12. Chapter 12
Chapter twelve
LUCA
A car was running with its headlights illuminating the opposite end of the alley. It didn’t sound like anyone was in the car, but it was bringing too much attention to the scene that sat before it. Just inside the shadows, a figure sat slumped against the brick.
“Sage?”
His breathing was shallow and his heartbeat weak, but he was alive. Which was more than I could say for the man next to him.
I ran to the car, cutting the engine and killing the headlights before sending an emergency text to Elliot and Silas. Hunger gnawed at me even as I checked his wounds. I was barely holding back my panic at seeing Sage this badly hurt, and yet even now, that urge to bite him still plagued me. It was disgusting and the self-loathing I’d felt since becoming what I was deepened even further.
Sage’s hand gripped my wrist as I shifted his body to get a better look. Shocked that he was even conscious, I met his eyes and sucked in a startled breath when nothing but pitch blackness stared back at me.
Blood splattered his lips when he tried to speak, but I immediately hushed him. “Elliot is on his way. You’re going to be fine.”
I expected the black to disappear the way it did every other time, but this time it remained as he tried to speak again. His lips moved, but aside from a pained wheeze, no sound came out.
“Don’t try to talk.”
It looked like his lung had been punctured and whatever he had to say could wait until he was healed. Though if the pattern held, he might not remember any of this later.
Elliot arrived first with Jet and he immediately freaked out seeing Sage in a pool of blood.
“What happened?” He flinched the second his hands touched Sage, but he started casting his magic despite the strange look on his face.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“You didn’t do this,” Jet commented, looking over the other body on the ground.
I’d barely given it a second glance when I saw Sage, but it was a bloody mess. I was about to tell them I’d been the one to kill the man, but when I looked closer, I realized they’d never believe it. Long slash marks crossed the body, and it wasn’t the first time we’d seen something like that.
When I said nothing, Jet returned his attention to Sage. “Which means it was Sage who killed those men at the facility as well.”
Something dark and dangerous boiled under my skin. I knew these were friends, and yet, I couldn’t help but feel like Sage was being threatened. A strange heat burned my eyes as I placed myself between Jet and Sage, and in the process between Jet and his own mate, who was still healing Sage.
Seeing my change in position for what it was, Jet picked up on the threat and his hackles rose instantly. The dim moonlight glinted off of his eyes, showing the red of his hellhound just under the surface. A low growl rumbled in his chest, and while logically I understood he was mad that I was keeping him from his mate, I couldn’t let him near Sage.
“What the hell are you two doing?” Elliot snapped.
More people approached and my thoughts were consumed with nothing but protecting Sage. It was my fault, if I hadn’t been distracted, this never would have happened. It didn’t matter how many of them came—
My back hit the brick before I even realized someone had me. I planted my hands on two leather covered shoulders and shoved hard, but the man in front of me was far older, and therefore far stronger. He barely swayed at the attack.
“If you do not learn to control your instincts, they will control you,” Silas warned, though his eyes slid Jet’s way as well.
The hellhound didn’t look the least bit remorseful as he took his position behind Elliot and crossed his arms over his chest. I, on the other hand, couldn’t believe I’d just threatened Jet. Even now, I couldn’t force myself to step away from Sage.
I looked down at the pale witch at my feet and patted the hands that still gripped me. “Sorry, I’m good now.” Though I was still overly wary of Jet’s position, as long as I was closer to Sage, I was good.
“I don’t care how many hunters your witch kills,” Jet commented dryly. “Do not get between me and my mate again.”
Elliot winced. “The baby’s arrival has him a little overprotective at the moment.”
The hellhound didn’t comment further, but I got the feeling he didn’t quite agree with the at the moment part of that statement.
“You’re saying Sage did this?” Royce asked from behind Silas where he stood over the body. “How is that possible?”
Once again, my shoulders tensed. This situation was getting out of control. Too many people were involved now and I hadn’t come up with a way to shield Sage from the fallout. While I was trained to deal with emergency situations, I was no expert in the delicate maneuvering these circumstances called for. I’d never been one to con my way out of things. I needed Sage.
Silas flicked me on the forehead and I jerked away, smacking my skull on the brick in the process.
“Ow,” I complained.
The look the vampire shot me told me to get my shit together, though he was kind enough to not say it out loud.
Elliot sighed. “I’ve healed the serious injuries, but after all the magic I exhausted earlier, I’ve gotta stop here if you want me to glamour the alley. He’s in an induced sleep and he won’t be in pain, but I’ll have to come by later to finish healing him.”
