Chapter 26
Selene
Something’s not right. Not once in the month he’s been in town has Jared ever been late for anything. I check my phone again, but there’s no message or missed call from him.
My view of the beautifully decorated town square warps with the familiar black spots that precede my visions.
Jared. He’s leaving the town square. His gait is stiff, and he keeps glancing from side to side like he’s expecting something to leap out at him. My head throbs, but I hold onto the vision. I need to see where he went. There.
My eyes snap open, and I rush off in the direction I saw Jared go. Pulling my phone out while I dart around the festival crowds, I dial Garrett’s number.
“Who is it?” Garrett’s deep voice rumbles—he gave me his number the night of the Devil’s Brew incident in case I needed his help with Jared, but he doesn’t have my number saved.
“Garrett, it’s Selene. Jared’s in trouble.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know, but I had a vision.”
“Shit.”
“I’m on my way to him now. The alley off Crescent, behind the diner. Meet us there.”
“Wait for me—you don’t know what you’re walking into.”
I shake my head even though he can’t see it.
I’m almost on Crescent. “Not a chance. He’s my mate, Garrett, I’m not waiting.
” Without giving him a chance to protest, I hang up.
Finally free of the crowds, I break out into a run.
I don’t know what’s happening, but my vision felt wrong.
All I know is Jared’s in trouble, and I won’t leave him to face it alone.
The streetlight closest to the mouth of the alley is out, and I slow to a deliberate but quiet walk a few feet away, searching for anything else out of the ordinary. Then I hear it. Jared’s voice.
“Can’t find me. Not here.”
He sounds… broken.
Throwing caution to the wind I race towards the sound of his voice, skidding to a halt when I see him about a third of the way down the alley, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth.
“Can’t. Not here. He can’t find me here.”
Tears stream from his wide, unseeing hazel eyes. What the hell happened to him?
Slowly I approach him with my hands raised, doing everything possible to signal I’m not a threat. “Jared, can you hear me?”
“He’s here. Can’t be here. Not supposed to be here.”
Kneeling in front of him, I try again. “Who’s here, Jared? Who did this to you?” He still doesn’t respond. I don’t think he even realises I’m here.
Whoever’s behind this, they’re long gone—Jared’s is the only magical signature I can feel in the alleyway—but when I find the supe responsible for this, there’s going to be hell to pay.
My magic might not lend itself to inflicting pain the way some witches’ specialities do, but I’ll find a way even if I have to tear apart the culprit with my bare hands.
Nobody hurts my mate and gets away with it.
Carefully, I edge closer, my heart breaking when he still doesn’t react. An idea comes to me. Risky, but at this point I’ll try anything to bring my Jared back. Even if his mind is somewhere I can’t reach, he should still be able to feel me. We’re mates. “Here we go.” I take his hands in mine.
The change is instantaneous. Jared’s whole body jolts, and his back slams into the brickwork behind him. “Jared, Jared, it’s me. It’s Selene.” He finally stops trying to tug his hands free.
Hazel eyes full of tears blink up at me. “Selene?” His voice is hoarse, like he’s been screaming. My own tears burn behind my eyes, and I grit my teeth with the effort of holding them back. I can’t cry. I can’t do anything that will upset Jared more than he already is. He needs me.
“Yes, it’s me. I’m here.” Frantically, I look him over. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” Overcome with relief, I throw my arms around him. After a beat, his arms band around my back.
Footsteps sound at the mouth of the alleyway, and Jared snarls, springing to his feet and shoving me behind him protectively.
“Easy there,” Garrett halts his approach. Jared doesn’t relax his defensive posture.
“It’s OK, Golden Boy, you know Garrett, right? I called him. He’s here to help.” The Alpha’s expression darkens with barely contained fury when the extent of his friends’ trauma dawns on him.
“You called him?”
“That’s right. He’s here to help us.” We breathe audible sighs of relief when Jared straightens from his defensive stance.
Garrett’s nose twitches. “I smell death. Is there someone else here, Jared?” I jerk in surprise. His shifter senses must be picking up on something I can’t—witches aren’t any better off than humans in that department.
“Further down,” Jared replies. His voice is flat, almost robotic. He’s shutting down.
“I need to get him out of here.”
