Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Noah
Time beyond the house seems to crawl as the hours tick by and the light of day still hasn’t reached the horizon.
Richard’s grunts and groans fill the room as he refuses once again to talk. Blood drips from his nose and his eyes are painfully bloodshot as he heaves and grunts in his spot at the foot of the couch.
Harlan hunches over the man looking rather disgruntled as he tries again.
“Why are you here?” Harlan’s voice is growing more broken by the second but he pushes again. “Talk, Richard.”
“Fuck you,” Richard spits and hunches over, fighting the compulsion.
Ambrose and Cassius watch closely while Milo pats the cats at the foot of the staircase, keeping his eyes trained on the front door.
My heart is a raging mess as I jump between wanting to stop this interrogation or screaming at Richard to speak. We are running out of time. The Soultracker will come back.
Ambrose groans and pinches his nose. “Do I need to start ripping fingernails out to get him squealing?”
Xander still clutches me closely and for a moment his lips twitch with an evil smile. “I’m not against that idea.”
I slap his arm and shoot him a look. “Maybe I ask him?”
“Noah! Baby!” Richard pipes up as my voice carries through the room. “Tell your friends this is a big misunderstanding. Come on, baby.”
His voice is like a grater in my head. I never expected to be hearing it again after finding Moonfell. But here I am.
Stepping out from behind Xander, who growls slowly, I take a small step towards Richard.
I hate the way Richard’s dull eyes track me as if silently scrutinizing me.
Or how he smiles from his spot on the floor.
It’s not a real smile. I’ve seen it countless times before.
From the way it doesn't reach his eyes nor how his cheeks lift. Like he’s trained his lips to move upwards without actually portraying any kindness.
“Richard,” I start. “How did you find me?”
His smile drops. “Tell your friends to leave first.”
“Not a chance,” Xander growls and slides his arm around my waist, pulling me back from my ex-boyfriend.
Ambrose groans from behind the couch. “This is taking too long. Let me give him something to scream about.”
Richard tenses and a strike of fear slashes across his face. “Don’t fucking touch me!”
The group chuckles. And it’s Harlan who snaps first. With his vampire speed he practically throws himself on top of Richard, straddling his waist and clutching Richard's head with heavy hands.
Richard yelps but Harlan is faster as he uses more compulsion. “How did you find Noah?”
My mind whites out for a moment and everyone seems to also flinch at Harlan’s voice. It’s no longer his youthful, lighthearted rhythm but instead a gravelly, sour tone.
Richard hisses and pinches his eyes shut but his body shakes and more blood trickles from his nostril. Letting out a pained squeak he finally talks.
“A witch. She led me here.” He sucks in a gasp as if his words physically hurt.
“How?” Harlan coughs but manages to continue his assault.
The room tilts and I'm overcome with a wave of dizziness. Xander holds me tight, keeping my knees from buckling. Everyone watches closely and I'm sure none of us breathe.
“How?” Harlan growls and coughs again, yet tiny droplets of dark red blood spray from his lips and cover his chin. He quickly wipes it away, focusing all of his attention back on Richard.
Richard seethes, “A spell. The doll. She told me I could find Noah by following the monster.”
Harlan tilts his head, sizing up his prey. The doll in my grasp grows heavier by the second and I find myself staring intently at it. This tiny, insignificant thing in my hand has caused so much death and pain?
“Why the—” Harlan hacks up a glob of blood and spits it right at Richard, “creature?”
Richard shakes beneath the little vampire who straddles his waist, but Harlan doesn’t budge. Redness strikes up Harlan’s neck and he swallows profusely.
“I-I don’t know.” Richard’s eyes dart around the room as if seeking for something, only to have Harlan grasping his face tighter and directing his attention back to the interrogation. “She just said it would find Noah and stop anyone who got in my way.”
Cassius sighs and Ambrose curses under his breath.
“So he’s an idiot,” Xander growls at Richard. “You find some off-market witch to conjure a demon to hunt Noah’s soul just so you could find him and torture him some more? Haven’t you already done enough!?”
Richard's gaze snaps to Xander and the fear in his features sinks until Richard’s entire being goes still. My heart leaps into my throat. I’ve seen this before. The silence before the explosion.
“Xan?” I tug at Xander’s hand trying to pull him back. I haven’t noticed how close Xander has gotten to Richard as he looms over the human.
“It wasn’t meant to go for Noah,” Richard speaks. His voice no longer shakes with terror and his eyes harden as he glares up from his spot. “It was meant for you.”
