Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
Salvatore
Iwalk a few blocks from Professor Raith’s house in a different direction from Elodie, because I know that’s what she’d want and we’re supposed to be staying cautious, blah blah blah.
I still don’t see how it’s my fault that I stepped up to look after our match and one of her idiot friends decided to play spy.
No one’s around to see what I do now. So I’m going to keep looking after Elodie my own way.
When I’ve circled around to the shitty car I drove here—also for caution’s sake—I aim it toward Elodie’s neighborhood. No one’s caught me watching over her house yet. I can make sure it stays that way.
I park farther down the street, pull a concealing spell around me as easily as breathing, and saunter toward her home.
The twinge of sensation that ripples from my palm when my match is nearby doesn’t kick in, even when I’m directly across from the Devine house. Frowning, I stop under the oak tree that’s been my frequent perch and concentrate on my bond mark.
A faint tingle quivers through my body with the slightest tug to the west. She’s nowhere nearby.
Did she double back to talk to the Raith brothers more after Worth and I left? Or maybe she’s taking a more roundabout route getting home for extra subterfuge. The rumors at school have obviously left her shaken.
I launch myself onto my usual branch. As I settle in with my back against the trunk, my phone vibrates in my pocket.
I grab it with a leap of my pulse in anticipation of a message from Elodie. Instead, it’s an incoming call from Simone.
For a couple of rings, I just scowl at the name of my distant sort-of cousin. I can just imagine what she might have to say about the current gossip after the nuisance she’s made over my possible interest in Elodie.
But if I don’t talk to her, she’ll probably switch to hassling Elodie. Someone’s got to lay down the law. I’m the one who messed around with Simone in the first place.
I’m never going to take my dick’s advice on anything again.
I strengthen the concealing barrier around me and answer the call in a low, terse voice. “What’s up, Simone?”
She hesitates before speaking, though I don’t know why she’d have expected a friendlier greeting. “I just… wanted to see how you’re doing.”
I restrain a snort. “I’m fine. That was so urgent you needed to call?”
“Well… with everything people are saying at school… seems like you’ve got a lot to deal with…”
She’s obviously digging for a confirmation or denial about Elodie, just being cagey after I’ve gone off on her before.
I tip my head back against the tree trunk. “People talk shit all the time. It’s no skin off my back. And it shouldn’t matter to you either, because nothing’s going on with us anymore. Nothing at all. Never will again. Not sure how many more ways I can say it.”
“I know,” she says with a wobble in her voice that sets my teeth on edge. She’s quiet for a moment. “I’ll get over it. I wasn’t trying to bug you. But we’re still family, aren’t we?”
Exactly how much family is up for debate, given the levels of separation between our bloodlines, but her mom or grandma or someone was a Morelli and so is my mom. “Yeah. What’s your point?”
“Family should look out for family.” Another pause. “It’s not only me wondering what’s up with you. I’ve overheard your parents talking. You’ve been MIA a lot. They don’t sound all that happy about it.”
She hangs up abruptly, leaving me with a click and blank silence.
I blink at the phone before ending the call on my end. My annoyance softens.
Simone was sticking her neck out for me. Giving a warning of possible doom.
Maybe she does care about me as more than just a guy to get her off. Which makes a whole one person who’d have my back between both sides of my family, but one is a hell of a lot better than zero.
I shoot her a quick text. Thanks.
I don’t want to give the impression that certain feelings have changed, but she should know I appreciate the heads up.
When I focus on my bond again, Elodie feels just as far away as before. Forehead furrowing, I tap out a quick message to her.
My words soar off into the ether… and remain unread.
Does she have her phone silenced? Where would she have gone after we left the Raiths’ house?
Uneasiness wriggles through my nerves. I skim through the numbers I dug up through various means Elodie probably wouldn’t approve of and tap on Professor Raith’s.
He answers on the second ring, as brusque as I probably sounded with Simone. “Yes?”
I roll my eyes. “Hello to you too, Professor. I just want to know if Elodie came back to your house after we left.”
I don’t bother to identify myself, but he must recognize my voice. His stays hard, but a more urgent note creeps into it. “What? No. Why would you think that?”
My stomach sinks, but I don’t want to loop this prick in any more than I need to. “Just wondered.”
I stuff the phone in my pocket and hop down from the tree.
