Page 15 of Cause Of Death

My biggest surprise regarding the penthouse apartment comes when Kieran decides to get dressed. I float in his wake, my mind reeling over the opulence of his personal bathroom and closet.

The primary bathroom would fit my entire bedroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet combined inside, and sitting in pride of place in the center of the room is an enormous freestanding whirlpool tub. Chrome gleams amidst the polished marble, and part of me would love to reform right here and now and utilize the luxury at my fingertips. Unfortunately, I have a job to do, and being distracted by all the pretties isnotpart of it.

I drift through to Kieran’s closet as he starts to strip, giving him the privacy he deserves while he’s showering. I might be crossing multiple boundaries by being here without his knowledge or permission, but I’m an assassin, not a creeper.

The dimensions of the walk-in closet make me suspect it was once an attached bathroom. It’s also large enough to contain a double bed plus nightstands. Kieran’s natural scent lingers here, but not as strongly as in and around his blanket nest. I suspect he either uses a scent-removing washing powder for his laundry, or he might use a neutralizer or blocker instead of cologne when he dresses. His wardrobe, while containing quite a few high-end suits and a large number of items that would have Leslie salivating over them all, appears to primarily consist of worn band and graphic T-shirts. He also has a large collection of enormous hoodies, fitted jeans, and either blackor gray sweatpants. This is an omega who prizes comfort over conformity, especially when it comes to his appearance.

Omegas, while not rare, are the least common of the designations. Betas form the bulk of the percentage who ascribe to the various classes at around seventy-five percent, the numbers fairly evenly spread across the sigma, delta, and gamma population. Roughly fifteen to twenty percent of the remaining population are alphas, with omegas taking up the rest. Out of that five to ten percent, the vast majority of omegas are female or female presenting. Male and male presenting omegas are considered unicorns, and treated accordingly, netting their pick of the litter when it comes to courting packs.

Unless they happen to be Kieran Prince.

I exit Kieran’s closet and wait for him to leave, hovering outside the short hallway connecting his “bedroom” with his dressing area. The moment he steps out the door, I extend a tendril and latch on to his shoulder. He can’t feel a thing, but I’m stuck to him firmer than glue. While it goes against the plan I’d set up with Leslie last night, I don’t want to lose the opportunity to spy on Kieran and hopefully learn more about him and the situation at hand. Leslie can yell at me later, but knowing them, they’ll agree with me. They even said as much in the car on the way here. Steve and Henley, on the other hand?

Best not to tell them at all.

The visit with my father has been enlightening, to say the least. He’s always been the one to push the envelope when it comes to my health and treatment, and while there have been times when my mother has put her foot down to veto particular options, for the majority of my life Dad has been the one in charge. I think he figured out fairly early on that my mother is not the most nurturing of people, not even to her own offspring, so he picked up the slack.

One of the treatments that my mother vetoed when I was a child—much to my disgust when I learned about it at a later age—was stem-cell therapy. She’d argued there was no guarantee that it would work, and that she hadn’t kept my placenta or umbilical cord after my birth. She’d also decreed that it would put too much stress and pain on my already fragile body, as I had only just recovered from a serious bout of pneumonia at the time. I think Dad only agreed because he had exhausted himself by staying by my bedside as I struggled to breathe, and that the timing was wrong. However, I’ve always regretted that hehadn’t pushed more, because it established a precedence for my mother’s interference. It wasn’t until I reached adulthood that I finally nixed her involvement in anything other than surface interest, despite her tantrums and petty vengeance.

Traffic is slowly building as we head back from the appointment. I’m relaxing in the back of the armored SUV, with Adam in the driver’s seat and Brody riding shotgun. Another armored SUV with more of my security team follows close behind, and I thank all and any gods available that there are enough rich bitches living in SoCal that our cars don’t attract much attention.

My mind wanders as I think back on the meeting Dad set up this morning with a gene therapist. He’s determined to find a cure for me, and if that’s not possible then to at least uncover a long-term, effective treatment plan that will enable me to live a reasonably normal life.

“You okay back there?” Brody calls over his shoulder, and I glance up at him to nod. My eyes widen and I freeze as Adam suddenly swears, swerving to avoid some idiot in a car who merged into our lane without warning and cutting us off.

