“Because she didn’t need it,” he said in a tone that spoke more to himself.
“Exactly, because she didn’t need it,” I repeated.
“What if something happened in that vault that showed her the way to discovering the map’s secrets. What if it had something to do with the box and she discovered how to use it to discover the destination before giving it back to me, counting on the fact that its secret wouldn’t be discovered by our people,” I continued, not only laying all the pieces of it out for him, but for my mind also.
“So, what you’re saying is…”
“That if we decipher the map, then we find out where our girl is hiding,” I finished making him agree.
Then he placed a hand on my shoulder and said,
“Then I’d better leave you to your work and your own journey of discovery.”
“And I will keep you informed of any progress made,” I told him making him nod in thanks and then as he started to walk away, he turned back to me and said,
“Go bring our girl home, Luc.”
Oh, but I would do much more than that, for I had a princess to reclaim, meaning only one thing…
The hunt was back on.
Chapter 19
Hiding in Blood
After hours spent looking at the box and pouring over every fucking report I had received on it, I wanted to throw the fucking thing out of the nearest window and let its new home become a frozen lake. I was starting to believe that one of two things must have happened. One was that Amelia had officially hit genius status or the God of dumb fucking luck had struck a deal with the Fates and decided to give her a healthy dose of it!
Honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised at either, but knowing how smart she was for this ancient crap, then I would put my money on it being mostly her doing and a bit of the other. Now, if the Fates would just be so fucking kind and grant me the same courtesy, then I could swiftly move on to the part where my ass was on a plane and heading to wherever the Hell it was in the world she had been hiding.
I pulled the map from beneath the papers it had got buried under and placed it angrily on top, putting the box next to it, expecting it to do something…fucking anything! Hell, I would take the fucking Devil’s hand reaching out of it and slapping me three ways from Limbo, just as long as what followed was the fucking answer!
“AAHH FUCKING THING!” I suddenly roared after grabbing it and throwing it at the wall. An action that ended with a small explosion of glass from the frame I had hanging there, with the picture I had taken of the lake now floating to the floor.
I raked a frustrated hand through my hair and held it at the base of my neck before releasing the strands on another growl. Then I got up with a sigh and went to retrieve it, first having to brush off the shards of glass and not giving a shit that doing so ended with a bloodied hand. Well, at least it was from something other than putting a fist through a wall, which was novel for a change, I thought sarcastically. To be honest, it was of little wonder why no one wanted to be near me these days.
But with my council spread out around the world dealing with the crisis the rogues had presented, then for once I found my castle near empty. At first I had been tempted by Adam’s offer in accompanying me in my decision to return here. But then, with Adam came Pip, and I knew that in this current state of misery I was in, then I wasn’t sure Pip’s personality would survive it.
Even having the new work being done on the club hadn’t been enough to keep me occupied. Surprisingly, of all people I had given Sophia, Dom’s sister, free reign to arrange this shit for me. This was after Dom’s recommendation as she too was worried for her niece’s safety and clearly needed something to take her mind off that worry. I had accepted the offer with only one rule put into place…
Not a single shade of purple.
This, Dom had found most amusing. On the other hand, I had walked out of the room, stopping long enough to warn Sophia,
“I am not fucking joking.” Then I had handed her a limitless credit card and left.
Well, it had to be said that she was good, for the club was nearly finished despite the fortune spent on overtime alone. But from what I had seen from some pictures, it was looking good. However, not good enough to tempt me into travelling back there to see it firsthand. At this rate I wouldn’t even be at the fucking reopening of it, as I refused to do so without Amelia by my side.
Speaking of which, I placed the box back down on my desk and sat staring at it as if this would help, before looking down at the blood pooling in the hand I had kept away from it. I snarled down at the sight, feeling as if my fucking blood was the cause of all of this. My blood and the tainted hand of a fucking Titan tyrant!
I fisted my hand, letting the thick crimson rivulets rain down through my fingers, before I hammered it down on the desk next to the box in my anger. It split the wood from the force, making the box tip into the bloody print of the side of my fist. The second it did, it vibrated before unlocking as it had done many times before. I decided I needed to do something. Maybe there would be some sort of specialist out there that I didn’t yet know about.
As much as I hated to admit it, one thing was for sure and that was I was out of my depth here. Which also meant that I was simply wasting time by sitting here staring at the fucking thing!
So, I decided to fold up the only copy of the map with my gloved hand being careful not to get blood on it. I intended to put it back in the box for safe keeping.
At the very least I knew that I didn’t need the original which I had intended to keep. This was before the Witch had got her hands on it, of course. Because somewhere between Dom’s vault and the portal door back into Afterlife, Amelia had opened the box. Fucking typical, seeing as that had been the only place a seeker couldn’t fucking seek!
Had Takeshi accomplished this, he would have been able to see how Amelia had unlocked the map’s secrets. That way she wouldn’t have stood a chance at being gone so long, as I would have discovered her destination from the start.
But yet again, it just felt like another barrier set against me by the fucking Fates themselves! I grabbed my phone off the desk and rang Adam, thankful that he answered on the second ring, well at least I thought he did,
“I’m sorry but Mr Ambrogetti can’t come to the phone right now, this is due to an unfortunate accident that we are calling The Great Inflatable Butt Plug incident of two thousand and…Ooops, no sugar belly, I most definitely did not, slash did…answer your phone again…eeek!” I groaned aloud and started to rub my forehead, knowing now how I’d made the right decision in not taking Adam up on his offer. Thankfully, Adam’s voice came on the other end after the sound of slapping naked skin was heard. This and demonic growls and giggles after it.
“Now sit still before I tie you over my knee again…Hello?” Adam muttered what everyone would have known was a pointless threat seeing as this was most likely her aim in the first place.
“Adam, its me.”
“My Lo…”
“Drop the shit, Adam, no one is fucking here!” I snapped making him release a sigh before muttering down at Pip,
“Time to get up, little one.”
“Aww, but you promised you would be the teacher this time and I stole your phone and everything!” I heard her say and knew she was pouting, even from here.