by Honor James
Gaia nodded and sighed. “Well, the honest truth is that your father had turned to the darkness inside of him before your mother died.” She felt it was time that he learned some hard truths. “He turned from me, from the light, and it was because of him that his mate was killed. His greed in the end was what ended up ending her life and in turn his. I know that you don’t believe me, Zaidu, but that is the truth. Ask Talon or perhaps return to your homeland and ask the hard questions, Zaidu.” She looked over the rushing water once more. “But if you truly wish to have all ties severed with the woman I will ensure that the protection Talon has put out to her is ended. Humans must deal with human troubles. Perhaps it’s for the best,” she added and rose to her feet. “Ask the questions that you couldn’t ask all those years ago, the questions that you didn’t want to hear the answers for, but you should ask them quickly and make your choices quickly because as I said, human troubles are what head her way, not troubles with shifters.”
He knew she spoke only truth and he accepted it at face value. There was no need to ask questions of a past better left in the past. Moving, he looked down at her. “You purposely say things in the hope that I’ll actually care, Goddess. I wasn’t built that way and you should well know. While I wish no ill will on anyone, I neither care whether they are happy or not.”
Gaia nodded and smiled a sad smile. “It’s not her happiness that’s in question,” the Goddess whispered and rose, the flowers of his homeland pressing back into the ground, the stream leaving his dreamscape and her perch that she had sat upon disappearing as well. “Rest, Zaidu. I just wish the shadows of the past would release you.” She turned and then looked back to him. “Just remember your wishes, Zaidu. Some things not even I can undo,” she admitted before leaving him alone in his dreams once more.
Waking sharply he raked his hands through his hair. Fucking Goddess. Flopping back on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling. Forcing himself to picture Bethany, he remembered her scent and the feel of her skin to his. It had been pleasant and yes he’d felt a pull, but she was human and would die. He already walked a fine edge of darkness and light. Her death would be what would tip the balance of the scales within. No, he was better off with her leading her own life while he led his own. Yes, it was lonely from time to time, yes, he sometimes wished for things he shouldn’t, but there was no way he was tying himself to someone that had a finite number of years left on Earth. Gaia was too cruel to ask that of him, vicious and vindictive in trying to get him to feel things he just didn’t. Life was what it was and if Bethany’s fate was to perish, it would be that way with or without him. At least without him in her life the world would be safer when she did die. He wouldn’t go Rogue if she wasn’t bound to him. “I hate the Gods,” he muttered, still staring at the ceiling. “Interfering, two-faced annoyances, all of you. Why the hell do you insist on constantly fucking around with our lives?”
Ah, well there was the part that you wouldn’t listen to, Zaidu. The Goddess’s voice was clear in the darkness. Her life would be as long as yours, but again, those were words you didn’t wish to hear. And you should know by now there is more than one destiny for a person. The die has been cast though. It’s too late now.
“Actually, you never said anything of the sort, Goddess,” he said to the room. “But then, you Gods do like leaving things out so that we mere mortals look like fools before your apparent brilliance, don’t you?” he asked. Snorting, he rolled out of the bed. “You made the choice, not I. I never said one way or another. But you do prefer taking our choices from us. So much for free will, huh, Goddess?” he shot off. “You’ve already made your decision with very little input from me, so be it. But she’s a child of yours, too, so I’m glad you’re just fine with killing off your kids. Nice to know you’re as vindictive and vicious as the others. Quite like your brother really. When you don’t get what you want you get all pissy and kill someone off. Well bravo, Goddess, you win, ooooh,” he muttered, walking to the bathroom to shower. “The almighty and powerful Goddess shows her prowess again.” He was so going to die some horrible and painful death for the comments he was throwing out.
You made the choice of your own accord, Zaidu. You can yell and hurl insults at me all that you want, but the simple fact is that you have chosen to remain apart from the woman that was born to be your bond-mate. I am not fine with watching any of my children die, but I’m also not able to stop destiny from unfolding, just able to put in a way for it to be stopped. Be as angry as you wish, Zaidu, but the truth is that you made your choice, and it was your choice, not mine. There was a pause and she said, Do as you wish, Zaidu.
