40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Sebastian

The cobwebs littering the basement of Saint Samael’s infested my hair while dust flooded my nostrils. I fought a sneeze as I buried my arm in the crook of my elbow, using the fabric of my hoodie to quell the itch in my nose. Getting dirty during investigations was hands down my least favorite part of my job... But I was more than willing to get a little grimy if that meant finding something to indict Cameron Cole as a killer.

I had hoped that when Mason read the article for me, she’d find that Calvin burned the house down in some form of ritualistic sacrifice. More than that, I hoped she’d fear him. If she had asked the right questions, I would have been able to tell her everything about her murderous baby daddy.

Instead, Mason had to go and ruin everything. Sometimes, I forgot she was actually intelligent since she had nothing to show for it. She didn’t even have a GED, which meant she wasn’t qualified for most retail jobs. But she would never need a job again once she became my trophy wife. I could keep her barefoot and pregnant, completely and utterly dependent on me. We could’ve already been on our way to Portland by now if things had gone the right way.

But no, she had to ask a question that turned my investigation on its head.

‘ What about Dale? ’

The only light in the basement came from the small window I had climbed through, but it wasn’t enough to prevent me from bumping into things. Searching for evidence would be nearly impossible in these conditions. I patted my jeans before withdrawing my phone and quickly flicking on the flashlight. The white glow was almost blinding, but after my eyes adjusted, I froze.

I had hoped to find some old church records or some boxes of photos. If I was really lucky, maybe I’d get a confession written in a journal. Far-fetched, maybe, but it had happened to me before.

Instead, I seemed to have found some sort of altar.

With slow, careful steps, I inched toward the large wooden cross in the middle of the room. Whereas congregants would sit on pews upstairs, down here, it seemed they kneeled on velvet cushions, most of them so well-worn that they had divots where I imagined someone’s shins once rested.

A bubble of excitement fluttered in my chest. After today, I would be able to kill Cameron Cole. It would look like a suicide; he’d leave a note confessing everything, and I’d take my princess back to Portland in time for our daughter to make her grand entrance.

I couldn’t wait to see the fear in Cameron’s eyes as he realized his time had come. The thought was almost intoxicating. I held my breath, trying to force myself to calm down as I finally reached the cross.

There was a ledge in front of it, and instinctively, I tried to climb onto it. Thankfully, the attempt was successful. With my back to the wood, I stared out at the empty pillows, imagining a congregation of adoring sheep. Though I detested Cameron for killing all those innocent women and trying to do the same to Mason, I had to admit, it sounded pretty nice to be worshiped.

After I hopped off the wooden pedestal, I slid my phone into my pocket just in time for the device to vibrate. The sensation caused me to jump out of my skin. I held my phone up, squinting at my brother’s name.

What the hell could he want?

I considered answering for a second, only to think better of it. If it were important, he’d call back or leave a voicemail.

I didn’t bother to turn the flashlight back on; instead, I slowly felt my way through near darkness until I reached the back of the room. Eventually, I stumbled upon something velvety hanging from the ceiling, presumably a curtain. The fabric was heavy and stiff as I slid it to the side, letting myself into the world it may be hiding.

If the front area of the basement was dark, this area could only be described as ‘the abyss’. There was no light, no sound to mask the racing of my heart. I reached for my phone once more, only for it to light up with my brother’s name again .

I rolled my eyes before rejecting him once again. Didn’t he know I was busy ? Why couldn’t he just fucking text me?

I turned the screen around, using it to illuminate the small space. The abyss eagerly swallowed the meager amount of light, and attempted to swallow me also as I tumbled headfirst over a box. I caught myself just before my face hit the floor, but my glasses catapulted off my nose and skittered into the darkness.

“God dammit.”

I let out a slightly-too-loud groan, patting the ground in search of my thin wire frames. When that effort proved futile, I finally pulled out my phone and switched on the flashlight once more. The two missed calls from Lucian taunted me, sending a bolt of annoyance into my gut.

Even with my eyes squinted, the world was barely a soft blur. I tried to crawl on my hands and knees, but something stuck to my palm and slipped under my shins. Whatever it was, it felt papery but glossy.

The church creaked above me, and my heart lurched.

The building is old. It’s just the foundation settling.

Despite my attempt to reassure myself, it was impossible to deny the eerie feeling that shrouded this area. I had been in graveyards that felt less haunted than this basement.

