Page 123 of Stutter

“Okay?”

He pinches the bridge of his nose then scrubs his hand down his face. “Thebastards, so to speak, the Syndicate uses them as things like Watchers, which is like a PI, or smaller things. But useful.”

“Whose half-breed was he?”

He looks pained. “This is why it’s driving me up the fucking wall. I can’t remember. I don’t know. But I remember seeing him before he was all long hair and a suave coat. He had the same tattoos, but they were fresher. I used to think he looked like a badass. My sister, Cadence, was in the art and literature program and she had to do a semester in theater at Rayne-Moore during her Sophomore year. They did a really good production of a modern twist on Hamlet. My sister was Ophelia.”

“Jonas, stay on topic,” I remind him, steering him back to what he was saying gently.

“Oh right, um, Watchers are made to take anything that will make them able to blend in easily into their surroundings. A lot of them take method-acting classes their entire stay at Rayne-Moore no matter what they major in.”

“You think you saw him performing?”

“My sister is two years older than Raven. That guy, Arlo, would have been a senior. Let me go grab my phone and text her. Hopefully, she’s awake. I know Olli woke us up every morning at six AM on the dot by jumping on our bed. We had to start sleeping with clothes during our entire stay in London. God, I can’t wait to have babies with Raven. She was really great with them.” He leaves me for barely three minutes while I clean up the rest of the mess we made, and he comes down. Soon enough there’s a ping on his phone.

“She’s up. She said to give her a minute but-“ another chime and he looks down again. “Yeah, that’s him.”

He shows me a picture of what looks like the same man we saw on the news, only with shorter hair and an actual smile on his face in the center of a crowd where people are wearing costumes.

But he reminds me of someone I used to see around Lorne Wood as a patient.

Shit.

Another chime and then, “Sis said he was majoring in political science.” He groans, rubbing his head. “That doesn’t fucking help. Almost everyone majors in political science there.”

“You think he’s A?”

Hazel eyes snap up to mine. “You’ve been thinking about this too, haven’t you?”

I shrug. “There’s one last person on that list and if A could be Arlo, then this is done and over with. We can move even before you graduate. Start getting settled in if we can all just agree on which house suits us better.”

Kronos comes into the kitchen and begins to put his head into Jonas’ hand. “I’m fine, Keekee. Just a little frustrated.” He sighs, and ‘Keekee’ sighs right back, plopping down next to his feet with a soft whine, Lucifer joins him not even ten seconds later. “Can you do that thing you do and look up Arlo’s birth certificate?”

“You think the father signed?”

He lifts his heavy shoulders and lets them drop. “It’s a shot in the dark. Usually, Elders don’t recognize their half-breeds unless it’s to keep the mother quiet. They’ll sign the certificate and give them a fuckload of money. Or they don’t sign the certificate but keep their eyes on the kid until they need them. Think about it. If Arlo grew up in the projects and then was given an opportunity to go to a prestigious college and all he had to do every now and then, was tail someone…. Wouldn’t you?”

I tilt my head side-to-side, seeing where he’s coming from. That’s the thing about Jonas, it’s easy to underestimate him because he’s so nonchalant. But he’s fucking smart, a trait I admire dearly. “There was an Andres Marsalas that would place himself in voluntary hold every few months at Lorne Wood. He wasn’t my patient though; he was my colleague’s. I never heard much about him other than my colleague was confused as to why he was back.Suicidal thoughts and tendencies. That was the excuse each time. But he seemed fine,” I grimace. “My attentions were always elsewhere.”

“Can you go backto that? Like, look him up? Do you still have access?”

“I’m going to try.”

Kronos perks up and when I think he’s going to bark, I hear a moan coming from the study. I jut my chin in that direction. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Jonas retorts, practically sprinting toward the sound.

What we walk into is beautiful chaos.

Raven is bent over the desk, hands tied behind her back with a silk tie, (mine) drool covering her chin, papers strewn and scattered everywhere. Mav’s laptop barely balancing on the corner, slowly sliding off, (it’s fine he needs to use the one we purchased for him anyway) and Maverick holding on to her leash which is choking her. The smile on her face is radiant, and the look on Maverick’s is sheer pleasure although he looks like a violent storm over a turbulent sea. “That’s right, Siren, you’ve been such a good girl, warming my cock for hours in your perfect mouth.”

I take this chance to speak up. “Actually, Maverick… our little bird wasnota good girl. She took pleasure in seeing me tortured not even thirty minutes ago while she and Jonas sucked my cock.”

The smile that spreads across his face is sadistic. A hand comes down and he smacks Raven’s plush ass in three loud successions, which only makes her smile wider.

“Is that right, Siren? Was it amusing being a little cocktease? Hmm?”

“That was funny to you, wasn’t it, Amourette?” I ask.

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