“You really don’t know me at all, do you, Goddess,” he said, shaking his head. He didn’t get angry, he never yelled, and his range of emotions was pretty much from annoyed to bored with nothing in between. “Go away and watch the world do as it does, Goddess. I’m done with you and I pray you are finally done messing in my life.” Turning on the water in the shower, he let out an exhausted breath. He seriously had to get the new Hunter trained. He’d had enough of everything.
Chapter Seven
Bethany looked at the painting before her and shook her head. “Crap.” Another dark image with Zaidu there in the background. Tossing her brushes down into the containers, she sighed. Standing, she began to pace, tugging her hair out of the braid that she had it in and running her hands through it in frustration. “Goodness, why in the world am I still painting him?” she asked.
Walking from her room she painted in and into the kitchen, she was going to pour herself another glass of wine and realized she was out. “Well crap,” she muttered. “Now what.” Now she needed to go shopping. Damn she hated to shop. Stepping into her sneakers she tugged her wallet from her purse and grabbed her keys. Leaving a small lamp on in the foyer she walked into the hall, locked the doors, and headed down to the parking garage.
Humming as she got off the elevator, she tried to refocus her brain, tried to put him out of her mind so that she could try to find a way to continue to live her life. Getting to her car she paused. “Oh God.” She felt sick. Her knees wobbled and she had to grab one of the support beams to keep upright. What she saw on the hood of her car made her sick. Patting her pants while keeping an eye on the dead body lying across her car she tried to find her phone, but came up without one.
“Oh God,” she whispered again and turned to flee. Racing for the elevator, she punched the up key, praying as she did so. She prayed that whoever put the body on her car wasn’t still down there, prayed that security was in at their desk, and prayed, God help her she prayed, that the words written in blood on her car weren’t true. The “You are next, sister dear” had her wanting to throw up.
Tears were falling freely from her eyes when she pushed out of the elevator and stumbled and tripped toward the security desk. Seeing the officer sitting there she blurted out, “There is a dead body on my car.” And with that she sank to her knees, sobbing as she did so.
* * * *
“We have a dead body in a parking garage,” Quincy reported as he continued to pull in other members of the Teams for other missions. “Talon wants you to check it out. He thinks it is a little too close to something that went down a couple years ago.”
Getting his coffee from the server, he thanked her and turned. “Where?” he said into the phone as he headed for the door. When Quincy gave him the address he frowned. It sounded familiar for some reason. “I’m only about four blocks from there. What are we telling the locals?”
“Special Agent with the FBI,” Quincy said, knowing that Z would have the ID on him as part of his roving work. “We gave them a heads-up that you were coming in to take a look because it sounded a little too familiar with a serial that we’ve been tracking. Which is true to an extent. Don’t give them too much but get what you can. Talon will be here in twenty and hopefully we can all do a call then and hear what you found out.”
Going to his bike, Zaidu dug out the appropriate credentials
and headed for the address. Since he’d just bought coffee he wasn’t ditching it and as it was only a couple of blocks, he’d walk. Which didn’t take him long but he did have to flash the creds to get through the police line. “All right, Q, I’m switching to comms,” he murmured before replacing the phone at his ear with the earpiece and slipped the phone into a pocket. “I’m heading into the parking structure so I may lose you. If I do, I’ll call you back when I come topside.”
“Copy that,” Quincy said and winced. He hated leaving bits and pieces out when passing info on to the guys. But Talon had been very specific, don’t tell Z just who lived there and who was involved. Ever since Gaia had pulled Talon’s protection over the woman, the Dragon King had been in a seriously foul mood and more than a little pissed with his mother-in-law. But the Goddess wasn’t one to explain anything to anyone if she didn’t want to. Unfortunately they all thought the same. Z was getting manipulated into something with a heavy guilt trip side dish from the Goddess.