Multiple growls permeate the room, and even Milo stands from his spot and cracks his neck, his tired gaze locking onto Richard.
“I knew it wasn’t Noah who blocked my number,” Richard chuckles. That thin smile I've grown so accustomed to over the years returns to his smug face. “He doesn’t have the back bone for it. Never did and never will.”
Xander hisses, his fangs descending as he snarls and for a second a flash of fear crosses Richard’s face. But he’s quick to smother it with another painful smirk.
“How could you?” I hear myself asking the question, yet I don't feel the words falling from my lips.
Richard licks his upper lip, his tongue catching a drop of blood. “How could I? You were missing, Noah! You ran away from me. From us.”
My mouth turns to cotton, and I swallow around my dry throat. I’m torn between screaming and crying, yet all I can do is clutch the doll to my chest and struggle through my next breath.
Richard scoffs, “See! Nothing’s changed. You’re still a spineless mess. No purpose, no sense of direction. You’re just a floating mass.”
Xander’s growl lowers an octave and the air in the room thickens as he shakes with anger. “Choose your next words wisely.”
Harlan adjusts himself on Richard’s lap by digging his nails into the sides of his face causing the human to shriek. “What do you want with Noah? S-Speak the…truth.”
By the time Harlan manages to finish his sentence, blood is pouring past his lips and dripping down his throat. He winces as he swallows and Cassius slowly hooks an arm under Harlan’s and pulls him from Richard’s lap.
The human is left alone as he writhes and groans, fighting the compulsion, but he’s exhausted by the dazed expression and glazed eyes.
I watch with bated breath as he slumps backwards, his chin falling to his chest. “Nothing.” His voice hardens. “He was mine long before he ever realized it. My shadow. My constant.” He swallows hard. “I just wanted to save him… make him need me enough that walking away was never an option.”
The room falls silent, and no one moves a muscle. Everyone except Nyx, who stretches. Her back arches high and her tail flicks in the air before she saunters across the living room and climbs right on top of Richard.
He lifts his head, his eyes meeting her glowing red ones, and he flinches. Pulling his lips back, he snarls at the cat as she simply stares deep into his eyes.
Xander takes a step back and holds me tightly. But I find the fire within me. It’s as if his touch on my skin fans the spark.
“You never cared.” I find my voice despite it being shaky. “I loved you. I tried to love you. Was that why you never invited me to meet your family or why you never introduced me to your friends? I was just some hidden ghost you used to warm your bed at night.”
“Sweetheart.” Xander winces at my words and I lean into him, enjoying the fact that this man has shown he’s willing to rip his own heart out for me.
Richard snickers, “You took the word right from my mouth.”
I pounce at him, only for Xander to hold me around the middle, my arm straining for Richard. “HOW COULD YOU!?” I scream at him. “You call me spineless yet here you are, cowering beneath a cat!”
Ambrose chuckles, his eyes twinkling as if this is the first time he isn’t completely bored out of his mind. Cassius holds Harlan against his chest as the little vampire watches with sad eyes.
“Sweetheart.” Xander clutches me, kissing the top of my head as I still try to break away so I can pummel Richard. “He’s told us all we needed to know. His fate is with Nyx now.”
His words cool the fire within me as my attention softens to Nyx, who licks at her thin lips. The movement shows off her overly large incisors.
Richard is quick to chuckle. His laugh bounces off the walls of the house and grates against my nerves. “You people are insane! The cat! What the hell is a cat going to do? Scratch me to death?”
Milo steps away from his spot at the stairs and slinks to the back door where he pulls it open, allowing the cold breeze of the night rush inside. “Worse.” His voice is barely above a whisper and I realize he’s only said it just loud enough for my human hearing to catch it.
Milo’s tired gaze meets mine and for a fraction of a second his lips quirk into a smile. My entire body lights up with warmth from just that tiny gesture of recognition. But that shared moment is soured as Richard’s yelp explodes through the house.
Nyx sinks her teeth into his cuffed ankle and gives him a sharp tug, earning herself another plea of agony from Richard.
She tugs hard, and he slides forward, his arms raised above his head as he desperately grasps at the couch.
Yet, with his injured arm and cuffed wrists, he can’t manage to find a handhold.
“WHAT THE HELL IS IT DOING!?” He shrieks and tries kicking at her, but with his ankles restrained his attempts are futile as Nyx rips him away from the couch and begins dragging him through the house, right towards the back door.