by Alicia Rades
My heart lifted in my chest. “You, too.”
Venn sighed. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too,” I whispered back.
Silence settled as I listened to the sound of his breathing.
“It’s getting late,” he said. “You should get to bed.”
“What about you?” I teased. “It’s later where you’re at.”
“I’ll try,” he told me, but it didn’t sound hopeful.
My gut sank. “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t sound well.”
“I’m just stressed,” he admitted, but something told me it was more than that.
I didn’t press, but I couldn’t help but feel like he was hiding something from me.
14
The next morning, I went upstairs to Genevieve's library. I hadn't been in there since the night I'd come to Genevieve for the dagger. The room was all polished dark wood and endless bookcases along the walls. We'd pretty much exhausted all the spell books downstairs, and I wanted to see if she had anything else we could use. My eyes passed by each spine, reading the titles, but none of them hinted at magic. They were all encyclopedias, textbooks, or books on finance.
“Rae?”
I turned to the door to see Fiona standing there. She held a few loose sheets of paper in her hands.
She took a step into the room. “Is it cool if we talk?”
I sighed. “Sure.”
Fiona sat in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. I took the other one.
“First of all, I wanted to say I'm sorry,” she said. “I didn't mean what I said about you. I was just upset how you took meeting Zoey, but I get now where you're coming from.”
I relaxed. “I’m sorry, too. I know Zoey is your friend.”
I still felt uneasy about her, but I shouldn't have said those things in front of Fiona.
She gave a timid smile. “Thank you. I just don't want to keep fighting. We have bigger problems. If we're going to fight Matias, we need to work together.”
It took setting all my pride aside to agree with her, but I knew she was right.
“Friends?” Fiona asked.
“Friends,” I agreed. I glanced down to the papers in her hands. “What's that?”
“Research.” She handed me the top sheet. “I went online to broaden our search, and I found a list of known artifacts. I don't think we have time to search for any of them, but—”
“Oh my God!” I stopped dead in my tracks when my eyes landed on a sketch of cufflinks in the shape of a lion's head. “I know these artifacts!”
“You do?” Fiona straightened in her seat.
“My old boss from Bloodstone, Devin, wore ones just like these all the time. I always thought it was weird because he wasn't exactly a classy guy. He always wore these dirty button-down shirts. I thought the cufflinks were sentimental or something. But what if they were magic?”
Fiona's eyes lit up. “Do you think he'd sell them to us?”
“For the right price? Absolutely. Devin's all about the cash.” I looked back down at the printed web page. “What exactly do these cufflinks do?”
“They enhance your strength,” Fiona answered.
“So we could actually stand up to any shifters Matias is recruiting,” I said thoughtfully. “Now Devin's stupid can-crushing trick he always did makes sense. I always suspected he might have some shifter blood in him or something.”
“Can-crushing trick?” Fiona asked.
“It was this stupid thing. The guy drank soda like it was candy. Whenever he'd finish a can, he'd crush it against his forehead and toss it out. Some stupid thing about asserting his dominance.”
Fiona chuckled. “He sounds like a prick.”
“A total prick,” I agreed.
The room went silent for a few moments before Fiona changed the subject. “There's another reason I wanted to talk to you. I'm worried about Venn.”
“Me too,” I admitted. “I wish he would've let someone go with him.”
“Have you talked to him lately?”
I nodded. “Last night. He still hasn't tracked Tyson down. He says he's doing fine, but I'm not sure I believe him.”
“Maybe he's just—”
My phone began to buzz in my pocket. I shot out of my chair so fast that I nearly knocked it over. The name on the screen sent a shot of adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“Venn?” I asked desperately when I answered.
“Rae.” Venn sounded relieved, but there was also a heavy sadness in his tone.
“Venn, what's wrong?”
“I just… wanted to hear your voice.” His tone was low, so broken. I'd never heard him sound so down before.
“I'm here. What's going on?” The phone shook in my hands as a worry beyond anything I'd ever felt for him tore through me.
“I'll tell you when I get back.”
“Tell me what? Venn!”
“I just wanted you to know I'll be home tonight,” he said.
“Did you find Tyson?” My whole body was shaking now. Somehow, I already knew the answer.
“I have to go. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Tears rose to my eyes.
The line went dead.
Fiona rose so slowly from her chair that I didn't hear her approach. “What happened? Is everything okay?”
I shook my head. “I don't think so.”
My mind raced through all the possible scenarios Venn could've gone through the past few days. I couldn't read or talk about artifacts. I couldn't even eat. I sat at the kitchen window for hours, staring out over the front lawn even though I knew Venn wouldn't be back yet. People passed through the kitchen every now and then, but if they said anything, I didn't hear them. Jenna sat beside me the whole time, but she didn't talk. She just stayed for emotional support.
It felt like I’d been sitting there for days. The sun had fallen low in the sky when a pair of headlights finally pulled into the driveway.
I shot out of my chair and raced out the front door. Fiona was passing through the hall just then, and she quickly followed behind me. I heard Jenna’s footsteps as well.
“Venn!” I cried as he stepped out of the vehicle.