“In the garage, you still got me,” Z’s voice came through again.
“Copy you loud and clear, but I’m picking up echo from the concrete so don’t mind me while I adjust a few levels on this end. Just talk. I’ve got everything recording as of…now,” Quincy said, hitting a button, and then played with the sound levels.
“Cops have the area cordoned off down here, a few lookers trying to get pictures but the cops are being pretty strict,” Zaidu murmured as he walked forward and flashed the credentials again. “Lead detective is a Mark Crumbs,” he said, stopping to wait for the man to acknowledge him. In the meantime he said, “Car has blood all over it. A message is written and it reads, ‘You’re next, sister dear,’ right alongside and under the body. I think it’s a male but can’t be sure from here with the lights they have at odd angles.”
The detective in charge approached Zaidu. “I’m Detective Crumbs. I have been told that you are a Special Agent sent to view the scene to find out if it’s a serial that you are chasing.” Rocking back on his heels he added, “I can tell you now it’s not. We have a perp and he’s had a very strong alibi for the last five years. Been locked up in a max security psych ward for that long. But you are welcome to view the scene if you wish.”
“I’d appreciate it. The higher-ups like their t’s crossed and i’s dotted after all,” he said and ignored Quincy chuckling in his ear. “Anything about the owner of the vehicle? I’m assuming it was targeted toward her?” he asked. “It is a her, isn’t it?” Seemed obvious from the message but he also knew better than to jump to assumptions.
“She lives here in the penthouse. The perp that broke out of the ward is her brother. Her twin,” he said softly. “We have her in protective custody right now. We feel strongly that she’s one of his targets. We’ve also sent cars for his lawyer at the time of his court date, for his psychiatrist, and also for a nurse he had fixated on while in custody. We aren’t sure where he will strike next but we have to assume that his sister is the one that he’s planning on toying with the longest. It’s a shitty situation, that’s for sure.”
“No kidding,” he muttered, walking with the detective toward the car. His nose twitched at the scent of blood but he didn’t react otherwise. “I would like to speak with her if possible. Like I said, if I don’t pursue every possible avenue and we miss our guy my ass will be on the line. At least if I figure out for sure it’s got no link to our case my bosses won’t use me for a scapegoat.” Leaning in, careful not to disturb anything, he frowned and inhaled slowly. He knew that scent, but the blood was messing with the undertones and he couldn’t quite identify it. “Do we know the weapon of choice and time of death yet?”
“The man was killed with a switchblade, his entrails pulled out after his stomach opened,” he said with a sigh. “And yes, you can speak with her. She’s in the security office right now with a female officer and a pair of officers on the outer door. She’s seriously shaken up, but then again with the brother that she has…” He shook his head. “He’s a monster. Pure and simple,” he stated. “The brother killed thirty-six people, including his parents. Sadly the monster had ground up the bodies of the men and women and served them up to his college buddies. Fucking sick,” the detective said. “Tried to kill his sister when she came home early. Thankfully she got away but she was still hurt pretty badly when he threw the blade at her.” He shook his head and added, “Come on. I will introduce you to Ms. Parker. Just be careful. She’s shaken very badly right now.”
Stunned for a moment at the name, Z followed the detective to the elevator. It had to be a coincidence. But he knew it wasn’t. Fucking people were still messing with his life. Now it was Quincy and Talon. He’d be having words with them later. Walking to the security office, he waited as the detective cleared him and they walked inside. Her scent hit him in the gut, hard. Fucking hell. Moving behind the other man slightly Zaidu waited as Crumbs got Beth’s attention and went to introduce the two of them.
Bethany looked up and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him. “Zaidu?” she whispered and watched the man. “Why are you here?” she asked softly and looked to the detective.
