“You’ll be in the way up on the desk. I’m going to continue my research. Did Freya want to talk about something important?”
I nodded.
“Pressing?”
Hesitantly, I shook my head.
“Good. Then it can wait until morning. You’re free to leave, but I don’t mind the company. As long as you’re here, you can sit in my lap so you’re not blocking my monitor.”
Settling, I curled my tail around myself. It seemed a waste to come all the way up here only to return right away empty-handed, and I was ignored in the suite, anyway. There was no harm in staying. Nolan continued his research above me, his scent wrapping around me, and I dozed.
I came to fully when he brought his phone up to his ear.
“Hey Julian, I’m glad I caught you on a trip to Earth.”
From this distance, I was privy to both sides of the conversation. Julian laughed. “This will be my last one for a while. I’m going to lie low after the stunt you had me pull at Club Chaos. Don’t want the AEA to catch my scent while it’s fresh.”
Club Chaos? It clicked when Nolan looked down at me with a sheepish grin. Julian must be the magic-user who’d transported the hellhound into the club. “Thanks for that. It really helped me out.”
“Anything to help fuck Kylan over. I hate that asshole.”
“You and me both. Speaking of Kylan, that’s why I’m calling. I need some information on one of his associates. Charles Cunning, Duke of the Depths. He’s a merdemon.”
The rough sound of a scoff came through the line. “He’s a nobody. Not anyone you have to worry about when you kill Kylan. His sphere of influence begins and ends in Zemterra, and he’s more concerned with public appearance than anything.”
“In that case, I assume you’ve met his wife. Maisie?”
Julian paused, as if unsure what to share, before sighing. “Yes. She’s a sweet woman. There are stories, though, about how he got her and how he treats her. I’ve heard he used his influence to scare off other suitors at the Sanctuary so she had no choice but to take him as her mate. Only so many Omegas can live underwater like him, and they don’t come up often since Earth’s mermaids and nymphs generally mate among themselves and don’t leave the ocean. That might be why the Sanctuary leaders turned a blind eye. He couldn’t wait until an Omega wanted him if he wanted to continue his family line with one.”
“That’s horrible.”
“I’m not saying it’s right. It’s technically only frowned upon, not against the law, and they knew he’d never be coming back. If I was a weaker man, I’d do anything to rid myself of Charles’ pestering too.”
Freya had told me about the situation, but when Julian put it like that it sounded even more corrupt. They’d sold her off in order to make their lives easier? He couldn’t touch the Sanctuary other than being a minor nuisance, because everyone of importance in all four of the realms would turn around and kill him if he did. It was a sacred place. Asafeplace for Omegas to go where they wouldn’t be at risk of being trafficked.
“You mentioned rumours of her current treatment. Tell me more about that,” Nolan said.
His voice was gruff and he shifted in his seat, jostling me. He was angry. Like me, he might feel useless to help. I’d been useless for the last hundred plus years, so I was well-versed in it.
“Bruises, mainly. Sometimes the staff won’t see her for days on end, so it’s possible he locks her away in solitary confinement.”
“And the children? Is there any evidence he abuses them?”
“Possibly the older boy. I haven’t heard much, but I can imagine Charles gives him plenty of old school lessons. The girl is only three years old, so if he’s hurt her he’s been discreet about it for good reason. I would kill him myself if he hurt a three-year-old. A seven-year-old is pushing it, but unlike on Earth, lessons involving pain are common in Zemterra. Especially among us Dukes. You would know that, Nolan.”
My picture of Julian as a magic-user shifted. If he was a Duke, he had to be a Zemterran, and the only Zemterran present at Club Chaos had been a hellhound. I hadn’t realized hellhounds were shifters. I’d always assumed they were just hounds.
“Yes, I’m well aware. Any more information you can give me?”
“Nothing that comes to mind, but if anything else comes up I can send a messenger to Earth to contact you. May I ask why this interests you?”
Nolan hesitated, but not for long. If Julian was someone he trusted with his plan to kill Kylan, he was worthy of being trusted with everything. “I met one of Maisie’s family members. She doesn’t know if she’s alive or what’s happened to her. Charles doesn’t allow her outside contact.”
“Angels above. She’s been in Zemterra for ten years, and she’s had no outside contact that whole time? The poor woman.”
“Yeah. I’m not sure if this is news that will please her family member or infuriate them.”
Knowing Freya, I was going to go with infuriated. She’d demand to go down to Zemterra immediately and find Maisie and her children to get them out of there.
