19. Kyren
Chapter nineteen
Kyren
Walking down the hallway of the academy with Tate at my side, I thought about what happened last night.
Had I not been following Jack with my shadows since Tate had gone to get the note from her, I never would have known that she had gone to the club.
If I had been a few minutes later, then we could be walking to her funeral and not to ask a witch about the note.
“Should we really be doing this now, mi lobo?” I shoved my hands into my pockets and glared at those around us. “We already have a prime suspect for her attack.”
If I hadn’t been in such a hurry to get Jack out of there, I would have taken care of the auburn-haired vampire right then and there.
For once, I pushed my blood lust down and focused on getting her safely home.
Even now, I itched to go back to the club and rip him apart until not even the Hunter’s Guild could identify him.
“You mean that vampire last night?” Tate interrupted my murderous thoughts with a shake of his head, flicking his lip ring with his tongue. “We don’t know for sure that they and the note are connected yet. That vampire could be a completely different threat altogether.”
I hummed, not knowing enough to persuade him otherwise.
Maybe it was hopeful thinking on my part but a part of me felt as if it was all connected. It made sense though. What are the chances that the one time Jack goes out without one of us with her that she’s attacked? And to a club that was known for students from the academy gathering there even?
Then there was the fact that Xinyi and Iris left her there. No call. No worry about where she went. It was too suspicious to have been just a coincidence. However, I knew I couldn’t just go to Jack with my accusations without any proof.
While I didn’t like how things turned out at the club, I couldn’t help but be grateful for what it led to.
Waking up next to Jack had been the best sleep I’d had in weeks.
It had been almost impossible for me to pull myself away from her later that day.
I would have stayed longer but the sound of her parents moving around the house made me worry I would be caught in her bed and I wasn’t sure how they would feel about that.
That wasn’t a confrontation I wanted to have just yet.
Though, it was hard. All I wanted to do was lie there and watch her sleep. I hadn’t expected I’d get to be that close to her without some sublime begging first.
But just being able to hold her, to be able to breathe her in again, reiterated to me that none of the other stuff mattered. My sire. Her parents. None of it. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to be with her.
There was just one hiccup.
The hunter.
Tate, I had no problem sharing Jack with, but the hunter had to go. There was no way I could share her with him. He was arrogant. Spiteful. And completely prejudiced against my kind.
No matter how much Tate teased us, there was no way in hell that I’d ever sleep with him. Jack would just have to get rid of him. She’d see that she was more than fulfilled by Tate and me and realize she doesn’t need the hunter. I was sure of it.
“Wait here,” Tate ordered, while he dipped into the class he had with the witch Tabby.
Normally, I didn’t care for it when he gave me such orders. I did and went where I wanted. However, this was for Jack. If my staying back so he could cozy up with the witch helped, then that was exactly what I would do.
I didn’t have to wait long. A moment later, he came out of the classroom with whom I could only assume was Tabby trailing behind him. When she saw me, she paused, the scent of fear leaked off her.
Two different colored eyes stared me down. One bright blue while the other a black sucking hole that enveloped the pupil and gave off a strange glint from inside it. I was no stranger to the dark but even her eyes made the back of the hair on my neck stand at attention.
“Don’t worry about him.” Tate grinned and clapped me on the shoulder. “He’s harmless, promise. We just want to help Jack.”
“Right,” she drew out but kept her distance from me. “What did you want to show me?”
Tate pulled the note from his pocket and handed it to her. “Can you get anything off this? There’s no scent, which is almost impossible to do, so we figured some witch might have charmed it or something?”
Tabby pursed her lips, her mismatched eyes staring at the note.
“There is definitely magical residue on this, but I can’t tell what kind of charm was used.
In any case, selling and distributing charms outside of approved sources is strictly prohibited.
If someone charmed this, which they certainly did, then they must have done it at the black market. ”
I watched as Tate’s brows furrowed. “Black market? There’s a black market for this stuff?”
“Oh, of course.” Those mismatched eyes lit up. “There’s a black market for just about anything you can think of. Organs. Rare trading cards. Drugs. Even,” she lowered her voice, “special types of blood. You just have to know where to find them.”
I had to admit my interest was peaked at the mention of special kinds of blood.
I wanted to ask her what kind of blood. There were so many more mystical creatures that never came out of hiding that it would be damn near impossible to taste their blood.
You could go a century and never hear of a sighting.
Even though I generally only fed from Tate for the most part, I itched to go to this market.
Simply for the experience if anything else.
Tate and I exchanged a look. “And do you know where this black market — for magic — is?” he asked.
“Well…” Tabby glanced around, chewing on her lower lip. “I’m really not supposed to talk about it. It’s kind of frowned upon in polite circles but…” She grabbed a scrap of paper out of her bag and scribbled on it. “It moves around a lot, but this should be where they’ll be next full moon.”
“Full moon?” Tate’s brows rose in concern.
The witch laughed nervously. “Yeah, I know kind of inconvenient for a werewolf, but it’s a prime time for doing magic. I suggest you don’t take any chances if you plan on going there.”
“Okay, thanks.” Tate held the piece of paper in his hands, concern coming down the bond.
“No problem. I’ll see you in class?”
