Arielle Immortal Fury (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 6) (31 page)

Sebastian recoiled as he walked around the room. The things he
saw told him that the guy had been gone for at least a couple of days. He turned around to face Nathan and froze. Nathan was
standing still
in the middle of the room with a shocked look on his face.
Something was terribly wrong.

Chapter 19

SEBASTIAN LET OUT
an uneven sigh. “What is it, Nathan?”

Nathan bit back what he was going to say and gritted his teeth.

“What do you see?” Sebastian insisted.

Nathan was able to see into the future just as Eva could. His ability allowed him to see things happening like a movie clip.
Something in
his eyes told Sebastian that whatever he was seeing wasn’t pleasant. His lips were pressed together, and he looked like he wasn’t breathing.

It wasn’t long before Troy walked in. He looked around the room and made a disgusted noise. “This room looks exactly like the
one next
door. These guys are pigs, t–” he stopped midsentence when he
noticed Nathan standing motionless in the middle of the room. He glanced
at Sebastian, who shrugged. He walked up to Nathan and put his
hand on his shoulders, shaking him softly.

“What is it, Nathan?”

Nathan blinked, startled, and swallowed hard. “What in bloody hell!” he exclaimed.

“For God’s sake, Nathan! What in are you seeing?” Sebastian
asked breathlessly.

“I see someone going after the girls!”

Sebastian's body tensed. He held his breath. The thought made his stomach churn.

“But I can’t see a face, and I’m not sure where or when for that matter,” Nathan continued skeptically.

Sebastian gave Nathan a calculated glance. “I’ll get Loren to watch them today, and we’ll be home tonight,” Sebastian said through clenched teeth. Troy’s jaw stiffened, and his fists tightened into hard balls.

“Let's get this over with. I hate being away from them,”
Sebastian
said and walked toward the door. Troy and Nathan followed.
Nathan
closed the door behind them. They quickly took the side staircase and climbed up to the fourth floor. Standing outside room 426, they
listened carefully for signs that someone was inside. The room belonged to Gustaaf Jansen. The only sound was loud snoring.

Now that they knew two of the men were there, the immortals walked back to the car to wait for the goons to begin their miserable day. They were going to use the time they had to call home. Nathan wanted to make sure his wife was doing better. Troy and Sebastian
called their fiancées to remind the women to stay safe until they returned home. They knew that the guys in rooms 361 and 362 were
most likely the two guys that the girls met at the pub.

Before making the call to Arielle, Sebastian called Loren. He
asked
her to spend the day with Arielle and Gabrielle. He gave her the
details about the Italian goons. Loren promised that she would take care of them and not to worry. He didn’t need to call Christian, because he could count on Loren to handle threats from two human men. He felt relieved after the call.

He speed dialed Arielle next. “Hey, baby, did you miss me?” His voice held a tension that didn’t escape Arielle.

A long sigh escaped her. “Sebastian, we just spoke. Is there
something wrong?”

“No, nothing is wrong. I just wanted to hear your voice. Do you find that unreasonable?”

His question caught her off guard. “Of course not. I could spend the rest of my life talking with you,” she said playfully.

A smile split his face, and he could hardly contain his delight.
“All right. I just wanted to tell you that it is important for you stay away from guys with Italian accents.”

“What?” Arielle’s voice was coated in curiosity. Sebastian
smiled.
Arielle was the most inquisitive girl he had ever met in his life, and
he’d had a very long life. She wanted to know every detail on every
subject, and she usually extended the conversation until she was completely satisfied. He adored this about her. They had time to spare waiting for the goons to emerge from their rooms, so he decided to play with her over the phone.

“Can we just talk about it tonight?” Sebastian feigned
indifference. A wide smile painted his lips, knowing Arielle’s curiosity was going
to rise quickly. He remembered Arielle’s unwavering need to know the details about their plan to get rid of Annabel, the trouble she had
gotten
into wanting to investigate every corner of the house, and how
Arielle discovered Giovanna’s presence in his home. Sebastian put her on
the speakerphone and smiled at his friends. Troy was already
familiar
with Arielle's never-ending inquisitiveness and would be greatly
amused by Sebastian's ploy.

“If this is important, why don’t you tell me now?” she asked eagerly.

“Because it’s hard to explain over the phone,” he said. He
couldn’t help but smile.

Arielle paused, and then she went on.

“Well, I had something important to tell you,” she said and
paused again. “It had something to do with the guys at the pub that I forgot
to tell you about last night, but I guess this can wait until tonight as
well,” she replied. Sebastian went still. He quickly recovered,
realizing that the best way to get information from Arielle was to pretend that he was unconcerned.

“I’m sure it’s of no importance,” he said. “It can wait until I get back.” A quiet chuckle left Troy’s lips, and he put his hand over his mouth.

 Arielle snapped, “I guess your information is always more important than mine.” She paused for a moment as if she were
deciding whether
to tell him or just end the conversation. “Well, just so you know,”
she said, making the guys smile. “They asked us to meet them this afternoon for tea, and we just might do that…” Her voice trailed.

Sebastian froze. He turned to glance at Troy and Nathan. Troy pressed his lips together and moved his head from side to side to express his opinion on the unlikeliness of Arielle's statement. Sebastian’s
expression changed as he realized that Arielle was just playing with him.

“I guess if you and Gabrielle need to meet with…whatever their names are…” his voice trailed, “...then go ahead.” he tried to hold back laughter.

“You mean Vitorio and Mauritsio?”

