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CHAPTER 27
The sound of someonebanging on the door woke me from a dead sleep. It took me a minute of hazy confusion to realize that I wasn’t in my bedroom in our apartment, but in a hotel suite. Madeline and Rio stirred on either side of me, but I was the first to sit up.
One glance at the clock on the nightstand told me that it was just after three in the morning, so who the hell was banging on the door?
“Whassat?” Madeline slurred as she rubbed her eyes and started to sit up.
“Stay here with Rio, honey.” Whatever was going on outside, I had a feeling that it wasn’t good.
By the time I made it to the hallway of the hotel suite that we were staying in, Marcus was already there. He was still dressed in his tuxedo, though the jacket and bow-tie were gone now. Despite the late hour, it was plain to see that he hadn’t gone to bed yet.
“Who the bloody hell is knocking on the door at three in the morning?” He grumbled, glaring at the offending noise as whoever was on the other side of the door banged again.
I moved ahead of him and put my eye up to the peep-hole, checking it before I opened the door. “Mortie, what the hell?”
Mortie stood, flanked by my two bodyguards. He was dressed in a pair of blue and white striped pajamas and a pair of fluffy white slippers. I would have laughed at how ridiculous he looked...if it weren’t for the grave expression on his face.
Something had gone very wrong in the last couple of hours since we left the gala downstairs. “What happened?”
Mortie breezed past Marcus and I before slumping down into one of the couches in the living area of the suite. “Someone threw a molotov cocktail through the windows of the campaign office.”
My entire body stiffened with shock, and after a second I sank down onto the couch next to him. “How bad is it?”
“Not as bad as it could have been. Some idiot college kid volunteer was still there putting mailers in envelopes and managed to put it out with the fire extinguisher. But there was also some shit spray painted outside on the sidewalk that I won’t even repeat.” Mortie gestured for one of the guards to hand me their phone. As I scrolled through the pictures, Marcus let out a chain of curses that would have made my toes curl if I wasn’t in so much shock.
In red spray paint, splattered all over the front sidewalk outside of my campaign office, was ‘alphas first,’ ‘betas and omegas get in line,’ and the symbol for the Alphas First movement. Over the past few months, the threatening mail had died down almost completely. I had just figured that they had moved on to other targets to terrorize, but now it was clear that wasn’t going to be the case.
“We’ve got cameras, right?” I asked, scrolling through the pictures one more time before handing the phone back to the guard.
“Of course we’ve got cameras, kid. Theo Nilsson made it so that every square inch of that place is being monitored at all times.” Mortie snorted derisively, and crossed his arms over his striped pajama covered chest.
“The issue,” one of the guards, Gomez I was pretty sure, chimed in. “Is that they were all wearing masks. All we’ve got is some creepy ass dudes in skull masks painting and throwing the molotov. That kid inside was lucky that he didn’t decide to go home early, because he might have gotten caught up in their bullshit.”
“That’s it, I’m calling Theo. We are upping your guard and putting some on Rio and Madeline as well.” Marcus said, standing and pointing a finger at me. “No more driving. You will only get into SUVs that have been checked by security first. Our cars will be staying in the garage at the apartment where they can’t be fucked with.”
His phone was already ringing by the time that he opened the door to his room, and he closed it firmly behind himself. I could hear his muffled voice as he spoke with Theo Nilsson on the phone, undoubtedly already working on getting a security detail that would make the President look unguarded.
Turning back to Mortie, I felt like I was at a bit of a loss. “What do you think I should do? I don’t want to put people in danger.” The person who had been in the most danger had been just a college student. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if he’d gotten hurt.
“You buck the fuck up, Adair, that’s what you do.” Mortie’s voice boomed as he glared at me. “This shit is bigger than you now. You have put yourself out there as the politician that can finally bring some change to California, and you are now in the unique position to actually do so. The Omega Academy system is currently in flux. I don’t know when the next chance to make things better will be, but it certainly won’t be in my lifetime. Don’t let some limp-knotted cowards scare you away from that.”
He was right, I knew he was, but my thoughts turned to Marcus, Rio, and Madeline. All of this could potentially put them in danger, and I would walk on nails before I let anything happen to them. “What about protecting everyone? An election campaign shouldn’t be like a war-zone, Mortie.”
“You just leave that to me and Theo Nilsson. We’ll keep you and your pack safe if I have to jump in front of a bullet for you myself.” The old man was serious, I could see it in the stubborn set of his jaw and the determination in his eyes.
“...Okay, fine. We’ll need to get out in front of this, Mortie can you schedule a press conference for later this morning? Let’s show these bastards that Adair Carter isn’t afraid of their terrorist tactics.”
“Hell yeah!” Gomez hooted before throwing a hand over his mouth and blushing. His exaltation of joy finally broke the tension, and I found myself laughing, despite the fact that my insides were still twisting with panic and fear.
“I’ve got your suit all ready in the room.” A soft voice came from behind us. Madeline was standing at the end of the hallway in her sleep shorts and tank top, her brown eyes were full of concern which told me that she’d heard the entire conversation.
“Thanks, honey,” I said as Mortie and I stood together. “Mortie, I’ll see you downstairs in a couple of hours. Also, maybe lose the pajamas? You look like Ebenezer Scrooge about to meet his three Christmas Ghosts.”
“Oh, fuck off.” Mortie grumbled, but there was no anger behind it. His laughter filled the hotel hallway as he led the way out of the apartment. He was clearly in a better mood than when he had entered. Unfortunately he took his now jovial mood with him, and all that was left behind was worry and fear.
“Is everything going to be okay?” Madeline asked as we entered the room together. Rio was sitting on the bed, talking quietly with someone on the phone.
“I don’t know, honey, but we’re going to work on making things okay.” I cupped her face in my hands and pressed a reassuring kiss to her lips. I would cut my own foot off in order to keep my pack safe. I just hoped that it wouldn’t come to that.
