The take-out covered the entire island, and I could have eaten my weight in Chinese food as I started piling it onto my plate. It was glorious.
“So the hospital food was no good, huh?” I joked as I noticed Meredith and Nate eagerly plating their own food.
“It was awful,” Meredith sighed.
Nate nodded in agreement. “Pudding and jello cups everywhere.”
I laughed, carrying my plate to the kitchenette table, and sat down. Nate and Meredith followed, leaving Finn still standing, looking a little lost.
“You joining us?” I questioned him.
He gave the barest of nods and collected a small plate of food before sitting down next to me at the end of the table.
While we ate, Meredith and Nate caught me up on what their parents had to say, which wasn't too much since they were in the hospital and the only reports they had were from the sick, injured, or dying. And due to confidentiality, there wasn't anything they could mention. Meredith and Nate didn't really know anyone in the hospital anyway. So our conversation wandered to inside jokes and "remember when" times. We talked and laughed while Finn seemed content to sit back and listen to our stories. It was wonderful to be stress-free for at least a small amount of time, which of course would be the time that something would happen to bring us all back to our taxing situation. Interestingly enough, while reminiscing about better past times, it was the past that caught up to us as Nate's cell phone beep.
He glanced at it briefly before a tight frown etched his face.
“What is it?” My own smile disappeared from my face.
He looked me in the eye, no traces of the fun we previously were having was found.
“Korina finally contacted me.”
I heard Meredith drop her fork.
“And?” I pried, leaning forward.
Nate handed me his phone, which prompted Meredith to fly out of her seat and come over to my side of the table. She plopped down into the chair next to me and leaned in to read the message over my shoulder.
I’m sorry I didn’t text you back. I have been busy. I was hoping to see you. I stopped by, but you weren’t home. Are you with HER? Are you going to be home soon?
“There’s nothing there to suggest she’s a vampire,” Nate replied, trying to convince me. “Just her normal jealous self.”
I frowned. "Korina didn't exactly tell you where she has been?"
He shrugged. “She doesn’t normally when she’s out fooling around on me.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Look,” he continued, “if something had happened, wouldn’t her parents be calling the cops or filing a missing person’s report? Or calling everyone in town? I know her stepdad is an asshat, but her mom would have called me.”
"Unless she ate them," Meredith replied bluntly, and that knowing feeling hit the pit of my stomach. From how Nate's face paled, I could see her comment made an impact on him as well.
“Call them,” I demanded, handing his phone back to him.
Finn hadn't said anything through the entire exchanged and he didn't start now as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, giving me a knowing look. He believed me, and in his own way, he was supporting me.
Nate dialed a number on his cell, and from our angle, Meredith and I could hear it ringing. And ringing. And ringing. No one was picking up, and after a minute and a half, Nate hung up.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” he replied.
“One of us needs to go over there,” Meredith urged quietly.
"No. What if that's how Korina grabs Nate?" I argued.
Meredith shrugged. “So, it’s not Nate-”
“It’s not anyone. Flora said the situation was a definite, but not the person. What if Korina grabs you, Mere?”
"So send one of the vamps," she suggested. "I'm sure a few hundred-year-old vampires can hold their own against a newbie.”
I tapped my finger against my chin. “That’s actually a really good idea.”
“I’ll get one of them,” Finn grunted, standing up from the table and headed to the basement.
“What do I tell Korina in the meantime?” Nate asked.
“Nothing?” I supplied, shrugging.
“Nate, you said she doesn’t respond to you right away when she is off fooling around,” Meredith said suddenly. There was a faraway look in her eyes as she was thinking.
"Yeah." His tone was very much a "so what," and I couldn't blame him. Who would want to be reminded that their partner was messing around on them?
“Would she be with Blaine?” She questioned.
Nate scowled. “Who else?”
Meredith’s gaze snapped back to him. “I think you need to call Blaine.”
Nate sighed. “I don’t see why I should, but…”
He dialed, and again, it rang and rang and rang. No one answered.
“What are you thinking, Mere?” I asked.
“What if originally, she did go over there? What if he got attacked as well?”
“Zane!” I shouted, panicking again.
"What?!" His voice right behind me made me jump. I hadn't heard him, Anahita or Finn come back upstairs. But they were suddenly there in the entrance way between the kitchen and the hallway.
“We need you guys to look in on a couple of people,” I said in a quieter voice.
“I know. Finn told us.”
“It’s not just one anymore. There’s a chance this might have just gotten bigger.”
Zane turned to look at Anahita, while Finn was just leaning against the door frame.
“Split up?” Anahita suggested, wearing a tight black v-neck top over top black leggings. She looked flawless and stylish as usual, not a single strand of hair out of place. She must have gotten plenty of beauty sleep. I pouted internally.
"It would be faster," Zane said, and she nodded. "Give us the addresses and your cell phones, and we'll text you when we get there."
So Nate wrote down the information for Zane and Anahita, and we all exchanged our phone numbers for the first time since actually all getting together. It probably would have been better had we have done it earlier. And this time, I made sure to put names with the numbers.