Tate nodded, and the little witch skipped away.
“Well?” I glanced at the paper over his shoulder. “We got what we came for. Should we check it out? The next full moon is only a week away.”
Tate mused over my question hesitating a moment before saying, “I think we should tell Julian about it first. We did promise to do this together.”
“Fine.” I scowled. “We can include the hunter, but you must promise to keep your emotions in check. We don’t need you shifting in the middle of the market.”
Tate nodded. “It does pose a problem. But hey, at least we know there won’t be any other werewolves there.”
“Right.”
Tate thought his ability to suppress his werewolf side came strictly from his bond with me. I tried to explain to him once that he would have to already have been a strong alpha with control over his wolf for that to be the case.
Pulling out his phone, Tate typed a message. “I asked Julian to meet us after class. He should have lunch after this. Also, have you heard from Jack? I’ve sent her several texts but haven’t heard back from her. Do you think she’s mad at me for something?”
I patted Tate on the arm in reassurance. “No, she’s not mad at you. She lost her phone last night back at the club.”
“Maybe we should go back and get it for her?” Tate mused and then shook his head. “Anyway, I’m going to go to class for once since we have time to kill. Are you going to be okay?”
I arched a brow, making him laugh.
“Okay, okay. Fine. Just don’t spill any blood on campus. We have enough to worry about without adding clean-up to our list of things to do.”
While Tate went to class, I pondered over what he’d said.
If I wanted to get back in Jack’s good graces, I had to start somewhere.
Perhaps getting her clutch back would be a step toward that.
Though I highly doubted that it was back at the club.
If anything, Iris or Xinyi had grabbed it when they took off.
Last night came to mind again, the whole scenario was highly suspicious. Why would they leave without Jack?
Determined to find Jack’s bag and get some answers, I wandered through the halls until I reached the cafeteria. If my memory served, Iris and Xinyi didn’t have class now. I’d seen them hanging in the cafeteria during this time before, so hopefully, they would be there again.
Stepping into the cafeteria, I ignored the onslaught of smells and noise, my eyes scanning the crowd for the telltale sign of the two women. I found Iris talking to another vampire and Xinyi with her face down on the table, an untouched plate of food before her.
When I approached Iris, she turned her attention from the vampire, who took one look at me and abruptly stood and left. I supposed I did have a prickly reputation.
“We need to talk.”
At the sound of my voice, Xinyi lifted her head. Her eyes widened on me. “Kyren, you’re back! You are back, right?”
I looked the human over, taking in the bags under her eyes and the smeared makeup. “No, not really. Just for today.”
“Oh.” Xinyi slumped in her chair. “Jack’s not here, if that’s who you’re looking for.”
“I know,” I clipped, letting the annoyance fill my voice. “I’m the one who took her home last night.”
Iris stared at me, not answering my unasked question, while Xinyi blew out a breath.
“Oh, thank god. We couldn’t find her after she went to the bathroom last night and thought maybe she took off, but then she had left her purse with her phone and stuff in it, and we didn’t know what to do.”
I arched a brow. “Why didn’t you call someone?”
Xinyi shrank in her chair under the heaviness of my gaze.
Her mistress answered this time. “Jack is an adult. She can take care of herself. Also, we did not think she would want her parents to know what happened.”
“Yeah, exactly,” Xinyi pointed out. “We figured we’d check on her today and then, if she wasn’t home, report it.”
I wasn’t sure how much I believed their story, but I didn’t know either of them enough to press the issue. “Do you have her purse? I’ll take it to her.”
“Oh, yeah.” Xinyi dug in her satchel bag and pulled out a small black clutch. “So she’s okay, right? We didn’t just leave her to the wolves, did we?”
I opened the bag, making sure her I.D. and phone were in there before closing it and standing. “Yes, she arrived home safely.” I let the words ‘no thanks to you’ linger in the air between us before leaving without a word.
Well, this wasn’t an apology or a way to take back the last few weeks, but it was a start. I’d never had to win someone over before. My natural charm usually did most of the heavily lifting for me.
I wasn’t sure why, but the less I said, the more people wanted to be around me. It helped that Tate talked enough for the both of us, but I didn’t think he could help me with this.
No, I’d made this mess with Jack, and now I’d have to clean it up on my own, starting with her bag.
While Tate was still in class, I headed over to her house. I thought about walking up to the door, then remembered what Xinyi had said. Jack definitely wouldn’t want her parents to know what happened last night, so I couldn’t just approach her with her bag without them wanting an explanation.
Instead, I parked a short way away and used my shadows to let me in once more.
My lips turned down into a frown when I realized that Jack wasn’t in her room. Instead of waiting for her, I sat the clutch on her bed for her to find on her own. I turned to leave when the bedroom door opened.
The icy cool blue eyes of Antoine Durand stood there in the doorway an unreadable expression on his face.
I’d thought I’d be overcome with rage when I came face to face with one of the people responsible for my sire’s death. Much to my surprise, I didn’t feel much of anything, only a need to make sure that Jack was alright.
“She forgot her purse,” I stated simply.
Antoine inclined his head. “I’ll make sure she gets it.”
Nodding, I let my shadows wrap around me once more and left behind the last bit of my need for vengeance in that room.