CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO #2
“With only two and a half hours before sunrise, and we’ve been walking for two.
He’d probably be moving twice our speed.
That’s still an hour of running. Exhausting.
He probably didn’t run the entire way, but he would have run much of it,” Alexius finished softly, frowning.
“I’m beginning to hate these vampires. They’re not making any sense. ”
“Oh?”
“Don’t worry about it. They won’t hide from me forever.
Let’s keep going. There’s a chance we find that this one decided to get cover from the daylight, and that will be a good lead for me.
If I can find that tonight, I’d be willing to head home.
If not, I stay out here and find my own place to shelter. ”
“Most vampires don’t like trying to find a place…” Lucas said, his tone confused and worried. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. I don’t need to rest during the day if I don’t want to. I still get tired, but it’s not debilitating unless I sleep and get woken up. So, I won’t sleep.”
“Insane, but I feel the need to ask… do you need to feed?”
“I fed before the party, and I’m old enough to make do with that even under a stressful situation. It’s more than enough.”
“No one has ever told me how old you are, you know.”
“I was old when Callahan was young, but no one, not even me, really knows my age. The best I can say to you to put it in perspective is that. I’m not as old as the ruler of the werecats, but I’m closer to Hasan’s age than Callahan’s. By a long shot.”
“Ah.” Lucas made a face. No self-respecting werewolf in Callahan’s pack would like Hasan, who notoriously bullied the Alpha werewolf whenever he had the chance.
Hasan took time out of meetings and his day to bother Callahan in the meanest of ways, properly demeaning, and Callahan suffered through it.
Hasan never did it to Corissa, Callahan’s mate and the other Tribunal werewolf.
Hasan also didn’t torment other members of the Tribunal the same way, either.
Only Callahan, as if there was a special level of vindictiveness there.
“I’m friendly with all the supernaturals of the Tribunal. I have to be to do my work.”
“Understandable.”
“We won’t discuss it further.”
“You’re that age, and Everly is my daughter’s age,” Lucas said, still making an all too expressive face that showed his entire opinion. “Forgive me, but…”
“We’re immortal, we’re adults, and we’re consenting.
Anything past that is not your problem, wolf.
” Alexius wasn’t going to get into that argument.
Her age had nothing to do with it. It was her fire.
If she had the same personality at a century or a thousand years old and he had been unfortunate enough to never meet her, he’d probably still be drowning in need once he did.
“I’ll keep my thoughts to myself then.”
They walked for thirty minutes, and Alexius looked at the building in front of them, where the vampire’s scent disappeared into darkness. It was perfect timing that Lucas lifted his phone and showed a tracking app with someone coming closer.
“Daughter is almost here,” he said. “This is where I stop, huh?”
“Thank you for the assistance tonight. The scent got faint enough that I would have certainly lost it if not for you.”
“The pack owes you for your patience, I believe, when it comes to Lexi and Everly,” Lucas said, sighing.
“But it was good to get out like this. Been a long time since I was needed for something interesting. Callahan tries not to put parents on dangerous assignments. He doesn’t want to have to raise orphans. Doesn’t want that guilt in the pack.”
“It’s a fair concern. And kind of him to find a way to spare parents from possibly leaving their children behind. Have a good rest of your night, Lucas.” Alexius gave him a small nod, then headed inside the old building.
He heard Lexi arrive and pick up her father.
At the same time, he found the evidence he had been hoping for.
Resting spots. There was more than one, but not all of them had been used during the last day.
They were well hidden—a closet, old debris helping to protect.
The building wasn’t great; most people would drive right past it.
Most people, but not all. He could smell the body before he found it.
Some human who was probably overly curious, with some fetish for exploring these abandoned places, had stumbled on the monsters inside.
It was old now. Probably a few weeks, but the vampires had actually done a decent job protecting the world from the smell.
The werewolf hadn’t caught it. Alexius had to get within ten feet to catch it.
It was too old for him to identify bite wounds or anything, but it had definitely been drained.
“Not good,” he whispered to himself. He didn’t want to stay.
He didn’t like the idea of spending the day with a hidden, rotting corpse that would eventually get found.
He certainly couldn’t be there if some human came in and found it.
He also didn’t want to move it or have it removed.
The vampires would never come back if he did that.
He noted the address and would tell Maria about it, asking for cameras or records about it when she had the chance, but first, he left, moving swiftly back the way he came.
He’d hoped to catch one of the vampires there, but what he had was new intel.
He moved faster without Lucas. The two and a half hours of walking were cut down to an hour and a half by himself, moving swiftly, out of sight of humans and cameras. He got back to his car and sent the information to Maria, explaining he was calling it for the night as well.
Then he drove back to the house, knowing Everly would be there. He was beginning to wonder if he actually would need her help, but this was only the two-week mark, and a breakthrough could still come.
He walked in to find her on the couch, a movie playing, and wearing only a large shirt, from what he could see. She looked up and smiled, surprised at his return, and he forgot about how he was getting frustrated with his hunt.