Page 79 of His Ruthless Match (Below #3)

JARETH

I found The Shadow in a sitting room, but we quickly moved our conversation to his study, where we could talk in private. He stood behind his desk, his hands braced against it as he stared at me with impatience.

“Why are you even here, Jareth? I thought I made it clear you were to stay focused on the Crimson Dominion investigation and not come near Eva. I’m keeping her safe. You don’t have to concern yourself with her well-being right now.”

“I was in the Crimson Dominion,” I said, my voice low but urgent. “Until Eva summoned me with her bracelet.”

That got his attention. His brow furrowed, and he straightened. “She summoned you?”

“Yes.” I stepped closer to the desk, my hands balling into fists at my sides. “She got a call from one of the guards at Genevieve’s safe house. They told her Genevieve is missing.”

The Shadow’s expression didn’t change immediately, but I saw the subtle tightening of his jaw, the slight flare of his nostrils. “That’s impossible,” he said flatly. “I just talked to one of the guards twenty minutes ago. They said everything was fine. Genevieve is completely secure.”

“Well, someone told Eva otherwise,” I snapped, the frustration boiling just beneath my skin. “And if it wasn’t one of your men?—”

“They’re supposed to go through me,” he interrupted, his voice sharp. “Not Eva. Why the hell would they contact her directly?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but the words didn’t come. A cold realization crept over me, and I saw the exact moment The Shadow came to the same conclusion. His dark eyes narrowed, his expression turning lethal.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.

Without waiting for his response, I spun on my heel and bolted out of the study. My boots pounded against the polished floors as I sprinted toward the dining room where I’d left her. She wasn’t there.

I turned and ran to the room where she was staying, my heart hammering in my chest. This couldn’t be happening. I prayed to all the gods that I’d find her safe in bed, reading a book.

I threw open the door to her room, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the empty hallway. The sight that greeted me stopped me cold. The bed was untouched, the curtains drawn, and the room was eerily silent. She wasn’t there.

“Fuck,” I hissed, slamming my fist against the door. My chest heaved as I tried to make sense of the situation. She must have left the estate. The guard’s call—whoever it had come from—had rattled her enough to make her run. And I hadn’t been there to stop her.

I had to fill The Shadow in on what I’d discovered in the Crimson Dominion before it was too late.

As soon as I entered his study, recognition flashed across his face. “Tell me she’s not fucking gone.”

I grimaced. “Sorry, boss. She’s not here.”

The door to The Shadow’s office slammed open so violently that it hit the wall with a deafening crack. Two guards stumbled in, their faces pale and their breaths coming in short gasps. Before they could even explain, I caught the words “Izo” and “emergency,” and my blood immediately ran hot.

The Shadow stood slowly, his hands braced against the edge of his desk, his dark gaze boring into the guards. “What’s the meaning of this?”

The first guard stammered, “Izo is here, sir. He’s coming up now. We tried to stop him, but he said it’s an emergency.”

The Shadow’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Tried to stop him?”

“He wouldn’t listen,” the second guard added, his voice trembling. “He said he needed to see you immediately. Wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’s waiting in the hallway to see you.”

I looked at The Shadow, my jaw tightening. “I’ve got a lot to tell you about that motherfucker, but we can wait and see what transpires here.” Surely, Izo wouldn’t be stupid enough to make a move against The Shadow in his own home.

He gave me a slight nod and turned back to the guards. “Let him in.”

The guards hesitated, clearly uneasy, but they stepped aside to let Izo through.

The bastard strode in like he owned the place, his tall frame cutting an arrogant figure even in the face of certain danger.

The black mark The Shadow had placed on him crawled up the side of his neck, a constant reminder of the leash he was supposed to be on.

The sight of him made my blood boil. My hands itched for my daggers. This is the man who betrayed his second chance? Who dared to cause this much chaos in Eva’s life? I was going to kill him. I didn’t care what The Shadow decided to do. This wasn’t going unpunished.

Izo stopped just short of the desk, his expression unusually tense. “I need to speak with you in private,” he said to The Shadow.

“Like hell you do,” I snapped, stepping forward before Raffaele could respond. “Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of me.”

The Shadow raised a hand, silencing me without a word. “Jareth stays. Now, talk.”

Izo glanced at me, clearly annoyed, but he didn’t push back. He swallowed hard and began, “The magistrate approached me not long after the incident in my territory.”

