Stay Away (The Beocraftian Gambit - Book One)

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT: SOME THINGS CAN NEVER BE

Derik gulped air to steady himself. Straightening his arm at Kevin, he wrapped his fingers around the gun, not taking his eyes off him. "Give me one reason I shouldn't drop you where you stand."

"Derik, wait!" he hollered, hands raised a bit higher. "I'm not your enemy. I may be one of them, but I'm certainly not a killer."

Derik glared, his fierce eyes filled with rage and hatred. "You pinned a rod through a man's eyes. How do you explain that?"

"Those guys deserved what they got and you know it. Heck, they attacked an innocent girl and walked away free, while she suffers in the hospital. I couldn't live with that."

"You could have just left it to the authorities."

"I was doing the cops a favour."

"That doesn't change the fact that you're a shifter and a killer. You're dangerous. You shouldn't be around Natasha," he countered.

Kevin remained silent.

"Does Natasha know? Does she know what you are?" he asked him, his fingers tightening around the gun.

"She doesn't have to know." His eyes bore into him. "Let's leave her out of this. Right now, we have one common enemy and that's T-Murek. He tried to kidnap her, and he will again. If he succeeds this time, he'll torture her to death slowly, then he'll make me watch."

Derik's brows waggled. "You're not making any sense."

"You heard about the little girl that was tortured to death recently? That's exactly what'll happen to Natasha if she is taken by the guy that'd attempted to kidnap her at De-Laurel a few days ago—unless we find him and put him down for good. "

"Why the hell would he do something like that to Natasha?"

"Because—" He hesitated for a moment. "Because he knows I care about her, and killing her is his way of torturing me. I need your help to find T-Murek and take him down before he attempts to kidnap Natasha again."

"Why should I trust you?" he glared. "You're a shifter. You're no different from him."

"You don't, but just listen to what I have to say." His features held no slight trace of fear as he spoke. "There's an organization run by dangerous shifters. They call themselves Beocraft, and T-Murek is a member. Use all the resources at your disposal to find this organization, investigate what they are all about. I believe that's the first step towards putting an end to the shifter crises in this city."

Derik was quiet for a moment. "Why are we even having this conversation?"

"The reason you haven't put a bullet in me yet is because, deep down, you know I'm a good guy."

He moved a finger to touch the trigger lightly. "Don't bet on that."

"Another tortured body will soon be discovered if we don't find them fast and stop them. I pray it's not Natasha."

Derik remained still, processing all of what he'd said, his gun still slightly raised. He didn't look too convinced.

"I'm only telling you this because you are her personal bodyguard. You wouldn't want any harm to come to Natasha, would you?"

After a thoughtful silence, Derik lowered his gun. "I'll investigate everything you've said. Let's hope, for your sake, they pan out."

Just then, Derik's phone buzzed in his pocket. Taking out the phone, he looked over it. "It's a text from William, he's reminding me about the meeting which will begin in about thirty minutes. I had better hurry now."

Before he disappeared through the door, he shot a venomous glance at Kevin, and said, "I better not regret this."

###

Kevin spent the next couple of minutes opening several doors in the sizable mansion, wondering which Natasha's was. Before long, he stumbled upon a door with a pink sticker of a guitar glued to it.

Instinctively, he gently slid the door open just enough for him to peer through. He found her standing by the window, watching the next-door neighbours have a picnic on their lawn. Sunshine cascading through the transparent window tanned her skin.

Looking out through her bedroom window, she then shifted her troubled gaze to the corner when she heard the door open. "What do you want?" she asked, without turning to look behind.

Kevin was wonderstruck at how she knew he was standing by the door. "How did you—"

"Your body scent," she said—almost immediately. "It gets stronger whenever you are close."

Kevin fell silent. He didn't know that.

"What do you want?" she repeated, her voice devoid of any emotion.

From her tone, he could tell she didn't want him around. "I'm just making sure you're ok before I leave."

"I'm fine," she answered immediately. "You can leave now."

But he didn't. He was silent for a moment, staring at her from behind.

"Anything else?" she said.

"About the—"

"It meant nothing." She cut him short and turned to face him. "And it cannot happen again."

"I'm sorry," he said. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Good."