Authors: Kimberly Frost
“You don’t have to do this,” Tobin croaked.
“You’re right,” Merrick said. “Ox has ten thousand dollars’
worth of gym equipment. He doesn’t need to beat you to a pulp to get a workout. And I had a full schedule that’s fucked ten ways from Sunday by this interruption.” Merrick rubbed a thumb over his lip and shook his head. “It’s pretty inconvenient.”
Ox stepped forward and slammed his fist into Tobin’s ribs. Tobin wailed, and Ox stepped back.
“I only care about one thing, Theo, and it’s not you.”
Tobin hung his head, wincing and wheezing. “If she ever finds out you did this…”
“I know.”
“Eventually she’ll see how bad you really are.”
“Probably.”
“And she’ll never have anything to do with you again.”
“That’s very likely.”
“So why are you doing any of this?”
“She’s under my protection. Period.”
Tobin sighed, taking a few wheezing breaths. “Come here,” Tobin rasped. “Come over here.”
Merrick stood in front of him.
“Look me in the eye, and give me your word that you’ll erase them,” Tobin said.
Merrick raised his brows and stared into Tobin’s bloodshot eyes. “Is that what you’re worried about? That I’ll keep them? As leverage?”
“She’s a good kid, and she doesn’t deserve any of this. The world’s fucked with her enough.”
“Has it?” Merrick glanced over at the computer and then back at Tobin. “After the pictures, you can make me a list of names. Settling old scores is a hobby of mine. As for the pictures, yes, I swear I’ll erase them.”
Merrick looked at Ox and tilted his head toward Tobin. Ox lifted Tobin off the hook and set him on the chair.
“One more thing,” Tobin said. “I want your promise before you see them that you’ll make it quick. One well-placed bullet. I don’t want to feel it.”
Merrick nodded. “You have my word.”
The corners of Grant’s lawn were perfect right angles, edged with military precision, Alissa noted as she walked to his front door and knocked.
Intelligent, handsome, and well-spoken, Grant was one of the most eligible bachelors in the Etherlin, though his bachelor status was up for debate, considering that many expected him to marry Alissa.
They’d been together, of sorts, for years. It had started well, with a flush of excitement and infatuation on both their parts. After they’d dated a few months, he’d invited her for a monthlong sail along the East Coast. She’d learned to cook, learned to sail, and turned nineteen on his boat, and they’d cemented their close friendship forever.
Over lobster bisque and jalapeno bagels, she talked openly about her ambition to become Wreath Muse, and they’d discussed the things in her favor and what would be counted against her. He’d shared his ambitions, too, and they’d worked together to devise strategies to achieve their goals.
While she honed her skills as a muse, he’d gone to a military academy, returned and rose through the ranks of Etherlin Security, and went to law school. For a long time, they’d continued to date with an eye toward eventual marriage, but from the moment she’d met Merrick, she’d realized that something was missing between her and Grant.
Alissa loved Grant as a friend, but nothing more. She
sensed that he felt the same way about her. Sometimes she thought he might suggest they date other people, but he never did. As longtime friends and allies, they were fiercely loyal to each other. She was always on his arm for the important functions, and she never argued with him in public over his conservative political views or criticized his rigid adherence to the rules. She admired Grant for his steadiness. It was probably what she needed most in a life partner. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what she wanted. She knew that for certain now.
She knocked on Grant’s door again and when he opened it, she smiled at him as cheerfully as she could.
“Hello. Are you busy?”
“Not too busy for you. Come in,” he said, waving her to follow him. He wore a crisp white shirt with navy trousers, part of ES standard issue. He would be going into ES headquarters then rather than to court. On court days, it was power suits.
She glanced around at the colors, the cream and taupe with gold accents. The tasteful elegance of Grant’s home echoed many of the council members’ houses, but it failed to move her. After the boldly painted treasure chest that was Merrick’s penthouse, everything was bound to look a little dull in comparison.
She sat on the couch, smoothing her skirt before clasping her hands on her lap. “Grant, something happened. The fact is…someone drugged me and tried to kidnap me.”
