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THIRTY

Micha

“What the hell did you do, Micha?”

Josiah stood before me, coiled, his muscles tense. His voice boomed around the room; his anger justified.

Della hovered by the door, shuffling her feet. Her cellphone was by her hip, and I caught her furtively typing something on the screen. Warning Ashley, I imagined.

Kiam stood opposite her, scrolling through his phone as if the very air he breathed wasn’t crackling with an explosion of energy. I could feel it and see it, the sticky tangle of electricity sparking from overwrought emotions. The man couldn’t see it but he sure as hell wasn’t as unaffected as he pretended to be.

I didn’t know if Josiah was angry I’d fallen in love with Ashley, or upset I’d fooled so many by using magic. Not that it mattered, I wasn’t going to back down. With his blessing or without, I was taking the woman. I didn’t give a fuck what he had to say about it. I’d always been more enthusiastic about using our full range of gifts than he, more open. I’d always indulged more in my senses while he exerted more control, stifling himself as he fought to keep his basest instincts at bay. Not that he didn’t give in to them at times; it was just who he was.

“Exactly what I had to,” I snarled. We were practically nose to nose. “If you want to suck my dick, just say so. No need to be all up my ass.”

“Micha,” he warned, but he backed away.

“You’re in no position to say a single word about who I choose to claim.” I turned away and walked to the sideboard to pour myself a drink. We were in my penthouse, where I’d come to collect myself and formulate a plan. I didn’t want to go to the Second Realm completely blind and needed my own utterly private space in which to plan an attack if it came to that. Now, my oasis was filled to the brim, it felt like.

Kiam, the asshole, had called Josiah after seeing me with a dagger sticking out of my chest and thanks to his private jet, my best friend and his wife returned home in record time.

I couldn’t say I didn’t understand, but after Josiah kept calling me, I knew I had to answer my phone. And then I knew I had to wait for him to arrive. Not once did it occur to me to interfere in his pursuit of Della or attempt to dissuade him in any way. He should’ve returned the sentiment.

Not that I wanted to, but vampire decorum dictated I pour Josiah and Kiam glasses of blood as well. After filling the glasses, I handed them out.

Josiah snatched the glass from me. “Do you even begin to understand what you’ve done. You claimed a thief. This weakens us considerably and we’ve just joined forces with the Canadian clan. No one will stand for this.”

“She’s not a thief,” I countered, sipping the rich, sweet liquid I’d poured for myself. It traveled through my system, the nutrients filling my cells, and I felt more of my interior wound knitting itself back together.

Josiah raked a hand through his long hair, pushing it back from his forehead. “Onychinus. She took my creation. Our creation. There is no coming back from that.”

“That is where we were mistaken. She didn’t; and it never left the room.” I arched a brow. “It was a mistake.”

Grinding his jaw, he set his drink down. “That’s not a ‘mistake’. I don’t care how lovesick you are. If you don’t end her; I’m afraid I will have to.” My ears started ringing.

“I hate to do this to you, or to Della.”

It was all I could do to stop myself from lunging at the man I loved. I was trembling, shaking, every molecule of my body demanding I sever his head from his body while my vision turned red. My canines forced their way through my gums as I clenched my fists, fighting every violent urge as it welled up within me compelling me to strike.

“Actually, Micha’s right,” Kiam stated, nonchalantly strolling up to Josiah’s side as if we were merely enjoying a picnic at the park and not discussing ending Ashley’s life. He held out his cell phone, shoving it out for him to see.

Josiah snatched it from him and glanced down. Security footage flittered across the screen, showing Ashley with a mess of items in her hand. She was always a mess—why couldn’t she carry a purse like a normal person?

Sure enough, a cluster of papers, what looked like a lip balm, and a couple other things were clutched in her dainty hands as she entered the room. The video sped up, showing her busy at work, crouching, stretching, positioning people and props before snapping their photo. Toward the end of the footage, we watched her laughing and smiling, before finally waving goodbye and leaving. Without a single item she’d brought in with her.

Josiah cleared his throat. “Why was none of this examined before reaching a verdict?”

Della had joined us and was now staring at me, her eyes narrowed in accusation. “It was—but not this angle. We didn’t have this view until Kiam updated our system.”

Josiah turned to our new security software professional. “Do we know who left the pills on the counter?”

“We do.”

“And how was that resolved?”

Della spoke up. “Can I watch the footage? You guys tend to be a bit hasty with termination.”

“Little one, there’s a very good reason for that. Don’t tell me you haven’t learned anything after all this time,” he gently chided her.

She huffed. “You can’t just go around killing people. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“Sweetheart, they’re my dinner.”

“Oh my God. I know that, knock it off. I’m just saying...”

Kiam sighed and shook his head. “The issue has already been handled.”