“This is Special Agent Zaidu Metzger. He has some questions to ask you, Ms. Parker. He needs to clear this up and make sure that this isn’t a part of a serial that he’s looking for. Are you all right with answering his questions?” Detective Crumbs asked softly, his very demeanor changing when he was around the woman.
Ignoring the possessive manner of the detective, Z just looked at Bethany. She was pale, looked shaken but well. She wasn’t his concern no matter what anyone thought and if the detective wanted her, better for her. “We heard about the incident in the garage and wanted to ensure it wasn’t something tied to one of our cases,” he explained to her quietly. All he said was the absolute truth. It was just a version of the truth as they all knew it. “I just need to ask a couple of questions if you’re up for it so I can get this filed away one way or another.”
Bethany nodded. “All right. Sure. Whatever questions you have I will answer them.” She looked to the detective and the officers. “Would you mind giving us a few moments? That way I can answer his questions as quickly as possible.”
The detective hesitated but nodded. “We will be just outside the door.” He looked to Zaidu. “She’s all yours.” Waving the officer out, he followed her, closing the door softly behind him.
Bethany frowned as she looked to Zaidu now. “We know who did this and believe me, he’s a monster, but he’s not the kind that you normally deal with, Zaidu.”
“So Detective Crumbs explained,” he told her quietly. “Q is verifying everything now. We had to be sure. It is unfortunately reminiscent of another case we have open still. Unfortunately, with the cover I have to use on occasion, even if the cases are not related I still have to go through the motions.” He shot a look to the door and shook his head. “He’s quite interested in you,” he said to her. He could hear the detective’s heartbeat and breathing and knew the man was literally plastered to the door. “He’s out there waiting for any excuse to come in to rescue you.”
Bethany rolled her eyes. “I made it clear to him a couple of years ago when Brian came up with another excuse to try to get his sentence overturned that I’m not interested,” she admitted. “I think I’m one of those women who were just simply born to be alone.” There was a sadness when she said those words, words that hinted at failure and pain. “But such is life.” She shrugged a shoulder and looked to him. “According to what I’ve overheard Brian killed three guards and escaped. So at least now you know that this is fully a human matter, sadly.”
“I seriously doubt you were born to be alone.” Just not his. “And it is a human matter, but I have to ask why you say ‘sadly’?” It was an odd thing to say and it set off his radar that there was something more going on that he didn’t know and obviously should.
She shrugged. “No reason.” Giving him a sad smile she asked, “How have you been, Zaidu?
Are you all right? No ill or lasting effects from the accident?” It had only been a few weeks. She had healed but was still bruised and had scabs in places. She just hoped that he was okay.
He didn’t like that answer but let the subject drop since she didn’t want to discuss it. “Fully healed,” he told her. “I was fine within two days,” he said as he watched her. Checking the time he stepped back. “I should go. I’ve probably overstayed my welcome with the detective as is. If you need something don’t hesitate to contact the base,” he told her. “Someone there will always help if you need it.”
The base. Those words rang in her mind. She had to shore up the desire that she had to cry, had to keep herself together while he was there and not let him see how his words affected her. “Thanks,” she said. “I will keep that in mind, Zaidu.” She gave him a sad smile. “And I wouldn’t worry about him. He will get over his pissyness if you have upset him. Just—” Bethany began but then stopped herself. “Take care, Zaidu,” she murmured softly.
Staring at her he stepped closer. “What were you going to say but cut off?” he asked quietly. He knew there was something. The look in her eyes and on her face was telling him there was something. “Just say it, Bethany,” he advised. “Keeping things in isn’t good for you or anyone else. Speak your mind and be honest with yourself,” he said.
“Oh believe me, Zaidu, I’ve never had issues being honest with myself.” It was one of her worst traits. “I’ve always been brutally honest with myself. Have you?” she asked quietly. “No, don’t answer that. I know what you will say. You will say that you’ve always been honest with yourself, so yeah.” She sighed and rubbed her temples. Taking a breath, she looked up at him. “What did I do to you, Zaidu? Why do you dislike me so much?”
