“That sounds lovely.” I smiled at her.
She stood up, walking towards what I assumed was her bedroom. She lifted her shirt – a large tiger tattoo on her back. I gawked, having not noticed it the first time we’d met.
It was stunning – the large marking was a detailed image of a tiger with bright orange eyes. Its head started on her lower back and its body moved upward; its tail reached her shoulders.
She must have noticed my silence, turning around to see my gawking expression.
“Ah sorry, I assumed since we’re both girls, it wouldn’t be a big deal.”
I quickly lifted my hands up, shaking my head in protest.
“No. It’s beautiful Akane. I’m just confused why I didn’t notice it the first time we met.” I confessed.
“Ah. I hide it with makeup. It catches way too much attention. Especially on cruise ships like these. I’d be stopped every five minutes if I showed this bad boy.” She giggled, walking into her room.
“Give me two minutes to find something.” She called out.
“Okay,” I replied, relaxing in the seats to think. I felt my phone vibrate. I quickly pulled it out, noticing the text message.
MR. GREY: “Irina. Where the fuck are you? What did Cy make you do? Did we fight? Why is my Armani shirt drenched?”
I sighed. Didn’t Ethan say there’s a way to turn the tracker off?
“Settings – Enter the password and put it into stealth mode. You’ll still be able to text them in an emergency, but Ethan won’t be able to track ya.” Aurora explained.
“This is why you should have paid attention instead of zoning out. And the password is Whale.” Serenity reminded. I smirked. You know I love you two, right?
“Ya, until she gets pissed,” Aurora mumbled.
“Or embarrassed.” Serenity replied. Never mind. I take it back.
I looked back at the phone, struggling as to what to say.
ME: “I need a break. I’ll be back later tonight. And your shirt was ugly anyway.”
I pressed send, putting my phone on silent. I sighed. He’s gonna be so pissed.
“I’m ready!” Akane announced, coming into view. I lifted my head to see her in a purple bikini halter top and white shorts. She tied her hair in a ponytail.
“Ah. Let me fix my makeup and stuff.” I stood up.
“Sure! Here, I’ll give you some stuff. I should have a foundation that matches your skin tone. I need to work on covering my tattoo so take your time.” She reassured me, heading back to her room to retrieve a bunch of makeup.
She handed me everything a girl with makeup knowledge would need to look like a model, and showed me where the washroom was.
“Thanks, Akane, I really appreciate it.” I whispered.
“Of course. We’re friends now! I don’t have many friends, to be honest. My best friend is in Japan, and my other friend is in a remote area helping her family with wildlife. My father’s pretty strict too...so, I don’t get to hang out much.” She confessed, a sad smile on her face.
“Truth.” Serenity whispered.
“Ethan did mention she’s the daughter of the CEO of some company. Maybe she didn’t get to hang with a lot of people when she was younger?” Aurora pointed out.
“I’m sorry Akane. Don’t wear such a sad expression. We can be friends! We can always text or Facetime if you like when you have to go back to where you live.” I encouraged.
“Really? You’d...want to keep in touch? Your boyfriend doesn’t look like he likes me.” She mumbled.
“He’s just jealous when I don’t give him one hundred percent of my attention. Plus, with the way it’s going I doubt we’ll be together much longer.” I mumbled, looking away.
Akane stepped forward, placing a supportive hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t worry. You’ll find everything out soon, and we’ll figure something out.” She whispered. I nodded in reply, giving her a smile.
“You’re awesome, Akane.”
“So are you, Irina.” She responded.
“Let me get ready and we can enjoy today! It’s about time I had some girl time instead of writing books all day long.” I rejoiced.
“Okay! After I do my cover-up, I’ll check what’s available. My guards get today off so it’ll be you and me.” She announced. I nodded, heading into the washroom and closing the door.
Shit. She’s telling the truth. Everything she said was the truth. You think the person we met in the beginning, was a doppelganger or something? It didn’t make sense. My gut told me she was innocent, and Serenity’s skill proved she wasn’t lying.
