×

"Hey, Jess."

"Hi. How's the vacay?" Jessi asked her newfound friend over the phone. A tiring day at work forced her into the bathtub, wherein she was about to treat her tired muscles to at least half an hour of warm bubble bath.

Kel just called her out of the blue, and after they hung out the other day, Jessi wanted to catch up and ask about Kel's short vacation with her boyfriend here in Los Angeles. "Good so far," Kel replied, her tone pleasant as always. "Enzo's really, um, pulling out all the stops."

"Sweet." Jessi smiled to herself. "Glad you're both enjoying the time off." She turned on the faucet and set the water temperature to warm.

The unit she was renting lacked space, but at least the bathroom had a tub and a shower with hot water. Good enough for a single woman.

"Yeah. Me too. He's been so...attentive and hands-on it's starting to drive me nuts." Kel forced a laugh.

"He missed you a lot, obvi." Jessi grabbed the bottle of body wash after taking her clothes off. "Did you take the test? Or not yet?" she asked in a quieter voice, recalling the behind the scenes during that photo shoot in New York with Kel and four other models.

It wouldn't be a shocker if Kel was still experiencing unpleasant pregnancy symptoms right now. "No. Not yet," Kel muttered in response, sounding unsure and just a tad nervous. "How's the shoot by the way? You met the actors today?"

"Yeah."

"Jenson Ross, Darren Jablonsky and Kara Leahy? Just started watching their show, y'know. Pretty good first season." Kel giggled on the other line.

"Yeah. They're all nice and fun company." Except the two male leads seemed to be keeping some strange secrets from everyone else, Jessi wanted to add. She decided otherwise.

No doubt she could get in serious trouble if she spilled some tea about the guys without knowing the whole context behind Jenson and Darren's surreptitious argument in the parking lot just an hour ago. Nor was she the type to spread gossip about someone.

"Yeah. I read they're all nice to their fans," Kel said over the phone.

"Where?" Jessi held her loofa now.

"Forums. And the comments section on their bloopers videos. Is it weird that I read 'em all?" Kel replied with a quick giggle.

"No. Not at all. To each their own," Jessi retorted as she filled the bathtub with more warm water. The liquid soap she was using was already filling the tub with foam and bubbles.

"Y'know what's really weird?"

"What?" Jessi murmured after putting the call on speaker. Some hints of mystery and eagerness in her friend's voice made it sound an octave lower.

"I dreamt of you kissing the guy in the shower. With your clothes on." Kel snickered.

Kel dreamt of her kissing a guy? Was it just a joke? "What guy?" Jessi chuckled. She couldn't help but frown at the peculiar joke. Or was Kel telling the truth?

"Seriously. It was you and him. With your clothes on. In the shower. Playing tonsil hockey."

While the graphic image formed in her head, Jessi opted to laugh to keep up the light mood.

"Who's the lucky guy?"

"Your new boss."

Jessi blew a raspberry. "Zach? He's married. To a guy."

"No. Jenson Ross. He's your boss, too. Right?" Kel sounded serious now. "I read he's also one of the producers, and he even directed two episodes already," Kel said in a more enthused tone.

"Yeah. He's real talented, that guy." And the most mysterious, too. "Did you actually see his face, though? In your dream?"

"Yeah. It was him. But I don't remember the other details. It was like...a short video clip," Kel explained while trying not to giggle.

"That's hilarious."

"Juicy. I don't think he's single, though," Kel mumbled after a quick laugh.

"Funny. You're turning into their fangirls now." Jessi kept grinning to herself as she started shampooing her long hair now. A fair amount of intrigue mixed with unbearable curiosity had left her preoccupied on the way home, but now that she was trying her best to relax, her brain was no longer replaying Jenson and Darren's oddly tense conversation in the parking lot.

"Yeah." Kel clicked her tongue a few times. "Should warn you, though. Sometimes...my dreams become real life."

"Really." Jessi snickered.

"Yeah. No kidding." Kel sounded even more serious now. "It's usually the dreams that make sense, or have a lot of realistic details. Then when it happens for real, it's like the weirdest kind of déjà vu."

"Interesting."

"My brain's just that weird sometimes." Kel sighed shortly. "Anyway, just be careful. 'Cause he seems like a nice guy, but could also be a ladies' man, y'know? Just gives off that vibe."

"I think he's engaged."

"Yeah. And you and his fiancée kinda look alike. I mean, just the dark hair and pale skin..."

Jessi kept shampooing her hair and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Just keep it cool and friendly, is what I'm tryna say," Kel muttered.

"Thanks for another unsolicited dating advice, but, yeah. I will." Jessi knelt on the tub to grab the showerhead, then rinsed her hair with warm water.

"Good. Good."

"He's not the chatty one, though. Darren is way friendlier. The 'I don't care if I invade your personal space' type."

"Oh. Yeah. He does give off that 'class clown' vibe. I mean, I've watched some of his Insta videos, too." Kel chuckled on the other end, sounding amused by her own fangirl confession.

"Good for you that you're tryin' to relax after a busy couple of months. Where did you and Enzo check in?"

"Private resort. On the beach. It's near my brother's house. Well..." Kel sounded rather unsure now. "Maps says it's an hour and a half away, so..."

"Really? You're hangin' out with your brother? Didn't know you had a brother living here in Cali."

