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DEATH

“It wasn't the wolves that took you, little lamb. It was the whispers of the wind promising adventures beyond the fence.” ~ Anonymous

A guttural roar erupted from my chest as I struggled to catch my breath. With fierce determination, I slowly rose to my feet and locked eyes with every person in the room. My senses heightened, I cautiously stood and scanned my surroundings, ready for any threat that may come my way.

“What the fuck is everyone doing here? The last thing I remember is walking into the living room, and it was a fucking disaster.”

“Death, man, am I glad to see you,” Kip said from behind me.

I turned to look at my friend, confused as to why everyone was in Ella’s home.

“No shit,” Ryan added.

Kip held Alaric as the little guy clapped his hands. “Def!”

“I’m helping take care of the kids since Ella is … missing,” Cami said while she bounced Verity on her hip.

“We’re all here, man. Dope is somewhere in the house too. When he called to tell you about the camera footage, we all hopped on a plane. Cami came, too, so she could help with the kids. Do you remember me calling?”

“Yeah, but barely. Those headaches are messing with my head … everything’s a damn blur,” I said through gritted teeth. I rubbed my temple in hopes to ease the pain. “She’s for sure missing?”

The words fell from my lips like lead, heavy with frustration and confusion.

Ryan’s expression twisted into a grimace, mirroring the turmoil in my mind. “Yeah, she’s gone. Dope had footage of men taking her right off the front porch. They trashed the place too.”

My hands instinctively clenched into fists, knuckles turning white as I struggled to process the news. Then, a tidal wave of anger and helplessness crashed over me, engulfing my entire being as I desperately tried to grasp onto any memory of the events. Each passing second only stoked my frustration. This was becoming unbearable, constantly losing time and missing crucial moments. And worst of all, how could I have failed to keep her safe? Guilt gnawed at me like a savage beast, threatening to consume me whole. I should have been here instead of chasing my own bloodlust, my selfish desires leading to such devastating consequences. The lump in my throat threatened to choke me as I refused to even entertain the thought that I may have lost Ella forever.

I glanced at the laptop on the desk, and my dark chuckle filled the room. “That was a good day ending that son of a bitch.” I grinned. “Give me my son,” I said to Kip. My tone was firm, but not unfriendly. My attention landed on Cami, who I knew from Ella, but this was the first time I’d met her face-to-face.

Cami’s arms shook as she held Verity. It was clear that I scared her, which wasn’t an unhealthy response.

“Well, if there’s any doubt that you and your kids are deeply connected, it’s gone now.” Ryan smirked. “They’re the key to bringing you around. At least we know.”

I wrapped my son in my arms. “You are my boy.” I smoothed the dark peach fuzz on his head and placed a kiss on his pudgy cheek.

“Welcome back. We need to know what happened when you returned to the house. Did you see anyone around?” Ryan asked.

Fear flickered in Cami’s gaze, and I couldn’t help but flash her a sinister smile.

“Rest assured that I will find my little lamb and bring her home.”

Cami tipped her chin. “Make it fast.” With that, she spun on her heel and left.

“Send Dope in,” Kip yelled after her.

I paced the room with Alaric. “I don’t want the kids to leave here. Whoever took Ella, they might be back.”

“If we could figure out who they are, it would really help.” Kip rubbed his stubbled jaw. “Um, and not to piss you off as soon as you show up, but Ella told us that she’s mentioned Sebastian to you before.”

The tension around his name was so thick, I could have cut it with my knife. I pinned him with a glare and snarled. “We don’t talk about it … about him.”

“Hell, I wouldn’t want to either, but we’re going to have to in order to find Ella,” Ryan said.

“Dude, never been so fucking happy to see you.” Dope walked into the office and closed the door behind him. “Sorry I missed that entrance, but I had to take a piss.”

“It was the kids that brought Death out, so here we are,” Kip said.

“Very fucking cool! I guess the twins are the key to bringing you around. I kind of wondered if you all were two peas in a pod. I’m only guessing, but we might have to keep an eye on them.” Dope rubbed his hands together as if he were up for the challenge.

“Def,” Alaric said again.

Dope’s light red brow arched. “And that’s my point.”

“About Sebastian,” Ryan said, bringing the topic back around.

“You knew about the paternity and DNA tests, so you know he’s around. Somewhere in your head, you realize that you and Sebastian reside in the same … body.”

“I don’t have to know anything. I hate that son of a bitch for touching what belongs to me.” I seethed.

“I would love to play this game with you, but we don’t have time, so I’m going to cut to the chase,” Kip said, approaching me with his features full of compassion. “You and Sebastian are the same man. You look exactly the same, live with Ella, have kids with her. You’re a serial killer and Sebastian isn’t. His dark side comes out in other ways, like cage fighting in the old days. He’s calculated and smart, just like you. But you’re his dark side and live with a bloodlust that drives you to kill people. The reason you lose time and memories is because Sebastian comes out and vice versa.”

I shook my head at his directness. “And if I don’t believe you?”

“Then remember who has hung around you since middle school—Dope and later me. Have we ever lied to you about something this important? Would we do this just to fuck with you? Think, man. Ella is depending on you and Sebastian working together to find her. If for no other reason, accept the truth for her.”

My eyes darted around the room, landing on each of my friends in turn. Kip’s words hit me like a punch to the gut. They had never lied to me about anything important. I trusted them with my life, and more importantly, with the lives of Ella and our children. Everything they were saying was overwhelming, but I pushed it aside for the moment. Right now, all that mattered was getting to Ella and making sure she was safe. The rest could be dealt with later, when my mind wasn’t clouded with fear and urgency.

