***Alastair***
I have to contain my laughter. This woman is everything, and I love how…shit, I love everything about her. It’s just that. Love. The realization shocks me. I know we’re mated but the connection is deeper where feelings have grown natural.
“She smells so good,” Jagger groans.
The fucker rips me straight out of my thoughts. But before I can tear his head off, he grabs his hair with both hands, screaming, “Make it stop. Please, make it stop.”
Glancing over my shoulder I see Eliana stepping closer. “I will if you stop talking like that, and don’t even think of taking my blood, like Alistair said.”
“Yes, promise, anything, just make it stop,” Jagger begs.
“Okay then,” Eliana quips. “As long as you play nice. Just remember how easy I can fry your brain.”
“Duly noted.” Jagger groans. “How the fuck does she do that? I’ve never met a witch who can.”
“Purple flames.” Zigmund nods at his own statement. “She possesses the ability to light you up from the inside. Hurts like a bitch though.”
“Hurts like a bitch?” Jagger questions. “More like, near fucking dying man.”
Zigmund chuckles. “That’s because you’re a vamp, dude. Fire kills you.”
“That’s good to know. So you better not cross me or I will zap you some more with my purple fire,” Eliana scolds.
Jagger looks like he wants to punch Zigmund and his smart mouth.
I wrap my arm around her and pull her close before I let my question flow through my mind. “That so, love? Can you do it on command now?”
“I don’t know,” she answers me through her thoughts.
Smart woman for not spilling that detail out loud.
I clear my throat and murmur, “Try it again right now. Make those two idiots stop.”
Eliana squints her eyes but nothing happens. She glances at me and shakes her head. Zigmund and Jagger are still mouthing off to each other, ready to start a brawl.
Bringing my mouth close to her ear, I whisper, “I won’t fuck you again if you can’t do it.”
She pushes against my chest, anger swirling in her eyes as everyone around us reaches for their heads.
“That’s it, love.” I smile and reach for her, she sidesteps and points a finger in my face.
“That’s not funny,” she seethes.
“Tell me about it,” Os groans.
“What the hell, sis?” Velma snaps.
Eliana is about to say something to her sister when I take her in my arms and kiss her fiercely before I manage to drag my mouth from hers. “I love you madly, don’t ever fucking doubt yourself, you can do anything.”
“Yeah, as long as I get angry enough.” She pouts before her eyes go wide and she pulls me down for a tongue-lashing.
“Dammit, get a fucking room already...later, when we’ve handled some business.” Os sounds more than frustrated.
Eliana’s lips leave mine. “Oh, shush, you’re just frustrated because you didn’t get any alone time with my sister.”
“Yeah, so? Your point is?” Os growls back.
Eliana’s gaze hits mine. “Your Prez loves me...as much as I love him.”
“This is getting ridiculous. Again...your point is?” Os sighs.
“Not so much ridiculous, more like it’s getting way too sappy, makes my head hurt,” Jagger groans.
“Even more than it did a moment ago?” Zigmund asks.
I place a quick kiss on Eliana’s head, wishing we had more time, but I need to handle this shit first. “Shut the fuck up you jealous bunch of assholes. Now, Jagger…what the fuck are you doing here?”
Jagger straightens his shoulders, a fierce look slides on his face. “I need permission.”
“What, and why?” I ask.
We also handle the paranormals in our district. Seeing we protect the humans by getting rid of tainted souls who cannot be saved, we have a side job to interfere when a paranormal steps out of line. Normally they will leave humans alone, but every once in a while, one goes nuts and we kill it before things get worse.
Now if there’s a dispute, a paranormal comes to us and we will handle it. Like how we must answer to The Orderly, these guys need to answer to us. On some rare occasions, they will get permission to handle it themselves if they are capable. One of us will always tag along to make sure everything goes accordingly.
“Aura was killed by the hand of the President of Death by Reaper MC, Heaven Charter. Happened about an hour ago.” Jagger sneers full of hatred.
“That’s a little over the top specific, don’t you think.” Velma rolls her eyes and crosses her arms in front of her chest.
Jagger is about to step toward her. I hold up my hand so he knows I’m about to handle it. “Velma, what do you know about vamps and their Prez?”
She glares at me because she knows what I’m getting at. I know it’s fucking hard to realize your own damn father is a nutjob while he’s supposed to be one of the good guys, but come the fuck on…evidence keeps piling up miles high for this fucker.
She sighs and let her arms drop. “That the President of a Vampire Charter can see the last moment of the death of one of their members through their eyes.”
I nod. There’s no need for me to rub it in or reprimand her, she damn well knows Jagger wouldn’t lie, and also knows the reason why he knows exactly who killed her.
I turn my attention back to the vampire. “I have to disappoint you, Jagger. He was on my list before he killed Aura. So that’s my kill. But know that it will be handled in the next few hours. Forty-eight, tops, because I need to get some more details before we handle the whole Charter.”
His hands are fisted at his side, a low growl rumbles through his chest. “I. Want. In.”
Dammit. Normally I would put him in his place. But knowing the fucker for a real fucking long time, he’s never disappointed me and over the years has proven to have my back when needed.
“To be honest…I will gladly accept your help. Because why the fuck would he kill a vamp? There will be a patch over, that means it will get bloody and we might need some backup that they will never expect. But I’m supposed to be the one who will take the heads of the President himself. Can you agree to that?” I pin him with a glare because I need him to know I won’t tolerate any sly fuckups.
“Can we split? You heads, and I get the tail? I mean...there are two heads.” Jagger’s got a straight face, it might sound like a joke, but he isn’t kidding about this shit.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake…really?” I scrub a hand down my face. “Fine, but don’t get in my fucking way or get pissy, because if the moment strikes I will end him and not wait for you.”
“I’m okay with that, but same here…if the moment strikes…” Jagger lifts his eyebrow, waiting for me to answer.
He doesn’t have to finish the sentence, I know what he means. And in the end it would be a fucking weight off my shoulders to not be the one who kills my woman’s father. But the hard reality states it’s up to me to fulfill that task.
“That won’t happen. But if there’s no other way and you can take him out, you have my okay to do so.” He nods at my words.
Although I can clearly see some disappointment. I’m sure it’s because he knows how good I am at my job, that there will be a zero to none chance he will be the one to end the fucker. But he still accepts those odds.
“Okay. Get a few of your best guys and meet us over at the clubhouse within the next thirty minutes. I want a full rundown on what you saw before Aura got killed,” I tell Jagger and turn to Os. “Get a few guys into the house and let Eliana tell them what to pack. We leave in ten so everyone get their ass moving.”
They all jump into action. I place my hand on Eliana’s lower back and guide her into the house. “Go grab some clothes, love. Tell the boys what you need them to pack up first. We’ll bring that to my house and make sure to get the rest later, okay?”
Eliana nods and instructs my men to take down all the pictures on the walls. Seems she only needs those and her mom’s books and jewelry to take with her right away. She grabs a large black bag and stuffs all her clothes in there. Living in a tiny house without much luxury, it shouldn’t be such a surprise that she doesn’t own a massive wardrobe.
Deep down I want to tell her to leave everything. That I’ll buy her anything she ever wants and needs. Yet somehow I know she needs some of these items; her personal shit. So I say nothing and help hold the bag open so she can dump her stuff in there.
We’re on the road within ten minutes. Time to go over all the information we’ve collected. Even more? Time to get ready for a fight that will ensure a future for all of us. One where there will be no Heaven Charter in this district.