Page 105 of Onyx Realm

The cavalry had arrived.

I knew Anatole would summon the rest of my brothers and sisters in arms. Hell, he’d probably done it while we were on the phone, tracing Iris’s cell. After the neighbor lady tipped me off that Serena left with a dark haired, shorter woman in a limegreen convertible, I managed to remain calm enough to call the computer geek for digital assistance.

I didn’t trust Iris. What started as a squabble was now a full-fledged fight—and today proved that. She thought she was protecting our people. What she failed to understand was that Serenawasour people.

Iris lay on the floor, ghostly pale. For a second, I thought I was robbed of my vengeance. It was impossible to tell if she was breathing.

Serena bent to check Iris’s pulse. “She’s alive. Thank heavens.”

Good.This way, I could kill her myself.

“You mind telling me what happened?” A dark voice filled the room. Atlas ignored my scowl, stepping forward.

“She doesn’t have to talk,” I snapped and stepped into his path. “I’m taking her home.”

Atlas flicked a brow at me before leaning to look back at Serena. “Awful suspicious that the death threats and assassinations started right around the same timesheaccidentally came to town,” he mused in Greek.

“What are you saying?” I shot back.

“I don’t trust your wife.”

The roar of fury was the only warning Atlas got. I launched forward, but something soft and small nudged into my side, knocking my path askew, however slightly.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but please, don’t,” Serena said. She sounded exhausted.

“This isn’t over,” I snapped in Greek, pointing a finger at the mountain of dead man.

Atlas only snorted. “Think about it. The theory holds merit.”

I stopped in the doorway, slamming my palm into the frame. “She was almost raped, Atlas!”

He didn’t bat an eye. “Semantics. It could have been her lover.”

“I don’t know what you’re saying, but drop it,” Serena insisted, tugging my sleeve. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, but I’m done here.”

I let her draw me away. It was a good thing, too, because I was about to murder one of our own. And Iris? She might just come out fishing with me some night. At least I was willing to listen to reason. If Serena said this didn’t feel like a setup between the thugs and Iris, I would hear her out. But it didn’t excuse the fact that Iris brought my wife to one of our work houses in the first place.

The car ride back was covered in complete silence. I kept throwing glances at Serena as I drove, desperately wanting to ask her questions, to make sure she was really okay. But her face was turned toward the window, her expression hidden from me. The only sign of her distress was her hand, clutching a fistful of her dress in a white-knuckled grip.

When we arrived at the condo, she stepped out of the car without a word. I followed her inside, watching as she headed straight for the bathroom. The sound of the shower turning on followed moments later.

I paced the living room, rage and guilt warring inside me. This was my fault. I should never have left her alone. I should have seen this coming. Iris had always been volatile, but I never imagined she would cross this line.

The shower ran for nearly an hour. When Serena finally emerged, her skin was pink from the hot water, her hair braided back.

“Here.” I handed her a bottle of water.

“Thanks, but do you have something stronger?” She took a sip and jerked her chin to the cupboard.

A moment later, I handed her my vodka. She downed it and set the empty glass on the counter.

“Can we, um, go walk the beach?” she asked, plucking the bottle from the cupboard as she moved toward the door.

I nodded, unable to deny her anything after what she’d been through. “Of course.”

We walked in silence down to the shoreline, the evening sun casting long shadows across the sand. Serena took a long pull from the bottle before passing it back to me. The vodka burned a path down my throat, but I welcomed the sensation.

“I think Iris was trying to drug me,” she finally said, her voice hollow. “She had a syringe. When those men showed up, she dropped it. I picked it up and...well, I used it on the bearded man.”

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