~YULIA
I had no idea who Issa really was.
This night only made me realize just how little I knew him. Yes, he was the brother of my mother but for some reason that I did not know, Marianna had kept me… shielded me from seeing him.
I was not even aware of his existence until she died. It came as a shock when I found out that Mother had left me in his care. I felt a little betrayed. He was my uncle to the outside world but behind closed doors, he was my sin.
We left The Clit after Issa made Pete’s father break his own son’s arm and I hated to admit it but it had been fun to watch. There was a darkness about Issa that pulled me tempted me and made me find him so attractive.
Thaddeus had been right. His forest green eyes hid the darkness in him so well that it caught a lot of people by sheer surprise when he unleashed it.
As we walked to where he parked his bike, a question popped in my head again.
“How many people know of your Lycan status?” I asked him as we neared the bike.
“Just a handful,” He replied as he handed me his helmet and wore his dark shades.
“But the announcement…”
“That was just a formality, Yulia, I will kill anyone who spreads the words about who I truly am,” He interrupted me.
I caught an angry tone in his voice. He climbed his bike and I climbed after him. The powerful engine from his bike rumbled to life and he sped off.
As the bike veered in and out of the night traffic, I got lost in thought.
What was Issa really hiding? Who was he hiding from? What were his plans for me?
I suspected that he knew something that I didn’t. I knew that he was hiding something from me and it had to do with my mom but what I did not understand was why he was keeping it a secret from me.
He slowed down as we reached home and we found Jamal waiting outside, pacing up and down the compound. Miles was with him.
I knew something had gone wrong by the way they were both moving.
Issa killed the engine and we both got off the bike. I removed my helmet and straightened out my hair.
“We got a problem, boss,” Miles spoke first as he approached us.
“What is it?” Issa asked.
“Another body turned up,” Miles answered and Jamal cursed silently under his breath.
“What?” I said in shock.
“Hey, Yulia, totally forgot you were here,” Miles said as he looked like he had been caught doing something bad.
“She was not supposed to hear that,” Issa said with gritted teeth.
“Wait, this has happened before?” I asked.
“It’s alright, Yulia, it has nothing to do with you,” Miles quickly replied.
“Somehow, I know that is a lie,” I replied, looking at the three men with an accusing glare.
“We should go inside,” Jamal said. “There is more.”
“Not with her present,” Issa replied in a tight, hard voice.
I scoffed in annoyance. “What are you going to do?” I asked with deep sarcasm. “Send me to bed like a little girl?”
“You saw how badly it went the last time,” Issa told me as he turned to me.
Images of the burning men flashed in my head. Especially the part where Iran or was it Issa sliced a man’s head clean of his neck.
“I am not some weak girl whom you always have to shield from the dark, Issa,” I spat out angrily. “I just watched a father break his own son’s arm and you made it happen!”
“Huh, what?” Miles asked, looking at Issa for some explanations.
“There is no time for this,” Jamal snapped. He turned to Issa. “They are getting bolder, Issa.”
Issa sighed. “Let’s go inside.” He said in a tight voice.
When we got to the living room, Miles wrinkled his nose as he sniffed the air. “A little showdown took place here, oof!”
Issa threw him a look.
“I said that out loud, didn’t I?” Miles muttered.
I felt heat rising up my face. Even I could smell the evidence of what Issa and I did earlier.
Despite how urgent the situation was, Jamal himself was smirking.
“Let’s hear the problem,” Issa said, as he took a seat.
Jamal and Miles also sat down. I was the last to sit.
“After my team examined the first body…”
“This has happened before?” I asked again despite them ignoring me the first time- interrupting Jamal, as I looked at Issa for answers.
He sighed.
“There is no point in keeping answers from me, Uncle,” I maliciously added.
He scowled at me. “Yes,” He finally replied. “A body turned up tortured and branded with iron in the backyard.”
I froze in shock. “When was this?”
“A few days after you arrived here,” Issa replied.
Jamal reached into his suit and produced a file. He dropped it on the marble table in the middle of the room and I quickly reached for it before Issa could.
I almost threw up as I saw the pictures. It was horrible.
“Dear goddess!” I whispered as I felt light headed, as if I was going to pass out. My hands shook as I spread out the six pictures of the dead body.
It was just as Issa described. Tortured, branded with hot iron.
“Who would do something like this?” I asked in disbelief and disgust.
The last picture had a black rose and something in me stirred but I could not describe it.
“Someone that wants your attention,” Jamal said, looking very serious and angry.
“Do you have any idea who this someone is?” Issa asked.
“At first, I had no idea, but the black rose showing up again made me do more research,” Jamal said. “They call themselves The Cult of the Black Rose.”