19. Chapter 19
Chapter nineteen
LUCA
Sage was gone.
He’d snuck out while I was sleeping, which shouldn’t even have been possible. I heard everything now, my senses were beyond sharp, even in the darkest room I would have easily seen him slip past me.
Sure, I slept a little heavier once the sun was up, some weird quirk of what I was now. But even so, a human should never have been able to slip past me. Maybe another vampire, but…
But Sage wasn’t entirely human, was he? Had his demon taken over again? It could explain why he wasn’t answering his phone.
As long as the sun was up, I was stuck. The question was, did I call in some help and worry the others, or did I wait and go after him myself? Sage would kill me if I took it upon myself to tell everyone what was going on with him. He didn’t like looking weak or incapable. Not in any way other than how he intentionally presented himself, anyway. Anything I told them would shake that carefully constructed persona he’d created and he’d hate me for it.
He'd obviously left on his own. So as much as I hated it, I could do nothing but trust that he could take care of himself.
Hours later, the sun was setting and Sage was still missing. He’d sent one text hours earlier with two words. “I’m fine.” And every message I sent after that went ignored.
The second the sun was down I was out on the street, but his trail was long gone. All I could do was walk around and see if I could pick something up again.
I’d traveled halfway around Eastbend before I heard something that didn’t sound right. It wasn’t Sage, but a muffled whimper pricked my ears a second before the faint scent of blood carried on the wind. I soundlessly moved toward the scent, finding two men attempting to force a fox shifter into a van they’d hidden in the trees. She’d scratched them up pretty good but wasn’t strong enough to fight them off.
Her eyes took on a glint that told me she was going to use her animal form to get away, but the second man threw a punch that startled her out of the shift. Seeing that she wouldn't be able to handle the men on her own, I rushed forward and knocked them both out before shoving them into the back of their van.
The shifter had fallen to the ground during the struggle, and I offered a hand to help her up. She eyed me with wary brown eyes for a long moment before finally accepting my assistance.
It was something Silas had warned me about when I first changed. Vampires weren’t seen the same way other non-humans were. Eastbend was an accepting place, but there would always be some kinds that were less accepted than others.
Higher fae were considered top tier beings, with a god-like flawless beauty that drew the envy of many. But half-fae and lower fae were seen as severely inferior by their own kind and that opinion spread to other kinds. Shifters would generally accept other shifters, but even in the shifter world, it was far preferable to be born a wolf than a squirrel.
Among the magic users, sorcerers were the superior race, mages falling second in power, with witches and warlocks at the bottom. There were other kinds of magic users that fell in between, but they were far less common. For them, it was about power. Even the strongest witch couldn’t stand against a weak sorcerer without a powerful coven on their side. The family they were born into was also an automatic status marker, both among their own kind, and the larger community.
Rarely did anyone manage to step outside of their preconceived position. And yet, they all had one thing in common. They all looked down on vampires and the like. Some grouped demons in with us, but their connection to sorcerers also affected how others saw them. In our world, vampires, mares, banshees, and various ghoul types were more common, though still rare. And those that fed on the living or walked the line between life and death were the monsters of the monster world. Just like the others, we would never escape what we were.
I was lucky that those at the tavern accepted me so easily and that Silas had my back. He’d lived a very different life, at times completely alone for longer than I’d been alive. And it was him who’d told me not to take it personally when someone I encountered reeked of fear. Though, it was a little easier said than done.
“Th-thank you,” the fox finally stammered.
“You shouldn’t be out this late on your own.” Ah crap, did that sound like a threat? Her heart was pounding pretty hard. “The hunters have been everywhere lately. Haven’t you been to any of the meetings at the tavern?”
Her eyes widened. “That’s where I’ve seen you! You know Connor, right?”
“Yes. He’s a friend.”
She let out a breath and moved closer. “Sorry. I’m Ruby, by the way. Sometimes I wish I’d been born a grizzly, running into strange men in the middle of the night is rarely a good thing for someone my size. You looked a little familiar, I was worried you might be a cop!”
This was one of those times when it was better to keep my mouth shut, but my confusion must have been obvious because she wiped at her nose and came away with a handful of blood. “That asshole elbowed me in the nose. All I can smell is blood.”
Ruby dug a napkin out of her pocket and cleaned up her face.
I took a few steps back. “Do you want me to call Connor to get you home?”
“Thanks, but I can’t go home. My friend is missing, and after this,” she gestured to the van. “I’m terrified about what might have happened to her.”
“I’m out looking for someone, too. You go home and I’ll look for your friend while I’m at it.”
She stepped closer again. “How…?” Her question trailed off as she finally caught my scent and her eyes widened in horror.
Bracing myself for her reaction, I backed up again. It didn’t truly matter. We both knew I could be on her before she could react if I’d wanted to, but distance gave a false sense of safety. Though when she spoke, her response wasn't what I'd expected.
“Oh my gods, how rude of me!” She shuffled backwards and balled up the bloody tissue in her hand, stuffing it deep in her pocket and grimacing when that really did nothing to cover the scent of blood. “I didn’t realize you’re a vampire, and here I kept getting in your space while I’m bleeding. Sorry about that. I actually do have something of hers, hold on…”
She searched the ground for a moment before finding her purse and phone. After a moment of digging she breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, it didn’t break. Here, this is hers.”
Ruby tossed me a glass jar with a shirt tightly rolled up inside. It might seem like a strange thing to have, but to shifters scent was sometimes the easiest way to recognize someone. If she was out asking if someone had seen her friend, something like this was pretty much required.
