“What tattoo, Sophia? Where is it on Gunnar?” Leah asked.
I stepped out of the way so she could see our friend, her mate. She pointed. “It’s on the inside of his wrist.”
Gunnar looked down, then pushed up his sleeve. “This is the only mark I have.”
Sophia’s eyes widened in obvious fear and distrust. “Yes, that’s it. The three-headed serpent.”
“The man you killed had this mark, Sophia?” Gunnar asked, his voice calm, but with a sharp bite.
She shook her head. “No. Not him. The other one.”
Erik leaned down, his lips close to Sophia’s ear as he held her. “What other one?”
Sophia shoved at Erik’s arms, who finally relented and let her go. She stepped forward. Shaking, she held out her hand to Gunnar. He stared at her for a moment, before lifting the marked wrist to her.
She wrapped her hands around his wrist and turned the mark face up, tracing the outline with her finger.
Gunnar closed his eyes and I witnessed the shudder that passed through his body at her gentle first touch. I understood how he felt.
“The man I killed was a minion, nothing more,” she said. She had all our attentions. The King, the Queen, the guards were all in her thrall. But not for the reason I had once hoped, because we celebrated the arrival of our mate, but because she was speaking of evil. An evil that lurked on Viken that she knew nothing about, but had transported directly into. “The man with this mark was angry, and ordered the transport guy to kill me.”
“Why?” Gunnar asked, his gaze burning into Sophia with raw lust as she continued to hold his wrist. She was completely unaware of his need for her. I tried to step forward, to intervene in the questioning, but Lev held up his hand, stopping me. The royal guards who accompanied the Queen stood around Gunnar in a loose circle, their ion blasters all aimed at Gunnar’s head, waiting for a command.
The danger, and his mate’s touch, seemed to spike Gunnar’s lust. Crazy bastard. Shaking my head, I stepped back to stand next to Erik and watch events unfold. I had no doubt that Gunnar was innocent. He was my brother-in-arms. I’d trusted my life to him on more than one occasion. I would trust our mate with him now.
Sophia’s gaze seemed far away, as if she were going into shock. “He was angry. He wanted the Queen and the baby. Not me. He worked for someone in Central City. Is that a place here? When he realized their mistake, that I was sent by mistake, he ordered his minion to transport him back to the city. Then, kill me.”
“And this man you speak of, had a mark like mine?” Gunnar asked.
She raised her face to meet his gaze. “Yes. What does it mean?”
Lev cleared his throat. “I’d like an answer to that question as well.”
The guards surrounding Gunnar shifted, tightening their ring around my friend.
Gunnar held Sophia’s gaze as he answered her. “This is the mark of a Master Dominant at Club Trinity in Central City.”
Queen Leah gasped. “Club Trinity?”
Lev chuckled. “Ah, yes. I thought I’d seen that mark before.” Lev looked at Gunnar as Leah playfully slapped him on the shoulder.
“Of course you have,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Lev captured her hand in his and held it to his chest. “How many Masters are there?”
Gunnar shook his head. “I haven’t been there in twelve years. But, I don’t believe the club will have changed much.”
“It’s been there for three hundred years,” Lev said.
“Exactly,” Gunnar agreed. “And in all those years, there’s never been more than two hundred Masters at any one time.”
“Two hundred. I was hoping for a smaller number of potential targets.” Lev pulled Leah into his arms but spoke to the guards. “It’s all right, men. Lower your weapons.”
Sophia looked around wildly as her protection disappeared. Slowly, Gunnar pulled her forward until she was pressed to his chest. She did not fight him. “On my honor, mate, I vow I will kill the man who dared hurt you.”
“But?” Sophia turned her head to look at Leah with a question in her eyes.
Leah shrugged. “That tattoo is from a sex club in Central City.”
“Sex club?” I watched Sophia’s eyes widen and her cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink. She might have been surprised by the news, but she wasn’t afraid of it. No, our mate was intrigued…
“That club’s got nothing to do with the men who are trying to kill me,” Leah insisted.
“Why…why not? How do you know?” Sophia asked.
“The tattoo might help us find the man you saw, but won’t help us track down the leader of the VSS,” Leah answered, although Sophia didn’t look as if Leah’s answer had clarified anything for her. “Nor is the mark considered a poor reflection on Gunnar.”