Blood Purple by Ashley Nemer

might be gone forever and he may never have the chance to tell her the truth about his feelings. “We’re here,” he heard Zayn say. He thought to himself, it’s show time .
    Getting out of the car, they hiked up to the facility as Kevin focused on feeling for Nikole. He closed his eyes, breathing in the air, let his mind clear, and tried to follow his instinct. He could smell something, taste it in his mouth. With his eyes shut, he started walking, following a trail. He led Zayn and Nasir through the building, stopping in the room where Nasir found her strand of hair. “I can’t sense her past this point.” He let out a sigh. Zayn and Nasir looked to each other, frowning.
    “You sure you can’t feel her past this spot?” Nasir asked.
    “No, it is as if everything has been washed away, no trail or anything.” Zayn cursed and walked off punching a wall. “SHIT, Nasir!”
    Kevin felt like he had missed something but sat back quietly.
    “Okay Kevin, thank you for trying. The King and I appreciate your help. Let’s get you home.”
    As they headed back to the house, Zayn realized the chances of seeing his okht again were getting slimmer.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
    D ominic watched everything play out on the monitors. Who was that Zayn and his minion had brought up to the facility that morning? Dominic made note to figure out who and what he was and his role in all of this. He looked familiar. He would have to retrace his steps over the last week. His plans were coming together. There were a few hiccups in the beginning, but it looked like it would end better than his original plan.
    Killing his akh was the best decision he’d ever made. He should have taken him out a century ago. Now that he was out of the picture, he could focus on taking over his abb’s regime. It was a nice surprise to see the blonde had invaded the facility. Now he didn’t have to kill everyone himself. He wasn’t sure who he was but didn’t care; he got rid of Hamza for him. This situation felt good for Dominic. Haydar told him to sit back and not get involved so as far as abb was concerned; Derrik messed the whole operation up from the beginning.
    His cell phone rang just then. “Speak of the damn devil and he calls.” Flipping it open, he answered. “Abb, we have a problem.” Dominic smiled as his plan started to unfold.
    “What do you mean we have a problem? I thought they had the girl?”
    “They did have the girl; Derrik fucked it up.” He mumbled under his breath “as usual.”
    Taking a breath he said, “He grew a heart and placed a call to the King for help.” Dominic smiled, looking at himself in the mirror, his abb was a fool and so easily manipulated.
    Haydar let out a growl hearing his ebn’ refer to that lesser being as “King.” He ground his teeth as he said, “What happened to Hamza? He isn’t returning my phone calls either. What’s going on out there? Do I need to fly out and take care of things myself?”
    “Hamza was killed.” His tone was casual, indifferent.
    “WHAT?! How was he killed? He is my best fighter! Dominic, what are you NOT telling me?” he shouted, fierce and lethal.
    “Hamza let his security become lax, and someone broke in and rescued her.” Dominic took the knife out of his pocket. Twirling it around, the tip pressed against his palm, little droplets of blood leaking out from the penetration.
    “Dominic, you’re telling me that one of my ebn’s is dead, my lead general is dead, the girl is gone, and all I have to show for this operation is that you are still around?”
    Dominic didn’t like the question, implying that he wasn’t much of a consolation prize. “Yes, Abb, that’s what I am saying.”
    “You have 48 hours to fix this mess, or I am coming out there, and I will kill you myself for allowing this to get so fucked up.”
    Dominic heard nothing but a dial tone then. That did not go quite as he planned. He’d succeeded in