“Are you okay? What happened?” I demanded. I hadn’t wanted her to witness any of what we were doing, but against my better judgement, I allowed her to attend.
“Aros, it was… everything s-s-slammed into me at once. It was overwhelming—painfully so,” she stammered as she cringed at either the memory or the lingering effects of the pain.
Trembling, I hugged her to my chest, not wanting to let her go. If her memory had returned, it was a distinct possibility that she would remember any pain inflicted upon her in her original time after I was banished to Earth. I prayed what the cacodaemon had said was merely unholy vitriol.
Finally, I released her, ensuring she was steady on her feet so I could help with anything Voodoo might need and then the cleanup.
No sooner had I let her go, she stumbled back with a gasp. She grabbed the hood of her cloak and pulled it back. “Calix!”
At his name, he turned with a speed that was startling. His gaze widened as he gaped at her. My hackles rose as I immediately wondered what the fuck was going on.
“You know him?” My gaze narrowed at the vampire who had surprisingly become a friend to the club and a great help in this situation.
Stunned, she stared at him. “He was my brother’s best friend from when he squired with the McMillans. He came to tell us that Hayden had been killed on the way home from the tavern.”
Calix pressed his lips together and suddenly looked guilty as fuck.
“What? No, he wasn’t. I would’ve known if he was any friend of your brother’s.” My suspicion was growing.
“When he came to the castle that night, he told us Hayden had died. He told us all about how they squired together and became friends. They were together. He said so. I’m so confused,” she murmured as her lower lip trembled and her brow furrowed in utter bewilderment.
“That makes two of us,” I agreed as I stared at Calix with narrowed eyes. We spoke in hushed tones, but I didn’t want to distract Voodoo, so I motioned for Calix to precede us out of the slaughterhouse.
We stepped out into the dark moonless night. In her cloak, Soleil practically blended into the shadows.
“What the fuck?” I asked as I rounded on Calix.
He sighed heavily before he cast an apologetic look at Soleil. “In truth, I had never met your brother before the night he died,” he told her. “But before I tell you my story, how are you here? You’re not one of us, are you? I didn’t sense it, but with these guys, a lot is possible.” He motioned at me and the building that held my brothers.
“No, she’s not a vampire,” I answered for her, since I doubted she had any idea what he was referencing.
“V-vampire?” she stammered in wide-eyed surprise.
“Explain,” I firmly insisted as I held his gaze, bringing us back to the topic at hand.
“The night I met your brother, I was chasing down information regarding my father. The man I was to meet was no informant. He was actually a vampire hunter. He tried to kill me, and your brother happened to walk around the building to take a pi- um, to relieve himself.” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, then continued. “He saw the man poised to end my life, and he shouted. The man turned on him, and Hayden killed him. I wasn’t sure if the hunter was operating alone, so I escorted Hayden home. I owed him my life—I didn’t want him traveling back to the castle alone.”
He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it in disarray. I wasn’t sure if he was stalling or trying to find the words to explain what happened to Soleil’s brother. Calix sighed and his regretful gaze returned to Soleil’s.
“We were barely out of the village when we were set upon by reavers—or what we initially thought were reavers. While I was fighting them off, they overpowered him. They left him for dead. From what that thing said, it was the one responsible.” Calix motioned over his shoulder.
“So, I was actually right. Haydenisdead because of me.” Guilt sat so heavy on my chest, my lungs seemed filled with concrete.
“Umm, not exactly.” Calix rubbed the back of his neck.
“What do you mean, not exactly?” Soleil asked before I could. Her brows were drawn, and her eyes were wide green pools shimmering with tears.
“Hayden, um…. Like I said, I owed him a great debt. I couldn’t just let him die after he’d saved me. So, I… I turned him.” Calix winced when he heard me growl.
“Which is why I couldn’t sense his soul and believed he had died,” I ground out.
“Holy shit,” Blade muttered as he stood there with his mouth hanging open.
“But I saw his body! He was dead!” Soleil cried out. Afraid she might pass out from the overload of information she’d ingested tonight, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back to my front. She was trembling from head to toe.
“He was in the catatonic state as his body began the transformation. It was why I offered to take him and wrap him for the funeral pyre. I couldn’t have you actually burn him.” Calix rubbed his hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry I lied about being his friend, I kind of panicked. Though I can say, he’s definitely my best friend now.”
I didn’t ask who or what he substituted for Hayden in that funeral pyre, and I was glad Soleil didn’t either. Despite the seriousness of the present situation, I wanted to laugh at the thought of the usually calm vampire panicking.