Amalgamate

Chapter 21

Cuan entered the room fresh from his interrogation with Munroe, who'd given him nothing, which left him in a foul damn mood. No one spoke as he quickly surveyed who was in attendance so he could get right down to business. "Greer, I'm disappointed in you. We'll talk later." Greer nodded acknowledgment, but didn't make a peep.

Cuan looked to Callum next, "Brother? There is a rumor that you were bested by this female. Surely this isn't true?"

Callum nodded, "Don't let her size or inexperience deceive you Cuan. She's very powerful."

Staring Callum down Cuan responded with a promise, "I certainly hope so. She'll need every ounce of it when I get a hold of her." The room went quiet as Cuan waited for either of them to explain the situation, but when no one spoke he unleashed his verbal whipping stick, "I seem to remember assigning more competent guardians. She's important, but of course you already know that because you've been in on this since these two were born. You know the risk in losing one, let alone both of them. We have no idea which twin will fulfill the prophecy."

Attempting to give Cuan some of the information, Greer responded respectfully, "I've known Dermid his whole life...it's her!"

Cuan was not amused, "Just because she bested the two of you.." pointedly nodding at Greer and Callum in turn, "...does not make her the powerful, vengeful creature so desperate for revenge that she would join Vertigen."

Maeve, though slightly intimidated by Cuan, spoke up, "This is the picture of what she did to Callum." She picked up Rowan's phone off the table with pics of the hole in the wall. Cuan proceeded to scroll through the photos seeing Callum unconscious, tied up, and gagged in the flower bed just outside his room.

Greer continued as Cuan looked through the photos, "Cuan? There's a video of Rowan at HEAT. She isn't the girl we found two days ago. Her transition has been exponentially faster than anything I've ever seen. The dampening spell must have been a doozy because she's acting like a teenager who finally escaped her parents' strict iron fist. She's out of control."

"Show me." He stepped closer to take the phone.

Cuan's poker face always made it impossible for others to know what he was thinking. But right now, watching her emerge on the stage, he felt it betray him. His eyes bulged and his jaw dropped. Her father, Riat, would be up in arms if he saw his daughter like this. He spared a quick glance at Greer who nodded and directed him to keep watching. Cuan was speechless as Rowan started down the catwalk. The rhythmic swing of her hips as she sauntered down the runway in hot pants and stilettos sent a slow chill of excitement down his spine.

When she started grinding to the music, Cuan glanced at Callum with eyebrows drawn in, concerned. As he watched her use her body to taunt the men in the bar, things started coming together for him. She didn't look young and naive, rather she looked calculating. Her demeanor dominating, eyes focused and actions purposeful. He was getting an inside look at her psyche. Rowan liked having their eyes on her. She enjoyed teasing them, and then watching them fight over her. Which meant she was gonna be even more trouble for him because she wanted to be bathed in their attention.

Watching her dance, Cuan could understand their rapture. He was ensnared by her as well. He'd been with hundreds of women, but when her nails elongated and split her pants from hip to ankle, his mind met a fork in the road where he found himself choosing an entirely different path to go down with Rowan. She made him uncomfortable in his own skin, a completely foreign feeling to him. When it was over he tossed the phone back to Maeve.

Barely audible, but cloaked with aggression, Cuan uttered "Where... is... Rowan?" Everyone had been so distracted by Cuan's arrival that they hadn't even noticed Rowan's absence.

Maeve actually thought Rowan had been joking about the shower thing. Now she couldn't help but smile, "That girl has some brass balls."