by Sara Snow
Theanos tapped her nose with a finger. “Oh, my darling Skye, you, I plan on marrying someday. Our children will be simply stunning, with my good looks and your beautiful skin and eyes." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. I could have sworn I heard Cyrus growl. Theanos winked at him playfully before releasing Skye’s hand. “I see why you prefer it here, brother.”
“Yes,” Cyrus replied, as a woman and a siren began to sing together, drawing our attention to them. “There’s life here.”
The differences in the women’s voices made for a beautifully captivating melody, and all those who remained at the festival stopped what they were doing to listen. Their song echoed around us, and I found myself wrapping my arms around myself, a feeling of comfort overwhelming me. The darkness of the night was vanishing as dawn drew nigh, and it almost seemed as if the women were the ones calling it forward.
“I should get home,” I said softly.
Skye wrapped her arm around my waist. “Me too. I’ve had enough.”
I placed my hand under her arm to help keep her upright, and Cyrus’s wings appeared. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” He walked over to us, then stopped suddenly. My eyes widened for a moment as he inhaled deeply.
Shit, he’s going to smell Will on me as well!
“Oh, come on,” Theanos suddenly yelled as he walked over to Cyrus and threw his arm over his shoulder. His blond hair flew into Cyrus’s face, and he winked at me. “Why does the party have to end? We should find a bar or something.”
Cyrus shook his head. “This isn’t the Demon Realm, Theanos. People here need sleep.”
“That’s rather boring, don’t you think?” Theanos countered. Cyrus just shook his head, and took Skye from me, walking away with her slowly, her head resting against him. “Come on, we’re leaving,” he called behind him.
I walked silently by Theanos’s side while Cyrus and Skye walked ahead of us, but my mind was on Will. It was as if I was still feeling his warm hand on me.
A vampire with a beating heart . . .
“Fine, we can continue the party at Skye’s house,” I heard Theanos suggest.
Cyrus shook his head again. “Over my dead body. You’re not sleeping anywhere near Skye.” He cleared his throat and added, “Or Elinor.”
"Uh-huh," I shot back. "Thanks for looking out for me. I appreciate it."
“Is he always like this?” Theanos whispered to me, and I nodded.
“No, I’m not. You bring out the worst in me,” Cyrus accused, and I chuckled at their brotherly banter.
Despite the way Cyrus was acting, I knew he was happy his brother was here. It felt good to know that he had someone from his blood family that he could call on if needed. The distance between Cyrus and Skye, and Theanos and me grew, and I quickly tapped Theanos’s shoulder.
“Don’t say anything to Cyrus, please.”
He smirked. "I don't intend to. You're a grown woman. You can do whatever you wish, with whomever you wish." His smile grew further. “From whichever species you wish.”
“It’s not like that,” I replied.
He rolled his eyes. “If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be blushing right now.”
I bit down on my lip. “It’s a long story,” I waited until Cyrus moved a little further away from us before speaking again. “He saved me from being killed by a Bleeder.”
“What? Really?” Theanos placed his hand on my arm, and we stopped talking. “A Skin saved you by killing one of his own?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t have believed it, either, if it hadn’t happened to me.”
His eyes darted to the side thoughtfully before we continued walking. “Strange.”
Oh, you have no idea.
“Does Skye know?”
“Know what?” I asked.
“Does she know that Cyrus is in love with her?”
“Oh . . .” I nodded. “I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone else, but no, I don’t think she knows. And I don’t think he knows that she loves him, as well. They’re both quite blind about it. But is that even possible for Cyrus and you? Is love something you guys are capable of? You know, being sex demons and all.”
Theanos nodded vigorously. “Of course, it is. Demons do feel emotions—some of them at least. While it’s still not the same as with humans or supernaturals, we are capable of love. For many demons, loyalty is to them what love is to you guys. They feel a deep sense of loyalty to their clan, their family, and their king." For the first time since I met him, I sensed a seriousness about him that I’d never noticed before. I frowned. Right now, he looked every inch the powerful demon that he was. "My mother must never find out about this." He looked my way, and my heart constricted at the weight of his piercing stare. "She can’t know that Skye is the reason Cyrus doesn't want to return home to become her successor. If she finds out, I have no doubt my mother will try to kill both Skye and you.”
We walked in silence for a moment, his words driving worrisome thoughts into my mind. The idea of Cyrus leaving one day, willingly or not, troubled me, especially now that I knew he was in the same situation I was in, having someone else’s plan for his life forced onto him.
Theanos sighed. “I’m also worried about what will happen to Cyrus if Skye should ever find her mate. He’s a powerful demon—the son of the Demon King and a Sin—but you two are what’s keeping him grounded.”
I didn’t know what to say as my worries worsened. I’d always known of Cyrus’s strength. While I hadn’t seen how powerful he was first-hand, it wasn’t hard to figure out. Especially now that I knew he was the son of the Demon King.
I suddenly felt exhausted. Between the mystery that was Will and now this, I felt as if I'd prefer to sleep for an eternity instead of facing the possible negative outcome of all of this.
