Cursed by the Fountain of Youth

Chapter 20

A white leather ball came barreling toward Lafayette. He clasped his hands together and got in position. It slapped against his skin and flew up. The blond woman on his right got it next and set it perfectly. He didn't waste any time as he rushed forward, jumped, and spiked the ball over the volleyball net between the other two players. The ball hit the sand hard as the blonde in the pink bikini cheered.

"Game point," she shouted and then jumped into his arms. Her face beaming when she looked at him. "We make a great team."

He beamed back at her. "Yes, we do."

The couple on the other side of the net frowned. The young man lifted his head and shouted, "Good game."

"For us," Lafayette shouted back with a sneer. The woman in his arms chuckled—he couldn't remember if her name was Jenny or Julie.

"Whatever," the man grumbled back.

Lafayette traced his finger over her lips. "My dear, what do you say we go back to my place and celebrate our victory?"

Her smile widened. "Sure."

She turned back and shouted, "Hey Olivia! I won't need a ride back; I'm going with Marcus."

"You sure?" a voice called back.

"Yeah," she answered.

Lafayette looked to see who she spoke to. It was another woman—a bit older than what's-her-name. This woman frowned as she looked at him, almost as if she could guess he wasn't a safe person to be leaving with. Well, he had no intention of harming her friend.

"All right, but call me if you need a ride," Olivia said.

"Sounds like a good friend," he mentioned casually.

"She's my big sister. Ever since our mom died, she's been a bit overprotective. I'm surprised she's not having me call her when I get to your apartment."

"I own a house," he said.

"Even better." She smiled.

Lafayette narrowed his eyes as he looked back at her sister. Oh, yeah, she was suspicious of him. He wondered if she could guess what he planned to do with her baby sister.

Probably.

What a day and age this was! She still let her leave with him.

Hours later, Lafayette stepped over to the table at his new house. Well, it was new to him. It was actually an older clapboard farmhouse with peeling paint and uneven floors. The style was like other homes built around the time he was born. It had a lot of wear and tear on it. Still, it was the only place he could find that fit his needs. The best part—it had an owner with no close family ties to raise suspicions when the man signed the deed over to Lafayette and took an extended vacation—six feet under in the backyard.

Stretching his arms and back, he tried to work out the kinks. This day had been both exhilarating and exhausting.

He opened his laptop to check on Fae. The night vision security cameras were easy enough to install at the fort. He just tapped into the electrical lighting system, drilled a narrow hole through the wall, and mounted them. He took out the red lights so that they wouldn't flash. Fae would go into hibernation faster with less stimulus.

Looking over at Jenny lying sprawled across the bed, he thought perhaps he should have taken Fae up on her offer to come with him. He'd had fun with the blonde with the beach body, but he could only imagine what it would be like with Fae. He'd have to be more gentle than he'd been with this girl. He needed to protect Fae like he protected his own life. She was his life.

He clicked open the camera images and his heart stopped.

She was gone!

The chains were broken, dangling from the wall. And the wall he so recently bricked up gaped open.

"No," he snarled as he stood, knocking his chair over. He bellowed a string of profanity as he paced the floor and clawed at his hair. Why had he waited so long to check on her? How did she get out? How did they find her? He knew exactly who had her. He'd caught a glimpse of a familiar face on campus. And Lafayette wasn't equipped to retrieve her from the Order. But—

He stopped pacing as a thought struck him. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Perhaps he did know who could help.

He gathered his clothes that were strewn across the floor, put them back on, and snatched his keys from the end table. He was about to walk out the door when he remembered Jenny. He couldn't just leave her there. She'd start stinking up the house soon.

Walking over to the mudroom, he looked at the old deep freeze. Hopefully, it worked. He didn't have time to dig a grave right now. Opening it, he smiled, relieved to find it empty. A stale musty odor wafted over him. He plugged it in and was pleased to hear the whir of the machine. Lifting his hand over the chest, he felt the air turn cold.

It worked!

Minutes later, Jenny was stuffed into the freezer and beginning to chill.

Lafayette wondered briefly why he couldn't seem to stop killing. Brigitte and guards were necessary, maybe even the girl at the dorm, but these last two weren't. Okay, so he'd planned on killing the prostitute from the start, but Jenny? He had no intention of killing her, he simply got carried away. And now her sister was probably frantically searching for her. He may yet have to take care of that loose end.

He shook off his thoughts. All of that didn't matter nearly as much as finding Fontaine Miller. And he had someone infinitely more wicked than himself to meet.