Chapter 9: Not Another Crawley

I’m a mess of nerves as we wait for the black helicopter to land in a clearing behind the Main House. Arisen stands beside me, gripping my hand firmly, but in a relaxed stance. He smiles when a man steps out of the helicopter. I blink in surprise. Agent Keanu Forrester is not at all what I was expecting. For some reason, I was expecting an older guy with a cruel face and a potbelly. The man walking toward us looked barely over thirty with thick, wavy sunny blond hair and light blue eyes. The black suit he’s wearing clings to his body quite nicely. If I didn’t have a Greek god standing next to me, I might be drooling over the guy, despite how much older than me he is.

The man grins when he stops before us, reaching out his hand to Arisen. “Good to see you again, Ari,” he says. “Although I wish it was under better circumstances.” He turns to me, his smile brightening. He bows his head slightly. “Wonderful to meet you. It’s nice that Arisen found his mate at last.”

I frown. “How did you know?”

Arisen clears his throat a little uncomfortably. “They know everything about us,” he says with a shrug. “I stopped asking questions a long time ago.”

My frown deepens. That hardly seems fair. From what I’ve seen, the Celestials here only want to live in peace. How come they don’t have the same rights and freedoms as humans?

Keanu smiles tightly. “Let’s get down to business.”

“Inside,” Arisen answers, gesturing toward the house with his head. As one group, we head back to the Main House and settle in the open living room. I sit on one of the couches next to Arisen and Saige joins me on the other side. Jaime perches on the armrest next to Saige. Gabriel stands behind the couch as if he’s silently guarding Arisen. Dad and the rest of my brothers find other seats around the room and Keanu takes one of the chairs and faces us, keeping a wooden coffee table in between us. He arrived with two other agents who stand behind his chair, arms folded across their chests. Azriel leans against the wall next to the door, observing us quietly. His scrutiny makes me uneasy, but I say nothing as I wait for the meeting to start.

Keanu places a file on the table and pulls out several photos of a horrifying crime scene. I press a fist to my mouth to keep from throwing up as my stomach turns from the goriness. It’s a girl who looks to be in her teens. She’s lying on the ground, surrounded by trees with a gaping hole in her chest. It’s clear that her heart is missing. Blood pools out of her body, soaking her ripped clothing and forming a puddle underneath her still body. Tears prick the corner of my eyes. How could someone do this? This is pure evil. I glance up at Keanu to find him watching us with a grim expression.

“Her name is Jessa Staples,” he says in a low voice. “She was seventeen. She was a bright girl. Valedictorian of her class, straight-A student, and mentor for younger kids at her church. She had a good life and didn’t deserve this. No one deserves this. We want to find who killed her.”

Arisen frowns. “What makes you think one of us did this?” he asks after a moment of silence.

“Don’t treat me like I’m stupid, Arisen,” Keanu says sharply. “This is the Celestial signature.”

“You humans are so determined to blame anything on us,” Azriel snarls from his place against the wall. “Typical. You know, it makes me wonder if you want war so much that you would do anything to get it. First, you kidnap and torture my brother. Now you’re blaming a murder on us. What next will you do?”

Keanu raises an eyebrow. “You were kidnapped?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Arisen says quickly.

“Crawley again?” Keanu grunts with disgust. “You know I have no control over what that asshole does. It’s a different section of the government. Besides, how would he have gotten to you in the first place?”

Arisen shifts uneasily in his seat. “He lured me out,” he admits. “Our shipments have stopped coming in and we’ve been running low on supplies. So, I went to figure out what was going on. They set a trap for me. The government knows we’re fair game if we leave the island.”

“Fucking asshole,” Keanu seethes. “I never liked Crawley. He gives humans a bad name. I’ll make sure the shipments are continued and I’ll personally have them sent. I want you to know that Crawley is acting alone. He’s gone against the government by going after you. We don’t want a war. We’re trying to avoid one. Which is why I’m here talking to you about this instead of rounding up your people and throwing you into prisons while we get this sorted out.”

“Are you threatening us?” Azriel demands, stepping closer to us.

Arisen straightens up, shooting a dark look at his brother. “Calm yourself, Azi,” he orders. “Of course, we will cooperate and do what we can to help with this investigation. If my people are responsible for the murder of an innocent human, I will personally have them punished accordingly. You have my word, Keanu.”

The agent seems to sag in relief. “Thank you, Ari,” he says sincerely. “I’ll leave the file here for you to study. We have to get back to the Mainland.”

We take a moment to lead our guests back to their helicopter and see them off.

“Well, this is fucked,” Arisen breathes as we watch the helicopter disappear.

“Are we seriously just going to take this accusation?” Azriel demands. He stands a little separately from the group with his hands curled into tight fists.

“It’s an accurate accusation,” Arisen argues. “He’s right. This is the Celestial signature. We have to investigate this before unnecessary war breaks out.”

“What if a human did it and is framing us for it?” Azriel snaps.

I frown as I watch the Celestial of Darkness. Something about him is all wrong. I can’t put my finger on it, but I know I’ll be watching him closely.

Arisen shrugs. “Then we’ll find out in our investigation, but I’ll be starting with our people first,” he answers. “I refuse to give the humans another reason to not trust us.” He gives his brother another hard stare. “This isn’t up for negotiation.” He turns and marches back to the house without another word.

He might have missed it, but I don’t as I quickly follow my soulmate. It happens so quickly that I almost believe I imagined it, but I’ll never forget the sinister smirk Azriel shoots at Arisen’s back before it disappears back into the cocky expression he’s perfected. There is something evil about my mate’s brother, but how can I broach the subject without sounding like a total bitch? Will Arisen even listen to me? Will he take my side and believe me? Probably not. Not when I still don’t fully believe in our bond. But I do know that while this investigation goes on, I can watch Azriel from a distance. And he can bet his ass that I’ll be all over him if he steps one toe out of line.