Throughout the night, all I could think about was what Darius said about Liam. Did he think that Liam was behind the killing of those girls? Was Liam truly capable of something like that? I didn't know Liam well but I was fairly certain that he could not do that. I wanted answers and I made a mental note to ask Liam about it.
By morning, I had decided how I was going to do it. I sent Liam a text apologizing for Darius' actions and asked for a do-over date around 11. He didn't respond but the text showed delivered and I hoped that he wasn't too angry to respond.
When I got out of my room, I knew that something was wrong. Grandma was seated on the dining table and she had her head in her hands. Even Chris was there and he looked as somber as Grandma was. The air was thick with despair and I hesitated before making my presence known. I wasn't sure what was happening but I knew it was bad.
"Are you guys okay?" I asked and Grandma was the first to look up at me. "You're acting like someone died. Is everything okay?"
"There was another attack," she said and I froze. "It was two girls this time and the news got a whiff of it. They printed the entire story in the morning's paper and I think you should see it."
I made my way over to her and took the newspaper from her hand. Boldly on the front page was the story about the girls. They were calling it a classic case of animal brutality but that wasn't what caught my attention. Under the headline were pictures of the girls who died. There were four in total and I noticed that they all looked alike. They had different colored eyes but they were between twenty-two and twenty-five and they were all blondes. I could have fit in perfectly next to them. I looked up at Grandma and I knew she was thinking the same thing.
"I need to see Darius,â I announced and she opened her mouth to protest but I took the newspaper and was out of the house before she could speak.
I drove in a blur. I knew Darius wouldn't be at the bar so I made my way over to his house. His bike was parked in front of the house but so was Ian's car. I wondered if the others were there but I couldn't bring myself to care as I knocked on his front door. At first, there was no answer but I kept knocking.
"I know you're in there you bastard," I yelled. "Open the fucking door."
The door creaked open almost immediately after that and it was Ian who answered.
"He isn't in the best mood right now," he said slowly. "I think you should come back later."
I slapped the newspaper against his chest and he hesitated before stepping aside for me. The house was exactly as I remembered it except no lights were on now and the house was cast in a candle-lit glow. It made the atmosphere a little more menacing and when Ian locked the door behind me, I jumped slightly in fright.
"He's in his office," Ian walked in front of me and I followed him because I didn't know where Darius' office was.
We walked down the candle-lit halls until we got to a pair of double doors. He knocked on the door and there was no response.
"I like you, Leindra which is why I will tell you to tread carefully here," Ian warned. "He might let you push his buttons every other day but today is not that day."
"So you're admitting that I have something to do with the attacks."
"I think you should talk to Darius."
He walked away leaving me alone in the hallway and I exhaled deeply before pushing the door open. The office was the only modernized room in the entire house. It had pure black walls with a marble table that Darius was seated in front of. There were two bookshelves to my left and a balcony to my right that overlooked a garden.
Darius did not lift his head from the papers he was looking at and I knew he did it in the hopes that I would leave but I was not going to take no for an answer. I shut the door behind me and walked further into the office until I was standing in front of Darius' desk. I slapped the newspaper down over the papers he was looking at and he finally looked up at me.
"Are you going to tell me what the hell that is?" I asked and he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
"That looks like a newspaper."
"What the hell is going on?" I whisper-yelled. "I could be a dead ringer for any of those girls. I deserve to know when something concerns me."
"Contrary to your belief, Leindra, the world doesn't revolve around you. Whoever was killing the girls had a preference for blondes. It has nothing to do with you."
He spat the words as if I were a child bothering him and I straightened as his words hit their mark. Anger bubbled up in my chest and I wanted nothing more than to punch Darius in the nose but I knew I couldn't so I squared my shoulders and gave him a sly smile.
"Fine then, I'm just going to stand in the middle of the woods at night then we'll see if it concerns me or not."
I turned to leave and before I could blink, Darius was in front of me.
"Do you have a fucking death wish?"
"You said it wasn't about me." I shrugged. "I'm simply listening to you. You should be happy about that, I don't do it very often."
"It isn't about you," he growled and I scoffed and tried to leave but he stopped me. "It is about me, not you."
I scrunched my brows in confusion. "What do you mean it is about you?"
"It's a message to me. You're my mate and whoever it was picked people who looked exactly like you. It is meant to be a threat directed at me."
"Why would anyone use me to threaten you?" I asked and Darius gave me the most annoyed look he could muster. "I want no part in your werewolf pissing contest." "Good, because you're not coming to work today," I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off. "I will not entertain any arguments on the matter. If I see you anywhere near the bar, I will drag you over my shoulder and take you home." "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me."
I knew he wasn't joking so I let out an exaggerated groan. "You are so frustrating." "Go home, Leindra. I have things to handle and right now, you are only going to distract me."
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Without another word, he walked over to his chair and continued his work. He took the
newspaper I had dropped on his table and slipped it into his drawer. I knew he wasn't going to respond to me again so I forced my pride down and walked out of the office.
Thankfully I remembered my way back because Ian was nowhere to be found. It wasn't until I got to the front door that I saw Ian again.
"How did it go?" he asked but I ignored him. "I warned you, Leindra, sometimes you should listen to people."
"Fuck you, Ian."
"Look, I know this isn't what you asked for but it is what you've been dealt with so you can either whine over it or make the best of it. Don't cross Darius on this one. You have
no idea how brutal pissing contests between wolves can be."
"It's not my pissing contest. Why should I be bothered?"
"In a pissing contest, it is the person stuck in between that ends up smelling like piss. You're going to suffer the most from this, I can assure you that."
I rolled my eyes and stormed out of the house. I didn't want to admit that he was right but I was not going to be treated like a fragile doll. If I wasn't going to be allowed at work then I was going to find my own answers and there was no better person to give me those answers than Serena. She thought I was upset with her and although I hated manipulating people, I was not against doing that at this moment.
I took out my phone to call her when I noticed an unread message from Liam. He said
he was free by eleven and an idea formed in my head. I dialed his number and he picked up on the second ring.
"Should I be worried that you're calling me?" he asked in a teasing tone.
"Eleven might not work for me anymore. I was wondering if I could push it down till
maybe three. Would that work for you?"
He hesitated and I heard shuffling in the background. "Three might not be good, I was thinking six if that's okay. Is everything alright?"
"Six is perfect. I'll see you there. Where are we meeting?"
"I'll text you the address."