Page 22 of King of Tides

“My Lord, I can feel your power increasing. The time is coming.”

“Yes, I can do more to influence emotions and thoughts now. I feel it. It is time you use Eden and Asher. Their gift will serve you in this hour. You have to be quick.

“Send them to inhabit the ones who hold trust. You will see who I mean as you return. Play every angle you have to succeed.

“I am sure Tanri is watching your every move. Do not become complacent in this hour. You are right. I have grown stronger.

“He has to know this as well. However, he will be too late to stop me once you unlock this cage. I will push my energy to help as much as I can,” he says.

“I will not fail you, my lord. I will have Eden and Asher do our bidding right away.”

With that, I open my eyes and stand to my feet. I will not waste valuable time. In my mind’s eye, I see exactly who to send the twin hunters to.

Their gift of invading bodies and minds will come in handy. They are invaluable as they are able to take over a being completely and harness their memories and mannerisms.

My top hunters all have special purposes. Their gifts were chosen to play a part in this mission. They are the first line in this war.

“Yes, this is war. We will finish what was started,” I say as I move to find Sister Eden and Brother Asher.

Pauly

I jumpout of my sleep and look around. My heart is racing. Something doesn’t feel right.

Reaching for my chest, I rub at it and take a deep breath. I furrow my brows and try to gather my bearings. What the fuck is going on?

Turning my head, I look down at my Gianna. She looks like she’s still asleep. Good, I don’t want to wake her.

I can’t believe this woman is still with me. Marrying into the Ricci family hasn’t been so great to her. Money doesn’t fix all things. I’ve caused her hurt I never intended to—things I can never fix.

Pursing my lips, I shake my head. I’ve put her through enough. This is why I have to ensure Candido doesn’t fuck this up.

I can’t take this life away from her. What will all her pain be for if it all disappears? We lose the Iron Brothers; we lose thiscushy life and all that comes with it. One way or another, we have to turn this around.

I might hate summoning those biker fuckers, but they have done their part to make sure my family has been prosperous. I can’t deny that. However, the one thing Gianna wanted, I couldn’t get from them.

This woman has allowed me to bring a child into our home to raise when I couldn’t give her one of her own. A child who hates us both. Charlie Ann has looked at us with scorn from the time she was a baby.

“Never should have agreed to any of this shit,” I mutter under my breath.

I turn to roll out of bed to head to my office. I know I’m not going back to sleep. As I roll from the bed, it groans and creeks loudly under my weight.

Annoyed, I grind my teeth. They don’t make furniture like they used to. This thing has been making more and more noise lately.

“What’s wrong, Pauly?” Gianna murmurs sleepily as she stirs from her sleep.

“Forget about it. It’s nothing, go back to sleep.”

“You want me to make you a sandwich? I can heat up some pasta or something. I made some of Ma’s gravy last night.”

“No, thanks. I’m fine.”

My phone rings before she can say anything else. I grab it from the nightstand and move from the room to answer. Still rubbing at my chest, I know something is wrong.

“Hello.”

“Pauly, it ain’t good,” Marko says on the other side of the line.

“What happened? He didn’t lose them, did he?”

---