And they left in separate vehicles for different locations, while the rest of us tried to finish dinner. Getting through it was tough. We mostly picked at the food while Finn put the leftovers back in their take-out containers and then in the fridge.
Then we paced the living room. Well, I paced the living room. Nate was picking at his fingers, sitting hunched over on the couch. He kept glancing at his phone that was on the couch next to him. Meredith was biting her bottom lip or her thumbnail, alternating between the two. And Finn was just sitting back, looking like his stoic self while reading the local newspaper.
“Why does very little bother you?” I interrogated him, pacing toward him and pausing when I would have pivoted and gone the other direction.
He sighed and put down the paper. “More things bother me than what you know. But I have also lived a lot longer than you, so I have been through this in one form or another. This is nothing new to me. And I was actually looking through the paper to see if there was any information to glean from your human world that you may have missed.”
I felt sheepish suddenly and blushed. “Did you learn anything?”
"Nothing about your friends," he started. "But, there have been an unusual amount of missing person reports in the area and unexplained deaths. Not a lot, but more than what would be found in an area like this."
“Someone’s been hungry,” Meredith replied.
“Or someones,” Finn continued. “It sounds like there have been a few vampires on the rise. I would put money on it that your Mr. Myles is in the process of building an army.”
“I need to stop him,” I whispered aloud.
“And you will,” Meredith tried to comfort me.
Nate hadn’t stirred at the conversation, but he had started squeezing his hands together, making his kn
uckles go white.
Perhaps it was fortunate that our phones began beeping and buzzing to end our uncertainty. Funny enough, after all that glancing at his cellphone, Nate didn't even look now. He closed his eyes and squeezed his hands tighter, bringing them up to his mouth in silent prayer.
“You look,” Meredith uttered, looking at me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I grabbed the phone out of my back pocket and saw a message from Zane. It would make sense that we got that one first since Korina lived closer than Blaine did, but it was surprising that it had taken as long as it did. But after reading his message, it, unfortunately, explained why.
Two Scelesti vampire thugs were waiting. They have been taken care of. Your friend’s parents weren’t so lucky. They are dead. Looks like they have been for a couple of days. I’ll head back as soon as I get word from Anahita.
I texted back a quick thanks, not bothering to remind him that Korina was in no way, my friend. It was a mote point at this moment. And then I looked at Nate. He had finally looked at his phone. And without bothering to look at anyone, he stood up and walked out of the room, down the hallway toward the bedrooms.
“I’ll go talk to him.” Meredith stood up from her cushy reclining and followed him down the hallway until I couldn’t see either of them anymore.
I sighed and sat down in her chair, and covered my face.
“I should have gone over there days ago when Flora gave me the premonition.”
"And then what would have happened?" Finn asked. "What would you have accomplished?"
“I might have been able to maybe save her parents or perhaps stopped her from becoming turned.”
Finn shrugged his shoulders and gave me a blank look. “Perhaps. But you don’t know what had gone on. Maybe she was taken at the school from that teacher guy. Maybe it was that Master that took her. If it were him, you would have ended up the same way she did. You are not responsible for this."
“Aren’t I? Myles has come after my family and messed with my friends all to get at me.”
Anger made his jaw clench. “No, you’re not responsible. That sad fuck that thought you would be an easy target is responsible.”
My jaw dropped at his use of profanity, and how his words helped to erase some of the guilt. And it was at that moment that Anahita sent a group text.
There’s a dead male here. Probably the father. But no one else. Dead or living.
A text from Nate in his room answered her: Blaine’s parents were divorced and he was living with his father.
“I think you were right,” I spat disgustedly, seeing Finn suddenly look at me. He wasn’t in on the group messages, so he didn’t know what they found. “I think he is building an army or something. Korina and Blaine are missing. Their parents are dead. Other people are missing or dead. This needs to end before any more damage is done.”
Finn got up and pulled out his cell phone from his back pocket which he handed to me.
“Before anything else, you need to call in the dead. In your human world, death is taken seriously to most. But in the Mundus Noctis, the dead need peace. If they aren’t given that peace, they can be used by Obscurus.”
“As what? Zombies?” I interrupted.
"It's possible," he replied, seriously. "Or he can use them to body hop like he did with your friend. Give them their peace, and call it in."
I didn't question him again and dialed 911 to place an anonymous tip from a phone the authorities couldn't seem to track. And then I sat back down and did more waiting. Waiting for Meredith and Nate to come out. Waiting for Anahita and Zane to come back. And all through my impatient waiting, Finn waited with me.
I saw Meredith first, coming from the hallway into the living room by herself. Her face was tired, worn, and somber as she took a seat on the couch across from us.
“How is he?” I questioned.
She shrugged a shoulder. "Nate's more confused than anything. He felt guilty for not being sadder. And then he got angry for not being more sad about what happened. Then he cried over his guilt. Right now, he’s in silent mode. He’ll sort it out eventually, but he needs to be alone for a while.”
