~ISSA.
It was happening all over again.
The killings, the brandings, the torture. The detective was right, I was hiding something. I stayed up all night as I craved for Yulia’s touch but I knew that if I stayed in the same room with her, she would not stop with the questions.
I watched the sunrise as I stood by the window, dreading the confrontation that was going to take place between Yulia and I the moment we were going to lay eyes on each other.
My servants had picked out my business outfit for today. A soft silk white long sleeved button shirt and grey pant suit with black Italian soft brogues. I walked to my large bed and picked up my suit jacket.
Yulia was waiting impatiently as I reached the bottom of the stairway. She had her hands crossed with her right foot tapping the floor. Her eyes were wide and alert.
“You did not sleep at all, did you?” I asked as I watched her closely.
“I could say the same about you,” She brusquely replied.
She picked up her bag pack and slung it over her right shoulder. “Can we go?” She asked with a little annoyance in her voice.
I shook my head and sighed. It was too early in the morning for this. I wore my suit and headed out of the house into the garage. I needed to do something about Jamal. He was opening a can of decayed worms that I had tried to keep buried.
She opened the car door herself and I got behind the wheel. I started the car and eased out of the garage onto the sun lit streets before I sped up.
Yulia kept her eyes on the road ahead with a determined angry look on her face.
“So it’s silent treatment this morning,” I said.
“What’s there to talk about, Issa?” She asked. “You know something but for some perceived sense of protection, you do not want to tell me, so what’s the point?”
I sighed. She did not understand and I was not so sure that she would. How long was I going to keep the truth from her?
Could she even handle the truth?
Canis Academy showed up on the horizon and I was a bit glad. If things weren’t so bad at the moment, would she mind sucking my cock before she went to school?
“Really?” Yulia asked in disbelief. “That’s what is on your mind, right now?”
I almost swerved off the road as I gripped the steering wheels. I had forgotten she could see into my mind since we fucked!
“I am guessing that’s a no?” I asked sheepishly as I pulled into the parking lot of the academy.
She scoffed and reached for the door. I grabbed her by the arm and roughly pulled her back. Before she could protest further, I locked my lips onto hers and sucked on her tongue, exploring her mouth.
I pulled back gently to see a dazed look on her face. I knew that she would not admit it but she loved it just as much as I did despite the fact that she was mad at me for now.
She calmed herself as she shook with need. “What was that for?”
“Nothing,” I said with a shrug. “Just a goodbye kiss to enjoy your day at school.”
She shook her head at me, almost as if she was trying to make me believe that she was disappointed by the move.
“You are unbelievable,” She muttered and pushed open the door. I watched her leave until she disappeared among a mass of students with similar uniforms.
‘You just kissed your niece in public,’ Iran chuckled in my head.
Instinctively, I looked around and at the rearview mirror trying to see if anyone saw us. Shit! I had to be more careful around Yulia. Especially if we were outside.
I put the gear in reverse and drove to part of the woods where the werewolf had been killed. I parked my car far away from the place and walked on foot till I was deep in the woods. My nose picked up the smell of the river and I followed it.
I picked up something else. Magic. A very old and dark one. I got to the river and saw a police yellow tape. I went under it and saw a large pentagram with magical runes and sigils. I saw four sharp pieces of wood driven into the ground with thick ropes tied around it.
It was the rope and stick the werewolf was tied down with before the ritual began. I looked at the river as it calmly flowed to an unknown waterfall.
This scene brought back unwanted memories. Memories that were repeating itself all over again. Yulia was in grave danger from this new cult.
Actually, they were not new. More like an ancient cult and Jamal was wasting his time if he thought the internet was going to give him answers.
Something was being consulted or summoned. The River was a gateway for something or someone to enter… or emerge.
Why couldn’t the past stay dead?
I looked deep into the river one last time and I felt something watching from underneath or maybe it was my imagination. I turned and left the woods, hastily returning to my car.
I got into the car and drove to Calion Holdings. There was no reason to deny it anymore. The Cult of the Black Rose were back and Yulia was their target. I was going to have to become more ruthless in protecting her.
‘We will be more ruthless,’ Iran corrected.
I was glad that the monster in me was now co-orporating with me. It was going to get much darker from here on. More werewolves were going to be captured and killed.
I stopped in the underground parking lot and got out of my car. It was time to play the business man.
The last person I had hoped to see was waiting for me in the elevator
Was Andrea.