Victuals & Vehemence - Septiplier

Chapter Thirty Three

Mark and Jack get up after lazing in bed for an hour, chatting softly and biting over each other's marks, growling, cooing, purring, rumbling, and more in the middle of their cuddling. The couple gets dressed and heads out, riding over to the posse's quarters in another district of town. As they make their way through the city of San Francisco, Jack marvels at the distance he had to travel in the middle of his heat to get to Mark. It's a dangerous distance. They tie their horses, and Jack steps onto the porch, knocking heavily. He steps backward to wait, shoulder brushing against Mark's chest.

"Christ almighty, it's too god damn late for this-" Felix mutters as he opens the door, pausing when he sees Jack.

"I've figured out who the Angelmaker is," Jack says without pretense, pushing past Felix into the home the posse is renting out. Felix raises a brow and looks at Mark, who smiles and shrugs.

"Does he actually..."

"I'm quite positive as well," Mark hums before stepping in. Felix closes the door and tilts his head up.

"Get up, boys! We've got a lead on the Angelmaker!" he yells toward the upstairs. Jack paces in the living room, book open, and photos carefully laid out in order of the book, which coincided with the order of the murders. Felix ambles into the room. He walks over to Jack and rests his hands on the omega's shoulders, tilting his head down to look Jack directly in the eyes.

"Take a breath and a seat. It'll do no good to act manic," he murmurs softly, a gentle smile on his lips. Jack stares at Felix for a long moment before nodding, leaning forward and hugging the alpha tightly.

"I really think this is it," he whispers, resting his head on Felix's shoulder. The leader hugs him as well, hands resting on Jack's upper back to keep it platonic. It's best to be careful about these things, especially with a pregnant omega, when their alpha is in the room. They pull away after a moment, and Jack moves to sit down. Mark sits beside him, slipping an arm out the omega's waist. He leans over and nips at Jack's earlobe, a low, possessive rumble in his throat. Jack coos quietly, tilting to expose his neck in a submissive gesture that said, "See, only you get this. The hug wasn't special. You're special."

"So, I found this book at Mark's, and everything fits. It's perfect," Jack said as the rest of the posse files in, plopping down in chairs and leaning against the wall with crossed arms.

"Explain," PJ says, waving his hand in a circular motion.

"This book is a book of Greek mythology. I was looking over the old photos after Mark, and I discussed the tale of Prometheus. This one stuck out. It's a replica of the story," Jack says, pointing at the photo.

"Great. We know he's educated and interested in religions. What's new?" Tyler hums.

"What's new is that I started reading this book from the beginning, and starting about five years ago, they began following every myth in this book. Medusa. Athena from the head of Zeus. The Fate Sisters, Icarus," Jack said, listing them out as he flipped through the book, pointing at a photo each time.

"So... he started with mocking modern religion, then imitating ancient religion?" Ethan murmurs softly, tense as he looks at Mark. This was his book, after all.

"Yes, and Mark-" Jack says before he's cut off.

"Is the Angelmaker," Felix says, hand going to the gun at his waist. Jack leaps to stand, arms out.

"No, no, no. He's not. This book is only a few months old!" Jack exclaims.

"It's a plant," Felix snaps.

"He fits the profile. Excellent medical knowledge, controls his emotions, strong, alpha, traveling," PJ says, hand at the gun at his hip as well.

"No, no. Mark gave his friend the book almost exactly five years ago. Right when the mythology murders started up. Mark hasn't had the book for years. He only got it recently, remember!" Jack defends.

"Oh, let me guess? His friend also happens to be a traveling doctor with excellent medical skills," Tyler says sarcastically.

"Yes, actually," Mark chuckles with amusement.

"You guys remember, Wade Barnes?" Jack says before any of the others can say anything. There's silence for a few moments.

"Yes, we met him a few months ago," Felix hums.

"He helped with a case," Ethan says.

"Exactly. Mark's letters with him all match up with the towns the murders happened in, within two to three days," Jack adds, pulling the letters from his inner jacket pocket and handing them to Felix. The alpha looks over them, setting each one down by the photo of the murder the dates correspond to.

"Christ, he even goes on about the mythology tale he based the murder off of," the alpha mutters, nose wrinkling with disgust.

"Yes, each letter we talked about different mythological tales. I'd read the book several times over, so I was able to just write from memory. He always set the topic, though. I had no clue that it was tied to such horrific thoughts and actions," Mark divulges quietly. Jack slowly sits back down, sighing softly and leaning into Mark.

"Where are your more recent letters? This last one is from a year ago," Felix questions Mark sharply.

"He stopped writing to me. No doubt realizing that the correlation between the letters and murders would draw too easy of a connection," Mark answers.

"We need to send out a nationwide alert. It's been a month since the last one, he could be anywhere," PJ says.

Just then, someone knocks on the door.