Venn looked like hell. There were bruises across his face, and the skin on his lip was broken open, as if he’d been in a fist fight. His eyes looked hollow, like he hadn’t slept in days. He looked at me, but it felt as if he was looking through me.
“Venn!” I threw my arms around him and stood on my toes to kiss him.
He kissed me back, but the kiss was cold, unfeeling.
I drew away from him, my eyebrows knitted. It was at that moment that I realized my worst-case scenario was real. Tyson wasn’t with him.
“Your brother…?” I whispered. My eyes darted between his, trying to find the emotion. But it wasn’t there. Venn was just… numb. It was like he’d totally given up.
“He’s dead,” he whispered so softly that I barely heard him. But the words were like a knife through my gut. I didn’t even know Tyson, and I felt for him. It was only a fraction of what Venn must’ve been feeling, but it was enough to make it feel as if a hole had opened up in my chest. Venn had lost him… for good.
I wanted to help him, to heal him of the pain I knew he was feeling, but I knew nothing could fix this. I drew him into a tight hug, because that was all I could do in the heartbreaking moment. I couldn’t bring his brother back, but I could at least show him I was here for him.
I was vaguely aware of several other arms wrapping around us. They weren’t just Fiona’s and Jenna’s, either. Sondra, Teagan, and Ryland had followed us out of the house, and I hadn’t even noticed. They all joined in on the hug, cocooning Venn in a safe embrace.
It was then that the tears began to fall from his cheeks. He curled into me, his face pressed into my shoulder. All the emotions he’d held back came out all at once like a broken floodgate. His shoulders shook, and sobs echoed in my ears, but it was like I was seeing the whole thing in slow motion�
��like the scene was playing far away.
“We’re here for you, Venn,” I whispered.
“Always,” Sondra assured him.
Venn’s breath shook against my neck. “I love you all.”
“We love you, too,” Fiona said.
“With all our hearts,” Teagan added.
Ryland looked on the verge of tears. I’d never seen him like that before, but it was clear he cared for Venn’s well-being. “Whatever you need, man. We’ve got your back.”
Venn didn’t want to talk about what happened to him in Detroit. Fiona had asked him what happened to his face—where the bruises had come from—but he just went silent, like he hadn’t heard her. I was dying to know as well, but the more I pushed it, the more he would pull away. I knew it because I’d been in similar places, too.
It was painful not to ask him what was wrong. I wanted to help. But I decided to let him come to me at his own pace. I helped him into a warm bath and gave him a healing potion. Hours later, we were snuggled up in bed together, but he still wasn’t talking. It hurt a little that he didn’t want to confide in me.
At his own pace, I kept telling myself.
All I could do right now was hold on to Venn. He curled up on the bed with his knees to his chest, while I wrapped an arm around him from behind. At some point, I must've drifted off, because I woke up a few hours later to find the bed beside me empty and cold.
I shot upright and glanced around the room, my heart racing. Where was Venn?
I kicked the covers off myself and raced out into the hallway. My pounding heart began to slow as I heard the sound of his voice coming from the room beside ours.
“You should've seen the vamp,” he was saying. “Twice the size of Ryland, and Teagan took him out with one strike.”
The door was open a crack, so I pushed it wider. Ronark and Jenna were sitting on the bed laughing at Venn's story, and Venn was sitting in a chair in the corner, looking relaxed. I hadn't seen any of them look this chill since we left the island, not even the night we went star-tipping. What was going on?
The floor creaked under my weight, and three sets of eyes darted toward me. I swung the door open wider and stepped inside.
“What's going on?” I asked.
Their laughter died the second I stepped into the room. Ronark shifted on the bed, looking guilty about something.
“Nothing,” Jenna said, though she shot a glance I couldn't read in Venn's direction. “Venn's just telling stories.”
I sat beside her on the bed, feeling a little hurt that he was willing to talk to them and not to me. “Mind if I join you? I don't think I've heard this one yet.”
Venn dropped his gaze. “It's a long story. And it's really late. I was going to head back soon anyway.”
“Oh, okay,” I said flatly.
Suddenly, I was twelve years old again, trying to hang out with my sister and her friends at their sleepovers, only to be told I was “too young.” Except this time, it was worse, because it was my boyfriend pushing me away.
“Am I missing something?” My cheeks heated as I glanced between each of them. They all stared back blankly, like they were trying to hide their true feelings.
“No,” Ronark said. “Nothing at all.”
Ronark sounded genuine, but he was a hard guy to read.
You're just being paranoid, I told myself. If something was actually going on, Venn and Jenna would let me in on it.
“Well, we should probably get back to bed, then,” I said.
Venn stood and shot Jenna and Ronark a frown. “Rae's right. I'll see you guys later.”
Back in our room, I asked, “What was all that about?”
Venn shrugged as he crawled into bed beside me. He kept his back to me so I couldn't see his face. “I couldn't sleep, and I heard them up. They helped me relax.”
“Did you tell them about Detroit?”
“No,” he replied honestly, but something still didn't sit right with me.
“I don't like being lied to, Venn.”
“I’m not lying,” he insisted. “I'm not ready to talk about it yet.”
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure we're clear on that.”
