Chapter 31 31

Chapter 31 31


Chapter 31 – Package

Anatoly dropped us off in front of the Skaya hotel while we checked in, if anyone was watching the hotel for our arrival they would see us enter through the front. What they wouldn’t see, was us slipping away in the taxi through the back. Kazimir had given Anatoly instructions to drive a few blocks and return from the side street to the hotel parking garage in fifteen minutes.
The woman behind the counter reminded me of an old school librarian. I waited for Kazimir to check us in since he spoke fluent Russian. He asked for our usual suite, and it was available. Kazimir handed the woman a credit card and our passports and she completed the transaction.
“Mr. Kappas?” She looked at me in recognition. “Yes,” I nodded.
“A young man dropped a package off for you earlier at the front desk. The man insisted you would be arriving soon.” Her accent was thick. “One moment, please,” she turned and walked into a back room.
“Think it’s a set up?” I grimaced. Something didn’t feel right, and Haze was on full alert.
“Only one way to find out,” Kazimir dryly repeated my words from earlier and tried to look casual.
“What if it’s a package bomb?” Haze muttered.
“Then your Alpha ears should be able to hear a ticking sound from within,” I replied.

“Here we are,” she walked over to me with a manilla envelope. I reached for it and was surprised to find it was pliable. It felt like a magazine or book of some kind. My name was written on it with the same black marker used on the sticky notes.
“Guess it’s not a package bomb after all,” I told my anxious wolf. “I still have a bad feeling about this place,” Haze grumbled.
We thanked the woman and walked to the hotel elevator. I pressed the button and the doors dinged open. Kazimir and I stepped inside with the package tucked under my arm and my duffle bag in hand. The elevator reached the top floor and we moved to the stairwell to make our exit through the garage.
“Wait!” I stopped walking. “What if the curtains are not pulled open in the suite? Give me a moment.” I handed the package and my bag to Kazimir and hurried to the room.
I opened the door to the familiar suite, and it felt like an eternity since we had last been here. It was dark, but I could see just fine. The curtains were drawn shut and I quickly stepped inside to pull them open. There was an extra-large window in the common room and both bedrooms had big windows as well. I moved to my room and yanked the curtain open, then I moved to Kazimir’s usual room. I stepped inside the bathroom of Kazimir’s room and turned the lights and shower on, giving the illusion someone was home. Before I left, I decided to turn the lights on in the common room area so we could see any movement from across the street.
“No surprises?” Kazimir asked when I returned to the stairwell.
“The night isn’t over yet!” We moved down the stairs to the garage level.
“Were the curtains drawn closed?” He asked.
“Yes, on all three windows. I pulled them open and turned the lights on in the common room. I also left your shower running in case we have

unexpected company.”
“I called my brother, Aleksei. He has connections to get flight records for all the private jets that landed about six hours ago at all the Moscow airports,” Kazimir said.
“Did you tell him we were back in town?” “No.”
We both sat in the back seat of Anatoly’s taxi and pulled the hood up on our jackets, hoping to remain unnoticed. We drove around a few blocks and turned into the hotel parking of the Novo hotel which was across the street from the Skaya. It was similar in size to the Skaya and we asked for an eastward-facing room on the top floor, which would allow us the perfect view.
Kazimir returned to Anatoly to retrieve Kronos and ask him to remain in the garage for another two hours, in the event we needed to go somewhere else. Kronos let out a cry when Kazimir returned, and I reached for the bag of fish. I peeled the top back on the can of tuna and Kronos practically pounced on it.
“I’ll get him some water,” Kazimir said opening a bottle of water from the minibar and filling a small glass for the cat.
“We’ll need to keep the lights off if we’re going to leave our curtains open to watch the other room. But I want to see what’s in the package first.” I told Kazimir.
“This is a good view of the room. I’ll pull the curtains closed and leave a small gap to watch while you turn a light on and open the package,” he agreed.
I waited for Kazimir to pull the curtains closed before I turned on the lights. Kronos looked up for a brief moment, licking his lips, and returned to his feast. Kazimir reached into the bag of piroshki and bit down on one of the boat-shaped buns. I looked over the package slowly, feeling and