I couldn’t stop myself. “The incident ?” I barked, my fists clenching at my sides.

The Shadow’s lips curled into a sneer. “You mean when you kidnapped my wife and almost made her murder me?”

Izo paled, his arrogance faltering for a moment. “Yes,” he said weakly. “That incident. ”

“Go on,” The Shadow said coldly, leaning back against his desk, his arms crossed.

“The magistrate came to me,” Izo continued, his voice steadier now, “and told me they needed my help with something. They said they had reasons to bring you down a few notches, but when I asked for specifics, they told me it wasn’t my business. Instead, they gave me a job.”

“What job?” The Shadow’s voice was sharp enough to cut glass.

“They’d recently found out you have a sister hidden away in the human world,” Izo said. “They wanted me to exploit that. To research her, find her vulnerabilities, and then make her an easy target. Indirectly, of course.”

I felt my control slipping. My hand twitched toward my dagger, but I forced myself to stay put.

The Shadow’s expression darkened. “And how the hell did you manage that, considering I put my mark on you and took away your siren abilities?”

Izo hesitated, his gaze darting between us before he answered. “The magistrate backed me financially. With their resources, I found workarounds. The blood magic in the Crimson Dominion allowed me to manipulate Genevieve, and I transported that magic using a mutant.”

My stomach twisted as the realization hit. “That fucking rat.”

Izo gave me a wary look but continued. “I orchestrated it all. The magistrate insisted I procure a high-profile client for Eva to pressure her from every angle. At the same time, they wanted me to stir up rebellions in the Crimson Dominion and use my position with you to undermine your efforts.”

“And the faceless creatures?” The Shadow asked, his voice eerily calm.

“They’re the magistrate’s,” Izo admitted. “They never said so directly, but it was obvious. They want to distract you and weaken your hold on the Crimson Dominion. They don’t want you gone or dead. Not yet. Just… off balance.”

“And what exactly did you get out of this arrangement?” The Shadow demanded.

Izo’s shoulders slumped slightly. “Protection. If I didn’t cooperate, they were going to kill me and destroy the Ashen territory.

” He paused, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think the bastard was getting choked up.

“The plan was to use Genvieve to indirectly target Eva, but I swear to all the fucking gods that I had nothing to do with the bounty on Eva’s head. ”

The room went quiet, the tension so thick it was suffocating. The Shadow stood perfectly still, his expression unreadable, but I couldn’t hold back any longer.

“You spineless piece of shit,” I roared, lunging at Izo before anyone could stop me. I slammed my fist into his face, sending him staggering backward.

“Jareth,” The Shadow barked, but I didn’t stop.

I grabbed Izo by the collar and shoved him up against the wall. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? The pain you’ve caused? You made Eva a fucking target! For what? To save your own miserable skin?”

Izo tried to speak, but I didn’t give him the chance. I slammed my fist into his face again and again, the rage boiling over as I let it all out. He groaned in pain, his hands flailing weakly in an attempt to push me off.

“Where is she?” I snarled. “Where the fuck is Eva?”

“I don’t know. I have no idea,” he gasped, blood dripping from his nose. “I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with the target on her. And I feel guilty as hell for the way this has played out. Genevieve is fucking broken, and I was involved. I’m here to admit my wrongdoing.”

“Liar!” I slammed him harder into the wall.

“Enough!” The Shadow’s voice cut through the haze, sharp and commanding. “Stand down, Jareth.”

It took everything I had to pull back, my chest heaving as I released Izo and stepped away. I rounded on The Shadow. “You’re just going to let him get away with this?”

He ignored me, his gaze locked on Izo. “You did the right thing coming to me,” he said, his voice dangerously quiet. “But you should have come sooner.”

Izo wiped the blood from his face, his hands trembling. “I think the magistrate is about to use me as a scapegoat. My protection is running out. I had no choice but to come to you and bare my soul, in hopes you’d have mercy on me.”

The Shadow’s expression didn’t change as he took a step closer to Izo. “My sister, Eva, is gone. Any idea where she might be?”

Izo shifted nervously from one foot to the other like the spineless fucking water serpent he was. “I don’t know anything for sure, but if I had to guess, the magistrate must have her.”

I moved toward the door. “Then that’s where we’re going. Immediately.”

The Shadow nodded in agreement.