I glanced at him, surprised. “Since when do you have authorization for such actions?” I should’ve been the one to wield the death blow, it was my right seeing as how this affected Ashley.

“He’s been here monitoring. Why do you think I came so fast?” Josiah said.

My temper boiled over and before I knew it, my fist met his jaw, sending him staggering into my coffee table. His hand darted up to clench his jaw, shock coloring his eyes, as he righted himself. The table’s legs screeched across the floor under his weight.

“You douchebag,” Della yelled at me, hurrying to his side, like she could do a thing to help.

“Spies, Josiah? Really?” I spit out, crowding him against the table. “After everything we’ve been through?” He wagged his head, trying to shake off my assault.

“Get out of here,” Della said. She tried to shove me back, but it was Kiam’s confession that allowed him space.

“It's Alastair’s fault. He sent me here since I have some familiarity with the two of you,” Kiam admitted. “It's routine; no offense.”

I didn’t know the man he spoke of, though the name was becoming more familiar than I cared for. I didn’t give a shit who he was. Now I was pissed Josiah hadn’t warned me; it didn’t matter whose idea it was.

As if he could read my mind, he said, “I couldn’t tell you.”

I gave him a curt nod of my head. I wanted everyone gone; I needed to concentrate and plan. The Second Realm was the last place I should be going—the risk was high. I needed a clear head and an actionable plan and all the other nonsense surrounding me was interfering with my concentration. The reality of what Josiah had subjected me to, and Kiam’s subterfuge could be addressed later, if necessary.

“We need to plan for the future, especially given our unique state of being crossbreeds. More are coming. More demons, more vampires. Word is spreading and we need the backing of a group that accepts us for what we are,” Josiah explained.

It wasn’t something I thought of often, living primarily as a vampire, but our rare blood made us targets. We had the combined gifts of both species and had been taken advantage of, used, abused and deprived, for most of our lives. We’d played the long game, Josiah and I, biding our time and found no freedom until we’d arrived here in the Third Realm.

We’d convinced the Collective we were doing this for them, creating a financial stronghold, but the whole time we’d been working on forging our own path and becoming untouchable.

Our timeline sped up significantly when Josiah met Della; and farther still when he’d slaughtered Ezra.

It irritated me, but I had to admit I understood where Alastair was coming from. Josiah and I were the enemy, so to speak. There truly was no reason to trust us. At least not until we’d proven ourselves.

My actions likely didn’t help with building the needed foundation but that wasn’t my concern at the moment.

“I have things to take care of,” I stated.

“Where is Ashley?” Della asked, staring me down.

“The Second Realm,” I replied.

Her face drained of color before her gaze frantically sought her husband. “Oh no,” she whimpered.

Josiah hugged her to his side, and she buried her face against him. She’d been taken to the Realm in the past, and underwent an ordeal that’d almost turned her into a medical experiment before the two of us could intervene. She’d fought her way out best she could, but she wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for us.

“She went willingly,” Kiam said.

“I did, too. Kind of.” What Della meant was she’d been tricked into going.

I moved past my uninvited guests and sank into the sofa, snagging my half-full beverage on the way. “She requested to be taken there,” Kiam said to me. “She wanted to go.”

“A demon named Samuel took her. She knows him, somehow. I’m not clear on all the details but she has some type of relationship with the man,” I stated. Josiah eyed me, curiosity written across his face. “Not a romantic type of relationship,” I added.

“Do we know who this Samuel is?” Josiah asked.

“I can look into it. I was going to when I got around to it,” Kiam offered.

Della spoke up. “Do you think he’s part of the Collective?”

“That’s what we’ll find out,” Kiam said.

“Everyone has the possibility of being associated with them,” Josiah said, helping himself to more blood. He filled his glass almost to the brim. “I wonder if he went after her because of your relationship with her? Exploit a weakness.”

“We’re assuming an issue when there might not be one. It's possible they were just friends.”

I glared at Kiam. “Really? Are you joking right now? He’s a demon. He either wants to fuck her or use her. There’s no in between when it comes to them and human females.”

“Why couldn’t they just be friends?” Della asked.

“You’re cattle, that’s why,” I answered her. “It doesn’t matter what he wants with her; I’m getting her back,” I turned my gaze back to the men.

Josiah rubbed his chin. “Something had to have drawn his attention to her. Has he been to Ipomoea?”

“I’ll grab the footage from the gala and cross reference.” Kiam leaned back, running a hand down his pants, smoothing the material.

It dawned on me that my foray into the Second Realm was likely what caused Samuel to home in on Della. Many demons, especially the upper echelons, felt the frequency differences when another species entered their Realm. Entry affected the vibrations, working as an alarm system. A human female would be prioritized immediately.

None of this was mentioned by me. None of it mattered.

It didn’t make any difference how Samuel came to be aware of her existence.

All that mattered was I ended him.