Silas pulled out a folded piece of leather and opened it into what I now saw was a large spelled bag like the one he’d given me to carry blood. It could hold things far beyond the size of the bag itself and Silas proved this a second later when he opened it and shoved the entire body inside along with the knife covered in Sage’s blood before refolding it and stuffing it back in his pocket.
Elliot sighed at the pool of blood but started casting a glamour to cover the crime scene. By the time he was done, he was as pale as Sage. Jet picked him up and turned to leave, clearly done with us and eager to return to his family.
Elliot smacked his shoulder. “Give me a second.” The hellhound stopped walking, but didn’t turnaround, forcing Elliot to talk to us over his shoulder. “If Sage wakes up before I can get there, make sure he rests. No strenuous activity until I can finish healing him. I’m sorry, it was just really bad timing.”
“I understand. Thank you for helping him,” I answered, scooping Sage into my arms.
Elliot paused, like he wasn’t sure whether to continue. “Luca, I don’t know what happened here, but don’t let him out of your sight. Those injuries were serious. I think…”
“They’re trying to silence Sage,” Silas finished for him.
Elliot nodded. “That last article he wrote got a lot more attention than the ones before. His reporter friend blasted it to her contacts and it brought a lot of attention to all his past articles about Eastbend. People are starting to question things the hunters really don’t want in the open. It’s great for the community that people are starting to listen, but I’m afraid it’s made him a target.”
“What are we talking here?” Royce asked. “When you say they’re trying to silence him…?”
“Based on the injuries I just healed, this wasn’t a threat. They’re not trying to scare him, they’re trying to kill him.”
I squeezed Sage a little tighter. “I need to get him home.”
Silas and Royce led the way back to the car without another word and I refused to let Sage go even as I clumsily climbed into the back seat of the car. Silas peered back at me from the passenger seat while Royce drove.
“You were not with him?”
Silas wasn’t one to mince words and the question made me feel like shit. What was I thinking leaving him unprotected?
“It’s my fault. There was someone following us and I left Sage alone while I dealt with him. I never even sensed the other one, but he must have seen the opportunity the moment I left him alone.”
“Dealt with him how? Where is he now?”
“I got him away from Sage and pulled him out to the main street, but the sheriff caught me before I could get any answers out of him.”
“Shit,” Royce muttered. “Is the sheriff a hunter?”
“Coyote shifter. He was in the tavern earlier tonight and he recognized me. He took the hunter with him, but he’ll probably have to let him go. I had already removed all of his weapons, so he can’t even get him on that since there’s only my word that he was carrying them in the first place.”
“We’re just lucky he didn’t take you in,” Royce grumbled. “Who knows when Sage would have been found if he did.”
“Or if he would have survived,” Silas agreed.
Bitter cold fear tickled down my spine and I tucked Sage closer until I could feel his heartbeat against my own chest.
“I take it you didn’t see what happened to the hunter that attacked Sage?” Royce asked.
“No.”
“Do you know if he’s been experimenting with some kind of magic?”
I wasn’t about to spill the things Sage shared with me, not until I knew what was really going on and how it would affect him. But I could appease them with the things they already knew.
“He told me he’s tried it several times over the years, but magic has never worked for him.”
“That doesn’t appear to be the case,” Silas said. “But whatever was used to attack the hunter, it is likely the only reason Sage survived.”
SAGE
Of all the fantasies I’d had about spending hours in Luca’s bed, this was never quite what I’d imagined. The second my feet hit the floor he was at my side demanding to know where I was going. While at first I’d found the idea of trying to escape laughable, it was starting to sound like a reasonable option. And despite his over attentiveness, I still couldn’t get any answers out of him.
I sighed and pulled my sore body out of bed and, as expected, Luca was following me to the bathroom a second later.
“What do you need?”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, that’s it, I cannot take this anymore! I have work to do and I cannot stay cooped up in your bed indefinitely. Either give me my phone or I’m staging a prison break.”
Luca sighed, but I didn’t give him time to argue. I shut myself in the bathroom and made my demands through the door. “My phone better be waiting by the time I open this door!”
When I opened the door again, Luca was indeed holding my phone and I held out my hand expectantly.
“It’s been less than a day,” he pointed out. “You needed rest and Elliot is still sleeping off everything he did yesterday, so he can’t come finish healing you yet.”
I waved my fingers in a gimme gesture and he finally dropped the phone in my palm. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a workaholic?”
“You can never meet my college roommate,” I decided, not looking up from my phone as I started digging through the notifications.
