Cause Ωf Death (Femme Fatale Freakshow)

Chapter 15

H e’s gone.

My omega, my best friend, the man I hoped to one day make mine, is gone.

And I’m the one to blame.

One minute we’re driving back from a meeting with Edgar and Fernando Milan, a doctor who specializes in gene therapy and manipulation, the next thing I know a cargo van is slamming into the front of our SUV. Somehow, in the noise and chaos of the accident, Kieran disappeared.

I guess I should feel grateful that the only life lost was the driver of the van that collided with me, but I can’t find it in myself to do so. Brody is in a critical condition, and from the extent of his injuries it’s unlikely he’ll ever be able to take on another security detail, at least not one with the same level of risk or requisite physicality.

As for myself, I escaped with a broken arm, bruising, and lacerations to my head and legs. A couple of them were severe enough to expose the bone underneath, but lucky for me—and yes, that is sarcasm dripping from my tone—my super-secret special ability is accelerated healing and regeneration. It’s why I chose a career in the security industry in the first place. So, while it’ll still take a week or two for the bones in my arm to knit together properly, I’ve avoided a hard cast, and my other injuries are in the end stages of healing.

Edgar insisted that I be released into his care, and to my everlasting relief, Darla isn’t present when we arrive back at the family house in Pacific Heights. Instead, she’s ensconced in the more modern and recently purchased house in Clarendon Heights. While the newer house is impressive and could be considered more private, I’ve always preferred the dramatic elegance of the one in Pacific Heights.

I’ve been given the guest bedroom that faces the front of the house, as it’s the closest to the elevator and also has its own private bathroom. Guilt burns away at my stomach over the preferential treatment I’m being shown, even though I know that Brody and the other security team are also being well-looked after.

Just not in Edgar Prince’s private home.

“Adam, enough with the sulking already. I don’t blame you for Kieran’s abduction, despite how others may feel about it all.” Edgar strides into the library where I retreated earlier to lick my wounds. He sits in the armchair opposite the one I’m settled in, leaning forward and staring me directly in the eyes. With skin tanned from the sun and hazel eyes instead of gold, he’s like staring at an older version of Kieran. My heart aches from my loss.

“From what I’ve heard and seen of the accident, you did everything in your power to ensure Kieran remained unscathed, and you physically couldn’t prevent his removal from your protection. If I was going to be angry with anyone from your team, it would be the men in the SUV behind you. But they were incapacitated as well, so all we can do is hope and pray that Kieran is alive, and safe for the moment. They targeted you and took him for a reason, and my guess is that it revolves around money. That, I have plenty of, and will happily part with if it means I’ll get my son back in one piece.”

I don’t respond, the self-loathing and contempt too strong for me to speak with any semblance of equanimity.

Minutes pass with neither Edgar or myself speaking to break the quiet, when it’s suddenly shattered by Arankai’s Paint It Black blasting from my cell. Frowning, I pull the device from my pocket and stare in confusion at the lack of phone number on the screen, instead the word “Private” lighting up the display.

I quickly initiate one of my voice recording programs before hitting the answer icon, putting it on speaker so that Edgar can listen in. I lift my finger to my lips to indicate he should remain silent, and he nods in acknowledgment.

“Adam Knight speaking,” I bark out, my tone letting the caller know just how few fucks I have left to give, “who are you and what do you want?”

“Adam, it’s Kier,” a voice I never thought to hear again lilts from the speaker, and I collapse in my chair in relief. Edgar mirrors my movement, tears springing from the man’s eyes.

“Kier,” I mutter hoarsely, struggling to hold onto the emotions threatening to overwhelm me, “where the fuck are you? Are you injured? Whose phone are you using? Are you safe?” I shoot out the questions in rapid succession, unable to stop and let him answer.

“Adam, I need you to come to me. Just you, nobody else. I also need you to let my dad know I’m okay, but he can’t come after me. Not yet.”

I blink in confusion, glancing over at Edgar to see the same befuddlement on his face.

“Kieran, son, I’m here. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear your voice. What’s going on?” Edgar interposes, hurt tinging his voice.

Muffled voices and the sound of a phone being passed over to another person comes through the speaker, and then a voice wrapped in sin and temptation speaks.

“Hello, Mr. Prince. Hello, Mr. Knight. You may both call me Wisp. You don’t know me, but trust me when I say that I know the both of you.”

Wisp’s voice, so sultry and seductive, has me clenching my fists in an attempt to wrangle my libido under control. Pain shoots up my left arm from the movement, and I have to make a conscious effort to not further irritate the healing bone. I don’t know why I’m having such a visceral reaction to simply hearing her voice, but there’s only one other person who has been able to rile me up like this in the past, and he’s now in her clutches.