Venn rolled over to look me in the eyes. “There are things you don't know, Rae, but it's not because I don't want you to know them. I'll tell you when I'm ready.”
He took my hand and kissed it. It was all he was going to give me, and it wouldn't be fair of me to ask for more.
“Okay,” I said. “I'll be ready whenever you are.”
Except, I didn’t know if he’d ever be ready.
15
Venn ~ Five Days Ago
Four years had passed since the night I lost my brother. Four years since I promised him I wouldn’t go after him. And I was finally saying screw it to that promise.
The vampire curse was broken. My brother was human again. Whatever promise I’d made that night was under the assumption that he’d remain a vampire forever. Now, everything had changed.
I’d been thinking about it since the night the curse was broken, but I hadn’t planned to mention it to Rae until we’d had a chance to rest. She’d just killed the most powerful vampire in the world. She deserved a moment to breathe before I told her I was running off on my own.
I knew she’d fight to go with me, but I couldn’t let her. I had no idea how dangerous it might be, and I didn’t want to put her in more danger than she already was.
But more than that, I had to make amends with my brother. Alone.
The fact was, I was still ashamed. I still blamed myself. The closer I got to my brother, the more questions she would ask. And eventually, I would break. I would tell her how I walked away from him that night, how terrible of a person I was. She wouldn’t want to be with me anymore, not once she knew that I could walk away from someone I loved so easily. But if I fixed this with my brother, if I did it on my own without her help, maybe she’d see that I had changed—that I could love just as hard as if I had stayed.
Truth be told, I didn't know where to start. I’d spent years in the vampire crowd. After Tyson had changed, I ran away—for good, just like he wanted. Scared and with nowhere to go, I had no choice but to follow the vampire who had found me scouring dumpsters for scraps of food. Maliya had promised me a warm bed and fresh meals, as long as I pledged myself to her. Years, and never a single mention of a Tyson Michaels.
So I turned to the one guy I could, someone who knew more about the vampire community than I ever did. Cory Reid, a gorilla shifter I knew from high school. He fell into the vampire crowd long before Tyson ever changed. He was the only guy I thought might know how to find him—the only one who would help me, anyway.
It took a while to track Cory down, considering we hadn't spoken in years.
“Venn?” he'd asked in surprise when I'd finally got ahold of him. “Venn Michaels? It's been forever. How are you, man?”
“Not great,” I admitted. “You remember my brother, Tyson?”
“Your sidekick? Sure I do. How is he?”
“That's what I'm calling you about,” I admitted. “I need to find him.”
“Oh.” Cory's voice flattened. “He changed, didn't he?”
I didn't like that word. Changed.
“Yeah,” I said, my throat going dry. It wasn't from the withdrawals, either, but damn it, that was getting to me, too.
I'd been fed on while on Gregor Island, which sent all the cravings rushing back. I'd spent the last two years, all my time with Sondra, trying to get over that. I didn't want to have to go through it again… so I’d ignore it as long as I could.
I didn't know how he did it or who he had to talk to, but Cory managed to track Tyson down to Detroit.
The drive was brutal. Eight hours alone in the car. It gave me way too much time to think. What would it be like to see his face again? Would he be happy to see me?
A horrifying thought kept pushing its way in. Or would he hate me for breaking my promise?
I won't know until I get there, I kept telling myself.
I got more than I bargained for when I arrived. Cory warned me to be careful, that the group my brother had fallen into was ruthless. It sounded a lot like Maliya's nest.
I decided to scope the place out, see what I was up against. The address Cory gave me led me to an old warehouse. I parked the car several blocks away.
Night had fallen, and I slipped through the shadows and tiptoed to a back door I hadn't seen anyone use. Inside, I navigated endless hallways, following the sound of voices until I came to a huge room with a tall ceiling. It was practically the size of a football field, with endless rows of shelving.
“What is this?” a male voice snarled.
I peeked around a dark aisle to see a group of a dozen men in an adjoining room. They were gathered around a small table beneath a dim light. Tyson was nowhere in sight.
The guy in charge threw a bag of white powder to the guy across the table from him. “I asked for a strong batch of chrysanthemum, not this weak ass shit.”
The blood drained from my face. Chrysanthemum? It wasn't just a beautiful flower. It was a slang term for a type of drug made with magic. Everyone who knew anything about magic knew that all the magical drugs were named after flowers. Cory hadn't told me my brother was involved in a magical drug cartel. My pulse quickened. This was definitely dangerous.
“The price of this stuff has gone up tenfold in the last week,” the boss snarled. “Supply is down, and demand is higher than ever. But we need the best if we want to charge these kinds of prices. Tell your sorry excuse for a witch that we won't accept such a disgusting insult.”
“Yes, Maverick, sir,” the man replied in a shaky tone.
“Don't come back without the quality we expect,” Maverick spat. “You don't get another shot at this, kid. Don't screw it up.”
The guy huffed and left the room. I sank back into the shadows, only to back into something solid. My heart pounding, I turned and looked up to what I'd run into. A pair of blue eyes stared back at me from several inches above my head. Thick biceps twice the size of mine crossed over the man's chest.
