Page 45 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
If Santiago knew he was cursed and turned in his own wife for casting it, I doubted he’d come anywhere near this company out of a fear that they’d attempt it again.
Something…or someone was cursed. I knew that much now, I just didn’t know how to stop this fucking curse from killing the men I was starting to care about.
Chapter33
Beyla
Ibrought my dinner back to my bedroom and ate it there. Arden and Bevan were still hanging out in the living room with Nyx, and my head was spinning. I had more of the backstory of this ballet, but a lot wasmissing from that file.
I could appreciate that things were different back then, but this wasn’t handled like a normal bureau investigation. Yeah, Selena was arrested for casting the curse, but they never apprehended whoever had been killing the cast. That wasn’t even in the file, and would have been standard procedure, even back then.
There were expert curse breakers at the bureau. Even if there weren’t an entire department for that in those days, there would have been agents with that specialty. If witches stepped in when shit hit the fan, no one with a curse on them was left to run around free.
The original murderer wouldn’t have been held accountable for what the curse made them do, but no one in their right mind would have just left them on the street. They would have been brought in with Selena, and detained until someone figured out if the curse could be broken.
It didn’t make any fucking sense! The arresting agent who took Santiago’s statement should have asked, but they didn’t. That was when it hit me… Santiago was Unseelie. He had been Unseelie Court property and had escaped from them, based on everything I’d read. That was no small feat, considering how Marsden had reacted when I asked if Santiago was a prince.
I hadn’t been in the bureau long enough to know about any open cases apart from mine, but Kaine talked about some of his cases without giving me too much detail. I knew plenty of agents at the bureau wanted to make a name for themselves by taking down the Unseelie.
Even I had heard the rumor that the Unseelie were responsible for a lot of the illicit drugs on the street. Everyone knew they liked to collect various people for their talents for their own amusement. The Unseelie were crafty, and there was zero proof of any of it. Most people who escaped from them weren’t going to draw attention to themselves by giving information against them... that was a death sentence.
This file was starting to make sense. If Santiago had been cursed by Selena, then he probably knew how complicated it would be to break it if it were actually possible. He’d be stuck in a holding cell while witches tried, and wouldn’t be allowed to leave until the curse was broken. He’d be a sitting duck for the Unseelie to take out.
Perhaps he found a corrupt agent and made a deal - information on the Unseelie for his freedom. That was the only thing this could be. But who was killing dancers after he left the country?
I snapped out of my reverie when I heard a loud thump outside my door. That soundeda lotlike a gryphon in a big mood sleeping outside my door again, after I already told him I wasn’t an Unseelie slave.
I flung my door open, and, sure enough, there he was. I wasn’t going to be able to get out of my bedroom again because Arden likes to sleep in.
“Arden!” I yelled.
He ruffled his wings and craned his eagle head at me. His golden eyes just took me in. He wouldn’t move unless I made him.
“Change back!” I demanded.
Arden shifted back and stretched out naked on the floor. Why did this stupid gryphon have to look so damn good naked? He saw me peeking… of course he did. I dragged my eyes up and focused on his face. That asshole was smirking at me.
“Arden, why are you out here? I already told you I don’t belong to the Unseelie and that no one is coming for me.”
“Oh, I know, but something has you spooked, pumpkin. If you brazenly wore red to class and poked the beast, then I know you don’t scare easy. You don’t have to tell me, but I’m not moving.”
I should have been pissed about that, but it was oddly sweet. Yeah, I was a little spooked and definitely in over my head. I hadn’t wanted to dance Damita because I thought it would put a target on my back, but it was the understudy that got murdered. Well, after she drove the prima ballerina crazy and stole her part that is, but she still died. I absolutelycould nottake that part from Bellatrix.
I was going to need help. Don’t ask me why I said this, or why I was even still thinking about it. Arden was asleep when he tackled me and assaulted me with snuggles. It was fucking weird and awkward at the time, but it was also… lovely. Why was I even thinking about being back in his arms when I was here for a job?
Still, I already knew he wasn’t going to leave. Nothing I could say to him was going to convince him something didn’t have me spooked. He was a shifter, so could hear my heartbeat. He’d know if I was lying, but if I told him the truth, it would make things worse. It took special training and a much better rank than I had at the bureau to be able to lie convincingly to shifters, gryphons, and vampires.
What the fuck was I doing?
“You aren’t sleeping on the floor. Come get in my bed.”
Why my bed and not the couch? Yeah, okay, Iwantedhim in my bed, and I even wanted to snuggle with him again.
Arden stretched out and made like he was coming into my bedroom. I struggled to keep my eyes on his. I cleared my throat and pointed at his cock.
“Boxers! I didn’t just invite you to sleep in my bed bare assed.”
Arden turned and picked his boxers up off the floor, giving me a delightful view of his tight ass.