Fuck me. I’m so screwed.

“Now, both of you are to listen to me very, very carefully. Do not ask any questions, all will be revealed in due course. I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but I need you both to trust me, and to trust Kieran when he vouches for everything I’m about to tell you.”

A ball of dread forms low in my belly, and nausea roils through me as a sense of doom curls up my spine.

“I was there yesterday when Kieran was taken. First of all, let me assure you that I had no part in the accident or abduction, other than being an unwilling participant myself. However, due to my… shall we say, unique nature, those responsible had no idea that I was a witness to their every action. I was able to travel with them and keep an eye on Kieran, and when we eventually arrived at their chosen destination, I was also able to dispatch them all without too much trouble. But not before uncovering the multiple contracts that have been taken out on your son, Mr. Prince.”

I want to vomit. I also want to scream and rage and destroy . But I can’t do any of those things, because Kieran is out there somewhere, without me, without his medication, and with an unknown woman who is driving my alpha instincts fucking insane.

“I trust you, Mr. Prince. I also trust you, Mr. Knight, and not just because of what Kieran has told me. I know about you both. I know what you prefer to eat for breakfast, who tailors your suits, and how often your bed sheets need washing. I know everything . Fuck, I even know which brand of toilet paper you use to wipe your ass. I prefer the unscented over the sweet lilac and vanilla, myself, but each to their own.”

I choke back a snort as Edgar blushes, biting down hard on my lower lip to stop the enormous grin threatening to overtake my face.

“Yes, yes, how amusing. Now, as I was saying, I trust you both. However, I do not trust anyone else with the following information. Not your security team, Mr. Knight, and no, not even your wife, Mr. Prince. This is to stay between us, and I can tell you right now that if you don’t stop recording this call this instant, Mr. Knight, then I will perform a remote factory reset on your cell and wipe everything from your cloud.”

That threat successfully erases any lingering mirth, and I swiftly move to follow Wisp’s order, even though a voice in my head screams not to, that this is all a trap.

But I can’t risk it. I don’t know how she knows I was recording the call, but I can’t risk Kieran. I won’t endanger his life, and I can’t afford to lose the information I’ve been steadily uncovering regarding a possible plot against him. With a quick tap and a swipe, I not only end the recording, but erase it as well.

“Done. Now, tell us why nobody else can be trusted, and why you haven’t returned Kieran to us,” I bark, and Wisp’s response is not one I could have ever imagined possible.

“Kieran is being hunted. By a group of dark web alphas.”

It takes a good fifteen minutes for Edgar and me to get the full account of what had gone down after the car accident, and to say we are livid would be an understatement. It takes even more time and multiple reassurances from Kieran for us to believe that he is fine. It isn’t until he includes the special phrase we established when I first came to work for the Prince family to indicate that he isn’t under duress and is actually safe before we actually stop freaking out. Once we’re certain that he’s being protected by a team dedicated to keeping him safe and hidden, we finally settle down to listen to the plan that Wisp has created to deal with those who are after Kieran.

“Our main issue at the moment is two-fold,” she begins, and a chill runs up my spine at the seriousness of her tone. Whatever she’s about to say is going to have far-reaching consequences, I just know it.

“Kieran is without all of his medications—he doesn’t have any of his vitamins or supplements, any immune globulin injections, and most important of all, he’s missed his daily Polar dose.”

And there it is. The other shoe dropping.

“I don’t understand… what does that mean for Kieran?” Edgar hesitantly probes, and I’m surprised that Wisp understands the gravity of the situation. Unless…

“Edgar, your son is an omega. You already know this. Polar completely suppresses his heats and several other key omega instincts. However, since he’s missed at least one dose and will be unable to take another before Adam gets here, he’s about to experience an extremely intense heat. Now, among my team are an alpha and three betas, but there’s also another omega. Kieran’s oncoming heat has set her own cycle askew, even though she’s been taking a different type of suppressant. So, we’re now facing two omegas feeding off each other’s heat pheromones, and with only one alpha available to try and ease their discomfort.”

Edgar swears viciously under his breath, and then spears me with a glare.

“Wisp, I would like to speak to my son for a moment. Will you grant us a minute or two of privacy?”

Wisp murmurs her assent mere seconds before Kieran’s voice crackles back down the line. My mind is reeling, so I only half-listen to the conversation between father and son, which is why it takes me a little longer than usual to understand exactly what is being discussed.

