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ELLA

Irritated wasn’t the right word for what I was feeling for Xavier at the moment, but I was done being played. Plus, I wanted to find my husband. Something felt off, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Stepping backward, I spun on my heel to leave Xavier alone with his pathetic thoughts.

“Sebastian Fletcher was …”

I stopped in my tracks and waited to see if he was going to finish his sentence or not.

“Stolen. Stolen. Stolen.” He cackled and clapped his hands together.

His words slammed into me so hard, and I gasped for air. I faced him again.

“His parents weren’t his real parents?” I asked, trying to mask the eagerness in my voice.

“Nope. We were both stolen, Ella. Stolen, stolen, stolen,” he sang.

“By who?”

Xavier sighed. “I gave you a piece of what you wanted, but the boss will tell Death the rest. I’ve already said too much.” He held up a shaky finger in the air. “But the pain pills make me gabby. The boss will understand.”

If what Xavier was saying was true, then maybe Sebastian’s parents were still alive. I needed to find him and tell him the news so Dope could dig into the information and find out if Xavier was telling the truth.

“If you tell me, I’ll make sure you get another pain pill in an hour.”

Eagerness twisted his expression. “Yes, please.”

I tapped my foot on the cement floor. “I’m waiting.”

“Very bad people took us. Sebastian and I were supposed to go to a family together, but we were separated instead.” Xavier sniffled, his eyes welling with tears. “Do you think I would have turned out differently if Sebastian and I had grown up in the same home?”

A fleeting twinge of compassion hit me, then disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

“There’s no way to know.” Even though he hadn’t really given me the information I wanted, it was easier to get it out of him while taking the medication. “I’ll be back in an hour with a pain pill.”

“Yeah!” Xavier clapped his hands together.

I left the room and secured the door behind me. Instead of searching the building again, I pulled out my cell and called Sebastian, but after two rings it went to voicemail. That rarely happened.

Maybe Sebastian would be in the office now. I hurried in that direction, but to my disappointment I only found Kip. I leaned on the door frame and asked, “Have you seen Sebastian?”

“He went for a walk a few hours ago. We talked for a while, and he’s wrestling pretty hard with the Death idea. Bass wants to silence him for good. I’m a little concerned he might try to turn himself in for Death’s crimes.”

My mouth dropped open. “Kip, he can’t do that. They’ll lock him up for the rest of his life.”

“I know. I told him that, but Bass isn’t a killer, and he doesn’t want you to have access to Death. He didn’t say it, but he’s worried about the kids growing up with a serial killer as a father.”

I crossed the room and sank into the chair. “Me too, but he would never hurt them.”

“I think he’s concerned about Alaric or Verity being too much like their dad.”

Sighing, I leaned back in the chair. “Yeah, me too. They definitely have a connection. But it’s not just Death. Sebastian needs to understand that I am looking forward to ending Xavier. Jonathan was good practice.” I flashed him a grin.

“I tried to tell him that, but he thinks Death is the one that made you that way.”

I shook my head. “I think I was fighting that part of me for a long time. Death just saw it sooner than I did.”

“Hell, Ella, I get it. Ryan and I are the same. I have no problem cleaning up bodies and covering up Death’s mess. It’s second nature to me.”

“How so?” I asked.

“My uncle was a cleaner, and he taught me everything I know about how to dissolve a body and destroy any evidence. It’s as if no one was ever there in the first place.”

“That’s a rare talent.” I laughed, then grew serious again.

Kip picked up a cup of coffee and took a gulp.

“Xavier told me that he and Sebastian are brothers.”

Kip’s eyes widened and he spewed his drink all over the desk. He broke into a fit of coughing before he was able to compose himself.

“What the fuck? No way, man. There’s no fucking way.”

“I wanted to tell Sebastian what I’ve learned, but I can’t find him. Do you think Dope could find out the truth?”

“Hell yeah, that guy can find out anything given enough time and resources. Tell me what you know, then I’ll call Dope.”

Over the next few minutes, I relayed what Xavier had told me about the boys being stolen and separated.

Kip remained quiet and then grabbed his cell phone off the desk and frowned. “That’s some juicy shit. I wonder if it would ease Sebastian’s conscience if he knew that it wasn’t his real father that died in his kitchen.”

I shrugged. “Does Sebastian know that the Pied Piper forced him to knife his father or whoever that man was?”

“As much as he and Death have been talking, I think so. Death always knew, so it wouldn’t be a stretch that he said something to Bass. It’s probably another reason he’s fucked up in the head about Death being a part of him.”

After my intense workout with Death in the sex swing, my muscles were achy and my legs trembled as I got up. Kip’s silence added to the weight of unease in my gut. I removed my phone from my pocket and checked for any missed calls. My heart sank when I saw the empty screen.

“No word from Sebastian.” Despite wanting to give him space, worry gnawed at me after several hours of not hearing from him. The only time he didn’t answer immediately was when Death had claimed another victim. I dialed his number and listened to it ring, each tone a deafening reminder of his absence. But all too soon, it went to voicemail, leaving me to dread what might be keeping him from answering.

“Maybe I should go look for him. I can’t help but feel something is wrong, Kip. A few hours is a long time for him to be gone.”

“You think so? I just wanted to give him some space, but maybe you’re right.” Kip rose from his seat and walked to the door. “I’ll call Dope while we’re looking for Bass.”

“Thank you.”

I followed him down the hall and double-checked that I’d locked Xavier’s door from the outside. With the pain pill in his system, I wouldn’t put it past him to drag his body across the floor and try to escape. I trusted nothing about him.

Over the next half an hour, Kip and I talked about how to help Sebastian come to grips with Death and his history. Sebastian under no circumstances could turn himself in. I would lose him, and the kids would lose their father. If he was set on that decision, I had to figure out a way to change his mind.

“Ella, it’s starting to get dark. We should head back. Bass would kick my ass if anything happened to you again.”

I didn’t miss the worry in Kip’s tone. In fact, the longer we’d looked for my husband, the more my anxiety kicked into overdrive.