Abruptly, Sebastian’s breath caught in his throat. His gut
clenched.
Astonishment covered the faces of Troy and Nathan. Sebastian
pressed the mute button and growled with rage.

“Sebastian, they were safe last night, and they will be safe
today,” Troy said. “I know that Arielle and Gabrielle are not going to meet those guys. She’s playing with you.”

Sebastian managed to smile and find his calm voice again.

“Troy and I will be home later tonight, and I guess we’ll see you then. Don’t feel that you need to be home. Go and have fun.” He coughed to cover his frustration.

Arielle took a deep breath and made of an exasperated sound.

“Bloody men,” she said in voice barely audible to a human but easily heard by immortal ears. Sebastian pressed the mute button again, and the three of them broke into hearty laughter.

“Sebastian! Sebastian! Are you there?” Arielle’s voice broke
through their laughter.

He cleared his throat and unmuted the phone. “Yes, baby. I’m
here,” he said in a nonchalant voice.

“The thing is…you sound as if you don’t even care if we meet
these guys. Does Troy feel the same way?”

“I’ll let him address your question,” he said and moved the
mobile closer to Troy.

“Hi, Arielle,” Troy said. “You go ahead and have fun. I trust that you both would never do anything to hurt Sebastian or myself.” He was trying to make his voice sound serious.

Arielle paused again and then humphed forcefully. “Bloody
men,”
she repeated. The guys laughed out loud again after Sebastian
muted the phone. There was a long silence on her side.

“I guess you both don’t care, so we’ll see you tonight,” she said with a mixture of annoyance and disappointment. Sebastian ignored the tone in her voice.

“Miss me,” he said just before she abruptly ended the call. He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.

“Well, she’s all worked up now,” Nathan pointed out.

“I know,” Sebastian replied, “but I also know that neither Arielle
nor Gabrielle would make plans to meet any other guys today or
ever,”
he said assuredly. He didn’t want to tell Troy that he could read
Gabrielle’s mind. Sebastian knew for a fact that there would never be
another man for Gabrielle but Troy, and he was just as sure of his
own girl. She was his world, and he was hers. Sebastian became lost in thought. Sometimes he couldn’t think past his yearning to simply lay in bed with her and keep her safe in his arms. His mouth went dry, and he ran his tongue over his lips.

“They are fine, Sebastian,” Troy said, clapping him on his
shoulder. “Relax. Let's end this so we can go home.”

An hour had passed, and they were still waiting in the car.
Sebastian
was about to say something when the door on the fourth floor
opened,
and a man stepped outside. He had messy blond hair and was tall with wide shoulders. Though in his late thirties, his biceps looked
like they
were made of steel. He wore faded blue jeans and a white long sleeve T-shirt that was too small for his upper body. The man feigned staring out into the distance before leaning over the railing
to glance carefully
around the parking lot. He then looked up toward the sky as if
curious about the weather. Slowly, he turned around and pulled the door shut and locked it.

He then slowly walked a few feet toward the stairs before
stopping again and leaning against the wall. Pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pants' pocket, he took one out of the pack and placed his lips
around the tip of the filter. After a moment, he pulled a lighter out
and flipped it open. He stared at it for a short moment as if he waiting for
the flame to appear supernaturally. Finally, his thumb pressed
downward, and a high flame emerged. But he still didn’t light the cigarette. It was almost as if the guys were watching some sort of a ritual. They could see the flame getting hotter as the bottom turned
blue. He held the flame about a half an inch from the tip of the
cigarette while his eyes pierced through the flame.

“What the devil is he doing?” Nathan asked. No one answered. Troy and Sebastian were surprised by the strange behavior.

He finally moved the flame closer to the tip of the cigarette and took a couple deep breaths. With a quick move, he flipped the lighter shut and put it back in his pocket. He inhaled deeply. Then angling his head upward, he blew a thick cloud of smoke toward the sky. He
stood there a short moment before pushing away from the wall. He leaned against the railing, his eyes searching the parking lot one more
time.

The car was hidden from view, giving the immortals a clear view
of him, but he couldn’t see them. He pulled away from the railing and walked down two floors, stopping in front of room 235. After
three strong raps on the door, it swung wide open to let him in. The guys could hear every word they said.

“Are you ready? I’m starving for some breakfast,” Gustaaf said.

“Just a moment. I’m almost ready,” Frans replied. There was no more discussion until the door open again, and both appeared in
plain view. Frans was shorter and a bit younger with brown spiked hair, a bulky upper body, and huge thighs. They both looked like they spent a lot of time at the gym. The men walked quietly down
two floors
and piled into a small, red Mazda. They heard a roaring rumble of an engine coming to life, and soon the little red car zipped out of the parking lot and onto the main road. Nathan tried to keep up at a safe
distance.

The red Mazda moved at a fast clip. After several miles on the
main
road, they turned onto a small street, stopping across from what looked like a neighborhood restaurant. A large neon sign flashed above the door in Dutch: “Ontbijt tot 11:00.”
Breakfast until eleven
, Sebastian thought.

Nathan passed the Mazda and parked a couple of cars ahead of them. They waited until the men left their car before crossing the street to enter the establishment. Reaching the door, they pulled it open and crossed the threshold, looking around for an empty table. It was a small dinner with a few booths against the wall and a couple of tables close to the front window. There was a counter with four stools and a cash register. They immediately saw the two men seated in the last booth on the far corner. The men had their faces buried in
the menus. Sebastian, Troy, and Nathan took a table against the window. Picking up the menus, they pretended consider a breakfast choice. They could easily hear every word the men said from across
the restaurant.