“Are you sure about this, Kieran? It’s not something you can just ignore or forget about after it’s all said and done. This is for life, son.”

“Dad, please, trust me on this. These people have every reason to either ignore my plight or hand me over to the alphas who are hunting me, but they are determined to protect me instead. You know what I can do, and how I can sometimes tell what a person is like thanks to their energy signature. These people are good . Not pure and without blemish, because some of their jobs are the very definition of illegal. But they have ethics and morals, and to be honest with you, I think if we’d met under normal circumstances, we would all be rather good friends.”

What is going on? What have I missed?

“Well, whose name will they take? Will they become the Prince Pack? What about this other omega? How would two omegas in the same pack work?” Edgar fires back, and I want to cry. Kieran is asking his father’s permission to join another pack. With another alpha. Without me.

“Well, that all depends on Adam.” Kieran sasses back, and the bratty tone yanks me from my wallowing.

“Me? Why does it depend on me?”

Edgar gives me a wry look, shaking his head at my ignorance. I can’t blame him, either. I haven’t been paying attention, which is not something I’m known for.

“Adam,” Kieran plaintively whines, “you haven’t been listening, have you? The pack wants you to come to where we’re located, to help me through my heat. If you’re unwilling to join and bond with them, so be it, but at least you and I will have a safe space, and there will be betas on hand to make sure we’re taken care of.”

Okay, this doesn’t sound so bad…

“But there’s also an invitation for the both of us to join their pack. Two alphas taking care of two omegas, together , with the support of three betas. While they might be strangers to us, we’re not strangers to them. They know us, respect us, admire us. I know it sounds stalker-y, but I can’t really explain further until you get here and see them for yourself. Then you’ll understand, I promise.”

It all sounds very suspicious, and there’s a large part of me that wants to simply deny Kieran’s request and order him back home. But he’s not my omega, not yet, and I don’t have the authority to demand his obedience in these circumstances.

But if I agree to the offer, all that will change.

Edgar, to my surprise, doesn’t seem to be too disturbed by this sudden turn of events. I mutter some platitude to Kieran and beg for his indulgence for a moment and mute our end of the call.

“Spit it out, Edgar,” I bark at the man as soon as I tap the icon, uncaring that I’m speaking to my boss in such a defiant manner.

“Adam, you’ve worked for the Royal empire for a very long time. We’ve personally known each other for the past eleven years or so, and I’ve spent the last six of them waiting for you to ask my permission to mate with my son. While I commend you on your diligence and determination to put his safety first, the boy has been in love with you since almost the first day you both met. I don’t blame you for not wanting to cross the boundaries between business and pleasure, but a part of me wonders if we’d even be in this predicament if you had already taken that leap and were my son-in-law.”

Guilt tears through me without pause or mercy, and any defense I have against Edgar’s mild rebuke folds like a lousy hand at poker.

“I think you should go to them. Decide for yourself once you get there whether or not you wish to join their merry band, and if not, so be it. But no matter what, I want you to bond with my son, if you love him as much as I think you do. See him through his heat. Knot him, bite him, mate and bond with him. Become the family he’s always wanted, and deserves.”

With that order ringing in my ears, Edgar unmutes the phone and lets Kieran and Wisp both know that I’ll be joining them, and to please provide a list of essentials they’ll need me to bring along to ensure Kieran’s health and comfort during his heat.

It looks like dreams really can come true.

My skin crawls with anticipation, like a thousand ants are moving beneath my flesh. I’m dressed comfortably in casual, yet adaptable clothing with a backpack slung over my shoulders and a duffel resting at my booted feet. My healing arm is nestled securely inside a reinforced arm brace to protect it from bumps while it heals, and I’ve forgone a sling entirely.

It took a little longer that I wanted to get everything together, as I refuse to go anywhere with a group of unknowns without protections in place. While I won’t violate the directions I’ve been given regarding electronics and the like, I’m also not so green that I’ll walk into an unfamiliar setting or situation without arming myself. My bags both contain a standard side-piece and two extra magazines, and I have another attached to my belt and hidden beneath my shirt. A serrated folding knife is tucked away in a side pocket of my backpack, with another tucked in my right boot, and several more buried among my clothes in the duffel.

As much as I want to pace to release some of my agitation, I don’t. Instead, I lean up against a large tree located to the left of the toilet block, in the car park where I was told to wait.

I can’t stop my feet and fingers from tapping, though.

After what feels like an interminable age—but is most likely half an hour at the most—a dark metallic gray 2019 Chevrolet Suburban rolls to a stop in front of me. The front passenger window lowers with a quiet, electric hum, and a rather intriguing individual leans out to leer at me.

