31. Bella & Darius Tell Finn
Chapter thirty-one
Bella & Darius Tell Finn
Blood is everywhere. Enough to terrify me.
We finish examining the body on the exam table and I take blood and skin samples, cutting away shredded clothing, finding deep claw marks that absolutely do not resemble any animal attack I’ve ever seen.
We put John in a body bag, and then into the freezer in the back.
For now. We might need his body for more clues or testing before burial.
Finn said John has no family and no one to contact about his passing.
Charlie stays close beside me the entire time, unusually silent. Which somehow makes everything worse.
Darius stands near the clinic entrance with shadows clinging to him like he brought horror indoors. His dark coat is streaked with fog, his expression neutral like usual but a touch of worry pushing through if you look closely.
“I’ll call the mayor later and inform him of the death. Give him an update on the situation.”
For one strange second, the entire clinic seems to orient itself around him. Even Charlie watches him differently. More alert. Less wary.
I glance toward Darius again.
“Where did you find him?”
Darius nods once.
“On the northern edge of The Wilds, just off the road.”
Finn swears softly. Charlie presses immediately against my leg. The bad smell is stronger now, he says quietly.
“Well,” Finn says faintly. “That officially felt more like a horror movie.”
No one answers him. That’s what finally makes him nervous. His eyes move between me and Darius. Then narrow.
“Oh no,” Finn says.
Darius folds his arms.
“Oh no?” I repeat.
Finn points between us.
“That silence right there? That was a ‘we know something Finn doesn’t know’ look and silence.”
Charlie sighs heavily from the floor. He finally noticed.
I rub a hand over my face.
“Finn—”
“No,” he says immediately. “No, no, no! I recognize this energy. This is either cult behavior or supernatural nonsense.”
Darius speaks calmly.
“Both, technically.”
Finn freezes. I close my eyes briefly.
“Well,” Finn says after a long moment. “That was somehow the worst possible answer.”
I like him, Charlie says.
“Finn likes you, too,” I mutter automatically to Charlie.
Finn points immediately at Charlie.
“Thank you. Finally someone in this building appreciates me.”
Darius’s mouth twitches slightly. Which honestly feels surreal under the circumstances. I look between them both. Then toward the blood on the table we haven’t cleaned yet. Toward the windows where fog presses against the clinic glass. And suddenly I’m exhausted.
“We should all go upstairs,” Darius says quietly.
Finn blinks.
“Upstairs?”
“You deserve the truth,” Darius says.
Finn stares at him for a long second. Then at me.
“Oh my God,” he whispers. “You slept with him already.”
“Finn!”
Darius actually laughs. Low. Warm. Dangerously attractive.
Finn looks between us slowly.
“Oh, this is bad,” he says.
Ten minutes later, the three of us are in my upstairs living room while rain starts to lash against the old windows. I poured a whiskey for Finn because he is going to need it.
Charlie occupies the center of the rug like a furry therapist overseeing group trauma.
Finn grips the whiskey glass in one hand. “Okay,” he says carefully. “I would like everyone to know I’m trying very hard to stay emotionally flexible right now.”
“That’s admirable,” I tell him.
“Thank you.”
Darius stands near the fireplace, impossibly composed despite the fact that he’s about to casually destroy Finn’s understanding of reality.
Charlie watches him calmly.
Finally Darius says, “Finn … vampires exist.”
Finn stares. In silence. There’s a very long silence.
Then he says, “Honestly? Weirdly not the most upsetting part of this week.”
I blink.
“What?”
Finn gestures wildly downstairs.
“We have ghost doctors, murder forests and your dog apparently participates in conversations.”
“How did you know about Charlie?”
“Pretty obvious.”
Charlie lifts his head proudly. I contribute significantly.
Finn points at him. “I knew it!”
Darius’s expression softens slightly. “Finn, you’ve suspected something about The Cliffs for years,” he says.
Finn slowly lowers his drink. The humor fades a little.
“Yes.”
That surprises me. Finn exhales slowly.
“My grandmother used to tell me never to look toward The Cliffs when the fog rolled in.” He laughs nervously. “She said never go there. And she said my aunt did, and she was too impulsive. She made me promise to never go there. I thought she was being dramatic.”
“She was trying to protect you,” Darius says quietly.
The room grows still again. Then Darius tells him everything.
The vampires at The Cliffs.
The donor system.
The Ceremony.
The vows.
The bell before sunset to protect.
The silver necklaces to protect.
The glamouring when necessary.
The feeding and agreements that have kept Bloodhaven Cove functioning for generations.
Finn listens without interrupting once. Which is genuinely alarming. By the end, he looks pale.
“So…” he says slowly. “The patients downstairs. Are they vampires, too?”
“No. But they are connected,” I say quietly.
“The blood corruption spreads through feeding,” Darius adds. “Between donor and vampire, both ways it seems.”
Finn stares into his drink.
“And now something in The Wilds is making it worse. Or started it?”
“Yes.”
“We wanted to bring you in on the truth, Finn. We trust you. And now with the patients, you had to know as much as we do.”
The fire crackles softly. Charlie moves to sit beside Finn now. Comforting him. Which honestly almost breaks my heart. Finn scratches absently behind Charlie’s ears.
“So let me summarize,” he says faintly.
“Please don’t,” I mutter.
“You’re dating a vampire king.”
“I am NOT dating him.”
Darius says smoothly, “She kissed me first.”
My jaw drops. Finn slaps the couch dramatically. Charlie looks smug. At last. Progress.
“You are all horrible,” I inform the room. But Darius is looking at me now. And beneath the fear and chaos and impossible revelations, something warm unfurls low in my chest anyway.
Which is honestly its own kind of problem.
“Come on, boys. Down to the clinic. Now!”