We run up to the house and jimmy the door open. It doesn’t take much. The layout of the house is pretty standard for most of the homes here. Small open dining and kitchen. Three small bedrooms and a bathroom. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Who needs fancy when you live in paradise, right?
I push open the door to the bedroom, my knife glinting in the moonlight.
I walk over to the bed and stand there while Keagan bounces up onto it. Waking Sorrel Lardass up with a shriek fit for the finest pig.
Keagan is as vicious as they come. If he loves you, he loves you. But he hates the rest of the world and lives for moments like these, when I let him off his chains.
In that, the three of us are the same. There’s a reason the islanders are scared of us. But the truth is if you give us no reason, the Daane won’t look your way.
Unfortunately for poor little Sorrel, the half dead omega we rescued a few nights back is the most precious person in this world. Our scent match.
And we will make every person on this planet bend the knee for her if we choose to.
Keagan kneels down with one knee pinning our flatulent friend to the bed. I surge up, shoving my knife up against his throat.
“Now, we have some questions, and if I don’t like the answers, I’m going to start cutting, do you understand me, Sorrel?”
“Y-yes!”
Beau leans in from the other side. “Now, tell us everything you know about Aspyn Montauk.”
PresentDay
We’re hiding too much from Aspyn and Gael, as well, for that matter. Neither of them are coping with being here. Gael spends most of the night pacing the hallways, unable to sleep. He withdraws into the estate business instead of dealing with his feelings.
Aspyn, though, is like a wilting flower. With every minute that passes that we stay here, she is just floundering. The aggression of the staff bruised her. Seeing our pictures in the newspapers and on the internet everywhere has cut her deeply.
What they are saying is making her withdraw into herself.
I’ve tried to reach Nat repeatedly, and I can’t get through to her. I make a call I’ve been putting off.
“Mael?” I say when the phone picks up.
“You need another favour, cousin?”
“I do. Aspyn’s best friend has gone missing. She was meant to be following us here a couple of days ago, but she never showed up. The ticket I bought her went unclaimed. That guy I had you looking into, have you found anything yet?”
Mael sniffs. “She didn’t run off with someone else-”
“No, Nat is Aspyn’s ride or die. She might go off for a day, but she always, always checks in.”
“And you can’t handle it because?”
“I’m fighting a war on all fronts at the moment.”
Mael is quiet for a long moment. “Do you need our help?”
“Probably. Things are getting out of control.”
“We’re on our way.”
I walk outside and stop, seeing someone suddenly run for the driveway. I’m not sure what time it is, but I can guess what happened.
If I chase him down right now, I might very well kill him, and Kelly has asked politely to lead this situation and not to kill or hurt anyone.
My patience is wearing thin.
I approach the cars and find them dripping with something that smells absolutely repulsive. The tires are slit, and written on the ground in blood is the word ‘Traitor’.