And while I knew this house well enough to walk it with my eyes closed, I nearly fell down the stairs when I saw Ollie’s message. Luca caught my arm and snatched the phone away again.
“Hey!”
“You can have it when you’re safely downstairs. Or should I carry you again?”
He was being absolutely ridiculous, but after reading Ollie’s message, I was starting to understand. In fact, I was a little freaked out myself. Because while I obviously knew I was hurt, I hadn’t expected Ollie to rip me a new one about almost dying. I made it down the stairs in a bit of a daze while I tried to piece together the night before.
The couch hit the back of my knees and I dropped down onto it. “Luca, I need to know what happened last night.”
He sat next to me and toyed with his own phone a little anxiously. It was an unusual gesture for him and I only grew more concerned.
“The hunters are after me, that part’s obvious,” I started. “I knew my articles would make me a target, but I didn’t think they’d go right for the kill. Were you hurt?”
“No. I wasn’t even with you when it counted. Everything that happened was my fault.”
“And what exactly happened?”
“You were badly injured. By the time I found you, you’d lost a lot of blood and had a punctured lung.”
“I see. Did you find the one who did it?”
He hesitated. “We did. Do you remember anything?”
“It’s pretty hazy. I remember I was going to go around and check out what was happening from the other side, but when I reached the end of the alley, a car pulled up on the cross street and parked so I stayed put. It sounded like someone got out, but the car was still running, so I figured it wasn’t a good idea to go that way. I turned around to go back, but then there was a sharp pain and… I don’t remember anything else. I must have passed out.”
“Sage,” Luca said gently. “You were awake when I found you. And the hunter who attacked you was already dead.”
“Dead? Someone killed him?” I felt the blood drain from my face when Luca said nothing. “You think I killed him?”
“We don’t know anything for sure, but he was killed in the same way as the hunters at the facility.”
The implication of his words made me want to throw up. Until that moment, I’d really doubted I could've been the one who hurt those men. No matter what strange conclusions we’d considered, deep down, I had no desire to kill. But this couldn’t be coincidence. Two different places, two different situations, and the hunters were dropping like flies in exactly the same way every time they came near me. What the hell was wrong with me?
My hands shook so badly it took me three tries to pull up the right contact on my phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“Someone who might have answers.”
“You can’t trust just anyone with this,” Luca insisted.
“I’m aware of that.”
“Sage, just wait. Let’s talk about this first.”
He was about to end the call, his finger still hovering over the button, when the video connected and the woman filling the screen arched an eyebrow over her sunglasses.
“My only son finally deigns to call his mother and it looks suspiciously like some strange man is trying to hang up on me.”
Luca yanked his hand back and side-eyed me, perhaps a little curious why my mother’s contact information was not under Mom in my phone, but instead labeled as Demon Woman . I suppose I could see why he’d been confused and might have taken that literally, given our colorful friend circle. To be fair, I’d added that contact information long before I’d ever met any actual demons. Had I known Ash or Zane or Jet before I created the contact, I’d have realized demons had nothing on my mother.
“Mother,” I greeted. “This is my friend Luca.”
I couldn’t see her eyes behind those sunglasses, but I could tell she’d rolled them. “Your hair’s a mess, your clothes are wrinkled, and there’s no way in hell your house is that clean. Which means you just fell out of bed at Luca’s house, but sure, for the sake of efficiency, we’ll pretend Luca’s your friend.”
There was no sense in fighting her. Not much got past my mother and if I told her I’d spent the night because I was injured, it would bring a whole new batch of accusations.
“Well, since you didn’t introduce him as your husband it means you didn’t call to tell me I didn’t get an invite to the wedding, and I know you didn’t call because you missed me, so what is it you need?”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. It wasn’t that my mother and I had a bad relationship, we actually didn’t. She was a good mom, despite being overly strict. I grew up knowing that I was loved and having everything I needed.
The problem was, we were maybe a little too much alike. Both of us had an extremely low tolerance for bullshit and an eye keen enough to detect it at a glance. Which meant my every attempt to rebel against her overbearing parenting was thwarted almost immediately, and I saw through her excuses every time.
Now that I was an adult there was a lot we didn’t see eye to eye on, but the difference now was that I could simply stop telling her what was going on in my life if I didn’t want to hear her tirades about how I was ruining all the effort she’d put into raising me. A fact she took very personally, hence the passive aggressive comments about shutting her out.
I leaned into Luca’s shoulder. “Actually, I was just trying to break it to you easy. We’ve been married for almost a year now and you didn’t even send a gift. I’ll be expecting a check in the mail.”