“The tattoo is different.” Aurora reminded. I remembered our first encounter.
“Wait, what happened to her tattoo that was on her chest?” Serenity reminded.
I don’t know. She could be hiding it with a glamour...but she didn’t hide her tiger tattoo. Glamour takes a hella lot of energy from what Ethan explained, so she’d do it all at once. Not in parts.
“I think we’re in a jam here. Double trouble?” Serenity proposed.
“More like, who’s the real Akane?” Aurora questioned.
I pulled out the lipstick Cyrus had given me. I took the top lid off, looking at my reflection in the oversized mirror before me.
Guess it’s time to find out.
Chapter Twelve
AGENT JAXSON WHITE:
“I’m gonna fucking kill Cyrus!”
I’m stirred awake by the loud announcement. My head pounded furiously; my payback for drinking way too much. Mother fucker. Why did I do this to myself?
“Cause you hate losing,” Agni mumbled.
You’re not helping and why are you awake?
“You’ll find out,” Agni replied, leaving my mind. I mentally groaned.
I knew my spirit better than I knew myself. He normally didn’t linger in my mind unless he wanted to bother the shit out of Michael and his spirit Ezriel, or he was about to cause a whole lot of mischief. Of course, with us meeting Scarlet, teasing her had been added to the list.
“Where is she?” Michael questioned.
“She turned her tracker off before I could get a reading,” Ethan admitted.
“What happened to your shirt?” Junho questioned.
“I don’t fucking know! I woke up standing in front of our suite fucking drenched in what I’m praying is champagne and not fucking piss. Some guy was passing by and said girl trouble is always hard. I texted Scarlet and she said she needs a break and she’ll be back tonight. AND she called my shirt ugly!”
I groaned, sitting up as I ruffled my hair. This doesn’t sound good at all.
“Shit, sorry Jaxson.” Christian immediately apologized, realizing he’d woke me up.
“At least Scarlet did something right,” I mumbled.
“Which is?” Christian retorted.
“Your shirt’s hideous. Agni has been dying to burn it for months.” I commented.
“Seriously?” Christian huffed. I opened my eyes to stare him up and down.
“Yup.”
“You gotta admit, it is pretty ugly,” Ethan whispered to Junho, who sat next to him on one of the kitchen stools.
“You know how Armani is. It’s either a hit or miss with their clothing. This was definitely a miss.” Junho agreed.
“I think we’re missing the point here guys. But, just to add my comment, good riddance.” Michael pointed out, shrugging.
“You guys are my best friends. Next time, can you let me know if my shirt is shit? And fuck, Cyrus! Wake the fuck up.” Christian swore. I sighed.
“Can I get a recap of what’s going on? And do you mind lowering your voice, Christian? My head is pounding like a drumline.” I admitted.
“I’ll help you out while Junho explains,” Michael noted, making his way from the single seater to the empty side of the couch.
“Thanks,” I replied. Christian huffed, pulling off his shirt before setting it up in flames – the action shocked us.
“B
ruh! Outside! You’re gonna make the detector to go off!” Ethan scolded.
“Jeez Christian! Put it in the sink.” Junho ordered.
Christian rolled his eyes, throwing it in the sink before Junho’s eyes glowed a bright purple, water rapidly filled the sink – putting the flames out.
“Christian, relax. I get why you’re fucking pissed right now. Cyrus is like Agni. They both love to keep us in the dark. Whatever they do however, usually has a purpose. Scarlet should be safe. Knowing how Cece is, she’s probably keeping an eye on her whether in person or through foresight. Just chill.” I consoled.
I knew Christian had abandonment issues. The fear of him doing something wrong and that resulting in Scar breaking up with him always lingered in the back of his mind, and we all knew this was already clawing at him.
He turned around and walked straight to the washroom, closing the door. We sighed.
“I wonder how Cyrus handles him when he gets moody?” Junho wondered.
“He’ll live. Give him a moment to chill. It’s just his anxiety messing with his head.” Michael reminded. His hand began to glow before he pressed two of his fingers on my temples.
