I was hustled out into the hallway first, giving Caspian another second to touch Freya as much as possible through the bars. A minute later, they led us up to a higher floor and down a hallway, this one finished and looking much like a normal apartment building would. Halfway down the hall someone stood guard outside a door, which was shoved open for us. They handed me Oswald in his kennel and closed the door behind us.
The suite was brightly lit and updated, and a second after the door clicked shut, Shan popped his head out from the inside of what I assumed was a bedroom. “What the fuck are you guys doing here?” he asked.
Caspian stepped forward. For a second, I thought they were going to kiss, but he instead brought his hand up and slapped our boss across the face. Stifling a laugh, I crept past them and into the living room, where I let Oswald out of his kennel. He hissed at me as if I’d been the one who’d put him in there.
“You could have gotten yourself killed,” Caspian said, dragging a slightly stunned Shan into the living room and shoving him down onto a couch. “Tell us every second of what happened while your dumb ass was out and about, killing Jude.”
He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again.
Then he told us. Every second, as requested. And holy shit, we were dead men walking.
ChapterNine
FREYA
Nolan leaned against the bars of my cage a metre away from me as Caspian was manhandled out of the room. He was the picture of nonchalance, with his giant grin and casual clothing, and I didn’t want to give him any information when it looked like he wasn’t taking it seriously. At all.
I was going to, though. Whatever he asked, I would tell him. Since those three had gotten themselves captured, Nolan Jitara now held in the palm of his hands almost every person I cared about. Those who weren’t in his grasp, my aunts and my parents, were still within his reach. While I didn’t think he would kill them, he wouldn’t be above bringing them here as another ‘gift’ to me.
“If any of them had been a little smarter about their plans, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” he commented casually.
“I’ll be reminding them of that for the rest of their lives, believe me. I thought they were all trained professionals, but it doesn’t feel like that’s the case.”
“Sometimes even trained professionals fall victim to a little thing called love. And those men? The two of them are head over heels for you. Plus, the big shifter wants to be.”
“They don’t love me,” I denied immediately.
Lie. Caspian loved me. Shan, I hadn’t thought so, but after the stunt with Jude when he’d been adamant about doing his job the way he was supposed to… he would have been feral with concern for me to commit a massacre like that.
“Keep believing that if you want to, darling,” he said with a smirk. “It’ll be amusing for me to watch you dance around the facts if you’re going to be in denial.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, staring him down. Nolan found my irritation amusing too, apparently. All of this was one big game to him. He was flirting left and right, barely caring about any secrets I had even if they had the power to fuck him over, and being far too nonchalant. When I didn’t give him the satisfaction of a verbal response, he sighed. “Fine. Let’s move on to the matter at hand. I want to know who the killer is. Anyone who takes out Alphas with that level of efficiency and secrecy is someone I want on my team.”
I’d known he was going to ask, and I didn’t have a suitable lie. The truth was my best and only option. Yet, when I opened my mouth to try to tell him the truth, words didn’t come out. It took me a few seconds of trying to force them past my dry throat. When I spoke, all I said was, “Me.”
One eyebrow arched, disappearing beneath the chaotic curls on his forehead. “You? You’re the serial killer my cousin has been trying to discover for months?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure I believe you. Are you telling me this to protect the actual killer?”
“Why not believe me?” I challenged. “Do you think I’m too soft-hearted and kind to have killed twenty people?”
“Oh, of course not. You’re a vicious little thing. But you’re an unclaimed Omega, love. If the people killed were Betas, I would take you at your word, but they were almost all Alphas. How did you overcome the biological imperative to take a mate?”
“Sheer determination and a healthy dose of rage.”
He regarded me carefully. “Tell me the truth, and I’ll offer you a reward. Anything in particular you would like?”
There were plenty of things I wanted to ask for that he would never give me. I aimed high, but not quite high enough to be in the stars. “Let me be imprisoned in the same suite the guys are in.”
“You’ll escape me easily if I do that. I’m won’t underestimate how strong of a witch you are. As a compromise, if you give me the information I want, you can pick one of your men to come stay in your five star accommodations with you.”
“I’m sure they’ll be thrilled,” I said dryly, looking at the small bed in the corner.
“They will be. Do you accept?”
“Fine. Yes.”
