Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
“I know that we should have gone to someone , but at that point, I didn’t trust Casimir at all.
You’d been built up in my mind to be some horrible leader.
And… I didn’t know they were vampires who weren’t permitted.
I really thought we killed people who were on your side…
but when Julian was attacked by the same group, I started to believe that Grady lied to us because he didn’t want to be thrown out of the territory.
I think he thought you’d offer him protection if he stayed here—until we found the bodies of the two vampires buried in the woods.
They were definitely with those who attacked us,” she says.
“But if they were vampires who weren’t permitted, why wouldn’t Grady have come to you?” Julian asks me.
“There had to have been a reason they were targeting him. It wasn’t like he was a higher official or something. What about the other vampires who were killed?” I ask. “Cyrus, do you have a picture of them?”
“Yeah,” he says as he hurries over to his computer and pulls up some images of them, which he shows Willow.
Willow points at the woman who’d been staked to the tree.
“I definitely saw her with Grady, and I recognize the man, but never spoke to him. They were the ones who said they’d help find the werewolf and…
move her. I… they really made us think they were transporting her elsewhere…
you know? To a different pack that wouldn’t ask questions.
” The way Willow talks tells me that she’s not even sure she believes what she’s saying.
“What happened to the woman who was grieving over the two dead vampires in the woods? Ezio told me she was turned by the male, right? I want to speak to her,” Cyrus says.
“Yeah, let me find her,” Ezio responds as he pulls out his phone. “When I spoke to her previously, she claimed she knew nothing.”
“Oh, Nikki? I totally killed her the other day,” I say.
“You did what?” Cyrus asks in disbelief.
“She was working with Ivo and tried stopping me on the way to the old school.”
“And you never thought to mention this?” Ezio asks.
“I just did.” Clearly, they have way more of a problem with this than I do. “Honestly, it just cements the fact that the vampires staked to the tree were somehow involved with Ivo.”
“We need information like this in advance,” Cyrus chides as he gives me a look. “I thought you wanted answers so you could stop this tonight. So don’t leave shit out.”
“I can give you answers. The two who were staked to a tree despised me because they thought they could do it better and didn’t agree with my rule because they were firm believers that the werewolves should be thrown out.
They weren’t powerful enough to do it themselves, so they needed to bring someone else in to do it.
They probably started to regret it when they realized how little power they would have under Ivo’s control.
The group who attacked Julian… were somehow connected to Ivo if they were following the woman he loved around,” I say.
“But then why would they kill Ivo’s love?” Julian wonders.
“Her body was the only one covered with a cloth, like they actually cared about that one,” Cyrus says thoughtfully. “They might not have killed her. The medical examiner said she died of blood loss like the others, though.”
“Vampires wouldn’t willingly feed off a werewolf, which she now was,” Ezio reminds us.
“Right. Out of their hatred of me, a small group of vampires called Ivo here in the hopes that Ivo would take over my position. I don’t know what made them turn against Grady and the others, but that’s my guess,” I tell them. “Now everyone is staying here while I handle it… by myself.”
“I won’t fall for the same trick twice,” Cyrus says. “If that man could control me, he would have done it when I was shooting through the car window.”
“And he would have controlled me at the school,” Julian adds stubbornly.
“He could have a limit on how many he can control at once,” I say.
“He sure didn’t when he was controlling the pack. I… I don’t think he can control humans,” Julian replies. “While I’m not… human, I’m not… quite… a full werewolf. I don’t think he can control me.”
“Well, we’re not testing this out,” I say. “I don’t need any of this information to kill him. I don’t need to know any of this shit. All I know is that Ivo is going to be dead at the end of this.”
“Just like that,” Cyrus says, and it’s a weird tone. Weird enough that everyone looks over at him, but he quickly waves it off. “You’re right. Okay, so we need to think through how to kill him.”
“I will go alone,” I state, which immediately gets ignored. Do they honestly think I’m going to let them go with me?
“You think he’s still in the school?” Julian asks.
“When you have no one to fear, why would you bother moving? Wouldn’t he love for us to come to him? It’d save him half the work.”
“If we think that he can’t control humans, then humans need to go inside,” Julian says.
“Absolutely not,” I retort. “He’d kill humans with ease.
We can’t forget that he is an older vampire.
You think he sent the weres in to attack Cyrus because he needed help?
No, he wanted to watch them suffer as they were forced to kill someone they cared about.
He’s probably done that every step of the way by making those who’d been working with each other kill each other.
Which is why you’re not going, Julian. He can’t use anyone against me if I go alone. ”
“Casimir is right,” Cyrus says.
Julian gives him a look of disbelief. “Please do not encourage him to run off alone.”
“I’m not. But we know there’s a high possibility that Ivo will control whoever walks in through that door.”
“Then why would we send Casimir in?” Julian asks, seeming frustrated before turning to me. “Why do we have to risk your life for something you didn’t even do? This is fucking bullshit.” He smacks a plastic cup off the table and storms out of the room as I stare after him for a long moment.
He’s… he’s upset over the idea of me getting hurt? Like… really upset.
Why’s that make me feel so good? I mean… does he really care that much?
I walk after him only to find him rummaging around in my drawers.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for a lighter. I’m going to go burn the school down while Ivo’s sleeping.”
“You really think he’s not sleeping in something fireproof?” I ask.
“And then when I find the fireproof thing, I’m going to tear it open and watch him burn to death.”
“I really have my doubts he’d be so careless,” I say as I grab his wrists. “He knows how easy it would be to kill him like that, so I’m sure he has something to protect him.”
“You’re not going in alone.”
“You’re right. I’m not. You’re going to go with me,” I decide.
“But I don’t need you to fight. I need you to help me, okay?
We know he’s going to try to allure me. We know that he takes control through words; otherwise, why else would he have spoken words to get us to stop?
So I’m going to have to go in alone while being unable to hear.
But even if we blasted music into my ears, my ears are sensitive enough that I could still hear him, so I need you in my head, Julian.
Because the only moment where I thought that I could possibly regain control was when I heard you in my head.
When I knew you were right there, you were able to help me. Okay?”
“What if it’s not enough?” Julian asks.
“Do you trust me?”
“I don’t trust that you care about yourself enough to stay safe,” he says, his eyes searching mine. “And I’m sorry if that seems… harsh. I just…”
I give him a grin. “You’re too observant.”
“Am I?”
“But you missed something crucial.”
“Which is?”
“I have two things to live for now,” I say as I tap his chin before turning toward the stairs.