I closed my eyes, sighing in relief as the ongoing pounding dulled, easing into nothing within a minute.
“Note to self. No drinking for a while.” I mumbled.
“It wasn’t the drinking. Agni took over last night.” Michael revealed. I opened my eyes, tilting my head in confusion. What did you do?
“He’ll explain. I’m tired. Goodnight.” Agni replied, leaving my mind.
I rolled my eyes. You seriously remind me of a demon shifter I know.
“Stryker and I are not similar at all. We just like letting you figure shit out. You and what’s his name...Ryder just gotta be the leaders you are and put everything together.” He argued, not wanting to let me have the last say. Whatever.
“Agni’s being an ass and not telling me what happened,” I confessed. Junho yawned, stretching.
“Scar had another dream and she unconsciously summoned a water spirit.” He began.
“What? Isn’t that extremely hard to do? You need years of experience.” I recalled my teachings from when I was younger. Summoning was one thing, but using the elements to create a temporary spirit while asleep was unheard of. I knew Scarlet was a unique case, being the Elemental and all, but I still underestimated her skills.
“Yup. Agni walked in and was able to wake Scar and get her to tell us what she’s been seeing. The bomb threat is legit and so far, it’s going to happen if we don’t solve this case. Agni had said something about Cyrus needing to talk to Scar.” Junho explained. Michael nodded, continuing.
“He said it would help us turn our dead ends into leads, but we woke up to Christian and Scarlet not here and ten minutes later, Christian is walking in with vengeance in his eyes and no Scarlet. Her tracker is off.” He finished.
“And she texted back saying she needs a break and will be back soon?” I confirmed.
Michael sat down next to me, rubbing his eyes.
“Yup. Ethan, can you pull up some surveillance footage?” Michael asked. Ethan nodded, repositioning himself to face his laptop while his fingers began to type away. It took less than a minute before he had what we asked. Both he and Junho hopped off their stools and made their way to the couch.
“Here’s the footage,” Ethan announced, clicking play.
We eyed the interaction – Scarlet picked up a glass of what I assumed was champagne and turned to face Christian. It was too far away to see their facial expressions, but from their body language and hand gestures, they definitely looked like they were arguing.
We gasped when she threw the glass of champagne at Christian, thankfully ruining that hideous shirt of his before she turned and waltzed away.
Ethan sat in the space between Michael’s and my feet and the coffee table, pulling up the next clip.
Scarlet continues walking until she’s stopped by...
“Akane!” We all voiced in unison.
“You gotta be kidding me. Where the fuck did she even come from?” Junho groaned.
“Ethan, can you track where they went?” Michael asked.
“I lost signal when they reached the Elite Platinum section of the cruise ship. Remember we couldn’t put video cameras there because we have no access. I can only use the ones installed in the general event areas. Nothing in the halls.” Ethan sighed.
I relaxed in my seat, needing a moment to think. Cyrus wouldn’t put Scarlet in danger. If he wants her to be there, it’s for a reason.
“Why don’t we go search for her? She could be in danger like when she was stuck in the washroom with that Daichi brat.” Junho proposed. I opened my eyes, looking up at the ceiling; my eyes lowered to my friends.
“Leave it be.”
All three of them turned to look my way, stunned expressions covered their faces.
“What?” They questioned.
“Leave her. We need to stop babysitting Scarlet. She’s a grown ass woman. We can’t go cry wolf whenever she’s in the smallest situations. She’s an investigator like us. She has her phone on her. If she truly needs our help she will reach out. But for now, leave everything as it is.” I ordered.
“But...” Ethan began but I shook my head.
“Scarlet feels left out of our team. What do we always do when she’s in a little bit of danger? Freak the fuck out and overreact. Scarlet is trained. She’s survived a lot of crazy shit. She also has Serenity and Aurora. Knowing her familiar, he’s probably nearby too. Not to mention Cece, her guardian who’d never let anything life-threatening happen to Scar. Let’s give Scar a shot to get us some answers. Agni must have been confident in Scarlet’s abilities and knew Cyrus would give her a hint of how to help us out. Now, let’s do our part and narrow down our other two suspects.” I concluded, using my authoritative tone while eyeing each of them.