Elodie’s gone somewhere, almost definitely on her own, and cut herself off from outside communication. After seeing the bunch of us sniping at each other over her, after feeling like she fucked up in all different ways.
I don’t like where those thoughts lead me at all. I really don’t like where they might have led her.
I hustle through the thickening night to the car and head back west. At every stop sign and red light, I check in with my sense of Elodie’s presence.
It gets a little stronger as I close in on her location, but I can’t tell anything else about what she’s up to through the bond. The neighborhood it’s brought me to doesn’t give me any clues.
Her prissy friends definitely wouldn’t be hanging out on the fringes of lucent territory, mingling with drabs in the low-rent bars and restaurants I’m passing. With each thud of my heart, I’m more sure something’s wrong.
Did the people who are out to murder her grab her off the street? Did she go chasing some other lead alone?
When the twinge in my bond solidifies enough that I know Elodie must be in one of the hazily lit buildings ahead of me, I pull over and park. The urge to race to her possible rescue yanks at every muscle.
But I have to be smart. We still aren’t sure what we’re up against. These evil fuckers are powerful.
I want to protect her, not make the problem worse. I’m man enough to recognize that problem might be bigger than me.
What if she needs all the help she can get?
Grimacing, I reach for my phone again.
“What now?” Professor Raith says when he answers, but there’s a rough edge to his voice that sounds more like worry than frustration.
“Something’s up with Elodie. Message Worth, and all of you get your asses here fast. I’ll meet you at the corner of Samson and Verdane.”
I hang up before he can pitch a fit about it, since that seems to be his default mode. At least Worth is likelier to respond to the professor’s summons than mine.
As I wait for the rest of Elodie’s matches to catch up, I stalk farther down the street to the intersection I mentioned. A line of people in clubwear stretches from a boxy building with neon paint splattered across its black walls.
I don’t know why Elodie would have decided it’s a good time to go dancing, especially without asking me along, but she’s around that building somewhere.
Several of the people in the line are giving off lucent vibes. Not what I’d expect this far from prime magical territory, but the place must have developed a reputation.
The Raith brothers show up first. The professor marches over from his car with brisk strides while Asher tags along at his heels.
Professor Raith follows my gaze toward the dance club and the businesses on either side of it. “She came here?”
He must be able to sense her presence as well as I can.
“Or someone brought her here,” I point out.
Who can say how willing a participant she was in the trip?
The uncertainty has me shifting impatiently on my feet. Why can’t I run in there and mow down all the pricks who might have hurt her?
Because she might be there on purpose and I’ll fuck that purpose up.
Worth shows up only a few minutes behind the Raiths. He lopes to join us, his face even darker than usual with ominous concern. “Do you have any idea what she’s doing?”
As many complaints as I could make about the Worth prince, at least he seems to take Elodie’s safety nearly as seriously as I do.
I shake my head. “Not so far. Let’s see what we can find out.”
Professor Raith glowers at the buildings ahead of us. “She could be just burning off some steam.”
Asher’s mouth slants doubtfully. “She didn’t seem like she was in a partying mood when she left.”
“If she wanted us to join her, I’d imagine she’d have extended the invitation.”
“Not if she was kidnapped, you snuffer,” I snap.
Worth flexes his hands at his sides. “I don’t know… She mentioned a dance club to me once. Someplace Grady Tadros had talked about. She could be investigating.”
I huff. “Without us? She shouldn’t be going anywhere near those murderous assholes without a little backup.”
Professor Raith takes a step forward. “I’ll go have a look. The rest of you stay here and keep out of trouble.”
I shove in front of him. “No fucking way. If I thought this was a one-person job, I wouldn’t have called you three in to begin with. If she needs us, she might need all of us.”
Worth knits his brow. “It’ll make more of a commotion, all of us together. We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile.”
For fuck’s sake. Suddenly it’s not so hard to imagine why Elodie would have left us all behind when this is how we’ve been acting around her.
A punch of shame sears through my gut and into my voice.
“We’re supposed to be protecting our match ahead of anything else.
You all think I’m a loose cannon with psychotic tendencies and criminal habits, but guess what even criminals have figured out: Sometimes you have to work together to get a thing done right.
So why don’t we stop arguing and find out what our match needs?
If we hadn’t been fighting so much in the first place, maybe she wouldn’t have run off alone. ”