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Eoin
Chapter Twenty-Five
My teeth ground as I watched the news, my fingers pinching my bottom lip between my fingers. In the back of my mind I could sense Ottavia, could feel the soft tendrils of her contentment somewhere in the house. I did my best to contain my rage behind a mental wall, shutting it out from her. I didn’t need her feeding off of it. The bond was still too new for her to be able to control both her and my emotions.
“Ye see this shite?” Declan stomped into the room, his phone held out in front of him. He paused when he noticed the TV on the wall playing, his arm dropping to his side and the phone tucked into his pocket. “Ah, I see ye ’ave.”
Residents in the south quadrant of the city are on high alert tonight after an apparent ghoul attack in one of the suburbs killed eight people this evening. Police have informed us that one of the bodies was identified as none other than Lorenzo La Rosa, making this the second death by ghoul for the La Rosa family within the last month.
The Irish Don, Eoin Ó Ceallaigh, who is in charge of keeping the ghouls contained, and has a long-standing feud with the La Rosa Mafia, has yet to comment on the attack, although he did have men take care of the scene. Of course, there is no evidence at this time, many speculate that Eoin may be the one behind the vicious attacks. The ghouls have always been a concern for residents within the city, but even more so now as it appears Eoin either is incapable of controlling the ghouls or is using them for his own gain.
Mattia La Rosa stepped forward after the death and made a public announcement that demanded Eoin be punished for his lack of control, but the mayor was reluctant to respond and instead has encouraged residents to—
I grabbed the remote and clicked off the TV, uninterested in hearing the rest.
“Mattia knows bett’r than ta try an’ turn tha mayor ’gainst us. He’s been in yer pocket fer years,” Declan commented, his jaw working when I looked over at him.
“Tha’s tha least o’ me concerns.” In retrospect, it truly was. Someone was deliberately letting the ghouls out and utilizing them as a weapon to both make me look bad and kill off the La Rosas. It made me wonder if Mattia knew or at least suspected this was going on. It would make sense why he hadn’t pushed getting Ottavia back harder. He knew she was safer here than there. But if he’d known, why wouldn’t he have taken care of the threat himself?
There were too many questions I didn’t have the answers to and I wasn’t used tonotknowing things. You didn’t live to be as old as I was by being blissfully unaware.
Pushing back from my desk, I stood, cracking my neck. “Ottavia is tha last heir ta tha La Rosa Mafia. If she dies, tha La Rosa bloodline ends and tha wolves take ov’r.”
“Why ’ould the wolves want ta control now? They’ve been in peace wit’ tha mortals fer decades.”
I shrugged at his question, walking around my desk to stand near him. “I’ve never pretended to understand tha mind of tha mutt.”
There was a moment of silence that stretched between us, one that was filled with tension and barely-contained annoyance over the situation. Keeping my mental wall up, I reached for Ottavia, feeling a blink of happiness that nearly made me smile. I knew she was with Sable or had recently been with her. I pushed the emotions away, bringing my attention back to the conversation at hand. My gut grew heavy at what I knew I had to do.
“We need ta give ’er back.”
Declan frowned over at me, a slight shake of his head. “Who? Ottavia?”
I nodded, moving toward the bar cart.
“Ye can’t be serious. Jus’ a week or so ago ye were ragin’ ’bout her bein’ yers.”
My back stiffened at his tone but I kept my response cool, unbothered. “Someone is killin’ off her kin.” Grabbing a glass tumbler, I filled it with the closest bottle to my hand before lifting the glass to my lips. “She should figure ou’ who.”
“And ye’d be fine wit’ tha’? With sendin’ her off?” he asked incredulously, like he was reading through the mask I was giving both him and myself.
“We are bonded na, she is an asset. There isn’t anywhere she can go tha’ I won’t be able ta find ’er. There isn’t an emotion she ’an hide from me. She’ll be our spy wit’out even knowin’ it.”
Declan eyed me as I took a sip of my drink, the warm bourbon burning down my throat as I met his gaze.
“An’ how do ye expect ta feed? If she’s locked away in tha house?” he questioned, moving to pour himself a drink. He continued once he’d turned around, a glass in his hand. “Ye’ll break tha bond if ye feed on someone else. And ye’ll go into bloodlust if ye don’t feed.”
My teeth ground together, but I forced myself to keep my emotions level. “I’m na concerned. I’ll figure out tha details when I get there.”
He scoffed, but saw the concrete set of my jaw, knowing it was useless to argue any more about it. “An’ ye t’ink she’ll be fine wit’ this? Wit’ being a spy against her own family?”
I downed the rest of my drink, setting the tumbler down on my desk. “She won’t know tha’s my intentions.” I continued before he could, feeling his resounding rebuttal on the tip of his tongue, “I’ll tell her she needs ta investigate her family, and tha’s that.”
“An’ ye t’ink she’ll buy it? Tha’ you’d let her go so easily?”
Sitting back in my chair, I leaned back, the soft leather squeaking with the movement. “I t’ink she’ll be too desperate ta go home tha’ she won’t question it.”
The idea of shipping Ottavia off sat like rancid puss in the back of my throat, gnawing at my insides like a parasite. The very last thing I wanted to do was give her back to the mutts, but I knew she was the only way to get the information I needed.
