Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Andrew
Staring at my former apartment building from the shadows, it feels like a lifetime ago I shared a space here with Arthur.
First light touches the sky as I dart across the road and enter the main door. No one is awake yet, but I hurry to the second floor in case that changes.
I shouldn't have come, but I need to see if anything important of Arthur's is here, or if Richard has already taken his son's belongings. If not, I'll gather a few things for him.
When I reach the apartment, I bend down, removing a loose piece of the decoration on the doorframe. Arthur discovered it shortly after we moved in, but we never reported it to be fixed. Reaching into the small space, I pull out the spare key, unlock the door, then return it to its hiding place.
The air smells stale when I enter, reinforcing the fact no one lives here anymore. When the door closes behind me, I don't turn on any lights. I don't need to. Making my way through each room, I see nothing has been disturbed.
Standing in Arthur's bedroom doorway, I take in the rumpled sheets, the laundry in a hamper in the corner, the stack of books on a table by the window… the way the room still smells like him – although, a mundane human may not be able to tell.
Sadness grips me. Why did the vampires drink him, not me? It should have been me. Instead, I exist as the thing that took his life. Will I ever stop mourning him?
Wandering to the living room, I sit on the couch staring at the blank TV.
We hardly ever watched it, too busy working on our mythology and folklore database.
A twinge through the mate bond spurs me into action.
Wyatt will find me, I have no doubt of that.
I need to accomplish my mission before he does.
I didn't intend to knock him unconscious.
I don't even know how it happened, but I capitalized on it.
Just heap that guilt on the pile. The initial urge to run stemmed from fear the Pack would think I did it on purpose and punish me.
An irrational fear. They've been nothing but kind and accommodating.
Pretty sure they won't be so kind about what I'm doing now.
But they don't understand Richard's importance to me.
The driving need to repay his years of generosity and support by giving him closure.
I can't cut ties to my old life until I face him and tell him I'm the reason his son is gone.
Gathering up Arthur's favorite things, and the pictures from his room, I pack them in a duffel bag and wait out the day. When darkness falls once again, I leave the apartment behind. By the time Wyatt finds me, I want this to be done.