He jerked forward. “What? Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“When?”
“After the Xenakis party.”
He stared at her. “Last night?”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t heard anything. You didn’t make a report?”
“No.”
“Well, what were you waiting for? I’ve been home all day. Why didn’t you call me earlier?”
“I don’t want to report it.”
“What do you mean? Of course, you have to report it.”
“I have my reasons for wanting to wait.”
“I don’t understand. You’re here now. Where were you taken? How did you escape?”
She shook her head. “How I managed to get home isn’t the important part. How I was taken and who did it is.”
“Alissa, I’m going to need the details. All of them.”
“I was drugged. I don’t remember the details. It happened after the party. Either someone followed me from Dimitri’s or someone anticipated that I’d walk home along the lake and waited for me.”
“And you have no idea who it was?”
“None. I suppose it was someone trying to sabotage my bid for Wreath Muse. I’d like to look through the security footage from last night. Would you take me to headquarters and show me the video files?”
“You don’t have security clearance for that.”
“I only want to see the files of me walking home.”
He shook his head. “No, but I’ll certainly look into it and let you know what I find.”
She pushed down her frustration. Why shouldn’t she have access to footage from cameras pointed at her own property and the public walkway leading to it? She and the other muses allowed their privacy to be constantly and continuously invaded. Shouldn’t there be some relaxation of the rules when she’d been abducted?
“You think it was someone from the Etherlin? That’s hard to believe. You’ve had stalkers. Someone must have gotten in.”
“It wasn’t a stalker.”
“How do you know?”
“It was the wrong kind of an attack for a stalker.”
“Have there been any recent threats?” he asked.
“Nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve forwarded everything to your office, as I always do.”
“Do you think the Xenakises had something to do with it?”
“Not Cerise. I’m sure she wouldn’t have. And Dimitri, of course, would never do anything to hurt me. I think Dorie’s too young to pull off something like that on her own, but…”
“But what?”
“They are friends with Troy Rella.”
“So are we.”
“I’m not.”
“Troy’s council.”
“I know he’s on the EC, but he’s also Cerise and Dorie’s friend and Ileana’s brother. He doesn’t like me. If I were gone, whoever got the Wreath would suit him better.”
“Why don’t you and Troy get along?”
She shrugged. “We just never clicked.”
“Alissa, if you don’t confide in me, I can’t help you.”
“Just check the surveillance footage. That will be a huge help. Find out who took me from the path.”
“That I will definitely do.”
She nodded with a tentative smile. “Thanks.”
He leaned back and shook his head. “I can’t believe something like this happened on my watch.”
“No one would’ve suspected this kind of treachery from anyone in the Etherlin. It’s not us.” She smoothed her skirt again, then forced herself to look at him. “Grant, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Of course.”
“It’s been a long time since you invited me to spend the night. Why is that?”
“You’re always welcome to stay over, Alissa.”
She studied him. That hadn’t answered her question. “If there’s someone else in your life—”
“Of course not,” he said too quickly. “Is there someone else in your life?”
“What I wondered is…” Ever since he’d come back from college, Grant had spent most of his time with the other ES officers, who were generally fit young men. Like Grant. Was his choice to spend time with them job dedication? Or something more?
Alissa had never broached the subject because having Grant as her boyfriend suited her image, and she’d thought that if there was something to tell her, he would in his own time. But things had changed since she’d been abducted. She couldn’t pretend they hadn’t. Grant was too good a friend to
keep locked in a relationship with her when she was more attracted to someone else, especially if Grant would be happier out of the relationship as well.
“It’s just that as one of your oldest friends, I hope you know that you could confide in me. I will never turn my back on you, Grant.”
“Thanks,” he said with an easy laugh. “But I’m not the one who’s been distant. I’ve been here the whole time.”
“I’m sorry. You never seemed to—”
“To what?”
“To miss me.”
He smiled. “We’ve known each other a very long time. It’s not hot and heavy like when we were teenagers. How could it be? What we have is easy and comfortable. It’s good for both of us. We would have great kids together. There’s no rush, but it’s what’s meant to happen between us. Unless you’ve met someone that you think is a better match for you?”
