I spent the entire night trying to track down Alluna's raving lunatic.

Thanks to Jake's boldly annoying move, I'd been stuck with Malvin while he chased after the girl. The only reason the idiot had gotten away in the first place was because Malvin had taken it upon himself to throw sand in my face and then flee. 

My father would have been disappointed to hear that.

I never ever used to get distracted, but things had changed since then. I had lost my focus.

Not that I had really needed it.

Most of the time Alluna would send Jake when she needed someone found or dead. She kept me for the big experiments and she'd pump me with so many drugs that I couldn't tell the difference between night and day.

At first I had assumed it was result of the stereotype.

I didn't exactly look fit to fight.
My arms looked like bone and my hair was so long it touched my ass.

People's opinions used to annoy me so much that one day I decided that I was going to carve my teeth down to a point. I had stopped immediately when I realised that it would only make me look like them.

In fact, over the years I discovered my misleading appearance did me a service. People often underestimated me and that gave me the upper hand.

But not tonight.

I couldn't help but wonder why Jake had done it.

He could have gotten Malvin in a second. I would have gotten the girl and the witch hunt would have quickly ended.

Jake didn't usually show a lot of interest in girls.

Don't get me wrong- he loves the whole sex part and he's definitely physically attracted to them, but he usually just treats the people he sleeps with as a means to an end.
Including me.

At first both of us openly used each other.

He definitely was a good looking male, and to the other gender I was definitely appealing- despite my lack of cleavage. But at some stage the whole situation had turned into something else.

For me at least.

Sometimes he would talk to me about things and he'd actually listened to what I'd have to say. I often felt like he even understood what I was saying.

I forced myself out of my thoughts and back into focus. I'd looked everywhere I could think of for the fool. I checked all the basic Karnoi hangouts, the alleys, public toilets; but the dead-end search continued. That's when I realised that I was approaching the situation all wrong.

This guy was a lot of things, but he wasn't logical.

There'd been so many rumours about Malvin, but Jake was the only person who really knew him.

Besides Alluna.

Jake told me once that Malvin had a screwed up past and his insanity had nothing to do with his animal blood.
I didn't buy it.

I'd run into a lot of Karnoi in my over-excessive life, and craziness seemed to be a common denominator between all of them. Jake's compassion for Malvin had actually surprised me. Usually he was cold when he spoke about his kind, but he had a knack for seeing things from other's perspectives.

Before I could get back on Malvin's trial, I knew that I had to take a moment to think from his crazy perspective. He seemed to trust the girl, but they'd both ran in opposite directions, probably hoping to meet up later.

Maybe he'd go back to her now that he thought he was rid of me?

It was obvious where she would have ended up.

Jake would have either caught her and taken her to the usual place or she would have run in there herself because she would have been compelled to all of the beasts inside.

Jake didn't like to admit it, but I think that's why he liked that place so much.
It made him feel at home.

I skulked into the whore-house. I felt paranoid as the sideway glances came from the people inside.

It's not like I stood out.

My shirt was particularly low and my leather shorts would have been a perfect clothing item for the girls in here. It didn't embarrass me that I dressed like a hooker.

I was, after all, skin and bones and I had to show something off.

I slipped past the horny crowds and walked over to the bartender who had too much body hair and was covered in ink.

They wondered why we call them savages.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Mr Maxwell. He should have come in here with a girl." I kept my voice incredibly formal and even I could sense the judgement coming out of my mouth.

"You just missed them. They had a couple of shots and then left."

Anger burned inside of me.

"Where did they go?" I snapped.

"How am I supposed to know? Jake doesn't go around telling me his business."

I bit my lip so hard I could taste the blood. "Well, did you see a red-headed male in here? Kind of crazy?"

"Probably." The bartender glanced to another customer that had arrived. "Look lady, unless you want to order something I suggest you leave."

I glared at him and ordered a Vodka-straight. I waited for my drink without a clue on what I should do next. That's when l I noticed a blonde-haired girl on the stool next to me trying to catch my attention.

"Psst."

My first instinct was to roll my eyes and tell her I wasn't interested but she'd been sitting there a long time and she'd probably heard what I said.

"Yeah?" My tone was harsh and abrupt.

The girl hopped off her stool and to get closer to me. I had to restrain myself from giving her a judgemental scowl and moving away. She was the tackiest creature I had ever seen in my entire life. Even the tang in her voice screamed whore.

"I'm a regular client of Mr Maxwell," she hissed over the bad music.

"So?"

"Just letting you know you can trust me. I got some dirt on the man you're asking for."

I raised my brow. "Did you see where he went?"

"It's going to cost you."

I sighed and pulled my wallet out of my jeans. I flashed her a twenty but she shook her head.

