Page 41 of Where the Current Takes Him (Mermate #1)

Loriun

L oriun could do nothing but watch helplessly as his mate, the man who would soon bear his nymph, sobbed into his arms.

“Do you think… it was true?” he said through gasping breaths. “Is she really gone?”

“I do not know, luae ,” Loriun whispered.

In the back of his mind, he was sure Ashford had not lied about his wife’s death.

He would have never committed the atrocity Beau had just been forced to witness if Ileana still held breath.

Even beyond that, such a lie would be easily sniffed out by the press.

No, Ashford had not lied. Ileana Montgomery was gone.

Eventually, Beau’s shuddering sobs quieted and gave way to slow breaths.

Asleep. Loriun sat silently in the blackness, alone with his thoughts, not even the moon to keep him company.

Without Beau’s grief suffocating his rage, Loriun’s mind turned once again to anger.

He could not allow Ashford’s actions to go unpunished, that much was certain.

But he had won his election, and it seemed the people of Florida more or less agreed with the vitriol he spewed.

Loriun did not want to upset Beau any further—not in the state he was already in. But he also could not allow this dangerous man to go unchecked.

An urgent knock at the front door startled Loriun from his violent thoughts. He blinked at the clock on their stove. 10 p.m. Who would be at their door this late?

The knock sounded again, louder this time, and accompanied by a familiar voice. “Beau? Loriun?”

Vuos.

Loriun slowly extricated himself from his sleeping mate, shifting him into a lying position on the cushions.

His footsteps were almost soundless as numb legs carried him to the door. Vuos’s pale face was lined with concern, while his Omega appeared to be in a full-blown panic.

“Where is Beau?” Jaime demanded. “We saw the news and drove right over. Did he know? About what his dad was going to do? About his… his mother?”

Loriun tried to speak, but his vocal chords were paralyzed. He stepped back to let the pair into the darkened house and gestured at the sleeping man on the couch.

“He didn’t know, did he?” Jaime whispered. “Oh, Beau…”

The older man moved quietly to the sofa and perched himself by Beau’s head, stroking the damp curls. Vuos, on the other hand, turned his dark gaze on Loriun.

“What are you going to do?” His voice was pitched low, so that it wouldn’t carry to the living room.

Loriun shook his head mutely. His thoughts were a snarled wreck of grief, rage, horror, and pain.

“You cannot let him do this.” Vuos’s words felt harsher in Loaish. “You are Beau’s Alpha. You are Mer. We live in the human world and play by human rules, but there are circumstances in which we cannot allow these alien tethers to bind us from doing what must be done. Do you understand me?”

Loriun stared back at the other Alpha. It was permission—no, it was approval.

Vuos glanced over at their mates. “We will stay with Beau. You have until dawn. Go.”

The tide of war in Loriun’s mind was shifting—the rage was burning through any other feeling that attempted to stake its claim.

He gave a short nod, but did not immediately charge into the sea.

Instead, he leaned around Vuos and pulled open a drawer filled with a mess of paper.

Facing off with a man like Ashford Montgomery could not be done with a mere show of force.

It was a game of chess, not a street fight.

His fingers closed on an old file, one that had been tossed inside and forgotten for over nine months. Jaime looked up to see Loriun reaching for the front door.

“Where are you—”

“Shh, luae ,” Vuos whispered. “We’re going to stay with Beau for now. Loriun has something he must do.”

Jaime’s brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to argue, but before he could get the words out, Loriun pulled the door shut behind him. The file fell open in his hands, lit by the porch light.

Jonathan Montgomery.

∞∞∞

The jolt of pain that sailed through Loriun’s knuckles was viciously pleasurable. He felt more grounded as he struck again, nerves reconnecting him to his body.

Just as he was lifting his fist to knock a third time, Jonathan opened his apartment door.

“Mr. Kolhn?” he said, bewildered. “It’s like 11 o’clock, what are you—”

“Do you not pay attention to the news?” Loriun snarled.

The man took a step back, alarm flooding his face. “Uh. No, actually, I don’t.”

“Your cousin.” Loriun pushed past him and stalked inside. “Get your phone and search his name.”

Jonathan fumbled for his phone, trembling fingers tapping the screen. Loriun decided to allow him one minute. No more.

Ashford’s cousin had the same dark eyes, though his were neither cold like Ashford’s, nor warm like Beau’s. They reminded Loriun of an animal—somewhat vacant, yet nervous. As he watched, those eyes widened and the brows above rose in shock.

“Ileana is… And Ashford… What is he thinking?” Jonathan’s face snapped up to Loriun’s, blood draining from his complexion. “Mr. Kolhn, I have nothing to do with my cousin’s politics, you can’t fire me for this, please! I’ve been a loyal employee, and I helped you meet Beaumont, and—”

“Yes,” Loriun interrupted. “Let’s talk about Beau. You told me that Ashford was collecting the profiles of many candidates for Beau to choose from. I’ll give you one chance to tell me the truth.”

Panic flared higher in those big, dull eyes.

“Okay, maybe I knew he wasn’t going to show all of them to Beau, and maybe I exaggerated how many Alphas there were, but most of what I said was the truth, I swear.

Ashford said he had about four or five candidates, but wasn’t that happy with them, so he didn’t want to show them to Beau and—”

Loriun cut through his employee’s babbling once again. “You believe that? That Ashford wanted to find the best partner for his son?”

“I… Well, why wouldn’t he want…” Jonathan looked back down at the news article on his phone screen. “What else could he have been doing?” His voice was uncertain now, brain almost audible in its whirring.

“Does that look like a man who wanted the best for his Omega son?” Loriun spat, jabbing a claw at the screen.

Jonathan was silent for a few seconds. “No,” he answered.

“He never cared about Beau. He was using him. And using you.”

Jonathan’s eyes drifted back up to Loriun’s.

“He wanted money, and the reputation he needed to win his election.”

“Money?” Jonathan swallowed hard. “Did you… pay for Beau?” He shrank back when Loriun growled.

“He manipulated me too, pretending the money was for Beau’s resettlement costs. I was able to move past all of these things for Beau’s sake, but now.” Loriun closed his eyes. “I cannot allow him to continue.”

“So…” Jonathan licked his lips nervously. “What do you want from me?”

“I need to find the upper hand,” Loriun said. “There must be something you know that I can use.”

“We’re not that close, I mean…” Jonathan took in a shuddering breath. “We’re family, but I was never part of any of this. At least, I didn’t know I was.”

“Something from his past then.”

There has to be something. No one is invincible.

Jonathan was staring down at the bit of floor between them. “There is… one thing. But if he ever finds out I told you, my life is over.”

“By the time I am done with him, he will have no power. That, I can assure you.”

The man looked up, a minute spark of defiance lighting his face. “Can you guarantee that I will be allowed to keep working for Ikatere, no matter what you might learn about my past?”

This startled Loriun from his frenzy. “Ashford has something on you, too.”

Jonathan let out a bitter laugh. “He has something on everybody. That’s how he gets where he wants to be.”

Loriun contemplated his employee’s request. “Are you planning to do harm to my company, my people, or my family?”

Jonathan looked shocked. “No! It’s nothing like that. I just… I have a past I’m not proud of.”

“But you have learned from your mistakes?”

“You have no idea.”

“Then I promise that your position at Ikatere is safe from any retaliation Ashford might attempt.”

Jonathan nodded slowly. “Okay. I’m going to hold you to that, Mr. Kolhn.” He took a deep breath. “

“Ashford was born an Omega.”