“Fuck! Kieran, brace yourself,” Adam yells back to me moments before the windshield is filled with the sight of a cargo van barreling toward us. I don’t even have the chance to scream before the two vehicles collide. The force of the collision sends the rear of our SUV bucking into the air, and I’m pummeled as the impact sets off our airbags, the rapid inflation knocking the air from my chest. The violent and deafening percussive wave makes my ears ring, and I blink groggily, completely disoriented by the accident.

I struggle to escape my seat belt, temporarily blinded by the blood running into my eyes. The ringing in my ears muffles all other sounds, and I’m dazed and confused as handswrench open the back door and reach in for me, hauling me unceremoniously out of the car and into another vehicle.

Darkness encroaches at the edges of my vision, and my nose is filled with the bitter and pungent odors of wormwood, onion, and yeast.

I don’t recognize these scents, I blearily muse to myself before weakly calling out for Adam. But I don’t know if he hears me, or is even still alive, because that’s the moment when everything turns dark.

I’m glad I decided to throw caution out the window and anchor myself to Kieran Prince for the day. Not only has it given me better insight to his life and personal interactions, I’ve also been able to study Adam Knight at my leisure. This has had an unforeseen consequence, and it’s making me worry about my omega suppressant’s efficacy.

I’m attracted to both Adam Knight and Kieran Prince.

No, actually, that’s a lie.

I’mobsessively salivatingover Adam Knight and Kieran Prince.

My mind refuses to stay on track, which is unusual for me. All I want to do is to reclaim my human form, launch my naked body at the two men and then beg them both to stuff me full of their cocks, cum, and in Adam’s case, his knot.

A twinge of guilt stabs through me, both at the idea of fucking the alpha and omega who aren’t a part of my unofficial pack, and also at the fact that we’ve been gone several hours. I sort of neglected to get a message across to Leslie somehow to tell themI was leaving, as well. Unfortunately for me, staying in this form means that I can’t carry anything, or even speak, because I have no hands or a mouth. But then I recall Leslie’s instructions to me earlier this morning, and I settle somewhat. They’re right. The best laid plans of mice and mendooften go awry, and if Ihadlet this opportunity slip through my fingers, I know I would regret it later.

This proves correct over the next several minutes as first a car cuts in front of the SUV Kieran and Adam—as well as another sigma guard—are traveling in, causing Adam to brake suddenly. This occurrence is swiftly followed by a cargo van, that careens head-on into not only our lane, but the front of the SUV as well.

The violent turbulence of the collision makes me grateful for my insubstantial state, as apart from a bit of a jerking back and forth, I’m completely unharmed and undisturbed. I can’t say the same for the other passengers in the vehicle.

The sigma is pinned to his seat by the crumpled metal surrounding and piercing him, and he’s bleeding profusely from several injuries. The slow rise and fall of his chest tells me he’s still alive, but I don’t know for how much longer that will remain true. Adam is also pinned by his legs, and I internally wince at the sight.There’s so much blood.I glimpse the white glint of exposed bone, and his left arm is bent in a way that can only mean it’s broken. Thankfully he’s moving, though, and blinking blearily at the carnage.

The shriek of metal scraping against metal is painfully loud, and I dart back toward Kieran who appears to be mostly uninjured. He’s fumbling with his seat belt, his movements sluggish and uncoordinated. It looks as though he’s banged his head a bit during the accident, and the resulting wound is bleeding profusely as head lacerations are wont to do.

The door nearest Kieran finally wrenches open with an excruciating squeal, and hands reach in to grab him, pullinghim free with a distinct lack of concern or care for his injuries. Adam turns at the sound, still not fully cognizant, and reaches desperately for the omega. The anguish in his voice as he can’t reach him tugs at my heartstrings, but I don’t dare try and become corporeal. Something tells me that I need to stay with Kieran, and seeing how I’m still anchored to him, I follow.

Fuck me, am Ieverglad I changed today’s plan.

Kieran’s SUV is at the head of a multiple-vehicle pile-up. The SUV that had been following ours looks to have tried to swerve out of the way, only to either clip or be clipped by a pickup truck and then rear-ended by the car behind them. Smoke and steam from decimated radiators and burned fan belts combine with exhaust fumes to create a smoky haze over the scene, but at least most of the people involved appear to be moving.

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