Into the Wild Dark

CHAPTER 31 - JACK

Ch. 31: Jack's Hitmen

September 9 | Day

Ava's suggestion Mr. Cyprian had set me up left a sour taste in my mouth. Would you put it past him? I reconsidered what I had set in motion in a drunken stupor. The duffle bag full of money remained in my possession. That had the potential to slow things, but I abhored the feeling of becoming like Cyprian, playing the long-game while losing sight of the here and now.

The old-heads in lockup had often discussed life's power to improve or worsen. Hang around with monsters long enough, you become one. Judge the darkness and discover it's a mirror. Had my desire for vengeance twisted me into something unsavory? I scratched an uncomfortable itch.

Cherie had crept into the office without notice to feed the kingsnake in the terrarium with the hourglass. She smiled at me in all her innocence. The youngest Ashivant had such faith in me. I worried I should confess my big mistake, but it didn't seem the right time.

Sunny returned us to the matter at hand. "We need to get onto that property."

"We will." Mal removed from the deck a hexagonal portal card with flashes of gold foil against a vibrant steel blue background. "With these, we can enter and exit without permission. We have to deal with Darcy beforehand. He's intent on seeing you, Jack, and I fear he plans to kill you." She tucked the card away.

"What's a death threat against the reward of spending alone-time with you?" I flirted. "I'll have Mr. Cyprian believing beyond a shadow of doubt that picking me to contest Ravani is working better than expected."

I glanced surreptitiously at my phone as a text came across: We found them.

Stifling a groan, I messaged back: Follow them, but wait for my instructions.

"Who are you talking to?" Sunny raised an eyebrow.

I cleared the guilt wedging my throat. "Uh, no one. An ex."

He was taken aback.

"Alright, we let Darcy know you're still onboard," Mal cut in smoothly, "then we usher him from house so we can use a portal card to travel to the property. In the meantime, Ava, keep searching for Yalina. Until Darcy can get ahold of Aurie, the Luna won't be of any use to him, but we don't want to risk it. By the way, keep Cherie invisible tonight. Things might get hairy."

"Will do. Take care of yourself." Ava beckoned for Cherie, and the two left.

I parted dry lips for a tough chat about what I had done while drunk, but once the twins were gone, Mal launched herself into my arms. Embracing her provided solace. Maybe it losing my mind a little bit and doing something stupid had been justified. The assumption that she and Sunny had been working against me had been a hard time, harder than a prison sentence.

Moving forward, they were mine. For however long we could survive.

I kissed her lips, letting the heat linger and intensify. She emitted a stirring moan as my hands traversed her spine to the lush mounds of her ass. Her superlative figure was still stacked like a centerfold. She snuggled closer, and I knew she wanted the fire we had ignited during our trip. A fire that might never be banked.

I released her and gripped behind Sunny's neck to drag him to my lips for a quick kiss, too. Losing his wings hadn't changed a thing else about him. He still had irises like nature's first gold, the elegant body that made me ache.

If I thought I had been lucky to have an angel and djinn competing for me, I felt downright blessed with two sexy lovers who would leave heaven and fight like hell to stay with me. All it was costing us was everything, but such was the way of love.