AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After rinsing his clothes and hanging them around the bathroom to dry, he took the plastic shower curtain he had bought and spread it out on the top of the bed. It wouldn't be the most comfortable, but it would protect him from the filth of the bed. With just a towel wrapped around his waist, he laid down and turned out the lights. He was exhausted, and this was not how he had envisioned his evening working out.
Master Hadden was not pleased, and it showed. "How did a young human manage to avoid all security measures and personnel inside the Hadden Center while being actively pursued?" He denounced and then added. "Here, let me show you." He motioned to Zac, who put the footage from the restaurant and the lobby up on the screen for everyone to see, and it was a shit show, an absolute comedy of errors.
They watched men tripping over themselves and each other as they were trying to stop the young man from reaching the doors. The scene was ridiculous, and in the end, the human escaped.
"Tell me why this young man, Foster Rhodes, a waiter at Sienna, a new hire, was allowed to escape. Why has he not been apprehended?" The Master stood silently at the front of the room, and silence fell across the room because no one had an answer. After several minutes of silence, he continued.
“A twenty-three-year-old human waiter of no particular skill or ability was able to best a large swath of my elite, highly trained security defense. Let me tell you, it does not fill me with confidence." The meeting continued in this tone for some time, and every man in the room was feeling every word, and the room was filled with a heavy discomfort. No one liked to disappoint Master Hadden.
"Zac is sending everything we know about Foster Rhodes to your phones." Master Hadden let his eyes travel the room, connecting with every single man standing there. "Find him." He said and then swiftly turned and left the room. It wasn't a life or death situation, but it was a loose end that needed to be taken care of, and unfortunately, it had put the Hadden forces in a particularly bad light.
Foster lay in bed on top of the plastic shower curtain, wishing he was in his apartment warm, safe, and comfortable. As his mind and emotions calmed down, he allowed himself to contemplate what he'd actually seen. He'd kept himself focused and busy until this moment, and now he had to analyze what he saw and how they reacted. Then, there was the man in the dark in the storage room who tried to stop him, and none of it made any sense.
The guy in the bathroom looked inhuman, like a beast, but the waitress didn't appear distressed. Rather, she seemed to be enjoying their encounter. It was off, though the scene was wrong. Foster didn't know what he'd seen, but clearly, it was something the Hadden people did not want to get out. The man was drinking the woman's blood. There was no doubt about it. Was it a cult thing? Were all the security guys involved? Did their victims survive? It was just so much.
Then, there was the man in the storage room hunched over in the dark, doing something to a junction box. When Foster startled him, he was pissed, not shocked or scared, just angry, and ran after him. What could he possibly be doing in the dark? He wasn't part of the maintenance crew; they all wore a distinctive uniform, and that guy was wearing a tunic with tight black pants and boots. It wasn't a good look and really wasn't appropriate for a place like the Hadden Center. He was certain that the two events were separate; whatever the guy in the storeroom was doing had nothing to do with what happened in the bathroom at the Sienna.
Nikolas Hadden, the owner of the building and head of the organization, was resourceful and had connections everywhere. He was just a lowly waiter and no real threat to anyone. No matter what he said, who would people believe, Nikolas Hadden or Foster Rhodes? The answer was obvious. Why were they so dedicated to his capture?
He scrubbed the heels of his hands over his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. Frustrated and tired but also a little bit afraid to fall asleep. No, no, no, he had to stay with the facts. His mind was going in every direction and grabbing onto the crazy. He needed to stick with the facts.
He saw a man physically assaulting a woman in the bathroom. The man was part of the prestigious security force of the Hadden Coven. They want to stop Foster from sharing what he saw, which could cause Hadden and his people difficulty. That was the long and the short of it. The question is, how far would they go to keep him from talking? As far as the guy in the storeroom, he simply wasn't supposed to be there. He was doing something nefarious, that was certain.
He'd call his neighbor Roddy in the morning and find out if men in suits were hanging about his apartment. Roddy was a retired postal worker, so very little got past that man. Closing his eyes, he tried to clear his mind in order to get a little sleep, but every sound had him awake and alert.
The vision of the man in the bathroom kept invading his mind's eye. His victim was not upset or fighting him. It was a tender scene at first, or at least that's how he interpreted it until the man turned around. His face was fierce, his teeth were abnormally long, and then there was the blood. Foster took a long, cleansing breath and once again closed his eyes, pushing the visions out of his head. He was safe for now, and he could sleep. As he relaxed, the image of the man from the bar came to mind, and he smiled in spite of himself. If only, he muttered as he finally fell asleep.
CHAPTER THREE
Enzo went over the information that Zac had sent. It was brief but informative. "He has taken care of himself for a lot of years, which explains his talent and proficiency when under attack." He commented to Noori, who was deciding whether or not to join the search.
"He knew how to quickly size people up and how to move; if it weren't for the fact that he possessed potentially dangerous knowledge, I'd applaud his success and forget about it," Noori added.
"You want to join the search?" Enzo knew that he did and wanted to give him the freedom to say go. Apprehending a clever, uninitiated human was not in Noori's job description, but the man loved a challenge, no matter how small. He lit up at the offer.
"Let's go." They first headed to the bathroom, where it all began. "The others began their search at the main doors, but we'd be wise to get a read on his scent first. The best place for a solid read is the bathroom, where he was startled and forced to flee. His scent should be quite pungent depending upon his fear level." Noori was in his investigative mode, focused and absorbing every lead. He was Commander Noori for a reason, and that reason was that he was one of the best, with a shrewd mind that never stopped.
They were just entering the restaurant when they both received another message from Zac.“It has been determined that Foster Rhodes was able to escape and was unaffected by attempts to influence or stop him because he is a Fated partner. At present, we have not identified his significant other.”
“Significant other, is that what we’re calling them now?” Enzo laughed.
"Zac is always careful with his words. If he said vampire, then the shifters among us would be offended, and so on. Significant other casts a wide net and offends no one." Noori explained as they headed to the men's room. At the door, he stopped suddenly and turned to regard Enzo with a look of shocked surprise.
“What?” Enzo asked after a few seconds of being scrutinized.
"Foster is a waiter, and he was working tonight when you were here enjoying your espresso." Noori spelled it out, and Enzo resisted the implication at first, but he had to admit that there was a strong possibility that Foster Rhodes was his beloved.
"You'll know for sure when we enter the bathroom his scent will be strong there," Noori told him and let him take the lead. Enzo walked with purpose, taking deep breaths as he approached the back hall, and then it started to hit him. The scent he recognized from earlier only it was more meaningful, and the markers were hitting their goal. He felt the sweetness touch his heart and mind.
When he swung the door open, the presence of the man who was his beloved rose up before him, and Enzo closed his eyes on the sheer emotional overload of the moment. He walked in with Noori close behind, but he could not speak at first; he was not able to find the words for such an experience.
"It's overwhelming, isn't it," Noori said knowingly and then stayed silent as Enzo brought his surprise and joy under control.
"Yes." He responded and then turned to Noori. "This is what I sensed earlier, but it didn't possess the absolute punch that it has now."
“It was fleeting but strong enough that you couldn’t get it out of your mind.”
“I can’t believe this is happening to me and with this man. I have to find him. I can't let him continue running and being afraid." Noori nodded and left the bathroom with Enzo right behind him.
