The address was on the other side of the island and it took an hour to get there. As we wound through the small tree-lined streets, I took the opportunity to take in the sights. The entire island had the feel of one large village. The neighborhoods were charming and old, with little pockets of stores and cafes scattered throughout. The streets bustled with smiling, happy people streaming in and out of the shops and restaurants. The drivers were polite and I didn’t see an angry scowl on even one person’s face.
“It’s like we’re in paradise and everyone knows it,” I said.
“Kinda creepy, isn’t it? How happy they all are?” Slade asked.
“I think it’s nice,” Wreck said. “I’m thinking about bringing Frankie here for a visit.”
Frankie is Wreck’s old lady. The two of them are madly in love and from what I’ve heard about how they met when they were kids and then were separated and brought back together after he thought she was dead, man, they should be madly in love. Going through that kind of trauma together will bond a couple, I would think.
I wouldn’t know myself, but I can imagine. I’d been trying to find a woman to settle down with for so long, to no avail. Something always seems to just not be quite right with everyone I meet. It’s not easy to find a woman that can handle a man with a job like mine, and I get that. There’s some days I question my ability to handle it myself. The threat of danger, the unpredictable schedule, the huge family of misfit freaks…it’s a lot to take on a daily basis.
Doesn’t mean I haven’t tried. And I’ve thought about giving up on love a million times. But something keeps me hopeful, despite the universe proving me wrong over and over.
And then, I meet a woman like Clara and it renews that hope all over again. I couldn’t help but take shit like that as a sign. As a sign of what, I’m not sure.
Probably what a hopeless romantic idiot I am, I guess.
Riot slowed down in front of a small row of colorful, modest houses.
“This it?” Slade asked.
“Yep,” Riot said. “I don’t know what to expect. The phone was registered to a J. Jensen, which is basically John Jones here. It’s a common name that I suspect is made up. The text messages read like a teen wrote them, but we can’t be sure. So, we need to try really fucking hard to avoid violence at all costs.”
He looked pointedly at Slade.
“I fucking hear you, fuck dude,” Slade said, rolling his eyes.
“Alright, hide your guns. Don’t make waves. Follow my lead.”
We opened the doors and spilled out onto the streets of paradise, ready for business.
Chapter 19
SLADE
“It’s the blue house at the end,” Riot said as we walked down the sidewalk. The house was on a small side street, off a main road, so the pedestrian traffic was light. We waited until a couple turned the corner at the end of the block, before walking up onto the small porch, the wooden boards creaking under our weight.
Riot looked through a small window at the top of the front door, then shook his head.
“Looks empty,” he said.
“Looks are deceiving,” I said. “Take me, for example. You might mistake my smile as a promise I wouldn’t punch your face, but you’d be wrong.”
“Brother, please shut up,” Riot hissed.
“I’m just saying, just because it looks empty doesn’t mean it is,” I said. “Kind of like my di —.”
“—Dude! Shut! The! Fuck! Up!” Riot hissed again.
“Fine,” I sighed. “Are we breaking in or what?”
“I’m gonna knock,” he said. “You and Wreck go around the back first.”
We nodded and silently walked down the front stairs and snuck around the back, drawing our guns as we reached the edge. I whistled lightly to let Riot and Stryker know we were good and waited.
A few moments later, the back door opened and Riot stood there with a piece of paper in his hand and an angry scowl on his face.
Chapter 20
RIOT
“What’s that?” Slade asked.
“Fucking bullshit,” I growled, frustration and anger rushing through my veins. Slade took the note from me and read it out loud.
“How stupid do you think I am? The Princess is safe. Try harder next time.” He looked over at me and shook his head.
“Fuck,” Wreck said.
“Shit,” Stryker said, shaking his head. “I was hoping this would be easy.”
“Life ain’t easy, Stryker,” Slade said, patting me on the back. Slade knew me better than anyone. We’d grown up together and gone through hell and back a few times. I knew he could feel how angry I was. “Look, dude, we’ll find her. We always complete the mission. We just gotta get back to work.”
“Yeah,” I said, snatching the note out of his hand and storming back into the house. “Search the place.”
“On it,” Wreck said, and the four of us fanned out around the house, searching the basement, the closets, and every inch of the house.
“It’s totally empty,” Slade said, stating the obvious. “Let’s get out of here. I feel like a sitting duck.”
“Yeah, man, you’re right,” I said. “Somebody knew we were coming. This doesn’t feel right to me.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Slade said, as we walked back to the car and piled in. As I started driving back to the castle, he kept talking. “Sucks you gotta tell Joe we didn’t find anything, though. You want me to go with you? He’s probably gonna break some shit, huh? I heard him breaking shit all night last night, seems to be his thing. Maybe he’ll let us break something too, huh? One of those fucking statues in the garden or something? Fuck, it’d feel real good to take a baseball bat to one of those, huh?”
“Do you ever stop talking, man?” Stryker asked, laughing from the back seat.