“Poor guy.”
I let the conversation be for a few moments, feeling bad for Nate. I could imagine the part of losing someone. That was unfortunately easy for me. Regardless whether or not she and he were close, Korina was a part of his life for at least three years. And he had shared an intimate part of himself with her, which I had no experience with. And I couldn't imagine what it would be like for him to see Korina again, knowing that she was dead and evil. I could totally understand his confusion.
“So,…does this mean you will have to kill her now?” Meredith asked breaking through my thoughts.
“Who?”
“Korina!”
“Wow. I actually never thought about it.” I had thought about how the world would be different without Korina being in my life but never had I actually thought that I would be the one to end her undead life.
And in fact, now not in a rage-filled mindset and knowing Daniel Myles was evil and that I had to kill him, suddenly made me feel slightly sick. And even Blaine was part of that feeling. It was one thing to be in the heat of the moment, willing to kill for vengeance; it was another to know with rational, level-headed thought that I would have to kill Myles. Or even Blaine or Korina. All people that had been in my life for a couple of years.
Alarm must have shown on my face because Meredith kept trying to rationalize it.
“There is no doubt now that she was turned. And it is pretty likely that she is one of the Scelesti. I mean, it would only make sense since she was a pretty awful human being. Think of all the damage she could do now. And you are a Venatrix Malorum.”
It didn’t really help. And the panic was still on my face when Zane and Anahita got back. They hadn’t even made it more than a couple feet into the living room before he glanced at me and saw my expression.
“What is it?” He demanded, his brow crinkling with concern.
“Um,” I croaked, as I looked up at him, most likely with eyes as big as saucers.
He didn’t even give himself time to settle in before pointing down the hall toward my bedroom.
“Let’s go talk,” he ordered, almost grabbing me by the arm, but a clearing of the throat from Finn gave him pause. Zane straightened his stance and pulled his hand away.
I stood and started down the hallway, barely hearing him behind me. Knowing that he could be silent, the slight footsteps were probably for me.
When we entered my room, he shut the door behind him.
“What’s going on in your head? From the expression on your face, it looks like you are ready to flee.”
I coughed, clearing out the lump that had gotten lodged there earlier.
“It’s just killing people,” I started.
“You’ve already killed,” Zane dismissed, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Not people that I know.” I began to pace in front of the bed. “Have known for the past year. And no, they aren’t necessarily good people. And really, they are actually quite awful. But I know them. It’s not some random vampire that is evil or threatening me,” I rambled, feeling like I was falling apart.
He grasped me by the shoulders and stopped my pacing. Then when I was still, he grabbed my chin, making me look him in the eyes.
“You are right. They were people. Human beings. But they aren’t anymore. And if they have become Scelesti, they have already killed. They killed their own family without a second glance. They have already hurt your sister. They plan to hurt you and your friends. And they will continue to hurt innocent people until they are stopped. They are no longer the people you knew and don't grant them that power. Pretend they are strangers if you have to, but don't pause and consider them innocent because they won't. And they will kill you, and your friends and family without hesitation. This is not a time to second guess this.”
I gave a slight nod, f
inding it difficult since he still was clutching my chin. And I didn’t quite feel a hundred percent better, but the panic was subsiding.
A muscle clenched in his jaw and his eyes flashed with slight worry. “I mean it, Caden. I can’t fight your battle, but I swear if I see so much of a lapse in judgement out there, I will hit you over the head myself to try to knock some sense into you.” He dropped his hand from my chin.
I scowled, glaring at him. “And you were almost sweet.”
He rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Come on. Let’s get back to the group.”
We walked back to the living room side-by-side. I was feeling a little better or at least not as anxious until I saw Nate standing in the middle of the room, chewing on his thumb while everyone else looked at him like he was telling a story. When he saw me, his eyes seemed to say "sorry." I wasn't sure what he could be sorry for other than walking out, but that was entirely forgivable. And then he approached me, giving me his cell phone with a message from Korina already on the screen.
I see you sent someone looking for me. Pity. I was hoping it would have been you. But now I am sure you know what I have become.
Why? Nate texted back.
Why not? There are no rules on this side. I have never felt so free in my life. Join me.
Never.
I thought you might say that. Join me, or Jesse dies.
Korina sent a picture of Jesse tied up. He was definitely injured, and parts of his neck had fang holes dripping with blood. All of this made my stomach drop. Flora had said that someone was going to die. I was so concerned that it would have been Nate, so I tried my best to make sure he remained out of the situation where he could have been taken. I tried to keep Meredith away as well. But I hadn’t accounted for Jesse, and I already knew he was going to die.
That was it for the texts. Nate hadn’t responded back to her.
“I came out here the minute that I saw that they had Jesse,” Nate responded to my unanswered question.
I handed back his phone, and he still had some sort of pleading look on his face. I had no words for him. I now knew that there would be a death. It just wasn’t going to be Nate’s. I wouldn’t be able to save Jesse.
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