scenting it. Tearing the envelope open, I pulled out what looked like a soft leather journal of some kind.
“What is it?” Kazimir asked as I opened it up. “I just opened it, give me a moment.”
The writing was in English which is surprising considering only a small percentage of Russians could read or write in English. I thumbed through page after page and realized what it was. Yuri was so technologically advanced, yet he didn’t trust keeping this information on a computer or flash drive. Instead, he opted to keep written
records of all corrupt politicians and oligarchs he dealt with. He had documented transactions, bank account numbers, passcodes, notes on other dirty dealings, blackmail, and extortion details.
“Kazimir, you have to see this!” I moved to the window to look through the crack in the curtains while Kazimir moved to the table to review the journal.
I helped myself to a piroshki and Kazimir took his time with the journal. Kronos finished with his meal and curled up on the sofa. I considered locking him in the bathroom with a towel on the floor in case he needed to relieve himself, but he looked comfortable at the moment.
“He’s going to get cat hair everywhere,” Haze grumbled.
“Aren’t you the pot calling the kettle black,” I suppressed a laugh. I was ready to reach for another piroshki when something down on the street caught my eye.
A yellow taxi had stopped in front of the Skaya hotel, and a female stepped out of the back seat, followed by another female. This was Moscow in late October, who would dare go out in the cold night air without a coat on? The wind blew and the long chestnut hair of one of the women whipped around, reminding me of Odessa.

“Mate,” Haze let out a yip.
A third person got out of the front of the taxi, and something looked familiar about the three. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear I was looking at Giota and Odessa, but I wasn’t sure who the male was. The woman with the chestnut hair looked up to the sky, exposing that beautiful face, and a snarl caught in my throat.
“What is it?” Kazimir asked.
“Call Ninos and ask him where my mate and sister are.”
Kazimir did what I asked, without question. “Ninos said Odessa took Giota back to Olympus Blood Moon to help pack her belongings. They’re going to spend the night and return tomorrow afternoon.”
“I just saw them get out of a taxi with Alec and walk into the Skaya.” “Are you sure?” Kazimir asked.
“Do bears shit in the woods?” Anger flared through me.
I left the room and took the stairs to the parking garage, Anatoly was still in his taxi, reading a sports magazine. I knocked on the window and he unlocked the doors so I could slip into the backseat.
“I need you to take me to the Skaya again.”
I couldn’t believe she was here. She had tricked Ninos and come all this way. No hat, no coat, no nothing. Giota had never been outside the pack and she had dragged her along. How could she be so reckless? How could Alec allow this?
Anatoly pulled into the parking garage of the Skaya and though it only took about four minutes to circle the block, it felt like an eternity to me. She could have walked right into a trap and Haze was snarling at me to find her fast. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her. I was going to spank her sweet little ass for this stunt.

I found her prowling the fifth floor, she had stopped in front of a door and was listening for something. Whatever she was focused on had her so distracted that she didn’t hear or sense me sneaking up behind her. Someone could have attacked her, and she stood rooted on the ground listening to someone fucking behind the door. She was going to earn my belt for this.
After I retrieved my mate, the Gamma, and my sister, we returned to the Novo hotel. Odessa had earned seven lashes and I knew she would continue to earn more with her lack of self-control. We entered the suite and found Kazimir standing in the dark, he had returned to the window, watching. The girls were relieved when they noticed Kronos on the sofa, which only seemed to fuel my sister’s eagerness to find Thea and Alina. Finding Kronos in Moscow means the others are here as well. With twelve million people in this city, we would need to find a few more clues.
“Someone’s there!” Kazimir told us and we rushed for the window.
The housekeeper Kazimir had requested entered the suite with fresh bed sheets and she moved to Kazimir’s usual room where I had left the shower on. She turned the light on and must have noticed the bed was still untouched. We watched in silence as she crossed the common room to the room I normally occupied.
“BA BOOM!” The explosion ripped right through the room, blowing out the windows on the suite across the street. Soon the whole suite was burning and the glow from the blaze cast a light on the surrounding buildings.
“I think you’ll need to find a new favorite hotel,” Alec said. Kazimir pulled the curtains closed and I turned on the lights. “That was intended for us,” I looked at Kazimir and he nodded.
“Did you touch the light switch when you went into that room earlier?” “You were in that room?” Odessa asked.