I’m not quite sure what to make of them. Their hair, a tousled mess of deep burgundy strands, is cut in an angled style that accentuates the sharpness of their cheeks and jawline. Vibrant magenta eyes glare at me, the orbs surrounded by thick, dark lashes. Their lips and eyelids are smudged with what looks like day-old makeup, and their fingernails are immaculate and colored with dark plum polish. Their entire appearance seems off, especially when you take into account the rather plain and rumpled black button-down they’re wearing. That, and the light dusting of stubble coating the tanned skin of their jaw. Whoever they are, they’re likely not as polished as normal. I guess spur-of-the-moment abductions really cut into personal grooming time.

“I see that our Wisp didn’t lie when she said how eminently fuckable you are. I can also see why Kieran is desperate to have you knot him.” The predatory leer disappears, abruptly replaced with languid dismissal.

“Get in the car, hero. We have a drive ahead of us, Steve’s only had one coffee, and there are two needy omegas waiting on our return,” the fascinating person orders, and I find myself instinctively obeying.

They’re not an alpha, but they have presence and charisma in spades. My guess is if they ascribe to any sort of designation, then they’re a delta, hands down. While sigmas can range in size, they’re generally larger than this person, and gammas tend to be less brash and abrasive.

I slam the back passenger door behind me, and the moment it catches, the driver of the SUV hits the gas. I scrabble for a moment to buckle myself in, the accident of yesterday still too fresh in my mind to allow me to sit easily while another person drives.

“Hey, ease off on the gas! I’ve only just walked away from one car accident, I don’t want to barrel straight into another!” I bark out, and the car’s speed evens out somewhat.

“Sorry about that, man. I didn’t think,” comes a deep rumble from the driver’s seat. I sigh, prepared to accept his apology when the scents of my two unknown companions reach my nose over the muddled fragrances of lemongrass, rosemary, mint, smoked vanilla, honey, and the unmistakable mulled wine and spices of my omega that saturate the car.

The mysterious passenger smells of decadence and luxury—black cherry, dark chocolate, and aged cognac. The driver, though—Steve— he smells familiar. Clean linen, freshly cut grass, and the unique aroma of ripe hops ready for harvest.

“ YOU! ” I bark once more and lunge forward, and Steve swerves as he flinches at the sudden movement and noise.

“ Jesus FUCKING Christ ! Sit the fuck back and shut the fuck up,” the passenger snarls at me, whipping around to glare me into submission. “You just bitched Steve out about driving carefully because you’ve recently been in an accident, and now you’re behaving like you want him to send you head-first into another one! Neither of you seem to have any sense or consideration for those around you. You have the situational awareness of a fucking potato, and you both need to pull your heads out of your asses. Knight, understand that you are not even remotely in charge here, and do as you’re fucking told. Steve, you’re better than this. I know you’re antsy because of Wisp and Kieran, but you won’t do them, or us, any favors by crashing the fucking car.”

“Sorry, Leslie,” Steve apologizes softly, a blush running up the back of the man’s neck, and I’m filled with shame.

“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have startled you like that, especially not while you’re driving. My only excuse is that I’m worried about Kier. But even so, it’s no reason to take it out on either of you. You both seem to know who I am, would it be alright for me to ask your full names?” I offer apologetically, and I relax as the passenger sighs and gestures to themself first and then the driver.

“I’m Leslie Silver, and this is Steve Hunt. Just so you’re aware, I go by they/them pronouns.” With Leslie’s confirmation of their preferences, their outward appearance—rumpled as it is—aligns with my initial impression of them.

“Steve here is all he/him, and he spent a lovely day at the Royal Tower complex a week or so ago. I believe you played a game of hide-and-seek with each other. Well, he hid while you sought.”

I’m a little confused about Leslie’s statement, but in a way they’re correct. I had spent most of that day chasing after Steve and the woman he’d been with to no avail.

We sit in silence for a little while, the sound of traffic and road noise the only break in the monotony, until Steve pokes a finger over at Leslie, jabbing them in their arm.

“You know, your insults need work, Les. That one about potatoes isn’t really as harsh as you think it is.”

“What the fuck, Steve? That insult was impeccable ,” Leslie parries back, but Steve only chuckles.

“Nope, it wasn’t. Because when it comes to seeking out dirt, potatoes have amazing situational awareness.”

Leslie’s pained groan is drowned out by mine and Steve’s laughter and watching them banter back and forth has my shoulders feeling lighter than they have in months.