A porcelain-pale female witch in a sharp black suit, and a similarly dressed male vampire with umber skin and a shaved head, appear a few paces behind Garret. “You’ll do no such thing,” she snaps, making Jared jump.
“Sorry, I had to call them,” Garrett apologises.
Ah. These must be the SIB agents currently assigned to Crystal Lake—every sanctuary town has at least two agents assigned to it, depending on its size and the threat levels it’s facing.
“It’s OK,” I tell him. To the agents who’ve stormed closer, I say, “Can I at least get him out of the alley?”
“That’s against protocol,” the woman sneers.
The guy next to her has the decency to look like he feels bad about it but makes no move to go against his partner.
Just what Jared needs. Two fucking jobsworths getting in his face while he’s freshly traumatised.
“Keep an eye on them while I take a look at the body,” she tells her partner.
“Here.” The vampire holds out a monogrammed handkerchief towards Jared. The dark-red colour of the fabric is an unfortunate colour choice given the situation. “I can’t let you leave, but at least you can clean up a little.” I take the handkerchief and offer it to Jared, who accepts it wordlessly.
The bitch, sorry witch, in charge storms back down the alley.
“Fear demon attack. You know what that means. Call everyone in,” she snaps.
Garrett curses while the vampire immediately pulls out his phone.
“You.” She glares at Jared. “What kind of demon are you?” First, how did a supe who can’t even tell what kind of demon someone is end up an SIB agent?
Second, how fucking dare she suggest Jared is behind this.
“Back off,” I snarl. “Can’t you see you’re upsetting him? Jared didn’t do this.” My head is still throbbing from my vision, and I need to get my mate out of here before these idiots push him too far.
“Then he won’t mind answering my questions.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” Garrett says.
“And who the hell are you to tell me how to do my job?” Is this woman for real? How can she call herself an agent, let alone one assigned to Crystal Lake, and not know who Garrett, the Alpha and fucking supernatural council member, is?
“He’s an insight demon,” Garrett explains, ignoring her pathetic posturing. “Get your vampire to check.”
The vampire in question rejoins us, done with his phone calls. “I’ll need a drop of your blood,” he explains to Jared apologetically.
“Fine.” Jared shoves his arm towards the vamp. “Just do it quickly.”
With more care than I expected given how they’ve been treating Jared so far, the vampire takes Jared’s offered hand in his, pulling it up to his mouth.
“You’ll feel a slight pinch.” Jared steels his spine, then nods for him to go ahead while I grit my teeth at the thought of some stranger biting my mate.
But the vampire doesn’t bite. He simply uses one of his elongated fangs to prick the tip of Jared’s index finger, then flicks his tongue out to taste the drop of blood.
It’s the least invasive and most respectful way he could have gone about testing Jared’s blood, and the agent goes up a little in my estimation.
“Insight demon. Just like they said,” he confirms, stepping back.
“Fine. What were you doing here, sir?”
“I was waiting for Selene at the festival then I got a feeling something was wrong. I followed it here. That’s when I found her—the body,” he corrects himself.
“Do you always go running towards danger?” she asks.
“Why are you still treating him like a suspect? You know he’s not a fear demon—he’s not the one you’re looking for.”
She sniffs haughtily. “He could be an accomplice.”
Jared’s laughter startles us all. It’s not his laugh though. This isn’t the warm, rich sound that fills my heart with joy. It’s empty. Hollow.
“Do you think this is funny, demon?” the witch snaps. Her colleague winces. It’s beyond impolite to refer to someone by their species, especially when you’re not of the same species.
“That you think I helped The Raven? Yeah. I do.”
The Raven? Oh, that’s right. The human news started calling the fear demon terrorising London that because of the black feathers he left on the bodies.
“You’ve got it all wrong,” Garrett warns them.
Why does it seem like he knows something I don’t?
I know Jared couldn’t have done this, not just because he isn’t a fear demon but because he’s not a killer.
But why did it sound like Jared meant accusing him specifically, not just the wrong kind of demon, was the mistake?
“You haven’t asked for my name.”
“What?”
“My name,” Jared repeats. “You’re agents, that means you can access the human internet off your phones, not just the supe network, right?”
“That’s none of your—”
“Yes,” the vampire interrupts, earning a glare from his insufferable boss.
“My name is Jared Devlin. Look it up.”
The witch scoffs. “We’re not going to—”
“You really should listen to him,” Garrett warns.
