Page 36 of Mistress Mayhem

Well, at least that’s one less thing I have to worry about. It doesn’t seem like he’s as hung up on me as I was afraid he was. Thank goodness.

We move on from that group fuck, slowly making our way around the room. After forty-five minutes, we’ve made a full circuit, but there’s been no sign of him.

“I think he’s playing with us,” I hiss as I turn my head to look up at Cooper, who nods his agreement.

“I think you might be right, princess.” He glances around, I’m assuming trying to locate Austin and Fox, but he doesn’t seem to have any luck. “We’re supposed to meet them in what? Fifteen minutes? Why don’t we head for the stairs now? Maybe you can flag down your employee—“

“Alice,” I correct him. “Her name is Alice.”

He gives me an apologetic smile as he nods. “Maybe you can flag down Alice and have her get the footage ready so we can start going through it once Fox and Austin find us?”

“I already found you.” Fox pops out of nowhere. Both me and Cooper jump, but luckily, I manage to bite back the shriek that threatens to fall from my lips. Cooper, not so much.

I bite my lip, trying to keep from laughing, but my body shakes with it, regardless.

“Damn, man,” Fox says with a grin. “I didn’t even know you could hit that octave.”

Cooper bares his teeth, moving into Fox’s space. “How about you shut the fuck up before I make you?”

“Calm down, Coop.” Austin’s hand slams down on Cooper’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze before he pulls back. “You’re acting like this is new behavior for Fox. He’s been like this for as long as we’ve known him. You can’t punch him just because he’s being himself.”

“Actually, I can.” Cooper tries to escape Austin’s hold, but Austin just laughs.

I shake my head at all three of them. “How about all three of you knock it the fuck off?”

Without waiting for any of them to respond, I head for the stairs, knowing Alice will either be at the top of them or waiting just outside the door for me. I can hear the three of them scrambling behind me, but I’m a woman on a mission. If they want to keep up, then that’s on them. If they don’t? Sucks to be them.

I make it to the top of the stairs, frowning when I realize no one but the DJ stands on the landing. My frown only deepens when I realize the door is ajar.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. What does it matter that the door is ajar? And the answer is simple—it doesn’t. But the dark liquid I see pooling just outside the door does.

I ease open the door with my guys behind me and curse when I see Alice lying in a pool of blood. Dropping down beside her, I lift a hand to her neck and check for a pulse. Her eyes are open and unstaring, so I’m not surprised when she doesn’t have one. My eyes drift down her body, quickly latching onto the knife protruding from her belly.

“That’s one of my knives—the ones I give to the guards. We don’t do guns since it scares the sheep when there’s a gunshot inside. I somehow think this won’t be the only dead body we find tonight,” I say through clenched teeth, my heart breaking. Me and Alice are close—wereclose. Closer than I am with most anyone else here, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t all my family—because they are. “I wanted to kill him before, but now I’m going to eviscerate him. I want him to feel all the pain in the world. He’ll go out of this world and into the next, screaming and begging me to stop.”

“Damn, that’s hot.” Fox palms his cock, and in any other situation, I’d laugh. But there’s a rage building inside me that won’t be quenched until Cary is at the end of my knives.

I don’t bother to reply to Fox, pushing to my feet. “Her tablet is gone too, which means he could be watching us right now. She was the only one who had access to everyone. This is definitely going to make this harder.”

“What do you need us to do, princess?” Cooper asks, his hand brushing against mine.

I glance up at him, seeing the sympathy in his eyes. I turn away, unable to keep looking at him. I can’t think about Alice being dead, and I definitely can’t deal with any of them trying to comfort me. For now, I have to keep myself focused on this rage so I don’t fall apart.

“We need to separate.” I hold up my hand when all three of them start speaking at once, all of them disagreeing with my statement. “This isn’t up for discussion. This house is massive, and he could be anywhere—except the basement. He might be a cunning bastard, but even he couldn’t find the entrances. But there’s something else to keep in mind—he’s killed at least the two guards who should’ve been at the door.”

“Even if he was watching when we took Howard into the closet?” Austin asks as he edges closer to me.

I shake my head. “No, there’s no camera inside the closet or even facing it. There’s not even one in that hallway. Since that’s not the only door off that hallway, he might know there’s something there, but he won’t be able to find it.”

“I’ll start there, then,” Austin offers. “Just in case he’s up there trying to figure it out.”

I nod. “Fine.”

I run through the layout of the house in my head before telling Cooper and Fox where to start, and then the four of us are off.

Cary might think he has the upper hand here, but he’s in for a big surprise when I find him.

Chapter Eighteen

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