“Baby, don't let him rope you into anything,” Azazel warned. “The last time he asked me for help, you disappeared for twenty years.”
“For fuck's sake, Az, get over it,” Uriel huffed.
“This time, it's not your mate that will disappear. It's mine,” Anubis said, getting their attention.
“Shit, that is serious.” Azazel stepped aside. “Come on in and tell us what's up.”
Anubis stepped inside and followed them to their shared office. “Uriel, can you contact Alistair? I know he's a close friend of yours. I need information on the Hit-and-Run Killer. I need to know what really happened.”
“Wait, don't tell me your mate is the Hit-and-Run Killer?” Azazel asked.
“No, he's not. That's someone else,” Anubis said, looking at his red-eyed friend. “I just need to prove Star’s innocence so that I can focus on finding him.”
“He's missing?” Azazel said.
“Yeah, I don't know what's going on, but this morning I woke up and he was gone. And before you ask, he didn't just go out for a walk or a jog. He didn't bring his phone.”
“All right, let's get started, and then we can help find your man,” Uriel said, pulling out his phone and leaving him alone with Azazel.
“You're not going to ask me if he's innocent?”
“Nope,” Azazel said.
“How come?”
“My dude, you wouldn't have been attracted to him if you couldn't judge his soul.”
“But that's the thing, Az, I can't. From the beginning, I couldn't read his past or his heart. It was why I was so conflicted. I drummed up the idea that my father sent him to me as a distraction. But from the beginning, I knew he was the one for me. We've lived for so long, and when you find the one person who gets you more than you understand yourself, it's a blessing, not a curse. I know our mating is flawed. I can't speak to him telepathically or even feel his emotions. I don't think he can feel mine either.”
“Do you think you made a mistake?” Azazel asked.
“No,” Anubis said with certainty. “He's my mate. My forever one.”
“We might butt heads regarding business and play tricks on each other for fun. But dude, you are one of my closest friends.”
“Not closer than Loki,” Anubis grumbled.
“Fuck, now is not the time to be jealous,” Azazel admonished, and Anubis had to agree. He was worried about Star and wanted to find him. And had to put his gripe with Azazel and Loki to the side.
“You're right.”
“It's all right. I know you're just trying to lash out at someone right now. Besides, I could say the same about you and Thor.”
Anubis was about to say something, but they were interrupted by Uriel.
“Alistair wants to talk to you,” Uriel said, handing him the phone.
“Alistair, what can you tell me about the Hit-and-Run Killer? Do you have an image?” Anubis asked when he brought the cell phone to his ear.
“I shouldn't be telling you anything about my investigation, but since you're a good friend of my uncle’s, I’ll trust you. I can tell you that Star Rueng is our only suspect in the killings right now. ”
“He's—”
“I know you're going to tell me he's innocent. The only one we can clear him from is Thornton Miller. Sundi Noxx bailed Miller out of jail before she killed him. She was apprehended and confessed—however, we can't overlook the others. Find me the evidence that he’s not the killer, and I'll dismiss him as a suspect. Upon request of his manager, I'm keeping this under wraps, but if the press gets wind of it, no matter how influential I am, there's nothing I can do about it.”
“What evidence do you have? Fuck, I don't even know who the victims are.” Although his tone was cool and collected speaking to Alistair, he was seething with anger.
How dare he accuse Star without hearing if he was innocent or not?Anubis would have chopped his head off long ago and sent his soul to the farthest part of the underworld, if he weren’t an important immortal.
