Page 102 of Fight

Jasper huffs as he drops the leg he was stretching and catches up. He’s very quiet as we go through our circuit. We’ve found a pretty good trail not far from here free from the busy traffic, and it’s typically quiet. I can’t help whatever bedlam is happening between Jas’ ears though.

He’s on his own there. Cere is a badass omega, and he needs to fucking step the hell up or fuck off. There are no other options.

TOMMY

Bluebell is warm, gorgeous, and her scent is driving me insane as she lays sprawled over me like her new favorite pillow. I’m not sure how comfortable she can possibly be as there’s not an ounce of fat on my body, but her head is happily snuggled on my chest.

Her knee is also dangerously close to my balls as well, but I don’t want to wake her up.

I left my phone on vibrate because I have a feeling Augustine will be calling me, since both Jasper and Gabriel won’t be available on their run. Jas runs as if demons are coming for him during the end of days, and I have a feeling his fighters know better than to dawdle. Neither of them will have the air needed to have a conversation.

As expected, my phone vibrates twenty minutes later, and I sink my fingers into Cerenity’s hair as I reach over with my other hand to snag my phone.

“Hello, A,” I murmur as I play with the blue silken strands of Bluebell’s hair. It’s so damn soft.

“Are you with Cere?” Augustine asks, slightly bemused.

“Yeah, she’s asleep. I’m worried that if she hears your name, she’ll wake up,” I explain. “What’s going on?”

“I drove to Xavier’s home to talk to him. I pulled his address from his employee file,” he says. I can tell he has zero fucks to give about breaching any kind of human resources protocol, and I can’t say I would either. “No one answered, but the window was slightly open, so I pushed it open and climbed in.”

I’m almost certain he forced the window open, but I grunt in reply as I listen.

“Anyway, someone was there before me and the living room was trashed,” Augustine mutters. “His intestines were pulled from his body after he was gutted, he was tortured, and then shot through the head. It was a horror show.”

It sounds like an interrogation and then an execution to me.

“Someone was pretty pissed off,” I say. “Did you take any photos?”

“Yeah, hold on,” he says before they’re sent to my phone.

There’s one thing he didn’t tell me as I look through them. There’s a word drawn in blood across the wall that says: Failure. Xavier also shit himself at some point, and whoever has to sell that house will have a hell of a time getting the bloodstains out.

Death and bloodshed don’t really bother me, and this means there’s one less asshole out there. However…

“We have no idea who did this to him, do we?” I ask, bringing my phone back to my ear. “Did you see the word written in blood on the wall by chance?”

I hear Augustine swiping through photos before he curses under his breath.

“Fuck,” he grunts. “I didn’t till now. I got the fuck out, closed up, and then called the cops on the way home. I said I wanted to call in a wellness check anonymously.”

“Good, at least someone will find him then,” I sigh. “This isn’t good, Augustine. Who would want to hurt her?”

“I have no idea. She hasn’t had any odd interactions with anyone except Xavier,” he explains. “Something isn’t adding up though.”

“Cerenity said something about her fathers not being good men,” I remember. Something makes me worried about them, but it’s hard to explain. “Could they be behind this?”

“I don’t even know much about them,” Augustine says, surprised. “I’m surprised she mentioned them. At this point, I don’t know if they could be. We’ll need to ask her. I’m almost home.”

Saying goodbye, I drop my phone on the bed beside me and slowly rub her back to wake Bluebell up. I’d wanted her to sleep longer, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards for today.

“Bluebell. Honey, wake up,” I murmur softly. I don’t want to startle her, and she whimpers adorably as she wiggles, burying her face in my shoulder.

“Don’t wanna. Slept like shit,” she whines.

“I know, baby girl,” I croon. “It’s time. I’ll make you coffee and food if you do.”

Cerenity pushes onto her elbows, looking rumpled and beautiful.

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