Page 80 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

Part III

Ouroboros

“The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die.”

? Friedrich Nietzsche

Chapter 27

Dante, Tenebrae City

Vin had gone offthe radar.

He didn't know if the man was alive or dead anymore—for the sake of his wife, he hoped it was the former—but he wouldn't bet on it.

Dante sat in his study, looking down at his phone at the last message he'd been sent by Vin. It had come from an unknown number—the same one he'd used to send the previous ones, the same one Dante had asked Morana to trace and found in the river. The text was nothing but numbers that he wouldn't have looked at twice had it not been for the two numbers he recognized—5057 and 5705. There were others there too—7505, 7055, 0755, 0557, and so on, all a combination of those digits, all confusing.

"Is that a game?"

Dante looked at Xander, who sat next to him on the couch, his eyes on the screen of Dante's phone. Dante's heart warmed at the boy. He reminded him so much of Damian in some ways,but he was much different too. Sharper than his brother had been, definitely more technologically inclined than Damian had ever been. Xander had been attached to Zephyr since he'd found out she was pregnant but had been in the study since the girls had all gone out. They had collectively decided to take Luna shopping, to spend a girl's day out bonding and give her some new experiences, with a dozen of his security gone with them.

Tristan was out doing whatever Tristan did; Alpha was taking calls in the gazebo and coordinating everything back at his base since they were staying a week before leaving.

In the beginning, everyone had decided to stay a week until his princess' first birthday party, but after Zephyr had told everyone that she was pregnant the next morning, Amara had insisted on her staying a bit longer to celebrate the good news. Morana decided it would be a good way for Tristan and Luna to spend more time together before the girl decided what she wanted to do, living situation-wise since she had begun relaxing in the space. And so, they all had one more week before they went back. Dante liked the house so much, though, realizing that he would miss having the whole family together when they left.

With everyone scattered, Xander was in his care, sitting next to him and playing with Tempest in his own way. Dante liked the fact that the boy felt comfortable enough to roam the compound as he pleased. Even though the boy was young, he had a soft way of being with Tempest that made Dante trust him with her, and his princess liked the boy too, trying to use his smaller body to stand on shaky legs. She should have already been standing alone at her age, and Dante hoped there was nothing unusual about her growth. For now, his mother-in-law reassured him that babies took their own sweet time to do things, and they needed to worry only if things were slower even then. Dante really fucking hoped it wouldn't be. Just the idea that the eventwhich had made them lose one daughter could have impacted the other made his heart heavy.

"No idea," Dante told the boy at his, looking back at the screen. He'd have to show it to Morana and try to get her to analyze it.

"It looks like some kind of code." Xander pushed his glasses up his nose, holding Tempest with one arm as she talked to him in her baby talk. She was a yapper, as Zephyr said.

"Different sequences all summing up to the same number. Five plus five plus seven. Seventeen."

Dante blinked at the screen, realizing the kid was right as he pointed at the screen.

It was all summing up to seventeen. Why seventeen? What was the significance of the number? A date of some kind?

"You're right," he praised the boy. "Good catch."

They were silent for a while after that, with Dante perusing his other texts and catching up to things he'd missed, and Xander sitting on the rug so Tempest could climb over him better. Lulu napped in the corner as she always did, a lot more now that she was older and her energy reserves lower than they'd been before. Dante remembered picking her up as a little kitten, so tiny she fit the palm of his hand, her little meows tugging at his heartstrings, making him realize she was perfect for his queen. He had seen the same meows tug at a younger Amara's heartstrings too when she'd discovered her behind a potted plant, her whole face melting as she'd picked her up and cooed to her softly. In that moment, Dante had known she would be the mother to any children he had or he wouldn't have them at all.

Looking at their baby growing older too quickly for his liking, he hoped Amara would actually be okay—when she was sober and not high on post-coital bliss—with the idea of maybe having another sibling so Tempest could have the love growing up that neither he nor Amara did, him having been kept away from his brother and Amara never having any in a way.

His phone suddenly rang in his hand, the noise making Lulu perk up for a second before she changed position against the window and curled over again.

"Maroni," he said as he picked up.

"Mr. Maroni," Nellie, the rehabilitation center manager, greeted him from the other side. "I tried to reach Dr. Amara, but no one answered."

The girls were at the movies, their phones silenced. His security guy had updated him.

"She's occupied elsewhere," he told the woman. "Is it something urgent?"

"Not urgent," she reassured him. "Just that a woman came. Since we don't have her listed on the visitor's file, I didn't grant her access. She was mainly interested in Lex."

That was highly unusual. Dante knew all about the boy, Xander's friend, knowing what a soft spot Amara had for him. "Did she give a name?"

"That's the thing," Nellie cleared her throat. "She called herself Mrs. Maroni."

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