“I don’t know what you are talking about!” the Harpy cried, the man uselessly striking out at him in an attempt to fend him off. The hits not having an ounce of strength behind them.
He froze at a loud crack of thunder. “What the…” His gaze snapped up to Killian. The man was the only one nearby who he knew could pull off that feat.
Severo stiffened at the grim expression on the Siren’s face. “You need to see this.”He held out his phone.
Taking a deep breath, he didn’t release the man in his hold. Instead, he dragged him up with him, pulling him towards Killian. Looking at the phone the Siren held out, his eyes widened at the still image on the screen. It was a paused video. The headline above reading,Preston Chanway Gets Married—Details Here!Standing there frozen on the screen was Preston, and next to him was…Seri.
Except, it wasn’t him. It wasn’t. He could tell. That serine smile, long hair…flowing dress, empty eyes. That wasn’t his Seri. This was a doll—a shadow puppet! This was a copy of the person who’d been in that first photograph he’d seen of the man.
Hand shaking, he pressed play. Eyes on Seri, he saw it. The shadow by his feet was flickering unnaturally. It was an oddity, an easy to miss one, but it was the only thing that made the puppets stand out from real people… While the puppet remained solid and real to the eye, the shadow exposed it for what it really was. Proof—he had proof he could use to dispute whatever Preston was going to say, and had said in this video.
“Preston. Preston, tell us! How did you two meet? When did this happen?” a reporter asked.
“Well—” Preston spun his lies, a disgusting tale of romance.
“That…” he growled, trailing off.
“This?! This is what you are attacking me for?! She looks happy enough to me! Maybe you shouldn’t have listened to the words of a whore!” Jorah hissed.
Severo slammed the man’s face into a nearby door without hesitation, before stretching out a tendril and latching onto the man’s shadow. He used his hold to drag Jorah to the floor, where he wrapped a shadowy hand around his neck. The man gasped, clawing at his throat.
“Call Seri ‘she’ or ‘whore’ again, and I’ll break every bone in your body,” Severo ground out dangerously.
Jorah stilled, nose bleeding, eyes already bruised. The Harpy paled under his gaze.
“Nod if you understand.” The man gave the barest of nods. “Good! Now listen here, you piece of trash.” He crouched down, fighting the urge to tighten the shadowy hand. “What you saw in that video was a shadow puppet. The last time I saw Seri, he was trapped under a building support beam, amongst other things. That was seventy-two hours ago. His leg was CRUSHED! Due to who, you ask?!
“Your boss, because he decided to blow up the building with Seri and his own child inside. They were lucky to not have been killed!
“Oh, but you think Seri is standing there on his own, smiling as if nothing happened. The same man who screamed at me to run away with his child and leave him behind?! The man who sobbed as he laid there pinned, knowing who was coming for him?! That man!?”
He did tighten his grip then, and the Harpy clawed harder, eyes bulging with fear.
“Severo…” Cyrus cautioned.
Severo laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill him.” He straightened up, and loosened his hold enough for the man to breathe and talk.
“L-let me go! I have rights!”
He rolled his eyes and started walking towards the nearest interrogation room, using the man’s own shadow to drag him along behind him.
“Wait! Wait!” Jorah yelled.
Seri could feelthe tears running down his face, yet the rest of him was oddly numb, both physically and mentally.
He knew he should be freaking out. It was dark…the world full of blacks and grays… It was all that surrounded him—shadows.
Preston’s personal world was not even in the same realm of existence as the warm welcoming place that Severo’s was. He should be losing it… Especially because the shadowy figure of the man he hated with every breath, stood right there over him.
Yet…as he laid there on the ground, immobile due to his leg, a shadow puppet of what Preston wished he was standing right on top of him…he felt no fear…
He wasn’t sure if it was due to shock, or that, perhaps, now that he was back, he was too stubborn to give into those emotions.
But…maybe his earlier assessment of the numbness wasn’t right. He did feel one thing—anger. And that fuelled the strong belief that he would get out of there. That Seri would break free again, and this time, Preston would go down.
He smiled through the tears. The compound was his way to freedom, his way to expose Preston to the world. The press that stood there now gawking, would stand here again, but at that time their mouths would be agape in horror at what he told them.
Severo banged on the desk with his hands. “Enough of this. Forget the warrant. Not a single judge we’ve talked to has been willing to get involved, the fucking cowards. We are wasting time! It’s been a week! With a Nymph’s advanced healing, while he won’t be perfectly healed up, he’s on the way. If he has a cast—which based on what I saw, he should—it’ll be removed soon. We don’t have time for this. We don’t even need a warrant, so why are we trying to get one?! WE know he has Seri. And we know Seri doesn’t want to be there!”
