We’reon our way back to Jason’s house when I feel a sharp pain in my chest. I grab at the place where my heart is, squeezing the fabric covering it. “Something’s wrong.” I hiss, trying to breathe. My vision blurs, causing the car to swerve. I look over at Derrin who is still clutching his overnight bag. Both of us feel it. I can tell by the odd look on his face. “Derrin, what?” It’s all I manage to say before he blurts out, “Areyna.” His face goes ghost white, his body shaking before slumping over in the seat. I fight it as hard as I can, but the world blurs around me. The edges dim, flickering in and out of shadow.
The last thing I hear before everything goes silent is the sound of glass breaking and someone screaming inside my head.
TWENTY-THREE
Jason
Richard ditchedme at the police station. I should have known he’d be untrustworthy after the bullshit he’s pulled. It took me less than ten minutes to find out that the reason we’d come to the police station was to get me away from Areyna and nothing else. He sent me into the office to find out about the newest murders only problem is the murders weren’t reported to the humans which means that Richard sent me on a wild goose chase while he escaped.
After realising the truth, I race back to the car, praying that he didn’t leave me stranded here without my car. I breathe a sigh of relief the moment I’m in the driver’s seat. I don’t even bother going through my pre-driving checks, I just start the car and fly out of the parking lot as fast as I can.
I’m cursing traffic as I speed through the streets. The drive back to my house is fast, I may or may not have exceeded the speed limit, but hey, who’s going to pull over the youngest police detective in a decade?
My tires screech to a stop the second I’m on my street. I’d recognise that pompous looking Cadillac anywhere. Well maybe not in the state it’s in now. The car is wrapped around the street light five houses from mine. I can’t see if anyone’s inside the car but I can see the crowd gathered around it.
I leap from the car, fearing Areyna is there in the wreck. What I find is far worse than I could ever have imagined. Both Derrin and Torren are torn up and unconscious. They look like they’ve gone a few rounds with a Matador Demon and suffered for it. Lacerations to almost every inch of their bodies from the glass, loss of blood and I’m fairly certain Derrin has a broken arm, but there’s not much I can do except pretend to be here on the job as the ambulance workers load them into the back of their vehicles.
I can’t risk exposure with so many witnesses around, so I play my part, taking statements and then head to the hospital before they have a chance to do more than examine them.
It’s been four hours and there’s no sign of Areyna, nor have Torren and Derrin woken up. I managed to pull them from the hospital using a memory wiping spell, but when I got home, I found Remington in much the same state lying on the grass in my backyard. It looked like he’d been trying to get to his place when he passed out, but when I checked him over after carrying him inside, I discovered a huge gash in the back of his head as though he’d been struck and left to die. Thankfully, his hybrid vampire breeding means he’ll heal quickly, but he too should have woken up by now.
I haven’t heard from Richard or that Rourke guy since this morning, I’m starting to worry that they too might be in danger.
TWENTY-FOUR
FIVE HOURS EARLIER…
Richard
“We needto go to the station and find out what the humans know about the murders.”
Jason is quick to jump back into our old patterns, he’s so gullible. Together we send Torren, Remmie and Derrin off to collect an overnight bag each and to let their parents see them for a few minutes so they don’t worry; at least that’s what I tell them. Rourke on the other hand is a little harder to get rid of.
“You should scout the area, see if the wards are holding up.” Jason suggests shocking me. I hadn’t thought about using him as a distraction but I can work with it.
“That’s a great idea. You can check the area, keep Areyna safe while we go do what we need to figure out our next steps. I’m – no, we’re trusting you to take care of her while we’re gone.” I nod my head to Jason, “The sooner we go, the sooner we can return.” I’m not lying either because the moment I get them all away, my plan will begin.
I glance up at the ceiling, right towards Areyna’s bedroom.Don’t worry my little lamb, this time tomorrow you and I will be free. We’ll finally be together.
My phone buzzes and I quickly pull it from my pocket. My father has sent me over a dozen messages in less than ten minutes. Every single one is asking me the same questions.
Father: Have you located the packages yet?
Father: Progress report.
Father: Stop focusing on the girl and bring me the other packages!
They repeat from there so I quickly type back a reply to the last one.
Me: I’m working on it. Don’t rush me or things will go wrong.
Not ten seconds later he’s on my back again.
Father: Don’t take that tone with me. We need those packages or I’m going to miss my deadline.
The second I’m away from Jason, I race back to our house and check in with the demi-demons I hired to collect the packages as my father keeps calling them. Imagine my surprise when I find they’ve collected them all right, but instead of handing them over to me, they’ve taken the packages straight to my father.
With my heart in my throat, I jump in my car and speed out of there like my life depends on it.