Chapter 4

Birsha

"You had to leave her Master. It was for her own protection. She is your only weakness and whoever behind this knows who she is. They are using her to get to you. She will be the one who is hurt in the process." Alexia told me the day I left the only one that made my dead heart live again.

"Zaneon, they will be here tomorrow. Tonight, we will have to manage with what we have. If you were so concerned with the staffing here, then maybe you should have told your men to watch their hands and not touch what does not belong to them." He only huffs in response. I can feel his frustration seeping out of him in waves and I could honestly care less about how he’s feeling. His men put us in this situation, and I will be damned if I sugar coat that for him. He has been acting “too big for his britches” and so has his men, for too long now.

"I do agree Birsha. The staff belongs to me; therefore, my men can do what they want." He says and I have to hold in my laugh at the pure audacity of his words.

"No. Zaneon. They belonged to us. You and I both own this club and believe me when I say, I do not and have not ever given consent to take the staff against their will. What you do behind closed doors and away from the Establishment is not my business, but here in this club, you will maintain professionalism, or I will rip your world apart." I let my anger and power drip with each word, letting him know I’m not going to bow to his whims.

He will learn his place. I watch him pace back and forth in my office in his Armani suit. His shoulder length blonde hair tied in back with a black ribbon as always. When people see him, they see money and class, however I know the ruthless beast that lives within him. He is evil and I can smell the sour smell of his soul blackening more and more as each day passes.

"Oh, son of the Devil, calm yourself. I know that we are both owners, no need to get bent out of shape. It was just a slip of the tongue because of my frustration. Of course, I will speak to my men and this won’t happen again." I hear his words, but I know the lies that are coming out of his mouth. He is insolent and has been. I should have known better than to agree to a partner.

"They will be here tomorrow. The new dominatrix has been vetted by me and my people as well as the waitress. Both have worked for me in the past and are close acquaintances of my father. With that, I will warn you. If I get word that you or your men touch them; I can't and won't help you against my father's wrath."

I had to keep the power in my voice but also put it on my father as if she were nothing to me. It wasn't a lie, Shikari and my father grew quite close in the time we were together. He went on a rampage when he found out I left her the way I did. When I told him about this newest mission, he warned me that if any danger came upon her it would end in death for all. Him being Lucifer, well you know he doesn't say anything he doesn't mean.

"I heard about your father's relations with the dom girl. I wasn’t aware it extended to the waitress as well." His eyebrow lifted to me in question. I know he is trying to goad me into saying more, but I will not give him the advantage of knowing more. In this world, knowledge is power, and I will give him nothing.

"The dom girl, as you call her, and the waitress are a paired team. Where one goes the other follows. It’s the only requirement the woman demanded. Since we are now short staffed and losing high dollar clients, it was an easy request to accept." I say shrugging it off as if none of this meant much to me. I have to keep my emotions in check so he doesn’t realize what she means to me.

"I see. Well, I will inform my men to steer clear. I assume she will do her trial session for the group as all others have done?" I knew he would ask, however the jealousy in me made the beast inside roar in anger. I had advised Reginald of this policy and he assured me Shikari would be willing as long as I found a suitable partner for her. I decided to have her do her trial with Alexia, my second in command. Shikari and her have known each other for years so hopefully that bond will help ease Shikari.

"Yes, she will do her trial with Alexia." This news got me a smile and a raised eyebrow from Zaneon which made his beady blue eyes look even smaller than they were.

"Oh, well, I will look forward to watching that." His chuckle fills my office as he stands up and places his now empty glass of bourbon down on the liquor tray. "I always like girl-on-girl action." He turns to me and gives me a slimy wink as he chuckles.

"As do I and from what I understand Alexia is looking forward to it. We have long heard the rumors of this particular Dom's experiences. I look forward to seeing it play out."

"Well then, I will see you tomorrow for her trial and to meet the new employees." He says and I stand to walk him to the door and nod in silent agreement. The moment he leaves I make my way back to my desk and call Alexia to let her know of the changes. She knew this was a possibility. I just hoped we could skip the trial all together. Apparently not.

The phone call was quick with Alexia, and even though she tried to hide her excitement, I could still hear it in her voice. Alexia has always held a bit of a crush on Shikari. However, she is loyal and has never crossed the line. She as well as most in my circle knew Shikari is mine and only mine. Alexia advised me she will notify Reginald of the changes so he can relay it to their team and will be in my office in twenty minutes. I can't believe I am helping the awful and corrupt Establishment. I release an exasperated sigh and lean back in my chair as I take a sip of whisky.

In all honesty, I was hesitant to get involved in this whole situation. I probably wouldn't have gotten involved if it wasn't for a young girl named Sophia. When she started working as a waitress here at the club, I was so surprised how much she looked like Shikari. I had to do a double take. She was nothing like her of course, however, to my surprise, we did develop a friendship. She was working here to pay for undergrad and then law school. The girl had her head screwed on straight and always followed the safety rules.

I took her under my wing and grew an attachment to her quickly. She believed she was human; however, I knew what she was from the first time I met her. She was a witch who had not yet received her gifts and was scared and alone. I could feel it in her soul, so I tried to teach her as much as I could about my world. We talked for hours about anything and everything. She was the closest thing to a sister I had and I worried about her constantly. I tried to teach her how to protect herself from magic and had my bodyguard Shawn train her in self-defense. I was genuinely surprised when she came up missing.

She was missing for nine days until she showed up dead in a way I knew could only be done at the hand of rogue vampires. She was drained and it looked as though they tried to change her. Her body was shredded as if whoever tried to change her got angry when she died. They were ignorant, a witch could not be changed into a vampire against their will. It’s part of the magical protection ingrained into their souls. It’s that same protection that makes them invaluable in a battle. If she would have had access to her magic, her outcome would have been much different.

After I reached out to the Establishment and found out that they believed the group was somehow connected to my club, I knew I couldn’t stand by any longer. I agreed to help the Establishment to get justice. I was shocked when I found out just how many girls had gone missing. I had no idea so many had received such horrible fates. Alexia and I immediately went to work sending out messages to all of our trusted advisors to get as much intel as possible.

That was two weeks ago and now we know that my damn business partner is a part of all of this mess. The Establishment thinks he is the ringleader, however, I’m not completely convinced. Zaneon is power hungry, yes, but he’s not clever enough to not get caught. He would never have been able to do this on his own, for this long, and with that many girls. He’s definitely working for someone, I know it. Unfortunately, as of right now, all evidence points directly, and only, at him.