Page 5 of Frederick
“He’s still telling the truth. His scent is one of confusion and complete calm. His heartrate hasn’t spiked; which would be expected if he had anything to hide.”
Carrington nodded. “Agreed.” He slid off of the desk and smiled at me. This time, it reached his eyes and they crinkled in the corners. “You’re free to go, Dominic. I thank you for your time. I do apologize that I cannot give you more information at the moment, but the council appreciates your cooperation.”
That was it? That’s all they were going to say about the matter? I stood, nodded to both of them and then walked out the door. My thoughts were reeling, wondering about this company I supposedly owned as well as why it was that my One had rejected me without even getting to know me first.
Master Arthur’s office door opened as I approached. I saw Frederick standing just inside with another person I’d not ever seen before. I nodded to them, but never paused my stride. I had a destination, and that was my quarters. I needed to collect my thoughts regarding everything that had just transpired.
It took only moments before I was finally in the sanctuary of my own little suite of rooms. I collapsed down onto the sofa, desperately wanting nothing more than to research Specter Logistics, but I knew that was probably the worst thing I could do at the moment. I had no doubt that the council knew exactlywhat each and every one of us from my birth coven did on any of our electronic devices. I was thankful that at least my room was free from any sort of camera or listening device.
Sure, there were cameras in the hallways and the main areas, just as an extra precaution because the town of Amherst wasn’t all that far away and was filled with humans that could become too curious about the manor and its occupants. But that was the extent of them. All of our suites and rooms were private, and that was reassuring.
No matter how much I thought about the past several years, I could not recall ever seeing anything regarding Specter Logistics. It wasn’t impossible that it was a legitimate company. Most likely it was. But I wasn’t the owner of it, and the fact that the council had been led to believe I was, told me I was in trouble. I was being set up for something, and I didn’t know what, nor did I know how to figure out who or why. I was…stuck.
I stared out the window at the dull gray sky, trying to decide what to do. Overall, it had been a pretty terrible day. It should have been amazing. I should be here talking to Frederick, getting to know him better, but he didn’t want me. It didn’t get past me that most likely he wasn’t interested in having a relationship with me because of what was happening with this faux company. Well, my company that technically wasn’t mine. At least, I didn’t think so.
I had a thought. Maybe I actually did own the place and just didn’t realize. Wouldn’t that be something? I wouldn’t put it past my birth coven to do something like that. I knew I needed to figure out how to find out more about this company. In this day in age anything was possible. But I didn't have access to a computer without it being subject to search. That changed the dynamic of being able to discover what I needed to know. One thing I didn’t know for certain, though, was that I no longer truly felt welcome in this coven. As soon as I was able, I knew Iwas going to set out in search of somewhere else to settle down. I didn’t need to be with others like me, and in fact, I figured I would be overall happier if I simply disappeared amongst humans.
The knock on my door not completely unexpected, but I had assumed I had already answered all of the questions that Carrington had for me. I tossed the pillow I had been holding on my lap assign and went to answer the door. The absolute last person I expected to see on the other side when I opened it was Frederick. Immediately several things went through my mind, but my mouth didn’t seem to want to express them out loud.
“Hello,” he said finally. “I was wondering if we could possibly talk?”
How dare he! This man, not long ago had very vocally rejected me in front of who I thought was going to be my next coven master. Now he wanted to talk? The logical and mature thing to do would be invite him in and discuss what I had inadvertently overheard him, say in Arthur’s office. Mature me didn’t appear to be present though. I simply narrowed my eyes before I took a step back and shut the door. For emphasis, and a little bit of spite, I loudly turned the lock, and then simply walked away from the door.
I have no idea if Frederick was still standing on the other side of the door or not. At the moment, I had nothing to say to him, and possibly never would. I may not be the best catch, nor from any sort of dignified family line, but I had my pride. And at the moment, it was still quite shattered at what Frederick had said to Master Arthur. There was another knock at my door, but I truly wasn't in the mood to hear what Frederick had to say to me. Perhaps tomorrow, but right now I simply wasn't ready. For now, I was going to remain in my quarters and try to figure out what my next move was going to be. Was that what was best for me? I had no way of knowing, but I knew for a fact that inputting myself first for a change, I was doing what I could in order to help with the ache in my chest that had been there since I had overheard Frederick talking with Master Arthur.
Chapter 3
Frederick
Iknew, the moment the words left my mouth in Master Arthur’s office that I would regret them. Just as I knew deep down that my One wasn’t guilty of what we’d found on that laptop. It was utterly ridiculous that the council was even entertaining the thought that these men that had already been thoroughly checked, were now suddenly capable of doing what it was that this new information specified.
My confusion at the moment though was Dominic’s reaction to seeing me at his door. Not a smile, not a hello nothing except a look of indifference and then the door being closed in my face. Was he that upset because I couldn’t acknowledge him when I first met him? I knew absolutely nothing about, my one on a personal level, and what I knew about him professionally had all been positive.
Sure, everything I knew about Dominic DeLuca I had learned from his file that the council hand. He was my One though and I wanted to know more about him. I have time, but his reaction to seeing me just now confused me.
The only thing I could do was leave his doorway and search out Master Arthur and hope that he could give me some possible insight as to why Dominic reacted to me as he did. Did he notwant a fated mate? Was he already in some sort of long-term relationship? These were things that I needed answers to. Since Dominic wasn’t going to answer his door, that left me no choice, but to search out someone else and hope that they could provide me with the answers I sought.
By the time I returned to Master Arthur’s office, I found it empty. This day absolutely was not turning out how I had anticipated. Not even a little. Not exactly sure where to go next to find out information about Dominic, I went down the hallway toward Fenwick’s office. That door opened as I approached, and I can face to face with the man that had been sitting at the table with Cornelius and Dominic.
He gave me a smile, stepped around me, and then walked away. I took that opportunity to step inside the office and when I discovered Carrington as well as Dante inside, I closed the door and leaned against it.
“I take it. Your conversation with Dominic did not go as planned with as quickly as you have returned,” Dante said before he started chuckling.
I gave the Hellhound a glare and wanted to say some choice words but refrained because at the moment he was probably my best bet in getting any sort of personal information about Dominic. “How did you know I was going to talk to Dominic?”
Carrington looked at me with confusion on his face. “I don’t understand. I was told I needed to come and question them because you had issues with one of the men. I take it. The issue wasn’t with Dominic?”
“How did you know I went to talk to Dominic?” I asked Dante. The hell smirked at me before he shook his head.
“A good enforcer never tells who his informant is,” Dante teased.
I narrowed my eyes while Carrington looked over at the hell hound and copied my expression.
“Informant for what?” He asked Dante before he turned to me with an expectant look on his face. “And you need to explain because I was under the impression that you couldn’t complete this assignment.”
I sighed. “I’m not going to forget about your informant remark, Dante. But I need to talk to you about something.” I looked over at Carrington and tried to offer an apologetic smile. “I do apologize that you were pulled in, Carrington. When I was introduced to Dominic, I realized he was my One. Immediately I knew I couldn’t continue as the lead on this assignment. There is no way I could remain completely unbiased.”
Carrington smiled at me as he slid off of the desk. “Congratulations. Finding one’s other half is what all of us dream about. But if you were to be discussing things with him, why is it that you are here?”
