22. EPILOGUE

Chapter 22

EPILOGUE

One Month Later

LEVIATHAN

I never thought I'd be leaving my sacred little space, boxes full of paper ready to see an organization system now that I'm thinking of a different career path. I can't trust the police anymore, not after Vince. It marginally helps that everyone else has shunned him and his cases have been reopened to check if he's been actually solving them or doing something equally as sinister as stealing Omegas and delivering them to a witch. The bar deep in the woods has been thoroughly torn apart and deconstructed, yellow tape all along the earth floor to keep any unsavory deals out. It won't eradicate all of the dirty dealings but it will definitely require a little work around.

Rowan and Amand have been softer than usual toward me, mostly because I find my magic either failing or making me disappear into my surroundings more often than not. Any unexpected emotions and I find myself having to focus on breathing tactics usually reserved for panic attacks. I've found myself in their bed a few times over the last week, their closeness more comfortable than I'd like to admit. It also helps keep me from dwelling on a looming death. Every time I try to pull away, I find myself in more pain than when I just give in. I'm starting to believe what little we know about fatal attraction is all bullshit.

"You almost done, Lev?" Amand asks as he pushes into my main office. Mostly everything is in boxes at this point, just a few items that I refuse to pack sitting on the coffee table. For now, I'll be moving into their apartment until we figure out what's best for us. "Leviathan?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Good, because the head of that detective agency is here and he wants a word."

I frown, sifting through every agency I can think of until I land on Cole's Alpha. "You mean Essence PI? Cole's Alpha, Gerald?"

"Gerald isn't Cole's Alpha. Gerald owns Essence PI. The Alpha that handed you the card was Jace. That's neither here nor there. Gerald wants to speak with you outside."

My gaze narrows as I glare at Amand. "He can just come in, can't he? I'm not done."

"He mentioned something about not encroaching on your sacred space."

That intrigues me. No one has ever cared about stepping through my door and they shouldn't as this doubles as my business. However, to hear ‘sacred space' from another person means that Gerald immediately has my attention.

I rustle around for a coat, chuckling when Amand sheds his and hands it to me. It's not nearly the warmth I'll need to stand outside but I burrow into it and head for the entrance. I'm not expecting a male slightly taller than me standing a few feet from the door. His head tilts to the side, a forked tongue slipping through his lips as he watches me.

"It's nice to finally meet and put a face to the name." Gerald sticks his hand out and I grasp it, confused as to why he is here. Rowan returns from packing some of the boxes into my truck, his dark expression telling me that regardless of Gerald's purpose, if anything goes wrong, Gerald is dead.

I hope nothing goes wrong.

"You as well."

"I came to speak with you but you're leaving? Just moving or leaving the area?" I don't answer that, mostly because I'm not sure of his intentions. I'm extremely grateful for Jace's help and rescue but I'm a little wary of jumping into bed with another person—so to speak. Gerald sighs and runs his hands through his graying hair before cracking a smile. "I'm here to offer you a job. All three of you, actually. You have a skill set that I would love to add to my agency. There's more shit where that witch came from. More unruly magic and creatures that want power they don't deserve."

"Not sure I'll be much help when I might croak at any time. Fatal attraction and all of that." Most everyone knows my designation at this point but a few good threats from my Basilisk mates and people have left me alone. The few trips I've had to make to the store have shoved me back into the hole I enjoy so much. Revealing that I was a Chameleon put a nail in Vince's coffin, his case sped up so that his sentencing is in just a few days. No one in this city has any sympathy for his sob stories and I can't wait to see his face when the judge doles out his sentence.

It's only a matter of time before the attention of the case shifts to me, one of the first Chameleons to be recognized in years. I'm not excited for that moment.

Gerald throws his head back, laughing. I'm not sure what he found funny and he's starting to irk me the way Vince did. I hate the comparison; this man seems genuine but nothing I said was hilarious enough to laugh at. "Son, you won't die. Not for a good long while."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because you're not the only Chameleon." Right before my eyes, Gerald's face slowly disappears into the surroundings, his clothes still present and then those disappear right along with him. I can still see the outline of his presence but a quick glance and I wouldn't notice anyone was there. A few seconds later, Gerald returns. "You have so much to learn, Leviathan and I want to be the one to teach you. I've been waiting a long time for another Chameleon."

I swallow nervously, Amand, Rowan, and I all extremely confused. There hasn't been another registered chameleon for nearly a century. Which means that Gerald is…

He snorts at my confused expression. "Fatal attraction is mostly right in all the books. However, there is one distinction I'd like to make. Leaving your mates is what kills you. The moment their magic and venom began coursing through your veins, it became like a drug that your body needs. Too long without your mates and your body will fail if your mind doesn't go first from the loneliness. I have a few Basilisk mates myself and a witch. I'm sure you met her. Lily?"

Basilisks and a witch? This man looks like he has lived a full life and if he's over a hundred years old, he's also lived a long one. "So… just don't leave them and I'll be fine?" I chance a glance at Rowan has a silly smile on his face. He's just as excited about this prospect as I am and the arm sliding around my waist tells me that Amand feels the same.

"A few kisses wouldn't hurt either. That's not entirely why I came though, Leviathan Dubois. I'm asking if you would like to work with me. I have a positively dire case on my hands that would suit your skillset just fine."

I had my sights set on leaving this world behind but who am I kidding? I thrive in the world of investigation. "We get paid right?"

"Handsomely."

"And what's the first case?"

Gerald unearths a small picture and hands it to me, my mates crowding around me. I'm not ready for the gory scene that meets my eyes, a rather strange hole in the middle of a young man's body. "Someone speared him to death?"

"A unicorn shifter, yes."

"A unicorn? Aren't they rare?"

"And nearly impossible to detect. That's one of three pictures I have; three men who have lost their lives to a unicorn's horn. Little connection between the victims and of course no leads as a unicorn's DNA doesn't match the shifted human's."

I'm not dying. I have the chance to live a long and fruitful life. And I'll learn how to use all that magic that's supposedly just holed up inside me. If Gerald is telling even a fraction of the truth, I have a chance to continue doing what I love with the men I'm slowly falling for. The handsome payments for jobs like these definitely sweeten the pot.

"I'm in."