The vamp is already typing and whatever comes up in the search results makes his jaw drop. “You’re…”
“Yes,” Jared confirms. “I’m The Raven’s only surviving victim.”
What. The. Fuck.
I knew Jared had gone through something terrible before moving here, but I never imagined this.
The supe news mentioned a human male surviving the serial killer fear demon, but I don’t remember them sharing his name.
My ribcage cracks wide open. Jared almost died before I even got to meet him. I reach out to grip his hand in mine.
“Can I take him home now?” I ask the agents. My tone makes it clear their answer had damn well better be yes.
“I’m sorry, but we need to ask Jared a few more questions.
He might know something that can help us catch the supe responsible.
” I open my mouth to argue, but the vampire continues, “However, we can do that at the police station. As soon as the town protection team officers arrive to secure the crime scene, we can leave. They should be here any moment now.”
“Fine,” I reply through gritted teeth.
“You should get one of the protection team to take you home.”
“What?” I look at Jared like he’s grown a second head. “No, I’m not leaving you.”
A glimmer of my Jared lights in his hazel eyes, and he reaches up to stroke my hair. “I can tell your head hurts. Don’t lie to me,” he growls when I go to argue. “You were already struggling after whatever you saw last night, and I’m betting it was a vision that helped you find me tonight.”
“How did you know?” I didn’t tell him about the vision I had last night—I hadn’t wanted to worry him.
“Because I know you, Selene. I know you want to be here for me, but what I need from you right now is for you to go home where I know you’ll be safe. I can’t handle answering all their questions if I’m worrying about you too.”
“But what if he comes back, Jared? I won’t risk you having to face him alone.”
“I’ll stay with him.” Garrett steps forward, clasping a strong hand over Jared’s shoulder. “I’ll make sure the agents don’t keep him any longer than necessary and escort him back to your place once they’re done.”
“Are you sure?” I ask Jared. He’s not wrong—my head is pounding—but it doesn’t feel right leaving him, not after how I found him. What if he has another panic attack and nobody else can reach him?
“I’m sure. Rett’s got my back. If their questioning becomes too much, I’ll let him know, and he’ll get me out of there before I—” He clears his throat. “Before anything happens. I’ll be alright, I promise.”
I glance at Neith and the other two protection team members who’ve just arrived, then at Garrett, who nods. “OK.” I press a kiss to Jared’s cheek. “OK, I’ll see you at home. Be safe.”
The cheery hustle and bustle of the town square is jarring after coming from the tension-filled alleyway. Dodging jubilant festival-goers oblivious to the danger lurking in the shadows, Neith and I walk to my cottage as quickly as possible.
Now I’m not laser-focused on Jared, the pain rattling around in my skull is fully hitting me.
All I want is to get behind my locked front door and crawl into bed to wait for my mate to get home.
The farther from the Halloween festival we get, the more jittery my nerves become.
It feels like the shadows are reaching for me, ready to snatch me up and smother me with their darkness.
Reaching out with my magic, I scan my surroundings but can’t feel the presence of any other supernaturals.
I shake my head at myself. I’m being paranoid.
Once I get back to my cottage, everything will be fine.
“Is your mate alright?” Neith asks, making me jump.
“He’s shaken up, but he’ll be OK.”
“I’m glad to hear it. The two of you were a great help in the town square the other day.” Neith gives me her number, telling me to call if I have any problems, then sees me inside the cottage before heading back to the crime scene.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, I lock the front door behind me and rest my back against it.
I’m home. I’m safe. And soon, Jared will be too.
I hang up my coat, then set my handbag on the console table.
A wave of dizziness crashes over me when I bend to take off my boots, so I abandon the task, heading into the kitchen instead.
Stepping up to the porcelain sink in front of the window, I pour myself a glass of water.
A dark shape reflected in the glass catches my eye right as my magic flares in warning. Clawed hands grip the sides of my head, trapping me in a waking nightmare.
Jared’s lifeless eyes stare up at me. The gold in his hair completely drained away, leaving it stark white. His chapped lips part in a silent scream that will never end. A long black feather floats down to rest on his chest.
I’m half-aware of the glass I was holding sliding from my fingers to shatter on the floor. My hands claw at a man’s chest, a button from his coat dropping into my palm, then the nightmare swallows me whole.