Don't Tempt The Boss

CHAPTER EIGHT

BASTIEN.

“Oh god, oh god…” She gasped from behind me. “Oh god, was that a person?”

Her wheezing was getting louder; she sounded like she was on the verge of a panic attack, so I forced my attention away from the blood dripping down the glass and turned to her.

“Hey.” I clasped both hands on her cheek, forcing her to face me. “Look at me, Lena. Focus on me. Don’t look anywhere else, just listen to the sound of my voice. You’re okay, Lena, you’re okay.”

“Sébastien…” her voice shook, “What was that? Was that a bird? Please tell me it was a bird.” Her voice broke on the last word, and something in me shriveled at the sound.

The intercom on a wall buzzed alive, and Celine’s voice came through. “Mr. Vale, building security needs your attention downstairs,” her voice was calm if slightly rattled. “There’s been a…situation.”

“I’ll be there very soon, Celine. Hold off all third parties until I get there.”

I pulled away to leave, but Lena grabbed onto my arm, stopping me from moving. “I’m coming with you.”

I shook my head, “I can’t have you come down there with me. It could get dangerous.”

“No,” she shook her head too, climbing off the desk and lowering the oversized shirt. “You’re not leaving me here. I can’t stay here by myself.”

Her gaze went to the blood still dripping from the glass. “Don’t make me stay here. Please.”

In the end, I let her come down with me. She was wearing one of my slacks beneath my shirt; it was obviously oversized, but I don’t think she cared much at that moment.

But I didn’t miss the long look Celine gave her, especially the marks on her neck, both old and new.

Lena wasn’t looking at the other woman, though; her gaze was fixed on the prone body by the sidewalk, surrounded by a pool of blood but covered with a plain cloth.

Once I ensured Lena was secured with a security guard, I walked past all the police men milling around, and Celine fell into step beside me.

“Is there anything I need to know?” I asked, keeping my voice very low.

“He’s missing his eyes.” She whispered back, “I think this is a message from the Father.”

I jerked sharply, “Why would you see that? Did you see anything unusual?”

“There’s an engraving on his arm. And the smell of his blood is all wrong. Can you not smell it, Lord Vale?” She c****d her head, eyes flashing red.

As soon as she said it, the smell of the man’s blood slammed into me. It was a rotten stench that turned my stomach. “He was a ritual.”

Just like Elara had been.

I shook the thought away as we both ducked under the police tape. Celine stood to the side, watching as I peeled the sheet away just enough to bare the corpse’s arm.

And just as I’d been told, there was a large D on the inside of his wrist.

This had been a message.

The Dominion was watching me, and they wanted me to know.

“You think this came straight from Alois?” Celine asked once I returned to her side.

“It has to be him.” I tsked, already searching out Lena in the sea of blue and red. “Who else would be depraved enough to drop a whole man down my building? He wants me to know that I’ve been found.”

Celine stared at me in silence for a while, her blue eyes unusually bright in the dark. “You’re wasting with the human girl.”

“That’s none of your business.” I snarled, flashing my fangs at her. “I don’t keep you around to meddle in my affairs.”

“You’ll have to pardon me then, Lord Vale, because I think she’s a distraction.” she hissed back, “You’re marking her, covering her with your scent, your clothes. She’s going to get you killed.”

“The day I need your advice, is the day I’ll ask for it.” I growled, anger flaring in my chest. “Until then, I expect you to keep your mouth shut, Celine.”

I was done with the conversation and the suffocating stench of blood, so I turned to leave, only for me to hear Celine’s words, whispered on a hostile breath,

“You’re dooming yourself for a woman that’s long dead…She’s not Elara.”

My vision swam red as my monster surged to the surface, I whirled around, ready to separate her head from her neck, when a familiar scent washed over me.

“Sébastien?”

Lena’s voice pulled me back from the blood lust, and I turned to find her standing right where I’d left her.

She looked so small with her arms wrapped around herself. Like a magnet, I was pulled across the space between us until I stood before her.

She was pale, visibly shaken. Her brown eyes ran over me, shaky and afraid. “The police aren’t telling me anything.” She hissed, “It’s your building, what’s going on?”

“It was a suicide jumper,” I lied, pressing close so she wouldn’t see the body just beyond the police line. “The officials are handling it now.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, hugging herself tighter. “Oh god,” she trembled, “I keep replaying the sound he made when he hit the glass…all that blood…” she sobbed.

I didn’t think about it before I bundled her in my arms and pressed her close to my chest. I could feel the heavy weight of Celine’s gaze as Lena trembled in my arms. But I didn’t care.

I buried my nose in Lena’s hair and breathed deep.

The smell of rot and blood was replaced with the scent of lilac and citrus. I shut my eyes and let it wash over me.

We stood there for a long while until I had to take her back to my penthouse. At first, she refused to go to sleep by herself, but eventually she tired herself out.

Once I was sure she was deep asleep, I left the room, made sure the door locked, and braced myself to face the man I knew was already waiting for me.

He was lounging on my sofa, dressed in all black, with red soled boots that crossed over each other. His long black hair was slicked back, and that familiar dragon pendant gleamed at his throat.

He glanced up when I walked in. He smiled, and it looked out of place on his youthful, boyish face. “My prodigal son,” he drawled, “Returned once more.”

“What are you doing here, Alois?”