Page 74 of Boneyard HEA

“This had better be good.” Because I am very inclined to do damage to somebody after this night. And that Karsten was told where I was left? He’s almost posted a guilty sign on his head.

It’s a short drive to the Dragon Resort, where Karsten is staying with most CNC Fraternity members. Where we should’ve stayed, perhaps. I trot up the stairs and through the quiet three AM foyer to the lifts. Casual guy and I go up to the ninth floor, where I follow him yet again, along to Room 901, which is a penthouse, of course. It has its own pool outside under a pergola.

Karsten, however, is sitting on his exquisite black-and-gold sofa, with a glass of champagne and some suspicious traces of powder on the glass plate beside his goblet.

“Sit, Tomás, I have things to tell you and ask you.”

I restrain myself from punching him even though his guards are outside the door, plus there’s one standing under the stars, beside that pool. “You knew what was going to happen?” I don’t sit down. Not yet.

“No, not really. Wait. Wait.”

I rearrange my angry face, unclench my fist, dust some sand from my shorts and onto his precious rug. Then I go to the glass sliding doors and bring them across to block out the sound of the waves and reduce the chance of anyone hearing.

“Are we bugged?” I look around. As if I would trust him, but I must.

“No, we are not.”

“But our room was.” I’m certain by now.

“Tomás, you might think I am the mover and shaker behind this, but I am certainly not, and this is why I asked you here. Sit. Let me tell you more about the two men who took Aaron and your friend, Juniper Skye.”

This time I accept and sit opposite him.

“Champagne?”

Once, I would have said yes, even if I was on a mission. “No. Talk.”

He sighs. “Zasha Morosova and Fionn Shaughnessy are very bad men.”

“What? Wait.” I hold up a hand. “Fionn Shaughnessy? Is that Shawn?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Fuck.” I rock back then forward. “The bastard. No wonder we didn’t know him.”

“You found something out? Maybe that’s why they acted. I’m one of the few men who have seen…” He frowns. “Seen what they do.”

“To women?”

“Yes.”

“Ones they just grab off the street? Like Juniper’s friend Riley.”

“Sometimes off the street. Sometimes bought. It depended on the country. Yes, they’ve done it many times, but Riley was possibly the first.”

I puff out my cheeks. “But no police record, anywhere?”

“Perhaps in Russia or Bulgaria? Zasha has an opaque past. I know more about you than him.”

I pop up an eyebrow. “Me?”

“Yes. You. That knowledge is partly why I called for this little meeting. I want you to do something for me. Hear me out. I know you have questions, and I will answer them. I know you were in the FAES in Venezuela, a faero you called yourselves?”

I don’t answer. I’d rather let him run on and see if he really knows me.

“And you left them dishonored? Killed a few and ran. And maybe you had a special name there before you vanished and reappeared at a fraternity party with Aaron.”

“What name would that be?” I really want that champagne.