They exchanged looks before nodding. I rose to my feet.
“I need to talk with Christian for two seconds. You guys start analyzing the data collected from that tracker Christian placed last night on Daichi. If we’re lucky, he may have left it in the room he’s staying in and it can give us a clue of what’s going on.”
“I’m on it,” Ethan announced. I turned my attention to Michael and Junho.
“If you guys are seriously worried about Scarlet, go undercover. Ethan can help finish the glamour process but change your looks completely. Scar may sense it’s you guys, but Akane won’t. You can watch over them, but don’t interfere. Understood?” I stressed. They nodded in approval. I made my way down the hallway to the washroom – the door opened right when I faced it; Christian’s bare chest and his lower half, thankfully covered by a towel, greeted me.
“I need you to do something.” I requested. He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Depends on what it is.” He replied.
“Well, all I can say is Scarlet and Cece may kill you, but I’ll try to salvage your remains.” I shrugged; his wide eyes made Agni chuckled in my head.
Weren’t you asleep Mr. Figure-Shit-Out? Why are you suddenly amused?
“I was sleeping until I caught on to your thought process. I must say, the gods chose the right host for me. You always seem to figure shit out a lot faster than I predict.” Agni replied. I’ll take that as a compliment.
Agni’s comment meant my idea was right on track.
“As long as you explain to them that you forced me to do it,” Christian answered.
“Don’t worry. I’ll blame it on Agni.” I winked, making my way to the door.
“Why are you blaming me?” Agni grumbled. I smirked. Because it’s fun. Now go back to sleep.
“Meet me in ten, Christian. We gotta start planning, and text Cece that you need to see her tomorrow about something important.” I put my slippers on before walking out of our suite.
I took a deep breath.
These next two days are either going to be worth the drama I’m about
to cause, or we’re all fucked.
Chapter Thirteen
“I’m gonna go to the restroom, Irina.”
I opened my eyes, lifting my shades from my face to see Akane leaning over me, blocking the sun’s rays.
“Okay. I’ll be here.” I replied with a wide smile. She grinned, turning towards the VIP glass doors and heading towards the Elite bathroom. I noticed the over-sized security guard who nodded to her as she passed, turning his attention back to the small exclusive patio. I sighed.
“Aren’t you going to apply your lipstick yet? The one that Cyrus gave you?” Serenity questioned.
I slid my shades back on, relaxing in the cushioned beach chair. No, not yet. I have a better idea. If I can get it to work.
“Cyrus said you have to kiss her, didn’t he?” Aurora reminded. I groaned. I don’t have a choice. I can’t just go kissing her hand or neck. It has to be on her lips.
“It also has to be the right Akane. If we’re playing the double team, you have to make sure it’s the Akane with the dragon markings, not the tiger marking.” Serenity noted.
I know. But that was just a hunch, remember? What if it was just an alibi or something? This whole double Akane idea could be totally wrong. It’s not like we had any other leads. If we fuck up on this, we might as well call a boat taxi and ditch before this place goes up like a firecracker.
The dream I’d had the last couple of days flickered in the back of my mind. All those people. We can’t even warn them early on. The bomb could be in place at this moment and if we show any signs we know what’s going on...boom. Bye, bye ship. All because we can’t figure out who’s behind this.
“Does your gut tell you we’re going in the wrong direction?” Serenity questioned. No.
“Well, your gut never fails. Unless you’re hungry.” Aurora replied. I rolled my eyes.
Let’s hope this isn’t the first time.
“O.M.G! Are you Irina Locksworth? The writer!”
What?
I opened my eyes, sitting up to see the beautiful woman before me. I gawked at her enchanting blue hair that swayed in the passing breeze. She wore a blue t-shirt, white shorts, and white slippers. Her light brown eyes were the most mesmerizing I had seen in all my twenty-five years.
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