Chapter 12
Chapter twelve
When I woke up and found Vaelyn gone, disappointment flooded through me. I really thought we had something, but maybe I was wrong. Or, I was hopeful she would give me a chance.
Then, I found her note in the kitchen, and disappointment turned to anger.
After I found the note, I tried to distract myself by getting ready and working on the case.
When I saw the agents from S.I.R.E.N. the night before, I clarified that they still had the other bodies.
I’d seen them at the scenes since I was the first responding agent, but I needed to look at them again, so their headquarters was my first stop this morning.
When I get there, they already have the three bodies laid out for me on slabs in the freezer. All three are human women with dark, wavy hair and pale, unmarked skin. None of them are tall per se, but they’re all curvy. I would say our perpetrator has a type.
Going from woman to woman, I compare their injuries.
With the first, the perp was messy as all get out, making me think it was his first time.
She has claw marks across her face and legs, but then the perp tore through her abdomen, ripping through some of her organs.
There was a lot of blood at this scene, so I’m sure it was all over the perp.
With the second victim, our perp was a lot more methodical.
Claw marks are still across her face, but I think they got this one to go into the courtyard willingly, unlike the first one, because when S.I.R.E.N.
did her rape kit, it came back positive for sperm.
Upon further examination, they discovered that she’d recently had sex; however, we weren’t sure whether it was consensual or not.
Either way, her injuries weren’t as frenzied, but they were still deadly.
Instead of ripping her open, the perp bit into her, eating her as if she were some sort of sandwich.
The third victim’s attack seemed to have started similarly to the second: she’d recently had sex; there was semen still in her vaginal canal when we found her; claw marks streak across her face; and the perp bit into her.
However, with this victim, he was interrupted.
Barely any of her body was missing when we found her.
With each attack, the perp has seemed to hone his abilities. The thing I can’t get over is that they’re eating their victims. But why? It’s too bad I can’t ask Avyanna. She’d have a better insight into the monster I’m looking for.
On my way back home to look into monsters that eat flesh, two very familiar scents hit me—Avyanna and Vaelyn.
What are they doing together? How on earth would they even know each other?
I follow their scents to an alleyway where I find Vaelyn up against a wall with Avyanna standing before her and a… gorgon?
What in the actual fuck is going on here?
Then I hear Avyanna tell Vaelyn that she’s taking Vaelyn with her, and I lose my shit. I stomp into the alley, grab Avyanna by the throat, and shove her against the wall. “Like fuck she is.”
Avyanna’s eyes widen, but I don’t let up until Vaelyn has her hand on my arm, trying to rip me away from my mimic. “Adrestia, what the hell are you doing? She’s a fucking hunter!”
“I know exactly who she is,” I growl. “I also know that she can absolutely kick my ass if she really wants to.”
Hissing sounds come from my left just before a voice I haven’t heard yet speaks. “Let her go.”
My gaze flicks to the gorgon before I think better of it. I immediately avert my gaze and wait for my body to begin turning to stone. When it doesn’t happen, Avyanna taps my arm. I let her drop to the ground and step back until I hit the wall where Vaelyn had just been.
“You didn’t turn to stone either,” Avyanna says with a raspy voice. Then, she’s in front of me, hand on my chin, making me look at her. “Listen to me. I want you to look her dead in the eye again.”
My eyes widen. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Maybe a little,” she says with a hint of a smile. “But you didn’t turn to stone with that look, and if her look had affected you, you absolutely should’ve. I don’t think you are, though. I’m not, and neither is our harpy friend here. Please, just look her in the eye again. Prove me right.”
“I’m not ready to die,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes.
Avyanna runs her thumb over my bottom lip. “You’re not going to die, Addie.”
Hearing her call me that after so long does something to me.
A tear rolls down my cheek, and I take a deep breath before my eyes drift to the gorgon.
She’s already staring at me with her jaw clenched and her snakes hissing.
I’m guessing something about this interaction between Avie and me is upsetting her, but I still look her in the eye and prepare for the worst.
Her eyes shimmer like the most exquisite emeralds I’ve ever seen, making it impossible to look away.
I almost want to get lost in them. But then she looks away from me, and Avyanna pulls away from me in the next second, walking to where the gorgon still stands.
Vaelyn stands against the opposite wall, mouth agape, and face even paler than it was previously.
I walk over to where she stands and cup her face in my hands, crashing my lips to hers in a desperate kiss. She lets me kiss her for a few seconds before she shoves me away. When she tries to leave, I grab her arm and pull her back to me.
“I can’t do this right now,” she says.
“Don’t leave yet,” I plead.
Her gaze turns severe. “I saw the way you looked at her, Adrestia. She means something to you, and I can’t get in the middle of that when I’m still trying to figure out what I feel for you.”
“Look, I had something with Avyanna a long time ago, and she wants nothing to do with me anymore. So, while I may still have feelings for her, it’s not going anywhere.”
Vaelyn rolls her eyes. “The way she spoke to you says something totally different.”
“She just wanted me to listen to her, and she knows how to get what she wants from me.”
“Whatever. Deny it all you want.”
My jaw clenches. “Please stay. You’ve been a drifter for far too long, and I can give you somewhere to call home again.”
Her eyes fill with tears, and she rips her arm from my grasp. “Fuck. You. Adrestia. We fucked and spent one night together. You don’t know anything about me or what I need.”
“I may not, but I want to—I want you. While that might sound a little crazy because we only met yesterday, I’m drawn to you like a moth to a flame.
I know that’s really fucking cliché, but I don’t want to let you go.
Last night was one of the most incredible nights of my fucking life, and that wasn’t just because of the sex.
It was your being there, talking to me, and keeping me company. ”
Vaelyn’s nostrils flare as she huffs out a breath. “Last night was nothing.”
“You’re a fucking liar, and you know it!” I hiss.
“Goodbye, Adrestia. Have a nice life,” she says flatly, although her eyes tell me a different story as they glisten.
“No,” I growl. “Don’t do this. Stay. Let’s figure this out together. If it turns out to be nothing, then you can go, and I won’t stop you.”
But she doesn’t stop her trek out of the alley.