Page 71

“Thank you,” she whispers before rising from the swing.

I walk her to the car and open the door for her.

“Thank you, Ember.”

“No problem, Augustus. Please let us know if you need anything. Logan is going to check in and head over after he finishes his meetings with his crews. I think Evren and Jackson will be by as well.”

“I appreciate it,” I say to her, then turn to Cordelya. “I’ll check in later, Moonlight.”

She gives me a weak smile, one that doesn’t reach her eyes, and nods.

I close the door and watch them drive away. A horrid feeling forms in the pit of my stomach. A mixture of dread and terror that has me on edge.

Heading back inside, I try to shake the feeling. With a deep breath, I begin sorting through the disaster zone that was formerly my living room.

An hour in, and I’m beginning to think there’s little point in my endeavor. Nothing is missing; everything has just been smashed, bashed, and destroyed. When I checked in on Cordelya a little while ago, she said she had picked up a shift at the pub.

I was tempted to ask if that was a good idea, but she had messaged and said she just needed something to occupy her mind. My sweet mate didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts. I can’t get through this mess fast enough—I need to get back to her.

That same uneasy feeling keeps gnawing at me as the time ticks by. At least at the pub, she isn’t alone.

Sometime later, Eric shows up, with Evren and Jackson close behind. They grab garbage bags and begin helping me sort through the debris. I check in on Cordelya a few more times, worry eating away at me.

When Logan shows up, I’ve just begun to sift through the bedroom.

“Fucking hell, man. Who the fuck did you piss off, Count?” Logan asks as he takes in the destruction.

“Wish I knew,” I grumble, tossing more broken glass into the open trash bag by my side.

Logan joins Evren and Jackson, who are trying to pull out clothes that have been flung in all directions.

“It’s just odd,” I mumble more to myself than anyone else.

“What’s odd?” Eric asks.

I pause and look around the room and shake my head.

“There’s nothing missing. Not a single thing. I’d expect things to be upturned and rumaged through, but everything is just destroyed. Something just feels…off.”

“That is kind of weird. Plus the level of destruction is kind of overkill,” Jackson adds.

I try to shrug it off and move on to the bed. My poor mattress looks like a canyon with the deep scoring down the middle. When I kneel on one side, a puff of air releases.

My body freezes as a guttural growl rips from my throat.

“Augustus?” someone calls, but unbridled rage pulses through me.

I move again, catching another puff of air.

Motherfucker.

“I can smell him,” I growl.

“Who?” several voices ask.

I shake my head violently.

“I don’t know. What I do know is I can smell the intruder, and it’s not the first time I’ve smelled their scent. The first time was right after Cordelya’s apartment had been broken into. It was all over a blanket. Minna, her dog, growled at it like it was trying to attack her.”