Her phone lit up the dark as she showed me a picture of the two of them. The woman in front of me had red hair and brown eyes and in the picture her smile was bright and happy, her cheeks rosy. The woman next to her had light blonde, almost white hair with dark eyes and pale skin. I didn’t know that I could call the slight curve of her thin lips a smile, but her eyes reflected amusement and maybe even affection for the woman next to her.
“Her name is Leanna, she’s a wight. She has some ability to talk with the dead, but it’s limited and since I can’t, I don’t have any way to use that to find her. I asked a couple of witches if they could help, but none of them were willing to do that kind of magic. I tried to pay someone to help, but they won’t take a job involving a wight. People still believe the old bullshit that those who come in contact with wights will be touched by death, but it’s not true. Just scared people making up stories.”
Wights were another type of creature that fell into the monster category with some kind of connection to the recently dead. Unlike vampires, they fed off of energy, not blood. This was typically interpreted as spiritual energy, in other words, someone’s soul. Whether that was true, I had no idea, but just like the rest of us, they hadn’t escaped the stigma that came with being what they were. It wasn’t surprising that no one was willing to take the job.
“I’ll see what I can do. Next time, try Cloak and Dagger first or the wolf pack.”
“I didn’t think they would find missing people.”
“As long as it’s someone who wants to be found, they can help.”
Her head tipped curiously. “Is that why you didn’t go to them for help with the person you’re looking for?”
Walked right into that one. “Not… exactly. Is there someone who can pick you up?”
“I can take her home,” a familiar voice called from the trees.
The sheriff’s presence registered as he moved closer. He’d been downwind, and since Ruby and I were talking, I hadn’t picked up his breathing and heartbeat among all the nocturnal critters scurrying around.
“Sheriff. How long have you been there?”
“Not that long. Been out here looking into some things and followed the trail when the wind carried the scent of blood. You already had it handled by the time I got here.”
“So you stayed and watched from far enough away that we wouldn’t notice you?” I asked suspiciously.
He cleared his throat. “I apologize for the deception, it’s not usually my style. But as I said, I’m here looking into a few things and I wanted to know if you were someone I could trust.”
“What does that mean?” Ruby asked, clearly on guard around anyone in uniform. “Aren’t we the ones who need to decide if we can trust you?”
The sheriff dipped his chin. “My apologies, ma’am. I’m Sheriff Aaron Ross, I can see you home safely and take care of the men in this van. Mr. Marquez, I would like to speak with you about some related issues when you have some time.”
Ruby looked my way. “You know this guy?”
“We’ve met. For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’s involved in the things happening here in Eastbend.”
Ruby’s shoulders relaxed a little. The sheriff had purposely told her he would get her home safely so she could tell he wasn’t lying and my response lowered her guard.
“You’ll keep looking for Leanna?”
“I’ll do what I can.”
“Thank you. Give me your phone.”
I handed it over and she added her contact information. “My family runs the ice cream shop in town, I’m adding that number too. Let me know if you hear anything, no matter what time it is.” She sent a message to herself so she had my number too. “I’ll let you know if she turns up.”
“I’ll get going then.”
“Mr. Marquez,” the sheriff called. When I turned back, he was holding a card out. “I meant it, I’d like to talk to you when you have time.”
I was getting the impression that talk wasn’t optional, so I accepted the card and left Ruby to the Sheriff. God only knew what Sage could have gotten up to in the time I’d been delayed. But knowing the hunters were out looking for people again put a knot in my stomach.
The demon inside of him would have protected him this time, right? Except it didn’t last time. Maybe we'd misinterpreted its intentions from the start. We didn’t know enough to trust that it would even keep him alive. A sense of urgency made my chest tight. Sage might end up hating me when this was all over, but at least he’d be alive to hate me. It was time to call in some help.
“Sorry to bother you while you’re busy.”
Elliot gestured for me to come inside. “It’s no problem. What do you need?”
“A tracking spell?” I offered up the jar and Elliot took it with a raised eyebrow.
“Sure, who are we tracking?”
“A missing wight. Her friend is looking for her and I told her I’d see what I could do.”
“You won’t need more help with this?” he asked as he set up the spell.
I shrugged. “Everyone’s busy right now. I’ll check it out and see what I’m getting into first. If it’s too big to handle on my own, I’ll let Silas know and we’ll go from there. The hunters were out again, so I’m guessing it’s more of their plots to steal power or whatever it is they’re doing.”
The sorcerer nodded as he pulled the shirt from the jar, using it to run the spell. The magic glimmered slightly, a barely perceptible glow trailing over the map before dispersing over a small, less populated part of Eastbend.
“Was it supposed to do that?”
“No, it’s like something here is blocking magic, but her trail is being marked instead.” Elliot’s eyes widened. “You said she’s a wight? They can talk to the recently dead, she may be getting some help.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the dead may be showing us the way even though she’d behind a barrier that’s blocking magic.”
“That’s…” Creepy? I’d died and was still walking this earth, what right did I have to call anything creepy? “Can you do one more?”
Elliot eyed the familiar glasses in my hand for a long moment. “How serious is it?”
“Won’t know until I check it out. I’ll let you know.”
He sighed and took them from my hand. “Let’s not tell anyone about this.”
In other words, if Sage was intentionally dodging me Ollie wouldn’t approve of Elliot tracking him down, which was understandable. But we also needed to make sure Sage wasn’t in trouble, so he was going to do it anyway.
Elliot ran the spell and this time it worked as expected, showing him in nearly the same spot the first spell had dispersed. Dammit Sage.
“Think that’s a coincidence?” he asked.
“Nope.” I stuffed the shirt back in the jar and headed off. “I’ll let you know when I find him.”