“Fine,” I snarled.

A collective sigh of relief exploded from the group, their tense bodies finally releasing fear and anxiety that had been building up. My thoughts raced with questions about Sebastian and our complicated relationship, but for now all I could focus on was getting Ella safely back home. Failure was not an option, and the thought of anything happening to her filled me with a searing rage. I would stop at nothing to find her.

“We finally took a chance and told Sebastian about you. We need any help we can get to find Ella. Plus, we think her being taken has more to do with you than Sebastian.”

“You mean my enemy, not Sebastian’s?” The hair on the back of my neck prickled with his name on my tongue.

“It’s more likely since you tend to piss people off when you kill a family member.” Dope shrugged with his comment. “I mean, no offense, but Sebastian is a nicer guy than you are.”

I smirked. “If he’s here to stay, that will have to change.” I glanced at Alaric. “Son, I’ve got work to do. Someone took your mom, and I’ve got a mess to make.” I hugged him before I handed him to Dope. “Take him to Cami. There’s a nanny cam in one of the stuffed bears in the living room. Ella turns it on when Lulu is at the house with the kids by herself. Be discreet but flip the switch on the camera so we can keep an eye on Cami. I clearly scared the shit out of her, but something isn’t sitting right with me, and I don’t want her taking off with my kids.”

The guys grew quiet, but Dope took Alaric and left the room.

“She overheard that Sebastian is also you, and that we’ve been covering up for him.” Ryan shifted his weight. “She promised she wouldn’t turn us all into the FBI or cops, so we could focus on bringing Ella back.”

“Ah. That would be a big problem. One that I couldn’t allow.” They understood what I was implying.

Ryan’s hands flew up in front of him. “Hey, she’s off limits. You do not get to hurt her or even scare her. She’s Ella’s best friend. That has to count for something.”

“And you’re in love with her,” I snapped. “Should have thought about that before you brought her into our fucked-up world.”

Kip cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, Ella is missing and that’s most likely on you, so we can point fingers another time. Besides, we’re all choosing to be here, so man up and let’s get down to business.”

As much as I wanted to punch him in the nose, Kip was right. If anyone could help me bring her home, it was these guys.

Dope returned and closed the door behind them. “The camera is on.”

I removed my phone from my back pocket and pulled up the app. Cami was on the floor with Verity and Alaric, playing with them.

“Who did you piss off recently? Or maybe a better question is, who hates you enough to take what you love the most?”

My eyes narrowed as I sifted through a very long list, then I recalled the letter left for me in Portland.

“Someone knows who I am, and they’re fucking with me.”

Kip moved to the couch and sank down on it. “Care to explain?”

“The last time I was in Oregon at the warehouse … when I walked into the building there was an envelope on the floor with my name on it.”

“Just to clarify, was it addressed to Death or Sebastian?”

I whirled around and stalked toward Dope. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Ryan stepped between Dope and me, playing interference. “Hey, we’ll deal with that later. This is about Ella. You’ve gotta stay focused, Death.”

I hated to admit it, but he was right.

“Sebastian is a part of you, Death. You’re going to have to wrap your head around that idea. We’re going to need both of you to find Ella. A part of you knows this or you wouldn’t have stuck around after Ella gave you the DNA results for the twins.” Kip’s voice was calm, soothing.

“Later,” I barked. I stepped back and gained some space between Dope and myself. “It was addressed to Death. As I said, someone knows who I am.” I walked over to the window and looked out across the property; the tree line heavy with fog. “When I opened the envelope, there was a letter inside. I pulled it out and there were messy words scrawled on the paper.” I turned to look at the men. “It said, ‘I’m watching,’ but no signature.”

The color drained from Kip and Dope’s faces.

“Fucking hell,” Kip said. “Was there anything else?”

“No, that was it.”

Dope shoved both hands through his red hair. “Why in the hell didn’t you mention that to us? Do you realize what this means?”

“Of course, I understand what it means, but that was about seven months ago, and I haven’t had any additional contact. I had other pressing matters going on that took up a lot more time and … energy . It slipped my mind.” The possibilities spun out in my head as I recalled a conversation with Ella about my parent’s murderer. “Ella.” I nearly choked on her name. She was gone. Someone had taken her from me. Stolen her from her own home. “Ella has been looking into who murdered my parents. I think she stumbled onto some information that’s put her in danger.”

“Fuck!” Dope slapped his palm over his face. “Again, you didn’t think to share this with us so we could protect her?”

“I literally just found out. She had newspaper articles and an entire manila envelope full of details hidden under the floor. I was so pissed she’d crossed that line after I told her to leave it the fuck alone.” Images of my little lamb tied to the bed as I fucked her with my knife pulled my attention away from them. The sight of her tear-stained cheeks, choking on my cock, sent a rush of twisted gratification through me. Despite the conversation happening around me, all I could think about was bringing her back to safety so I could claim her again. To erase the trauma of those dark days and replace it with unbridled pleasure. She would beg and scream and moan my name as I showed her what true submission meant. My little lamb would serve me, making up for causing me worry and fear. And in return, I would ravish her, pleasuring her like never before for putting her in danger.

“Where’s that information?” Ryan asked while he walked toward the door.

“In her bedroom. Come with me.”

The knowledge that my knife was strapped to my leg was the only thing that gave me comfort. When I hunted down the motherfuckers who took Ella, they would find out exactly who I was. A fucking monster.