SERAPHINA
âDo you think this will require a lot of blood?â I asked. My voice echoed emptily in the sterile clinic. My gaze was fixed on the woods outside the window, trying to find solace in the tranquility they offered.
These days, peace was a rare commodity in my life, not since bits and pieces of my memory had begun to return.
âIâm not sure. It depends on what we find,â Marcus responded. His face was etched with a permanent scowl.
He was still disgruntled about the predicament he was inâa captive and slave to my desires. I didnât really care whether he was comfortable with the situation or not, but it was crucial that he kept quiet about it to both Garrick and Aleksandr.
His loud mouth was what landed him here in the first place, effectively saving him. It had been convenient to have him vanish like everyone else in the massacre. Bodies were even now still unidentified weeks later.
Some good came out of all the bloodshed as far as hiding the doctor went.
âYou have all the data you could possibly need here. It canât be that hard to figure out whatâs happening with me or what powers I possess,â I insisted. I retracted my arm as he finished drawing blood.
âHe used the word Karkadann, which is like a Unicorn. So it has to mean something, right?â
âIf pure and innocent are what youâre going for, I canât say those words describe you,â Marcus retorted. His tone was harsher than necessary.
âQuit sulking. Youâre the one who betrayed my trust first. If you want to regain it, you need to figure out whatâs wrong with me,â I snapped back. I reminded him of his continuous HIPPA violations.
It would have been a minor issue if the information hadnât reached my enemies.
âIâm not sulking; Iâm angry. I feel like a trained rat in a cage. Youâre just projecting your trust issues by trying to control the situation andââ
âEnough with the psychoanalysis. Iâm not in the mood,â I cut him off. I gathered my belongings.
I was ready to leave.
âEasy for you to say, considering you can come and go as you please. Telling me my sister is in jail and the coven is disbanded. Oh, and by the way, everyone is dead, every single staff member that was associated with you!â
âEvelynâs alive; she knows youâre here now,â I replied. It was as if it were a soothing balm after he had repeatedly blown up on me at the idea of being here without an outside contact.
Entirely removed from the world without codes that would release anyone from the facility; leaving them to essentially die.
Of course, the fact that I held Marcusâs life in my hands was not his priority. Instead, he focused on his own projections that had everything to do with the way he felt about me.
âAnd the wolf is okay with you sleeping with the corpse?â he asked.
I didnât respond. I was already done with Marcus and his intrusive questions. I grabbed my briefcase and left him in his gilded cage, knowing he would be safe and useful when I needed him later.
And most importantly, silent.
Surviving a massacre that left seventy-eight dead and living to tell the tale had earned me a reputation in the underworld. The horrific discovery at my home couldnât be completely concealed.
My new reputation was as a deranged butcher or a woman who slept her way to the top of dangerous men who did her bidding.
Aleksandr had attempted to replace my security company twice, settling with a fifty-fifty mix of men he approved of as well as those Garrick wanted placed in charge.
I hadnât regained all of my memory, not by a long shot, despite the nightmares of Zagreus that began to feel more real as time passed. It was as if something were waiting to unravel, but someone or something needed to pull the thread first. A shoe, waiting to drop.
My daily routine for the past month had involved a lot of contact with Garrickâfilled with longing looks, heated nights, and a magical bond that occasionally triggered my powers. As well as run-ins with Aleksandr that made it hard to resist physical contact during lengthy business meetings.
My contact with him left me more in control of my day-to-day.
Garrickâs large, warm hand pressed intimately into the small of my back as he took my elbow. He leaned in to whisper in my ear, sending a delightful shiver down my spine.
âChenâs men are armed, but they donât know about the extra men in the bar. You should be safe tonight,â he murmured.
I managed to keep my smile intact, even though I was inwardly cringing at the jerk I was about to face. I was prepared to handle him as professionally as possible after the fallout at my house.
I attempted to show I was grateful, but not too grateful.
I took each step with purpose, settling across from Chen. Garrick placed a briefcase beside me just as a waiter poured me a glass of white wine.
I allowed myself a sip, my gaze never wavering from Chen, who sat with his fingers intertwined, a puzzled expression on his face as he glanced to the right.
I paid no mind to his looks, confident that my guys could handle any shady move Chen might make if he chose not to play fair. I wasnât scared of covering up another murder, especially after seeing how easily the mess at my mansion was handled.
The massacre had still been a big enough disaster to make the papers, but I was conveniently âout of townâ during and after the incident with hard alibis.
âShall we get this meeting underway?â
Chen didnât respond, his eyes darting to the side again before he frowned and nodded. âBusiness.â
âIâve already told you Iâm not selling. I considered your offer, but your bids were laughable from the start, and I thinkââ
âIâm sorry. I must apologize for my rudeness, but bringing a cat to a restaurant when Iâm severely allergic is the real joke here,â Chen retorted, a look of disgust on his face as he slammed his hand down, pointing to another table.
I turned to look, slightly confused, at a black shape in the middle of a white tablecloth. It dawned on me that it was indeed a cat, and I was taken aback, having no idea about Chenâs allergy.
Yet, I was amused and surprised to see the same stray cat I fed, here of all places. âI wasnât awareââ
âYour men should have done a better job of checking the place,â Chen snapped, already sniffling and dabbing at his reddening eyes and face.
âYouâll have to try harder to kill me if you want to continue to be a low-balling, underhanded witch!â he continued to rant as he knocked over his chair and stormed off, choking and sneezing on his own spit as he retreated.
âYouâre trying to kill me!â
His sneezing and coughing echoed as he went out the back, leaving me in stunned silence. As soon as the back door slammed shut, the rest of his collective men followed suit. They left me blinking in surprise at their hasty exit as they all began to file out.
Choosing to take a sip of my wine, I glanced back at the cat with a curious smile on my lips. My men, including Garrick, started barking orders. Garrick seemed just as aghast as I felt.
âIâll double-check everything is clear. What a waste of fucking time,â Garrick muttered.
âI didnât know he was allergic,â I said with a small laugh, taking another sip with a shrug.
Garrick didnât pay me any mind. He rolled his eyes as he headed out the door as well, leaving me to my meal and wine along with some soothing jazz.
âWell, that was easier than I expected,â I mused, raising my glass to the cat before taking another sip.
The jet-black cat looked up at me, its eyes opening from a sleepy slumber. They were the most striking eyes Iâd ever seen. Each eye had two colorsâgreen closest to its nose and a startling bright blue on the other side of its pupil.
Its ears were short and perky, twitching as they listened to the sounds around it. I paused mid-sip. The catâs eyes held an uncanny intelligence.
âSo, are you ever going to talk to me, or are you going to keep pretending youâre just a cat?â I asked.
As if checking if anyone was listening, it cocked its ears to both sides. It blinked at me slowly, making me wonder if it would respond at all.
A part of me was wondering if I really had gone mad the longer I had stared into the eyes of a mad god. Everything I was thinking and feeling these days had to be a lie.
âI suppose that depends. Are you going to keep pretending youâre just a human? Or, will you tell all your friends that youâre this mysterious orb theyâre all looking for, Seraphina?â the cat replied.
End of Book