“Nice to meet you,” I say distractedly.
Being in this small space, suddenly I hear heartbeats. I feel surrounded by them. I heard them earlier, but now that we’re in such a small space, they sound so damn loud. Florence’s sounds different than Clementine’s. It must be the difference between a Bitten and a human. Kat’s heart sounds like Florence’s. Guess she’s human.
It’s fucking wild that I canhearthat difference now.
“Any ideas how we fix Ares?” I ask as we roll through the city.
Florence rubs two fingers over her lips, thinking as she looks out the window. “It would help if we had any understanding ofhowthis happened. You really don’t have any ideas other than someone did this to him?”
I shake my head. “This happened before with the Steele family, and there were essentially no leads as to what caused their uncle to snap like that. I’ve gotten one confirmation that there are others out there who can do… supernatural things. They have abilities. So, yes, I believe someone did this to Ares. But I have no fucking clue who.”
Florence worries her lower lip, mulling this over. “We’re definitely getting outside of my realm of knowledge. I think we’re going to have to bring in your other friends.”
Meaning the Barons.
When we’re a block and a half from the penthouse, I get another camera notification. Only when I open it up, I don’t see anything. Just the empty hallway outside our home.
Fuck. What does that mean?
Finally, we roll up to the curb, and Kat stops right in front of the doors. All three of us pile out of the vehicle, and it’s everything I can do not to sprint inside.
Just as we step into the elevator, I get yet another notification, but before I can even get it to open and load, the doors slide open on my floor.
We step out, and I find Sysco standing at my front door. He looks back at us as we step out of the elevator.
“Where the fuck have you been, Lana?” he demands, his tone angry and terrified at the same time. “I’ve called about fifty times, and texted you just as many times. You?—”
He stops short when I get within five feet of him. He stands a little straighter. His eyes narrow. I see his nostrils flare as he scents the air.
“What the fu?—”
“We have to see if Ares is still inside,” I cut him off, dreading what I think might be coming. “I got a notification he went in just a little bit ago. If he is, we’re going to try to knock him out. You willing to help us?”
I don’t really ask it as a question. It’s more of a desperate demand.
Sysco presses his lips into a thin line, then nods at the door.
I pull my keys from my pocket and unlock the door, stepping inside with wild nerves.
“Ares?” I call out as I step into the entryway. My newly enhanced ears strain, listening for any sounds, any signs. I step into the living room, my eyes sweeping for tattooed flesh and dark, wicked eyes.
But I don’t see him.
“Ares?” I call out again as I step into the hall. But as my hearing casts out, as it listens for any sounds, I get absolutely nothing back.
I dart for our bedroom. Nothing has been disturbed. But when I enter the closet, I smell him. Wealth and danger in the most intoxicating musk. And in the hamper, I see the pants he was wearing when I picked him up in Queens.
“He was here,” I say as Sysco steps into the bathroom behind me. “Just a minute or two ago. We barely missed him.”
“How can you tell that, Lana?” Sysco asks, and there’s something almost accusatory in his tone.
I look over my shoulder at him, nervously trying to gauge what his reaction will be. His eyes are a little feral, a little wild, a little confused, a little scared.
“Lana,” he says, almost a warning.
“Just let me check the cameras again,” I say as I step around him and walk back out into the hall. As I head for the dining room, where Florence and Clementine wait, I pull out my phone. There are movement notifications from when Sysco showed up, just ten seconds before the three of us women arrived. I click the one I got when we were still in the car.
There’s a little blur of black clothing in the bottom right corner. I missed that before. But there’s nothing more than that.
