Page 76 of Resurgence of the Pack

We need to run some of it off or you won’t be able to sleep,Esme warned.

You’re right, I agreed. Plus a run always cleared my head in the best way.

When Greg pulled up in front of the manor, I slid out without saying goodbye. Maybe that would make it easier for him to schmooze with Mindy.I knew that I was being a ridiculous twat, and yet I still couldn’t quite stop myself.

I stalked into my office and jumped when I saw Jacob, Debbie and Tristan talking in there, looking dour.

‘My Queen!’ Debbie greeted me, dropping instantly to one knee. How could I not have immediately spotted the relationship between him and Langston? Same build,same jaw line. I needed to find out how much Debbie knew about my jaunt to the past – and to make sure he understood the need for discretion. If the Connection got wind of my frolic through time, it wouldn’t be just me who would suffer; Maxwell would too, and I couldn’t have that.

‘Tristan, Jacob – out for a moment, please.’ They left immediately and I looked at the gargantuan man who was still on his knees in front of me. ‘Debbie, does the name Langston Denby mean anything to you?’

His eyes lit up. ‘You’ve been back! Finally! Langston is my great-great-grandfather. Your name has been recorded in our family lore for centuries. The Denby family owes you a great debt and I am honoured to be the one to repay it.’ Then he grimaced. ‘Well, kind of. I have bad news, my Queen.’

Of course he did. ‘Hit me.’

‘Kearns is dead.’

I dropped my head into my hands and blew out slowly through my fingers. Son of a gun. ‘How?’

He shook his head. ‘That we do not know. He was laying on the bed, locked in darkness and being exposed to white noise. He was still for a long time. It was only when Finley complained that the prisoner hadn’t eaten any of his meals that we checked on him. He was dead, stone cold. Hismeals had been posted through a slot on the door, so he might well have been dead for most of the time he was in the dungeon.’

‘What a bloody mess.’ I dropped my head into my hands.

Nose up, Lucy,Esme said sympathetically.

What?A laugh bubbled up as I caught her meaning.Chin up!

Nose, chins, whatever facial protuberance you want to pick. It’s all the same. You humans are very angular.

No more than a muzzle!I shot back.

The better to eat our enemies with,she sniffed.Your pathetic teeth struggle with toffee popcorn.

Hey! Shall we focus here?I lifted my head and looked at Debbie. ‘Do we have CCTV cameras in the dungeon?’

‘We do, yes, but because of the…’ he cleared his throat ‘…delicate purpose of the room, the security footage records in a loop and is never preserved for more than twenty-four hours. There is no Cloud back-up because we don’t want incriminating evidence out there where it can be hacked.’

‘So what you’re saying is that someone sneaked in and killed Kearns and our CCTV recorded over the incident, so we have no idea whokilled him or when.’

Debbie licked his lips. ‘Not quite, Your Majesty. Jacob, Tristan and I have checked the mansion’s footage for the last two days. There haven’t been any intrusions by any third parties, not a single one since Kearns was seized.’

‘Spell it out for me,’ I said tightly. Even though I knew what he was driving at, I needed to hear it.

‘The killer didn’t come onto the lands to kill Kearns because they were already here. The killer is someone from your pack, Your Majesty. Someone who could get access to the CCTV and the dungeons without raising an eyebrow.’

The conclusion seemed unavoidable: I had another Domini spy in the mansion. I’d thought it was Kearns, but while he may have been one spy in my midst he clearly wasn’t the only one. I had another Domini agent in my home and they’d killed Kearns. I needed to find the prick and teach him or her some basic hosting etiquette. Killing your guests was a huge no-no.

For fuck’s sake, what a mess.

Chapter 39

After the heavy conversation with Debbie, I had a text from Greg telling me he was heading out to meet Mindy. I could only hope that her nose was as prominent as her forebears’. I summoned the other men back in.

‘I need a run,’ I grunted to Debbie. ‘Tristan, are you okay to take charge of the security console? Greg is offsite.’

‘Of course.’ He bowed quickly. His eyes were curious but he didn’t ask where Greg was; if I hadn’t volunteered that information, it was because I didn’t want him to have it. The fewer people who knew that Greg was schmoozing with another woman the better, not least because I didn’t want Geneve to see us coming. I didn’t need her to connect the dots until I was ready for her to.

And also, yeah, it was embarrassing. I was being knowingly cuckolded and that wasn’t a kink of mine. The thought of seeing Greg with someone else made mewant to rip whoever she was into teeny-weeny parts. There were no threesomes in our future.

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