Chapter 47
AVA
I slide into the car with Valen behind the wheel. He greets me with a gorgeous smile that quickly drops into a frown at my expression.
“What is wrong?” He tilts his head in question, a rogue strand of hair falling over his brow, and I almost laugh at the lack of contraction usage. He knows better at this point but still defaults to it when he’s not thinking sometimes. Either that, or he does it to tease me.
I sigh and buckle myself in before settling back against the seat. I run a hand through my hair and watch the rain outside. “There’s been another murder.” I roll my head over to look at him.
“Copycat Zavier again?” At my nod, he curses and floors it.
“Well, this is turning into a habit,” Zav comments at all of us gathered in his living room.
Once home, we promptly called everyone to get together to discuss everything that’s been happening. This time we switched it up and are having the conversation at Zav and Celine’s apartment.
“Why can’t we get together to do something fun like go see a movie?” Zav whines from his seat on the chair in the corner. Celine sits on his lap since he made a fuss when she tried to sit by us. Something about us trying to steal his woman.
“I don’t understand why he needs to be here,” Valen mumbles in reference to Levi, who is sitting on the couch with Luna at the opposite end.
“Luna needs to be included since she’s entangled in this too now. You know Levi doesn’t have a choice in coming,” Celine says pointedly.
Zav covers her mouth, and she glares at him, trying to shake his hand off. “You’re not on a nickname basis.” Levi shakes his head at Zav’s antics. “Why the hell are you playing with my cat?” he asks Levi. “Let him go.”
It’s true. Midnight is settled on Levi’s lap, and Pom Pom is resting on his feet. The familiars made their way over to him as soon as he arrived.
“What are you, Snow White?” Zav blurts.
“It’s not my fault they have great taste.” Levi shrugs a tattoo-covered shoulder.
Somehow in the arctic temperature, he’s rocking a sleeveless tank that showcases his muscled arms and inked body.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about whether he has more elsewhere on his body.
It’s a chaotic canvas of tattoos, but they also seem to depict a story, and Levi seems like a complicated guy.
Even with all her protesting, I catch Luna watching Levi with a glint of interest in her blue eyes.
Unfortunately for her, she isn’t as smooth as she thinks, and Levi catches it too.
When they hate fuck, it’s going to be electric.
I clap to steer everyone back on course. “Okay, let’s stop fighting and get down to why we’re here. Whoever is copying Zav’s killings just committed another murder.”
Zav clears his throat and holds up a finger. “Let’s say copying loosely since it doesn’t look anything like my work.” Of course he has to make that distinction again. I’m not even surprised. “It’s super fucking weird, though. Where did it happen this time?”
I rattle off the general vicinity, and he loses himself in thought before shaking his head.
“All this weird shit going on has to link together somehow, or no? The rain from a potential concentrated area of supernaturals, Valen’s captivity and the usage of his blood, the killings, and your magic,” Zav finishes.
“It has to be,” Celine agrees, looking a little paler than normal. I itch to hug my best friend, but I stay where I am because I know Zav would end up holding on tight to her rather than letting me get to her. Possessive fucker. “But how?” She voices the question that plagues us.
We all sit and try to connect the dots. Well, everyone except for Levi, who seems to be in his own world, cuddling with the familiars. A small cloud of black smoke appears on and around his body occasionally. It shimmers in and out of existence almost like the bond he shares with Luna.
“Are you on fire? What’s going on with the smoke?” Zav suddenly asks.
Glad it’s not me going crazy.
Valen must sense my thoughts because he leans close. “I saw it before myself.” I turn to look at him and he nods.
Levi whispers a word that must be in another language, and the foggy cloud materializes once more on his forearm. He speaks to it softly, seeming to encourage it?
“Speaking to your nonexistent friends?” Zav scoffs.
The cloud flares for a second before settling into a familiar form.
“A chameleon?” I ask, confused.
Sure enough, a green chameleon sits on Levi’s arm.
It looks nothing like the black cloud from five seconds ago and exactly like a reptile you’d get at the pet store.
Levi strokes the back of it lovingly, and the chameleon’s eyes shutter in pleasure.
The only odd thing about it? Its eyes are a crimson red.
“This is Trix,” Levi supplies but doesn’t say anything else.
“Okay.” Zav drags out the word. “Not only do we have a freeloading demon, but he brought a discount dragon.”
Levi’s head snaps up and his eyes flare angrily. His hair flashes a red color, and I realize the pattern I’m noticing but don’t voice it.
Holding the chameleon to his chest, Levi directs his retort at Zav. “You can say whatever you want about me, vampire, but don’t say shit about Trix. You will regret it, I can promise you that.”
Luna looks over at me, stunned, and I catch a wide-eyed Celine glance over as well.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Luna scoots a little closer to Levi and tries to defuse the situation. Rubbing Midnight’s furry ear, she looks at Levi. “He’s just joking. He didn’t realize it was a sore spot.”
None of us know what’s going on since Levi doesn’t offer up much information, but he seems to deflate a little at Luna’s ministrations.
“Wait,” Celine says suddenly. “Do you have the addresses on hand for the killings from the copycat?”
“Actually, I do.” I pull out my phone and find all the pictures I’ve taken. I figured they might be useful. “Here.” She grabs the phone as I pass it over to her.
Setting her phone on the coffee table, she references mine and draws a little dot on each of the sites. The rest of us watch as she does her detective thing.
“Holy shit,” Celine breathes.
“What?” Luna leans forward.
Celine has drawn a star, hitting each of the murder sites, and at the dead center of them all is a familiar location.
“The hotel.”