okay, that nothing came of her going to the Brotherhood. I figured I could call my father and Remis to me if something went wrong. If I’m in trouble, fine. Her, I will always protect.”
“Then Apex and I arrived.”
“And into the belly of the beast we all went.”
“Jesus,” he said, not for the first time. “So that was why Apex didn’t tell me shit about the job. It’s a fucking treason plot.”
With a feeling of dread, he put a hand into his ass pocket and took out the burner phone he used. But what kind of conversation could he have with the guy?
“You’re calling Apex?” she said.
“I need to know.” He held up the phone. “I gotta see what he says—and then I’m going to the Brotherhood. I’m not going to be involved in this kind of shady shit, no fucking way. And I ultimately control those security feeds. I can give them access.”
“You can’t tell Apex—or even the Brotherhood—where you are. I’m sorry, but I don’t know who to trust.”
“Oh, I’ll keep my location a secret.” He cleared his throat. “I’m not sure I can trust him, either.”
As he hit send on the male’s number, he got a series of rings. And then the anonymous voicemail. He ended the call.
“He didn’t pick up.”
Mahrci shook her head. “I’m sorry. Maybe he’s . . .”
“All along he refused to tell me anything about what we were doing—”
His phone started ringing, and he immediately answered. “What the fuck is going on.”
There was a chuckle. “Mayhem? Is that your name?”
Rising to his feet, he said, “Remis? What the fuck are you doing?”
“Looking for you. I mean, I found someone. But he’s not you—although he is remarkably loyal to you. You can’t believe what I’ve been doing to him, and he still won’t tell me where you are—”
Mayhem pegged Mahrci with hard eyes and put his forefinger to his lips, all shhhh.
“—no matter what I do to him.”
“You want me.” Mayhem stalked around the kitchen, his fangs fully descending. “You can have me. Leave Apex alone.”
“Well, at this point, there isn’t much left of him, soooooo—”
“I’ll come to you. At nightfall. But if he’s dead—”
“What are you going to do,” the male cut in with a bored tone.
“I’m going to disappear on you. And where’s the fun in that? Don’t hurt him anymore or you don’t get me.”
Mayhem ended the call and collapsed back down into his chair.
“Oh, my God,” Mahrci said. “What’s—”
Hopping back up to his feet, he ran down into the basement, where their duffle bags were. Rummaging through his own, he found his personal laptop, the one that he’d encrypted so completely that it might as well be in outer fucking space.
Signing in, he accessed the program controlling all those security units he and Apex had installed. The other male’s instructions had been clear: The feeds were supposed to go to three different places, Apex’s number and two others he hadn’t recognized, at least one of which had to be Whestmorel’s.
But thanks to a back door he’d created, he’d added a secret fourth, his own. Because . . . well, maybe his sniff test had been a little whiffy—
“Oh, fuck,” he breathed as he looked at the live feed from the great room.
“What is it,” Mahrci said as she came around the corner.
“Stop,” he ordered in a voice that cracked. “I don’t want you to see this—”
She fucked him right off and looked over his shoulder at the screen . . . at the picture of Apex tied to a chair, his face so bloody, the only way he could be ID’d was from his clothes.
“Oh, God,” she moaned as she wrenched away.
Mayhem slapped the laptop closed. “I’m going to fucking kill Remis. I’m going to fucking kill him at nightfall.”
“I’m coming with you—”
“The fuck you are—”
“I know the secret way in.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And you’re going to want the element of surprise. There were four males in the background, and the last thing you need is for them to kill him because they know you’re in the house.”
Tragically, she was right.
And between one blink and the next, all Mayhem could see were those animal heads, staring down at his old friend.
With their vacant glass eyes.
CHAPTER FORTY–TWO
At some point, pain wore out its receptors.