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My breath catches in my throat, and my body screams to run, hold Cillian, and take him anywhere else.

Fuck…

This is so much worse than I thought.

Painted in blood across the quartzite wall above the bathtub is a message:

ENJOY THE GALA,

FOR THESE ARE YOUR LAST HOURS

I am so horrified by the message that it takes me a minute to notice Tae kneeling near the edge of the tub, capping a small glass vial.

“It’s human blood,” he tells me without looking up. “I’m taking additional samples back to the mobile lab to check for toxic compounds or a DNA match.”

“Do we know who did this?” I ask Logan.

“Not yet. Alexios is looking into the security feed.”

“Found it,” Alexios calls out from the living room.

We walk back out and lean over Alexios’s shoulder as he plays a clip from the hallway security feed.

We see a staff member carrying a stack of towels walk up to Cillian’s door. He looks around nervously before unlocking the door and slipping inside.

Ten minutes later, the same man steps back out, holding the same stack of towels, and walks away.

“Did you run his face?” I ask, my pulse pounding. “Is there any other footage of him?”

“I already added biometric identifiers to the system,” Alexios answers, his fingers typing inhumanly fast. “I’m tracking every camera feed on the property to see where he went after leaving this hall—”

“Boss, we’ve got a problem,” Björn’s voice comes through the comms, sounding just as tense… Great. “We just found a body hidden in the brush near the east tree line.”

“Let me guess… male, early thirties, Caucasian, broken nose, buzzed hair?” Logan asks.

There are a few seconds of silence before Björn confirms it. “Yeah.”

Okay… so it’s not even the first day, and we already have a bloody message and a dead suspect.

Fuck.

Logan turns to Tae, Alexios, and me. “Everyone, clear this suite and keep what happened here strictly Harknett. Tae, get those samples processed, and Knox, stay vigilant.”

As the guys start packing up their equipment, I pull Logan aside near the entryway.

“I’m going to tell Cillian about the message on the wall. I think he needs to know the threat level just escalated,” I say, trying my best not to show my attraction to Cil.

Logan is too sharp, and if I say too much, he’ll notice.

“But please ask the team to keep quiet about the dead man. It’s only been days since the previous attack, and I’m not sure if the primary can handle another shock.”

Logan looks at me for a moment before nodding. “Agreed. Handle it as you see fit.”

“Yes, boss."

— ¤ —

Three hours and a dinner later, I walk into my suite, unlace my boots, strip off my vest, and toss it onto the chair.