40. Jaiyana

CHAPTER FORTY

JAIYANA

I cried myself out and then cried more. I told my mates about my recovered memories and the deep fears they exposed, and they stayed with me. When my tears finally stopped, it was like I’d been reborn a hundred pounds lighter. I slept like the dead until my accountant’s guys showed up with my accountant.

I was not excited to face Bentley.

Despite knowing he waited for me in the treasury room, I helped myself to another serving of toast and eggs. We sat around a metal island, surrounded by top-of-the-line appliances in Drukpa’s gaudy gold and black tiled kitchen. Dressed in a new set of matching cargo pants and tank tops, we looked like a bad-ass mercenary crew ready to fuck shit up.

“What I don’t quite understand.” Lux set down his fork and knife. “If Brad and Gorm are sharing a body, how did Gorm find him at the end of the EM?”

I chewed slower before swallowing. “That’s an excellent question I can’t answer. I can make some guesses. Brad was obsessed with me. He wanted to be me. Although he was human, I can only guess at how much time he spent studying the supernatural before he ultimately found Marduk.” I chewed on my lower lip. “If you spent twenty years studying magic and then suddenly had a body full of it, what would you do?”

Og snorted. “Try to use magic.”

I made little guns with my fingers and shot Og. “It was all mind games. I never saw Brad’s physical body watching me on the island, just a pair of eyes. He wasn’t physically at the EM either. It was what we call an astral projection, someone creating an out-of-body experience.” I frowned at my toast. “Brad wanted to live happily ever after with me. Instead, a god possessed his body and stole his vitality. He’s probably fighting back with everything he’s got. Gorm finding him wasn’t physical. They were playing cat and mouse in Brad’s mind, and my ex lost.”

“So, then, who cursed you? Brad or Gorm?” Lux asked.

I looked at each of my mates. “I don’t know.”

The remainder of my toast suddenly didn’t seem as appealing. I stood, eager to face my accountant instead of this conversation. We marched to the treasury room, where Bentley was already directing his guys. A portal glowed a soft purple in the far corner.

Despite everything, my body ached in all the right ways, and my mood soared.

Did I deserve to feel this good after confirming I’d released Gorm into the world?

No. Not even a little.

But I did, and just like I’d embraced my sorrow last night, I planned to live in my joy right now. The same tingling ran from my chest to my fingers. I didn’t dwell on the sensation or reach for it. Unlike a true love’s kiss waking up Snow White, changes on the inside required time and a lot of consent.

“Bentley.” I reached out and shook the vampire’s cold hand. “I didn’t expect you to come in person.”

My dragons crowded around us and eyed their first vampire with unease, as they should. Bentley’s now-deceased master had turned the young strapping gentleman in his late twenties. He’d been handsome alive. The transformation to undead had shaped him into a work of art which only existed to entice his new food source, humans, to desire him. His grey three-piece suit, complete with pocket watch, was only slightly crisper than his slicked-back short blond hair.

“This is millions in human currency and untraceable gold,” the man’s smooth voice was even throatier in person. “And enough magical items to arm a village. I will need to slowly loiter the currency and see the items to reliable and secure storage, personally.”

It was very rare for my accountant to leave his high society world in New York.

I leaned forward. “You were worried about me.”

Bentley put a hand on his hip. “You are my best client.”

I blinked into his chiseled, emotionless vampire face.

“And I might have been worried about you.” He put a hand on my shoulder.

Growls filled the air. Rehan pulled me behind him while Og glowed with his runes and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Tyson, blocking my accountant from seeing me.

Bentley held up his hands and stepped back. “I meant nothing by it.”

I pushed between my guys but stayed squashed between their shoulders to reassure them I was safe. Because I was their mate, and this is what I should have been doing in the first place. Bentley, to his credit, wasn’t fazed by my mate's aggression.

“Dragon shifters,” Bentley continued as if we were chatting over a coffee. “Shall I assume they are helping you rid the Ley Lines of the demons?”

I nodded. “It’s a safe assumption.”

“Shall I assume more are to come?”

I wrinkled my nose. “That is not a safe assumption.”

“Shall I assume you have this under control?”

“Well…” I grimaced.

My phone madly buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and found multiple text messages from DPT’s alert system. I swore and raced for the computer. A platoon of footsteps followed me.

I had DPT up in moments. A single dot over Africa had turned red, and the chat was full of speculation about where it landed. As we watched, three more fell. I zoomed in, finding seven now missing from their original positions. A quick search showed the epicenter of the drops to be a safari camp on the outskirts of Maasai Mara National Reserve in the Sahara Desert.

“Bradly Cooper used your credit card on a purchase in Kenya, very close to the Masai Mara last night.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” I exclaimed.

“I updated you by text,” Bentley said evenly.

I picked up my phone and found a text I’d missed during our sex-a-thon.

“Why Africa?” Rehan asked.

“The Masai Mara has little supernatural presence.” My account answered. “No organized mortal police force. And enough space to conduct any experiment one could wish to perform. I would find the location advantageous, if overly sunny, for my situation.”

“He needs me back on the island,” I said. I didn’t know if it was true, but it fit. “He could be dropping demons to draw me out.”

“Then we shouldn’t go to Africa,” Lux stated.

Another dot turned red and zoomed toward Masai Mara.

“I think we have to.” I turned to Bentley. “Could we make use of your portal master?”

Bentley inclined his head. “She’s at your disposal, though she will be unable to accompany you further.”

“We’ll take it,” I turned to my guys. “Grab a pack and be back in the vault in five. We’re heading to Africa.”