Hope bloomed inside me. “He finally turned her?”
“Her injuries would have been fatal otherwise.”
At least I wouldn’t have to say goodbye to her as well. That was some comfort. But another thought unfurled, this one darkening my newly lit hopefulness. Our mother’s blood was the reason we could walk in the sun. It was why she’d spent her life on the run until Father found her. But the magic inside her bloodline wasn’t as strong in my brother or me because we’d turned. Now that Mother was a vampire, the only remaining person with the blood of the sun had been Rosie.
“Mother’s bloodline is gone,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“What happens if sun sickness returns?”
West let out a shuddering sigh. “I don’t know.”
“I need to come home.”
“You can’t.”
“How can you say that? I need to be there. To help—”
“Noah, do not come back here. Not until I send for you,” my father’s voice filled my ear as he commandeered the phone. “You can’t. It’s... your mother... she’s feral. She needs time to adjust.”
I blew out a heavy breath, at war with myself. On the one hand, I couldn’t stand the thought of being anywhere but with my family right now. On the other, I couldn’t leave Kingston and Alek, not with everything going on. And it wouldn’t be fair of me to ask Kingston to leave his family. How could I put my dead sister over his? And technically, he had me beat since he’d lost his father as well. The grisly thought did nothing to make me feel better.
What had my world come to where I was now counting dead family members to decide whose grief took precedence?
“Father, she won’t hurt me.”
“She tried to tear my throat out, son. I’m her bonded mate, and she nearly killed me. She needs time. A few more nights, at least. If you show up here with your friends in tow, you’ll be bringing her an all-she-can-eat buffet. Nothing is going to change here in the next seventy-two hours. Your sister will still be gone. The manor will still be ruined. Please? I can’t risk you as well.”
Once again, it was the sound of his pain that convinced me.
“Fine. Seventy-two hours. Then I’m coming home.”
“Good. That’s good. That will allow me to settle things before we contact Gabriel.”
“Gabriel?” I sat up straighter. I’d almost forgotten our plan to call on the angel for help locating Sunday. But what could my father want with him?
“Yes. Things are getting out of hand. I assume you’ve been watching the news?”
“Yes.” I was slower to respond this time, uncertain what conclusions my father might have drawn and if I could handle any other bad news.
“Gabriel is our last resort, son. If we can’t find your mate, these disasters won’t be in our backyard. They will be constant and right on top of us. We won’t be burying our dead. They will rise up and kill us. The end of the world is here. There’s nothing we can do to keep it away, except...”
“Find Sunday.”
“Right.”
There was a weight to the word I didn’t like. A finality akin to a dagger to the heart. How was it that our plan was exactly the same, but he made it seem like everything had changed? The truth was, we’d lost too many people we loved in a short time. It wasn’t even days between deaths at this point, but mere hours. Who would be next? Someone in this room?
Yes, everything was the same, but in the ways that mattered, it would never be the same again.
ChapterTwenty-Three
SUNDAY
Thick fog blanketed the sparse, darkened forest, the cool mist coating my skin in a layer of damp I felt down to my bones. I could barely see my hand in front of my face as I forced myself to take one slow step after another, wading through the dense low-lying clouds. It was like walking through deep water, the weight causing me to use my arms to help move me through.
Without knowingwhatI was searching for, I knew instinctively that Iwassearching. There was something here in the fog, lying in wait for me. Something, or perhaps someone, I needed to find. Prickling at the back of my neck kept me wary. Watchful. Whatever I was hunting required me to remain on guard. Despite being the hunter, I was also the hunted.