Still, even knowing how badly my father would react if he found out about my friendship with a vampire, I couldn’t make myself avoid Will.
I didn’t want to avoid him—I wanted to know exactly what he was.
15
Elinor
I found myself back on that cliff face again, with Will. He was about to leave, but this time, he held out his hand, silently asking me to go with him. I reached for him, but there was a barrier between us, stopping me. I stretched and almost reached him. . . . My dream began to slip away, and no matter how I tried to hold onto it, I eventually woke up. The sound of birds chirping was the first thing I heard, and when I opened my eyes, I had to quickly close them as sunlight burned my irises.
I groaned and turned my back to the window. When I opened my eyes again, I came face-to-face with Skye, her brown eyes accusing.
“Um, morning,” I mumbled and sat up.
She didn’t respond. Instead, she started fluffing her pillow, then suddenly, she grabbed it and slammed me over the head.
“Hey, what the hell is wrong with you!”
Her eyes grew even angrier as she smacked me again, but this time I was ready for her. I blocked the pillow from hitting me in the face and grabbed it away from her.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t know?” she yelled as she tried to take the pillow back.
“Skye, have you completely lost your mind? What are you talking about?”
She stopped fighting and fell still, her chest rising and falling rapidly, then her hand shot out and punched me in the side. I yelped.
“What am I talking about? What am I talking about?! I’m talking about the vampire that I can smell on you!”
My heart stopped beating as her voice echoed through the room, and I quickly covered her face with the pillow and pushed her down onto the bed. I took a quick whiff of myself as I recalled falling asleep the moment we had gotten home from the festival.
I still smell like him.
“Be quiet, Skye,” I said through clenched teeth before removing the pillow from her face.
She took a deep breath dramatically. “Cyrus and Theanos aren’t here, and neither is Mother.” She sat up. “So, did you want to expl
ain to me why you smell like a vampire?” Her nose scrunched up. “There is something off about the smell. You weren’t fighting a Bleeder, that’s for sure, so explain yourself. Where did you go last night when you left the festival?”
I sat there for a moment as I gathered my thoughts, my mind still a little foggy. Finally, I started from the beginning, explaining to Skye what had happened that night, with my father, with the Bleeder . . . with Will.
I hadn't told anyone the details about what had happened that night. Everyone knew the reason I’d run off was because my father had tricked me into believing I stood a chance at becoming a Guard.
I filled in the rest of the story for her—how I’d been attacked by the Bleeder and then when another one arrived, it had been killed by Will. I told her about the way he’d stayed with me until I healed enough to make it home and that he had followed me until I was back in my territory.
She listened in silence as I continued the story, moving on to last night and the chat I had had with him in the forest. I told her about his blue eyes but not about his warm touch or his heartbeat. That was all still too much for me to fathom, and she was surely going to worry that he might not be a vampire at all, but something else.
That thought hadn’t left my mind since I had felt his touch. Despite the fangs and red eyes I’d seen behind the blue, I’ve had a hard time thinking of him as a vampire. And I knew I was getting a little too attached to him. My curiosity had grown into something else—interest, attraction—but I couldn’t let that go anywhere.
Unfortunately, I just couldn’t stop thinking about him.
After I finished talking, Skye just looked at me. Finally, she laid back on her bed and sighed loudly.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see this, but . . . you like him. You finally like someone, and he’s not even a werewolf.”
I laid on my stomach beside her and closed my eyes. "I don't like him, Skye. Not in the way you're referring to. I'm just curious about him. He saved me when he could have killed me and just . . . I don't know, there is something about him." She didn't reply.
I opened my eyes to find her studying me. "What?"
She continued to stare for a moment, before the corner of her lips arched with a smile. “You don’t even believe what you just said. You just don’t want to admit it out loud, that there is a part of you that likes him, and that’s okay.” She turned to stare up at the ceiling. “I get it. Saying it out loud makes it all real, and then there is no going back. Especially when you know you can never be together.”
I could tell she was referring to herself and Cyrus, and I recalled finding them together in the forest after Cyrus had returned from the Demon Realm. I hadn’t missed the tension between them. Maybe they weren’t as blind to each other’s affection as I’d thought.
“It’s too early for me to be speaking about feelings.” I rubbed at my eyes as the memory of Will jumping off the cliff resurfaced. “I know little to nothing about him, but . . . I enjoy his company. No matter how brief our meetings have been. To him, I’m not just a female firstborn—I’m a girl, a wolf. I don’t feel my firstborn status, and all the pressure it brings with it, bearing down on me when I’m around him.”
“I think I understand,” Skye murmured.
What Theanos had talked about replayed in my mind, and I turned onto my side to look at her. “Have you ever thought about finding your mate?”
“A little bit. He’s not from this pack, or I would have met him already, and I don’t plan on venturing to other packs any time soon in search of him. I wanted to at one point. In fact, I was eager for the day I’d meet him.” She turned onto her side as well, a few curls falling over her face. “I now know, however, that I can love and be loved without finding the one made for me.”