"I haven't really...seen him in person yet."

What? Did Kel mean she hadn't hung out with her brother in a long time? "How come?" Jessi turned off the faucet.

"He's actually my half-brother, and I didn't even know I had one until last year."

"Really."

"Yeah. Enzo took me here to try to meet with Magnus."

"Magnus is your brother's name?" Jessi asked while she soaped her neck and shoulders. The call was still on loudspeaker mode. "Well, half-brother."

"Yeah. I just heard from a friend that he's got a house in Calabasas."

"Ah..."

"Enzo told me we won't leave LA without finding my brother's house."

"You don't have his contact number?"

"He changed it."

"Oh. I see." Jessi frowned, her brain growing more curious about her friend's current dilemma. "But you know his full name? I assume."

"Not sure about his last name 'cause...I heard he changed it," Kel replied, murmuring her words. "It used to be 'Mihajlović'."

"Russian?" Jessi scowled.

"Serbian."

"Ah. So..." She sat back in the tub as she used the loofa. "You have the same father?"

"Yeah." Kel sighed after they both fell silent. "Anyway, did you say your employment contract under the production company is only good for a year?"

"Contractual basis. Yeah."

"Did the contract state you can't take side jobs or you'll be breaching their terms?" Kel asked with a curious tone.

"Yeah. I think so. Why?" Shucks. She couldn't remember exactly. Jessi itched her forehead. She should ask Zach about the contract terms again, or Daniella from HR.

"In case you need some side gigs, I have some designer and agent friends. I could recommend you if you'd have some time off between your shooting days."

"Awesome. That'd be great. I just have to..." Jessi balked in uncertainty. She just wasn't sure whether Zach would allow her to travel out of LA for a side-hustle. "Just need to talk to Zach first. My boss."

"Yeah. Cool. I'll text you, if ever something comes up."

Jessi smiled. "You're so nice. Thanks, Kel. Really."

"Sure. Talk to you later, Jess. Enzo wants to go swimming."

"Enjoy."

× × ×

× 8:49PM ×

The mixture worked.

It had been almost 24 hours since he found the girl in that hotel room. Lifeless and almost naked.

Formaldehyde. Water. A little drop of wolfsbane.

It actually worked.

Jenson stood next to the girl's pale corpse, her complexion now a pallid shade of what used to be perfectly smooth and tan skin. But at least she didn't smell of rotting flesh yet. Much to his relief.

As a matter of fact, he could still smell the cheap perfume she'd sprayed the night before, and a hint of Darren's cologne. Darren didn't scrub her clean of his scent. The clueless idiot.

Darren should have taken care of his screwup on his own, but he just didn't trust Darren's judgement and state of mind. The guy was just so unpredictable at times.

One minute he'd seem like the friendliest, nicest person in the room...then a total animal the next second, living the party-hard-like-it's-the-last-time mantra to a T. Highly unreliable.

Perhaps it's the sole reason Magnus teamed him up with Darren on the job. Jenson sighed. His uncle never told him it was his main job to make sure Darren stayed out of trouble, but Jenson knew them both well enough to form his own conclusions.

Well, it wasn't like it's his first time cleaning up after some young werewolf's stupid, reckless behavior resulted in a sticky situation. Lately, he was the number one problem-solver among their brood—next to his uncle, of course. Magnus had chosen him to be the Beta for that same reason.

"You're the most mature. You just know what to do. And I don't trust the others at all," was the man's opinion of him. It wasn't always the truth, though.

Distracted, Jenson locked the dim-lit room again and walked out of the basement while he fussed over keeping it all a secret. He could bury the girl's body in the woods by himself tonight, or just inject her with more formalin and wolfsbane until his brain came up with a better plan.

A much safer plan. He should get rid of the girl's corpse before Charm arrived from Beijing. That could be as soon as tomorrow.

Shit. Nobody should find the girl's remains. Or else he and Darren would be over. Just done.

Dammit. Maybe it was time he called his uncle for help. Some guidance.

Jenson walked straight to his kitchen to grab his newly refilled med kit. The new stocks of the potion he'd purchased was keeping the symptoms of his lycanthropy under control, fending off the migraines and the usual subcutaneous aches that often radiated along the joints.

Darren must be taking his daily dose right now, being a half-blooded werewolf like him, and with the full moon being days away. Hopefully after this hiccup, Darren would try his best to keep his shit together. At times, he even behaved worse than a few defiant rogues they had to keep on a tight leash.

Jenson sighed and popped a pill, washing it down with warm water. Now he was craving steak. Fresh, bloody steak. But it could wait. He should call his hacker contact for updates.

Then the doorbell rang. The noise echoed throughout the house, the sound almost ominous. He practically dashed to the living room and gawked at the front door.

Was it Charmaine? Why didn't she text him to let him know she was back here in California?

Darn it. He smelled his clothes to make sure he didn't reek of formaldehyde. Not really. He should be okay.

"Open up. I can hear you breathing."

Shit. It wasn't Charmaine.

While his heart thumped in his rib cage, Jenson rushed to his front door and unlocked the large bolts. He should never, ever, keep his boss waiting. He yanked the door open, only to meet a pair of heedful pale green eyes. "Evening," he greeted with a slight nod of acknowledgement.

Magnus stared at him, lips compressed by a frown, his strong chin jutted forward. "Where's the girl?"

×