A better match? She almost laughed. No, definitely not that. Half the ventala were sterile and the other half had kids who grew up to be violent criminals. Not exactly great marriage material. Merrick couldn’t even set foot in the Etherlin where, as Wreath Muse, she would live for the rest of her life.
Thinking about the hard reality of the situation left her feeling cold all over. “No, I haven’t found a better match than you, Grant. You’re wonderful, and our lives are well suited.”
“Good.”
She frowned. So he wasn’t going to admit what she was sure he knew as well. If he wouldn’t meet her halfway, she’d have to do it alone.
“I have to be honest though.” Her heart thudded in her chest. Grant waited. “You and I—we’re more friends than lovers. I worry—I suspect that neither of us has met our soul mate yet. I think staying together could prevent that from happening, which would be a shame.”
Grant folded his arms across his chest. “Who is he?”
She kept her expression neutral, but extra color stained her cheeks. She couldn’t tell Grant about Merrick. He would never understand, but she also couldn’t deceive a loyal friend. “There’s someone I’m attracted to, but this is not about him. I haven’t
slept with him, and I’m not going to. It’s just made me wonder how you and I could be right for each other when I feel something intense for someone else.”
“Is it Dimitri?”
“What?” She choked out a laugh. “Of course not. He’s been like a father to me.”
Grant shrugged.
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because he’s always saying how much you look like your mother. That you’re just as beautiful as she was. I thought he might have seduced you, the way he seduced her.”
The blood drained from her face, and she gripped the arm of the couch. Her voice sounded far away as she said, “That’s not true.”
“Hell,” Grant said, moving quickly to her side. “I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”
Alissa’s rigid body resisted Grant’s attempt at comfort when he put an arm around her. The icy rush that washed over her whenever she had to face prying cameras or unkind scrutiny returned reflexively.
“If you’re going to slander her, you’d better have evidence, Grant. And if you do, I want to see it.”
Merrick had sent Ox upstairs and had taken Tobin out of the room with the drains. With its lead-lined walls, there was no way to get a cell or Internet connection. It had been done on purpose, so that no tracking devices would operate inside its walls.
But with Tobin spilling information, Merrick had moved him to a room down the hall. Tobin sat next to Merrick, downing painkillers and pressing an ice pack to his swollen eye.
The pictures were what Merrick had expected, and he controlled his reaction, even if he couldn’t suppress it.
Alissa’s body had been artfully posed. Head tipped back, mouth slightly open, eyes closed. A pillow hidden under her back created an arch. Cato Jacobi’s tongue licked blood from the puncture wound on her arm while his fingers splayed over an exposed breast or thigh. Image after lascivious image. Even though her expression never changed and Merrick was sure she’d been unconscious, it was impossible not to be stirred by the way she looked. Tobin was a great photographer, and Merrick wanted to kill him for it.
Merrick focused on Jacobi. When Merrick had first seen the bite mark on Alissa’s arm, he’d wondered why Jacobi hadn’t bitten her throat, which would’ve been more intimate and a greater show of dominance. Merrick had thought it might be because Jacobi wanted a wound that could be concealed,
but that wasn’t it. Jacobi had chosen to bite her arm so that his body wouldn’t obscure the camera’s view of her.
Merrick clicked through the pictures as they became more graphic. A slow burn licked through him. He couldn’t kill Cato Jacobi so soon after they’d squared off, but things would die down eventually. Merrick could be patient when he had to be.
He glanced at Tobin and noted the intent way Tobin studied the pictures, his pupils dilated. Tobin admired his own work.
“Go sit over there,” Merrick said, nodding to the couch.
Stiffly, Tobin moved away.
Merrick erased the files, erased the emails, permanently emptied the computer’s trash, and changed the account passwords. He erased the browser history and systematically deleted all Tobin’s files from the hard drive. Then Merrick ripped the laptop open and yanked the drive out, pushing the empty computer casing aside.
“So who from the Etherlin helped Jacobi?”