I shared her reasoning, and I nodded in response. “I feel the same. With Father pushing me to meet my mate, he’s acting as if I’ll never find happiness or live a good life any other way.” I growled. “With my father away, I’ve been able to breathe for a little while, but when he returns, I know he’ll be dragging me to meet another pack.”
“I don’t care if it happens to me or not,” Skye said. “My mother had me outside of a mate bond. She never met her mate, and she’s doing just fine.” She paused. “Can you imagine if both of us found our mates and had to separate?"
I frowned. "Let's not even talk about it."
She started laughing. “Okay then, can you imagine your mother finding out about Will? Let’s talk about that for a minute. She’d finally lose it.”
I shook my hand dismissively as I too began to laugh. As much as that would finally push my mother to insanity, my father would be the true problem. “She’s not the issue. It’s my father—he’d kill us both.”
My face fell as I thought about it. Would he truly kill me? I would have disgraced the precious Blackwood name.
"Hey . . . " Skye placed her hand on my cheek. "For now, just do what makes you happy. Everyone else does, even at the expense of your happiness. This town is so boring, anyway. You and your vampire lover should spice things up.”
I covered her mouth quickly as my ear twitched, the sound of someone walking outside the house, registering in my mind. I got out of bed quickly and rushed to the door, worried that someone had overheard Skye’s words.
I threw the door open and ran into Connor’s chest. “Good, you’re awake,” he said. He looked over my shoulder as Skye appeared. “We need you back at the house, Elinor. Something has happened.”
“What?” I asked as Skye walked back into the house to grab our cloaks. “Did my father return?”
Connor shook his head, and I watched as the muscles in his jaw clenched with rage. “No, he hasn’t. But someone was murdered last night. One of our own was killed at the festival.”
Elinor
My fists clenched and unclenched as Connor covered the dead body once more. Our pack was quite large, so I didn’t know everyone personally. But we all knew of each other, and this boy hadn’t deserved to die like this.
“He was just a child,” I said through clenched teeth, turning my back to the body on the table.
“His mother and father were told to wait at home.” Nurse Hilary pressed her fingers into the corner of her eyes, and I noted how exhausted she looked. “I told them we’d have a report for them soon, but I’m not sure how I’ll be able to break this news to them.”
Skye and my mother were standing by the door, both their eyes full of tears. They had known the young boy. Even though I was no longer looking at the body, I could still see the multiple bruises on his body within my mind. The gruesome sight imprinted onto my memory.
“A vampire did this, right?” my mother asked softly.
Nurse Hilary shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she answered, and I began rubbing at my temple, a pulsing pain appearing there. “His body was completely drained of blood, but there are no bite marks.”
“How is that even possible?” Skye looked from Nurse Hilary to Connor and then back again. “What creature can drain someone of their blood without leaving a wound. It makes no sense.”
“Maybe it was a vampire,” I said, not realizing until that moment that I had spoken out loud.
“What makes you say that?” Connor asked, folding his arms over his chest.
I was thinking of something Will had said, that there were many things we didn’t know about vampires. If one could have a beating heart, who knew what else they were capable of? Not many other creatures were known to drain their victim’s blood completely.
“I just thought that there’s still a lot of mystery about what vampires can and can’t do. What other creature could have done this, Connor?”
He sighed as he pinched his chin, his eyes darting down to the ground. "I'm not sure. A witch, perhaps, or a black magic user."
“That’s true,” Nurse Hilary added. “There were so many creatures at the festival last night. We can’t go making accusations without being sure.” She re
moved the apron she was wearing. “I’ll go speak to the family. But with Alpha Grayson away, who will conduct the burial? It’s best to have it done as soon as possible.”
“I’ll do it,” I answered, after a moment of silence. “Jackson is still too young. Is that okay?”
My mother nodded.
I tried not to grip my dress with panic. I’d seen my father conduct countless burials, and there wasn’t much to it. It was done at night, and words of love were spoken over the deceased. Then my father would shift and begin a howl that moved through the pack, everyone howling to the Goddess to send the spirit of our beloved member off.
My father was not here, but I’d do this, happily.
I looked back at the covered body and clenched my fists. If I was a Guard, I’d stop at nothing to find out who did this. Because I had a horrible feeling this wouldn’t be the last victim.
Elinor
After the last werewolf left, I turned away from the grave and decided to take a walk in the forest.
My body felt numb at how emotional it had all been. My eyes were still stinging with tears I’d had to hold back as I took the role of Alpha for those few hours. I had to be everyone’s strength as they fell apart, and it had been painful. But I was happy the first part was over. Now, we had to find who did this. There hadn’t been a death in our pack for almost two years, and the last one had been from natural causes. My father would be livid when he got back, but I didn’t want to think right now. I just wanted to feel.
I wished I could shift and go for a run, feeling the earth beneath my feet as I raced against the wind, but I’d hate to ruin the dress my mother had given me.
Seeing all those people mourning had reminded me of Meeka. I swallowed hard as I reached out and braced myself on the trunk of a tree, a sob I tried to hold back, causing me to choke. I hadn't been able to go to her burial. I couldn't do it. Because of me, she’d died. And because of my weakness, she died at the hand of Levi.
