This is Book 1 of the Arcelia Series.* Book 2 is in the works!
*Can be read as a stand-alone
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Malik Jackson needed help. After being exiled from the ocean, he washed up on the beach covered in injuries and missi...
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~ ~ Xander ~ ~
"Malik!" I barged into our bedroom as he was exiting the bathroom with just a towel around his waist. I practically slammed the door behind me and marched up to him. "Listen, you look fucking hot in that towel, but we need to talk!" I was pissed. Severely pissed. I just hoped he knew it wasn't directed at him.
He answered much more calmly than I thought he would. "Okay. Is this about Seb's news?"
I sighed with relief and nodded, running a hand through my hair. People misunderstood my outbursts way too often, but Malik always knew.
Malik strode over to the closet and then emerged a moment later wearing one of my shirts and a pair of his boxers.
"Yes, and it's much worse than we thought," I answered his question. "It's about Damien," I sighed heavily, trying to figure out how to tell him.
As if reading my mind, he replied, "alright, let's start with calming down," Malik grabbed my shoulders and stared up at me, much like how Leon had the night before. "Take a breath, okay? Tell me what's wrong."
"The body," I shook my head. "I'm sorry. It was a fake."
"F-Fake?" He stuttered.
"Yeah. It wasn't a real body, and I suspect Cleo kidnapped him," I felt myself grow angry all over again. Amidst that anger, I felt Malik's rising in the pit of my gut.
"Goddammit!" He stepped back from me and started pacing the floor. I wasn't sure how I could calm him down while I, myself, am absolutely livid.
That's when I came up with a way for us both to let off some steam.
I grabbed his arm, trying my best to be gentle, and tugged him towards the door. "Come with me," I practically growled out. He looked confused, but he stayed silent and allowed me to take him away.
I led him down to the basement and to a door on the right that I hadn't shown him yet. "This is where I go when my anger is so out of control, that it turns destructive," I explained.
The room was kind of like my workout room. It had all sorts of home gym equipment, including my favorite one, the punching bag. I would usually go straight for that during this mood, but I wasn't the only angry one here.
I guided Malik over to some mats I had laid out and helped him wrap his hands before I wrapped mine.
"What are we doing?" He asked me, as I joined him on the mat.
"Practicing," I replied. "We're both pissed off. Damien has been kidnapped by Cleo, for whatever fucking reason. If we knew about this sooner, we might've been able to do something, but no! Those shitheads at the morgue took two weeks to inspect his body, and this copy was so real that we all fell for it! Now we have no leads and no way of finding her. So I'm doing what I know how to do. We're gonna let off some steam by hitting each other repeatedly."
