Song - Tainted Love - The Pussycat Dolls

I was stunned to learn that this was how a lot of the hunters hooked up with guild girls outside of the retreat. I was also stunned to learn that the underground movement had access to this ever since Jasper put in the back door link on their server. Roman and Jasper were not supposed to have this, but both knew it could help my future plan, so they ensured I could access it.

There was a lot of discussion about the fire at Mon Crief. They were trying to figure out who was responsible, but the general consensus was that it was a vampire. I wanted to say they were right but then ask which one. Did they know us by name, or were we just monsters in the dark? Did they care that they were destroying lives? It was unlikely. It's not like a vampire considered the life they were taking either. We were as bad as each other.

I wouldn't ask them any questions like that. At the moment, I was just lingering in the background as the fake user, who was a guild girl. Because access was so restricted, no one questioned who I was. They were fools, but I understood that they wouldn't think that they were being watched by the enemy.

I gasped when the computer blipped, and a private chat screen popped up. It was not Noah, unfortunately. I didn't want to approach him. I would prefer that he engaged with me first.

I don't know who it was that I was talking to. He was full of questions, but the most alarming was when he asked why I wasn't at Mon Crief over the weekend. I answered that I was sick because it seemed the easiest response. He then asked to see my file.

"What does he mean by that?"

"Don't be grossed out by it, okay?" Roman said as he pulled the computer to him.

He copied a link and gave an access code to whatever this file was. I frowned at the computer, watching as the seconds ticked by. My heart raced, fearing that this was about to end.

"What did you give him?"

"They create a profile so that any interested parties can see what's on offer. The files are images usually taken during the retreat. Want to see your fake profile?"

"I don't know, do I?"

Roman grinned and opened the file. My eyes widened at the sight of a naked woman who did not look like me but gave a perfect view of what Noah liked.

"So, I read the notes you made and figured that you'd take this path to lure him out. I mean, the man is ruled by his dick, so it seemed like the ideal choice."

"Pot and kettle, Roman," I muttered.

He chuckled and shut down the folder, returning to the chat program that was now flashing. I pulled the laptop to me and clicked on the window.

"Well, he clearly likes the image. We have eggplant and water droplet symbols."

"Gross," Jasper called out from behind his magazine.

"Yeah, I agree."

I responded with a smiley emoji even though I was sneering at the screen. Engaging with this guy was necessary because I was beginning to think there was a wall around Noah. If that were the case, then I needed to keep this going to bring that wall down.

"Who is she?"

Roman shrugged.

"Marnie, with a few alterations. You said that you believed Noah had picked her, so I thought she would be the best choice to make him take notice."

The woman didn't look like Marnie but had a few things that were similar. She was narrow-bodied, long-legged, and a brunette, just like Marnie. The fake woman had much larger breasts, and her belly button was pierced. Her hair was long and straight, whereas Marnie had wavy hair.

A link popped up, and I looked at Roman. He rolled his eyes.

"You know exactly what it's going to be, so don't complain to me when you open it."

"Will he know if I don't?"

"No, but if he says something about it and you have no idea what he's talking about, he's going to know."

I huffed and opened the link, groaning when I was faced with a dick pic. What happened to an overall view of the person? Why did I need to see one area? It was not as enticing as what he clearly thought it was, even if he was more than average. But that's all there was in the folder, images of his dick.

"Are they really like this?"

"Yep."

"All the time?"

He nodded, and when I thought about how ridiculous it was that they were this obsessed, I looked at Roman and Jasper, realising that I was the same. A day did not go by when we didn't have sex, and more often than not, it was several times.

Still, a view of everything would have been better than dozens of the one thing taken at different angles. Blah.

Roman hadn't looked at the screen, more interested in flipping through social media. His indifference was a little frustrating.

Clicking out of the link, I returned to the chat program, fully aware of how this was going to end.

"You know that he's going to proposition me, right?"

"Yep."

"You are a man of many unhelpful words."

Sighing heavily, Roman dumped his phone and shifted on the stool to face me.

"Did you expect anything else would happen?" he asked.

"I expected that Noah would be so horny he'd jump at anything that was offered," I muttered.

"Maybe they're protecting him." Jas offered.

Roman and I looked at Jasper, who lowered his magazine. He tossed it aside and climbed over the lounge, wandering to the other side of the kitchen bench.

"Think about it. He's now the most famous member of the guild for all the wrong reasons. It's going to lure out all sorts of crazies from within their ranks, so it would be easy to assume that if he is going to search for a woman, he's going to do all that he can to ensure she's not chasing him to gain clout. Which, I might add, would be exactly what you look like."

"And that's why I created the photo, and maybe I might have been lurking around the chat. I set up the profile as soon as we had access to the system."

"As the woman?" I asked.

Roman grinned. "I was planning on using her as a way to get a hunter to agree to a meet-up. It would be a trap. I've been trying to convince my father to go ahead with the idea ever since we discovered the chat program. He's thinking about it. We could always try it out with this guy, and if it works, it will improve our chances of getting the go-ahead."

"To hunt the hunters?"

He nodded, still grinning.

"But that would be risky to my plan for Noah."

Roman's eyes narrowed.

"Okay, we can wait." he offered.

"I think you need to plan it better. If they figure out that hunters are dying after agreeing to meet up with this girl, they're going to smell a rat. Once they do that, they will undoubtedly set a trap."

Roman shrugged as he leaned against the backrest. He smiled at me and jutted out his head at the laptop. I turned and felt my stomach roll. There was clearly a wall around my ex-husband because the other guy was offline, and now I was faced with a new message chat screen. Noah had messaged me.