Eventually, my fingers found something cool and metal, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I sat on my feet as I slipped my glasses on, sliding them up my nose with one finger. As the world came into view, I found myself stranded in a sea of black-and-white photography. Although most of the pictures seemed useless at first glance, I would wager money that one of them had everything I needed.

Jackpot.

The creaking came again, and I realized I might not have been as alone as I thought. I swiftly grabbed as many photos as I could, hurriedly shoving them in the pockets of my jeans and hoodie. Once I had all I could handle, I sped back into the main area and prepared to climb out the window as quickly as possible.

After fleeing from the church, I grabbed a coffee from that caf? my brother liked before parking under a tree in the back of their gravel lot. Before I could go home, I needed to go over the photographs I stole.

Plus, Mason texted me and let me know she felt like she was going to die if she didn’t get blue raspberry Pop Rocks. She then amended that message to say that she actually wanted blue raspberry suckers. And once more, to request a blue raspberry slushie. Usually, this ever-shifting request would seem vastly unreasonable, but I was just glad she asked me instead of the house felon. Consequently, after I finished rooting through these photos, I’d have to go on a blue raspberry scavenger hunt.

Ice rattled along the sides of my clear plastic coffee cup as I stabbed a straw into it and brought it to my lips. I downed about half the cup with long gulps, enjoying the taste of good black coffee. Then I deposited the remainder of my drink in my cup holder before grabbing fistfuls of Polaroids from my pockets. I shuffled them into a solid stack and started to leaf through them. At first, there was nothing of note, and then my fucking phone rang again.

I answered it with a huff. “Some of us have jobs, Lucky.”

“I’m at my own job right now, asshole. Do you think I want to waste my time calling you?”

“I’m not the one who has a track record of needing help.”

He was the one who always needed me. Sebastian, can you watch the kids for five minutes? Sebastian, my brakes are out, can I have a ride to work?

“Sebastian, it’s about Mason.” An unusual crack in his voice caused my stomach to somersault.

“Is the baby okay?”

Mason was almost thirty weeks, so if she went into labor now, our daughter would be fine. Modern medicine would take care of my girls. Still, I would prefer to have a bit more time. We just weren’t ready for Lavender yet; no car seat, no crib, just a few outfits and diapers.

“What? Yeah, I mean, as far as I know.” Lucian’s voice tore me from my thoughts, but that was okay. At least the baby was fine...

But then, why was he wasting my time?

“What’s going on, then? I don’t have all day.”

I pinned the device between my ear and shoulder as I started sorting through the photos, tossing the ones I didn’t need to the passenger-side floor.

“So, you know Mason loves her dad… right?”

Unfortunately.

“Most children tend to glorify their parents.”

A nervous inhale filled the line.

“How do you think she’d react to him dying?”

My whole body went stiff, causing the remaining photos to fall to the floor. Mason was absolutely wonderful. She was intelligent and kind, but Mason and big feelings mixed like oil and water. She had a panic attack over her first positive pregnancy test, and that was good news.

“Let’s just say… It’s a good thing we don’t have to worry about that for a while, right?” I laughed nervously.

But Lucian’s silence articulated more than he ever could with words.

“We don’t have to worry about that for a while… right ?” I repeated, hoping the line had just cut out.

“Define ‘ a while ’.”

“Lucky… What do you know that I don’t?”

Sweat collected on my skin, leaving the screen of my phone to stick to my cheek.

“I had this dickhead of a client in my chair, and.... we somehow got onto the topic of Mason.”

He probably called her to visit and wasn’t smart enough to realize she’s famous.

“But uh… he told me James was dead.”

My chest tightened, and I tugged at my collar, suddenly overheated even though the October chill of Maine had turned my SUV into an icebox.

“Is he?”

James Albright was a terrible human being and a worse father, but Mason adored him for some inexplicable reason. If he died, she would be destroyed. I wasn’t even sure she’d recover by the time Lavender was born.

“Not yet,” Lucian breathed. “Headlines say he’s in critical condition after driving drunk and crashing a black sports car into the wall of a tunnel.”

My heart fell further still, threatening to fall on the floor as my hands shook.

“That’s her car.”

“And that makes this whole situation even worse… He’s on life support, and every news outlet is saying they’re waiting on Mason before they make any medical decisions.”

“Like... emergency surgery?” Mason was James’s only living relative. She was probably his medical power of attorney.

Lucian hesitated a moment before responding.