“No!” Wreck and I replied together.
We all laughed, and I had a flash of gratitude for the brotherhood these assholes provided. I couldn’t do this job without them, and I relied on their loyalty, strength and courage.
We’d never failed before. And maybe this was a minor setback, but it wouldn’t stop us from succeeding. We wouldn’t stop till we found Willa.
No matter what it took.
Chapter 21
JOE
Instead of bringing me back my daughter, they brought me a note.
I couldn’t speak. The anger flooded my brain.
Someone was toying with us.
Someone had my daughter and I didn’t believe for a second she was safe.
“I know this is hard, Sir,” Riot said.
My head spun. Hard. Hard wasn’t in my vocabulary.
Excruciating. Traumatic. Torturous.
That was my existence.
“This is a setback, but it’s also a move forward. We found the phone. We saw the messages.”
I still couldn’t believe those damned messages. They’d started a few weeks ago and how someone had managed to get into my daughter’s head that way was baffling. She’d replied to a random text message which was sent directly to the phone. After that, the conversation continued and escalated until they’d convinced my innocent child to pack a bag and walk through the woods and to their car.
Of course, I immediately suspected Clara but to be honest, every bone in my body told me she wasn’t involved. The poor woman was clearly traumatized herself by Willa’s disappearance. But the fact remained that it was her phone that Willa had access to. Clara should have known better. So it may not have been intentional, but she was still to blame.
And whomever this monster was that convinced my daughter to leave the safety of her home, of course.
“I want you to find this person,” I said, my words dripping with disdain. “and I want you to bring them to me.”
I grabbed a bottle of bourbon from the bar behind my desk and filled a snifter, taking a huge gulp.
My head filled with images of me taking out all the pain and rage I felt on this person, until it was al
l unleashed on their battered and bloody body. I wanted to make them hurt the way they’d made me hurt, the way my family was hurting. I had no sympathy. Teen or adult, I didn’t care.
Once I had my hands on this person, they’d never see the light of day again.
“Yes, Sir,” Riot replied. “We’re going to go visit the addresses of all the vans that match the description of the one we saw Willa in now, and I’ll keep you post—.”
The door to my study flew open and my security guard, Sullivan, stood there with wide eyes and an envelope in his hand.
“Sir, forgive me for not knocking,” he said, his words rushed and breathless. “A letter was just delivered with the rest of the mail, Sir. It’s addressed to you and it was opened by Elizabeth. You need to see it.”
“Well, bring it to me!” I demanded. He rushed over, handing me the envelope and then stopped, standing there staring at me. I took it out of the envelope and unfolded it and gasped.
“Is this a joke?” I barked.
Like something out of a movie, it was a note with cut up letters taped together to make a sentence. One simple sentence that cut right through my heart.
50 million finis or the princess dies.
My eyes shot up and I looked over at Riot.
He took it from me, holding it at the corner carefully.
“What are finis?” Riot asked.
“A fini is our currency. Ten finis equals approximately one dollar.”
“The mailman delivered this?” Riot asked Sullivan.
“We don’t know. It was found in the mailroom with the rest of the mail this morning.”
“I’m going to need to see that mailroom,” Riot said.
“Of course,” he nodded.
“Sullivan, leave the room,” I said, my heart racing.
“Of course, Sir,” he nodded, quickly walking out. I turned to Riot and threw up my hands.
“I don’t have fifty million fucking finis!”
Frustration washed over me and the feeling I hated most of all — helplessness — pierced my heart.
“You don’t need it, I assure you,” he said. “This person is playing a game. We can play the game right back.”
“My daughter is not a fucking game!” I shouted, grabbing the bourbon glass off my desk and throwing it into the fire.
“Sir, I understand this rage, I do. I live with it daily. The world is a terrible, fucked up place, and I bet even here in your little island of paradise, there are sick people out there. Now, one of them has your daughter. And I can guarantee you, we aren’t going to leave until we find her. I just need you to trust me. Give me just a little bit of time. This letter means she’s okay. This letter most likely has a ton of clues that will do nothing but point right in the direction of this person. I’m going to spend a few hours looking over it to see what I can find. And I promise you, Sir, I understand — once we find him, he’s all yours to do with as you please.”
He gave me a pointed look and I knew then that he did understand. A man understands another man’s love for his family. Riot understood just how much I needed to take care of this issue myself, to see that it was done and done properly.
“Very well,” I said, lifting my chin. “If there are any resources you need, do not hesitate to ask. I will provide you with anything you need.”
“I’ll work as fast as I can,” he assured me.
I nodded and he left, leaving me alone with all the thoughts of what I was going to do to this individual. Grabbing another bottle from the shelf and filling another glass, I stared into the glass shards shining in the flames, losing myself in my vivid fantasies of violence — the only thing that brought me any relief at all from the pain I was drowning in.
Chapter 22
WILLA
It must have been noon by the time my eyes fluttered open.