"I know what you're worth. If you're with Mr Maxwell it's going to cost a lot more than that."

The way she referred to Jake as her client had completely disgusted me but I'd tried my best to ignore it. I'd always known he'd slept around.
It shouldn't be a shock.

I pulled out some more notes. It was Alluna's money anyway.

I handed them to her effortlessly and began to count (I was surprised she was capable) and then leaned forward. "He went upstairs just after Mr Maxwell and his lady-friend left. Room 304."

I left before she could continue.

My adrenaline was pumping so hard I'd almost forgotten to check the room number. The truth is that I was really angry and I might as well use Malvin as an outlet for my raging fury.

I kicked the door down. 

Malvin was alone in the room, sitting on the bed and reading a book in his boxer shorts. I'd been expecting a lot of things but not that.

"Well it took you long enough," he pouted. "I've been waiting here for hours."

I glanced around the room for any sign of company.

"Why are you pants off?" I asked, genuinely confused.

He pointed at his rags from the prison lying on the floor. "I wasn't very well going to keep that on a minute longer. It's made from a terrible fabric. Makes me scratch everywhere."

I scowled. "Well put your clothes on and let's go."

"What's the rush?" he asked. "From what I've heard Jake and Pacem are still out on the town."

My cheeks went red at the mention of Jake's name, and I bent down, throwing his trousers at him as painfully as possible. Then I turned around with my arms folded and waited. Once Malvin was dressed he came and stood in front of me.

"What's the plan boss?"

I had a burning desire to punch him in the face.

This was all just a game to him. It's not like he saw much of anything cooped up in Alluna's building. His breakout attempts were becoming more and more frequent. This last three months had been the longest period that he'd taken to try it again.

"We're going to find Jake."

"And Pacem," he added, and I gave him a glare so powerful that even the fire couldn't have burned in comparison.

There was nothing special about that 'Pacem' girl.

She was slightly chubby, with dull blonde hair that extended just past her shoulders and for a Karnoi she was notably short. But everyone seemed to be fascinated with her.

I had a good idea as to where Jake would have gone.

My biggest bet would have been Dante's house. Unfortunately it was at least an hour away on foot and Malvin wouldn't shut up. At one stage he started singing and I hit him powerfully across the head without hesitation.

It only silenced him for a moment until he started reciting nursery rhymes and the square root of pie. I screamed at him and tried brutal force but he was pretty persistent.

God, I hate this guy.

Once we got there it occurred to me that I had no idea how we were going to get in. I would never be allowed inside and the same goes for my prisoner. The most I could do was wait out here until the two of them came out.

But I was given an unexpected surprise as we drew closer to the house. The neighbourhood was silent and the street looked like a ghost town.

The only sign of life were five cop cars flashing their lights outside the gates of Dante's mansion. I gave Malvin a harsh push on the rope I'd bound his hands with and gestured for him to hurry up.

He only stumbled and I ended up dragging him along.

I approached a man in a police jacket who was waiting in the passenger seat. Nobody would question my authority. Pretty much everyone knew who I was and the shirt I was wearing had Alluna's symbol on it.

"What's going on?"

The man's eyes widened but he cleared his throat and answered. "An item was stolen out of the Karnoi's house."

"How?" Dante's security was supposed to be the best you could get.

"It was one of the guests. She had full access to the house. She drugged the owner of the house and then fled."

"Who was it?" I snapped.

"The girl everyone's looking for ma'am... the Karnoi that escaped...Pacem Creed."

I yelled and then kicked the door of the car. It left a noticeable dent but the man in the car said nothing.

"What about Jake Maxwell?" I snarled.

"He's inside ma'am... He was one of the people that got drugged.
Malvin let out a teasing laugh and I threw his head against the car so fast that he didn't have time to defend himself.

"Can I get access to the house?" I directed my words back to the cop in the car. I was handed a key card without hesitation.

I yanked Malvin off the trunk like a rag-doll and then pulled him towards the entrance. He wasn't being very cooperative but I didn't care. I was strong enough to carry ten times his body weight and I didn't have time to argue with him.

But of course the idiot knew that.

Once again, I'd allowed myself to get distracted and I'd paid the price. He'd somehow broken free of the rope that I'd tied him with and was already running in the opposite direction.

I could feel my parents peering down at me from the stars in disappointment.

'How could you let yourself become such a failure?',  they would say with tears in their eyes.

I definitely thought of accepting defeat.

But then an image of the idiot's annoyingly-arrogant grin flashed into my head and I immediately went after him.

That bastard was going to get what was coming to him.

Will Veera catch Malvin?

Or will Malvin be able to outsmart her?!