Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
My eventual family.
I shake my head. Where the fuck did that thought come from? I have about a thousand and one problems to solve before I start thinking about a family.
Reaching into my pocket, I dig out my phone and scroll to a number I haven’t called in forever. My breathing grows tight when I hit the green button to make the call. It takes a moment to connect then goes directly to voicemail. There is no greeting. There never has been. Just a beep to leave a message.
I don’t.
Switching to text, I type one out.
We need to talk.
The checkmark appears almost instantly telling me the message has been sent. But that’s where it ends. There’s no second checkmark to confirm delivery.
Of course, it could mean nothing. Thiago’s never given a single shit about answering his phone or even listening to messages. Hell, for all I know, he changed his number years ago. Or maybe his phone is out of battery. But something in my gut tells me it’s neither of those things.
I dial another number.
“Santos?” Addy asks when she picks up.
“Hey Addy,” I say, hearing the familiar music of the strip club in the background. “How are things?”
“Not much has changed since the other night. Or did you forget you and Thiago visited?”
I turn away from the staircase—not that anyone should be listening, but I take a few steps into the dark corridor I just came from before I speak.
“Has he been back?”
There’s a pause I don’t like, and her tone is heavier when she responds. “Why?”
“Just need to check he’s all right.”
“I told you the other night he wasn’t. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Probably nothing. Look, if you see him, let me know, okay?”
“Yeah. Of course. You two need to work through your shit. You were like brothers once, remember?”
I wasn’t the one who forgot. “Yeah, I remember. Let me know. It’s important.”
“I will, Santos.”
I disconnect the call and tuck the phone back into my pocket, heading down the stairs. I find Val in the kitchen eating a sandwich at the long counter as he chats with Melissa, one of the cooks. When she sees me, her smile vanishes, and she straightens up to go back to work washing dishes. Val puts the last of his sandwich into his mouth.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Born ready.”
“Do you know where my mother is by the way?”
“Out for dinner.”
“This late?”
He shrugs, and we make our way to the basement door. Before opening it, I turn to him. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“Put a tail on my brother.”
His forehead furrows, but he nods once. Val has never trusted Caius, but I’ve made clear that he is my brother first and foremost. Val has been around for a while. Dad trusted him, too, and it’s one of the reasons I rely so heavily on him.
“And my mother,” I add, not liking this. Betrayal is a heavy thing. I slide my hand into my pocket, and as much as I want to be wrong, I need to be sure. Because the stone I found on the catwalk is one I see every day.
I wear a bracelet with a matching set of those very stones.
When I came home after the Commander’s disappearance, freed from my life of violent servitude, Dad had a gift for me. He’d created an insignia for the Augustine family, something that would be appropriate for our new standing as part of the elite of our new world. It’s a heart pierced by two swords. When he’d presented me with it, he’d told me it was an old symbol he adapted with an appropriate meaning. I hadn’t understood that, and I still don’t. He also made a point of telling me it was for me and me alone, and that my heirs would bear the insignia as well. But only mine. Caius had very distinctly been excluded.
It was after that that I’d had the bracelets made for Caius and myself. I chose Lapis Lazuli because the stone represented truth. I wanted him to know as far as I was concerned, that no matter this strange turn with my father, he and I were brothers. Period. The end. That was all there was for me.
Yes, more people than Caius and I wear this particular stone, but the fact that I found it on the catwalk the night I found Madelena passed out there is troubling because the bracelet is also suddenly absent from my brother’s wrist. Caius has worn that bracelet every day since I gave it to him.
But this isn’t the time to ponder this. I have to deal with Madelena’s brother now.
“How was Odin when you picked him up?” I ask as Val unlocks the basement door.
“Not surprised.”
“Hmm.”
Val pulls the door open, and we descend. A light is on in the large, unfinished space. It’s mostly empty apart from spare furniture stored here. A single man stands guard. In the middle of the room sits Odin De Léon, elbows on the small table, his fingers steepled, his chin resting on his hands. He turns when he sees us and makes to stand, but the soldier at his back sets his hand on Odin’s shoulder and pushes him back down.