She ignored the joke completely because her eyes were stuck on something behind me. On the stair railing, to be precise. She’d grown up in this house and there was no way she didn’t recognize the carved wood spindles of the older homes here.
“How did you get in that house?”
I narrowed my eyes at the woman who’d sold this house without so much as telling me. “What if I said I bought it?”
“You’d be lying.”
“How do you know that?”
“It’s rented and occupied.” Her eyes narrowed on Luca before returning to me. “Are you living there with him? I certainly hope the address you gave me wasn’t fake, I already gave it to Chase.”
“What? The only reason I even gave you my address was in case of an emergency. Why the hell would you give it to Chase?”
“He wanted to come see you and he said he’d let me know how you’re doing. Since you won’t talk to me, I had to take drastic measures. It’s your own fault.”
I groaned in frustration. “You know how he is, he’ll never make it here! He’s probably lost already.”
She cracked a smile for the first time. “Considering I gave him that address over a week ago, I’d say so. He’ll find you eventually.”
“Dammit, mom.”
“Enough. Is the house why you called me?”
“The house?” Why would I call her about the house? “No. I want you to tell me what’s wrong with me.”
This was exactly why I’d used the video call. Her shoulders tensed and her expression froze, but her voice was completely natural when she answered. “Well, for starters, you never listen to your mother.”
“Enough with the lies. If you don’t tell me, I’m going to a sorcerer next and I will have him dig until I know the truth. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try a healer. And if that doesn’t work, dangerous situations seem to do the trick.”
My mother wasn’t easily shaken, but that comment was all it took. “Sage! What did you do? Tell me what happened right now!”
“What right do you have to demand anything of me when you’ve been hiding things my whole life?”
Her lips pressed shut and just when I was sure the call had been a waste of time, she swore. “You can never just let things go.”
“And you can?”
“I’ll be there in a couple of days.”
“You don’t have to come here, just tell me.”
“Stay out of trouble until I get there.”
“Mom!”
“She hung up on you,” Luca pointed out.
I sighed and rubbed my temple. “I have a weird and invasive favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Can I look through your house?”
Luca raised an eyebrow. “You think there’s something here?”
“She was really weird about me being in the house. It seemed like she’s keeping track of what’s going on with it too, but if she was that concerned about it, why sell it in the first place? Then there was her comment about the house being why I called, which implies there’s something to ask about.”
“I haven’t found anything left behind, but there are a few doors that just don’t open. The property manager said they were just storage closets that had been insulated and sealed off by the previous owner for energy efficiency. This house is too big for just me anyway, so I didn’t worry about extra storage.”
“Can I see?”
“Are you sure you feel well enough to be moving around?”
“I’m fine. Lead the way.”
Luca led me to the main bedroom I’d been sleeping in and opened the closet. He dragged a laundry hamper out of the way to reveal a small cubby door. “That doesn’t open, but there can’t be much space back there.”
The bedroom was at the back of the house and behind it would have been the eaves that extended over the back porch. I knelt in front of the panel and easily lifted it away. There was nothing locking it in place at all.
Luca took the panel from me. “What the hell? It was like it was glued in place when I tried.”
There wasn’t much space behind the panel but there was a single box stuffed to one side. Luca reached for it but quickly yanked his hand back.
“Shit! It zapped me.”
Before he could try again, I snagged the box and dragged it out.
“Looks like the house does recognize you,” he commented as we sat on the floor and examined the contents.
“Sure, but all that for pictures?” I lifted one of the smaller boxes and flipped through, finding photos of myself as a small child, along with my mother and grandmother.
“Wow, is this your grandmother? She looks really young here,” Luca commented, holding up a picture of her holding me as a newborn. “She barely looks older than your mom.” The back of the photo was marked in blue pen with my mother’s handwriting. Mom and Sage 1997.
She did look oddly young in that picture. “I guess so, but that’s not the way I remember her at all.”
There were older photos in sealed sleeves likely to protect them from time, but I wasn’t looking for a history lesson at the moment, so I quickly shuffled past, setting them to the side. Luca gathered them up, pausing on one of the older black and white photos. It was in pretty good shape and couldn’t have been all that old, but he stared for a long time.
“What is it?”
He flipped through the other pictures until he found the one of my grandmother holding me and he compared the pictures side by side.
“Luca?”
“Sage, how sure are you that your grandmother was a witch?”
My mind went blank, because of course she was a witch. Except the two photos in Luca’s hands showed the same person at least thirty to forty years apart, and she looked exactly the same.