“I moved in the dark and only turned the lights on in your bathroom and the common room before I left.”
“Talk about blazing luck!” Alec said.
“Why would the bomb be intended for you?” Giota asked.
I told them what happened when we found the church, about Yuri, the notes, and Kronos. Odessa wanted to review the journal and I thought about calling Ninos and Dimitri but decided to wait until morning.
“Her uncle would not have sent the journal to you if he knew there was a chance it would burn up. Whoever planted the bomb has Alina and Thea,” Giota said.
“Then how did Kronos end up at the church?” Odessa asked, trying to make sense of it.
“I don’t know. We’ll have a better idea in the morning when Kazimir’s brother gets the flight logs for us. We find out who owns the jet and we find out who has them.”
“We have to wait until morning?” Giota demanded.
“Yes, we have no other options at the moment. I know it’s hard, having to sit here and wait, but it’s late and we need the flight information. Her Uncle is dead, and we have no idea who’s behind this. We can’t just go running around the city knocking on doors, the city of Moscow alone has more inhabitants than all of Greece.”
“He’s right,” Kazimir told her. “We won’t be any help to anyone if they see us coming. We need to be smart. We’re dealing with high-powered corrupt individuals here and they won’t harm Alina or Thea until they have what they want.”
“What if they think you’re dead?” Alec asked, and he had a good point. It will be hours before anyone discovered the dead maid… if there’s anything left of her.

“If any of my brothers are behind it, they will know I haven’t been killed because of the family bond,” Kazimir said.
“That’s a fucked up family!” Alec shook his head.
“It could be humans. We didn’t pick up any wolf scents at the Skaya.
What if they’re after Hades and not you?” Odessa said.
“Maybe I should list myself in the next fight at the Dratsya Ring? It will alert whoever it is that I’m still alive,” I suggested.
“And draw them out,” Haze told me. “What’s the Dratsya Ring?” Giota asked.
“The Dratsya is the largest underground fight ring in Moscow,” I told her. I was careful not to mention the fights only ended when someone was dead.
I walked over to peer out the window as the firetrucks arrived. People had come out of the surrounding buildings for a better view. It was too damn cold and late for this. I offered everyone some piroshki and drinks from the minibar. Giota looked exhausted and I’m sure she was coming down from an adrenaline rush.
“We should get some shut-eye. Hopefully, Aleksei will have those flight logs by morning, and we’ll have a better idea of who we’re looking for. We also need to call Ninos and Dimitri in the morning,” both women gave me a harsh glare as if I had just betrayed them. My little mate need not worry about her brother, oh no. She wasn’t going to escape my punishment.
“Mate needs to get some sleep,” Haze said, but I had other things in mind before I let her sleep.
“Giota, you can take my room,” Kazimir said reaching for the bottle of vodka. “Alec you can sleep on the sofa. I’m too wired to sleep and I need to examine the journal some more.”

“I slept on the plane, you should get a few hours of sleep. I’ll stand guard,” Alec offered. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to look through the journal as well?” He asked Kazimir.
“Dah!” Kazimir said as he poured vodka.
“I’ll take Kronos with me,” Giota said, reaching for the cat.
“Be sure to lay a towel down for him to use the bathroom. Maybe shred the newspaper on top of it,” I suggested, and she reached for the courtesy newspaper copy on the table.
“Thank you,” she held Kronos tighter.
“I’ll take my mate to bed,” I reached for Odessa’s hand and led her to the second bedroom of the suite.
“No funny business in there, I don’t think the walls are soundproof,” Alec grinned, taking a glass of vodka from Kazimir. Little did he know, this was a newer hotel in Moscow, and they featured soundproof rooms.
“Probably so someone could be assassinated in silence,” Haze snickered. He was always uneasy in Russia.
“It’s not that bad,” I told him.
“A few hours here and already we’ve had two fires and two dead humans,” Haze grumbled.