I lay awake, staring up at the motionless lantern of the deserted lighthouse, Dragon fast asleep beside me as the memories of last night flooded my brain.
The fact that I was free to move around the city unrecognized was exhilarating. We’d done so much — we’d gone to an outdoor market, milling through the crowd, my shoulders brushing up against perfect strangers, the sights and smells of things I’d never seen in my life sending shocks of excitement coursing through my veins.
We visited a fresh fish market, a coffee shop, a crowded sidewalk cafe, a few second-hand clothing stores and some touristy shops filled with seashells and postcards that we spent hours perusing. We’d gotten ice cream on a cone, so tall that it almost fell over before I could finish it.
Dragon was the best guide ever.
Once night fell, we went to a nightclub. Dragon knew the guard at the door and the man whisked us in without a second glance. The bartender served us without question and within half an hour, I was tipsy from a strawberry daiquiri that Dragon ordered for me. It was quite possibly the most delicious thing I’d ever had in my life.
And the way it made me feel? All warm and fuzzy inside, a little dizzy and a whole lot giggly — well, it was just delightful. That’s the only word I can think of for the entire night as we wasted away the hours dancing to loud pop music.
I felt delightfully alive with every second I spent away from my family and the castle and the binds of the blood that ran through my veins. Maybe I couldn’t have different blood, maybe I would always be Princess Willa of Lilivania, but at least I had last night.
One beautiful, perfect night to pretend I was someone else.
We’d made memories that I’d cherish forever.
After we made it back to the lighthouse, Dragon passed out before I did, which I was thankful for. He’d had a lot more to drink than I did, and I wasn’t ready for anything physical.
He’d gotten progressively more handsy as the night wore on, especially since we were dancing. I’d let him kiss me, and it was nice the first time, but after that, it was just gross and the thought of his slobber on me made me kind of sick. I just wanted to be his friend — I really liked him. I loved roaming the city with him. I loved all the things he’d shown me.
But it was obvious he liked me more than I liked him, and that made me uncomfortable and I had no idea what to do about it.
As the night wore on, it became clear that he expected certain things in return for helping me make all those memories and I wasn’t sure I was able to give him what he wanted. Once his head hit the pillow, though, he was fast asleep and I was able to peacefully fall asleep myself without worrying about it.
But today was a new day to start the fun all over again and I was pretty sure my luck would run out at some point and I would have to tell Dragon I had no intention of having sex with him.
I was worried how he would react.
I reached up and pulled my necklace from under my black t-shirt, rubbing the medallion between my fingertips as I tried to figure out what to do. My family must be so worried about me by now. How long could we stay hiding here? We certainly couldn’t stay forever, and I knew my father well enough to know that he would leave no stone unturned until he found me.
I imagined going back to the castle, facing him after having run away. His anger and my guilt was overwhelming just thinking about now. Surely, he’d lock me away in the dungeon under the castle for a while to make me ‘think about things’ or something like that. Maybe that’s excessive, I’ll admit, but he would definitely increase the security around me, instead of thinking that maybe, just maybe, his little girl needed a real life instead of whatever isolated existence he thought I could survive in.
Maybe I’m not ready to go back just yet, I decided.
Dragon stirred beside me and I bit my lip. I thought about leaving him there while he slept. I could sneak down the stairs and walk back to town in a few hours, and still not be recognized.
But I knew nothing about how to survive out there. I didn’t have any money. I was too young to get a job, or a place to live. I might even be recognized eventually and the amount of problems that could
cause was tremendous.
A little more time, I finally decided. I just needed a little time to figure things out.
I could handle Dragon until then.
Chapter 23
SLADE
“They got a ransom note,” I told Diana. I’d just checked in with Riot and he was busy trying to pull fingerprints off the note. That would take a while, and if he did get them, he’d have to take the time to run them through his database to try to match them to a person. Finding a person that lived in Lilivania in the database was not going to be easy, if possible at all.
“Oh wow!” Diana replied. “Poor Joe. Poor Eva! Poor Clara! This is just awful, babe.”
I pulled her into my arms, hating that she was feeling bad.
“Riot’s on the case. He’ll figure it all out. Good thing he’s so smart.”
“You make a good team,” she said, smiling up at me.
“Are you saying I’m not smart?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Not at all. You just have other skills you excel at.”
I reached down and grabbed her ass, pulling her into me. “You bet your sweet ass I have skills.”
She laughed again, music to my ears. I’d do anything to make this woman smile.
“Hey, since he doesn’t need me for a while, how about we take some time to roam around the grounds? I saw a beautiful garden you might like.”
“That sounds great, babe,” she said, pulling away. She threw on a pair of sandals and we headed out of our luxurious room and down the massive staircase that led to the front foyer of the palace. Our footsteps echoed against the marble floors and walls as we headed out of the castle.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and after descending the massive staircase out front, we stopped at the gorgeous fountain that flowed directly in front of the main entrance.
BLOOD PRINCESS: GODS OF CHAOS MC (BOOK 17) Page 7