“When Sophia’s grandad was dying, her mom— Sorry; Heather, sometimes I forget she has two—told me that hospitals never ask about doing things that could save someone’s life, only things to end them… They probably want Mason’s permission to pull the plug.”

My fingers were icy as I covered my mouth and shook my head. Oh, my poor girl.

“I’m going to try to keep her distracted and off her phone for as long as possible,” he continued. “That way, she’s away from the news and can’t answer any calls about James.”

“Shouldn’t you want her to know? It’s not like you can hide the death of a family member forever.“ Especially one who’s world-famous.

He exhaled a shaky breath. “I know you don’t like the idea of Mason being with me, even if you pushed her to be with us in the first place… Honestly, I kind of thought you just liked the idea of seeing girl-on-girl action between her and Sophia.”

Somewhat correct.

“But the last time she had a death in the family, she ran.” Lucian’s voice finally broke, and I wondered if he was crying.

I detested my failure of a brother, but deep down, I still loved him. At least, I thought I did. I wasn’t going to actively seek out a hug from him or to spend time with him willingly… But, if he died, I’d probably cry the same way I had when he overdosed.

“I just can’t risk her leaving again.” His voice was little more than a pathetic whimper.

“Why?”

“Sebastian. I’m only going to say this once.” I could hear exactly one muffled sob, which caused my chest to ache. “I’m so painfully in love with Mason that it isn’t fair. I always have been, and it never stopped, no matter how much I wanted it to. When I’m with her, it’s like I can breathe again, and I didn’t even know I was suffocating!”

He sounded as fed up with his feelings as I felt. Mason was mine, and I was one second away from reminding him of that, but he continued to speak.

“I don’t care if you take her and get married and—Well, actually, I do care. But, as long as you’re good to her, I’ll be fine. I can survive knowing Mason is happy without me. I can survive seeing her at family events. I might even be able to get through your wedding, with enough mental preparation. But I can’t survive if she goes halfway across the globe. The last time she went to France, James did whatever to her, and she changed.”

As he continued to speak, Lucian’s voice was raw with an emotion I could barely process.

“He stole her light, her overzealous personality, every part of her that I thought was too much until it was gone. She’s just starting to shine again, Seb, and I’d rather kill myself than spend a night wondering if she’s okay. If she’s breathing. If someone is hurting her. I can’t live like that again .”

Lucian’s mental health issues were a well-known topic, albeit taboo, in our family. The first drug he ever abused was a medication he’d been prescribed for anxiety. Still, I thought he had figured out a way to manage it. A rational person wouldn’t be making threats about ending his own life over Mason... though I had to admit, I had also grappled with the idea during some of my darkest days. The only difference between my brother and I was that without Mason, I had nothing.

I rubbed the spot on my chest just over my heart as a weird tingle swept the area. This pain was new and unwelcome.

“You have a whole life, Lucian. Kids, partners, a business. Why would you throw that all away over Mason Albright?”

“I know you are some type of fucked-up cyborg when it comes to emotions, but we both know that’s not how mental health works.”

Something in Lucian’s words killed me. I wasn’t sure if it was the sorrow in his tone, or the fact that he was right.

“What are you going to do when she inevitably finds out about James?”

Again, silence consumed our conversation. This time it was darker, heavier.

After a moment, Lucian spoke again. “I don’t know what to do. I’m hoping that we can just keep her busy until she’s out of flight mode, or too far along to hop on a plane and leave.”

“How do you plan on keeping her busy?”

“I don’t know!” he snapped. “I have photo albums we can do tonight and a show I can bring her to tomorrow. I called Cam—right now he has her set up on the couch, watching movies with the kids. Just please help keep Mason off her phone.”

My brow lowered. I had absolutely nothing to gain from helping with this charade. If Mason left, I’d simply track her down again, and we’d pick up where we left off.

But, as I sat in the silence, my conscience got the better of me.

“Fine. I’ll see what I can do,” I conceded.

“Thank you.”

Lucian’s tone seemed genuine, and for just a moment, I wondered if this could be the start of a proper brotherly bond between the two of us. I hung up before that thought had a chance to bloom.

For now, it seemed I would need to complete my quest for raspberry-flavored snacks sooner than expected. With a sigh, I bent down to pick up my photos, intending to stick them into an envelope to be gone through later.

But as I shuffled the pictures into a neat little pile, one in particular caught my eye.