Chapter 6 #2
“How did you find her?” The sergeant continues to fill out the report.
I do my best to convey everything I noticed. From the way she was strangely sitting up, to how her neck was broken and twisted. Yet, there were no tracks leading into the cave, as if she had just popped into existence.
Malcolm is calm as he completes the report and bags the phone for forensics. He quickly thanks me, while calling his subordinates, and eagerly shows me out. All the while his coffee has now grown cold and forgotten.
I find myself standing outside the station, staring at nothing in particular as the rain pours and cars rush past me. The sound of water hitting the street is like white noise compared to the cyclone of thoughts that slice through my mind.
In all the years of my life, I’ve witnessed life and death. Some are more peaceful than others. Yet, I’ve lost everyone in my family; even their children are gone. But after everything I've seen tonight, nothing makes sense.
The poor girl. Her scent was wiped, eradicated. There was nothing left of her, besides her empty, soulless body.
A shiver grinds against my spine, and I roll my shoulders, feeling the cold of the rain biting at my skin through my shirt.
As a vampire, I'm no longer affected by the elements like I was when I was human, yet it’s not the temperature that's bothering me.
Instead, my instincts are still shrieking like a tornado siren.
Every cell in my body is telling me this town is no longer safe.
The wards have been breached. Something far worse than ghosts and ghouls has broken into this haven.
Noah.
I freeze. My heart jolts, and the town turns into a blur as I race up the main street and towards my house.
The rain is like needles against my skin, and the wind burns, but I don’t slow; instead, I speed up.
Desperation clings to my throat, and I hear my own scream of fear as I round the corner, my house coming into view.
The lights are on, and Noah’s car is parked in the driveway. But I can't let my guard down until I can see him. Hold him.
Throwing myself up the steps and barreling through the door with a bang, Noah squeals, a wooden spoon in his hand goes flying, and Nyx hisses at me from the couch. Pumpkin can barely keep up with the pandemonium as his eyes dart warily around the room.
“XANDER!” Noah stamps his foot. “Don’t scare me like that!”
I’m standing before him within a blink of an eye, crushing him against my chest and shoving my face into the thick curls of orange hair atop his head.
Sucking in a deep breath, his vanilla scent fills my lungs, and I groan as the final taste of sulfur leaves my system.
I squeeze him against me, feeling the way his heart hammers in his chest, yet his small hands circle my waist, hugging me back.
I cradle the back of his head, shutting my eyes and silently thanking whatever might be looking out for us. Shivers take over my limbs and all I want to do is fall to the ground and hold Noah against me for the rest of the night. Maybe even for a day or two.
“What’s wrong?” His voice is muffled as he speaks against me. It physically pains me to let him step away. Even the few inches between us feel like a mile, and I pull him back against me. Noah lets out a little ‘oof’ in the process.
Sucking in a breath to steady myself, I toss up whether telling him is a good idea. The last thing I want is to put anything more onto his plate when he’s already processing the fact I’m a vampire, let alone that he’s destined to mate with a supernatural.
I relent at the idea of making an excuse because he deserves the truth. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“How about letting me not burn my spaghetti sauce,” Noah chuckles.
My gaze turns to the stove, and I grimace at the mess he’s made of the kitchen. Yet with all the dirty utensils and bowls and cutting boards, his spaghetti sauce looks far too watery and bland to be enjoyable.
“Would you like a hand with dinner?” I ask, eyeing the wooden spoon on the floor behind Noah.
He giggles, nodding, “Please.”
I give him a tight squeeze, saving the memory of his body in my arms, and turn to the drawer to find a new spoon.
While I find some fresh ingredients to add to the sauce to thicken it up, I use the distraction of cooking as a way to process my thoughts. Noah takes a seat at the bench and looks at me expectantly.
“I found a dead body,” I say, carefully watching his expression.
His lip quirks. “As you do.”
I shake my head, unable to feel the faint stress at the edge of my lips as they try to form a smile. Being around Noah makes it impossible for me not to smile. He’s like sunshine encapsulated in a human body.
“It was far from town, in the forest. But…” I pause, mixing in a few chopped vegetables and adding some salt, stirring the sauce over medium heat to burn off some of the water.
“But?” Noah presses, clearly very invested in what I have to say without a hint of disgust for the fact I'm mentioning a dead body right before a meal.
“But, it… she didn't die from natural causes. Something killed her.” I strain the water from the boiling pasta and add it to the sauce, mixing them together.
“Oh,” Noah is quiet as I pull two bowls from the cupboard and dish up. “What was it?”
I shrug, adding forks and sliding a bowl to Noah, who quickly shovels it into his mouth. I make a mental note to keep an eye on how often he’s eating, as it seems he hasn’t eaten all day.
“I don’t know. That’s what worries me.” I sigh, unable to even consider eating. My mouth is so dry it hurts to swallow, and my hands are clammy. With my hackles raised, I doubt I'll be getting much rest tonight. Not that I need a full 8 hours like Noah does, but a few hours go a long way.
“Do you think you’ll find out what it is?” Noah pauses with the fork halfway to his mouth. “Or who?”
I grimace at the idea of ever going near the cave again, but I know I won't be able to rest until whatever killed the girl has been found and contained. “I don’t know. I've never come across anything like it. The stench…” I feel the blood I drank less than an hour ago rises up my throat. I swallow it down. “It’s something so foul I'm sure it isn’t from this world.”
Noah finishes his bite and nods. “Could it be from hell?”
His question makes me pause for a beat. I’ve been so wrapped up with the discovery and surviving the fumes of the cave that I haven’t even considered it.
Noah is a genius. Nyx has come back from her travels in the underworld smelling of sulfur and acid too many times to count.
I’ve even had to hose her off once when she came back smelling particularly feral.
“You might very well be onto something.” I give him a wink and pull out my phone, firing a text to Malcolm. He’ll have contacts who specialize in hell-bound beings, so I may as well help point him in the right direction.
Still, my mind flashes back to the cave. The silent scream on the girl's face. She would have been similar in age to Noah — that idea has a growl forming in my chest and my fangs aching to descend.
Noah’s head jerks up as my chest vibrates, and his cheeks turn a subtle pink. But the air surrounding him whirls and thickens with lust. Its spicy kiss covers my skin, along with everything else in the kitchen, and I find myself leaning over the counter to get closer.
He’s intoxicating. A human with so much power over me, and I'd be more than willing to give him anything he desires. And some.