Chapter Thirty-Seven
Darius
Our attempts to find her yield nothing. It doesn't surprise me.
Sage has always been clever and resourceful. Now she's sharpened by rage, stripped of restraint. She will do whatever she must to reach her goal.
Finding her won't be simple. Yet she is still tied to them. The bond she forged with the vampires remains, faint but intact. Through that thread, we might track her before it's too late.
By evening, we regroup at the Darrows' house. Their people are gathered there, whispering and nervous. When they see me stepping in beside the vampires, shock ripples through the room.
Before explanations can be offered, the young vampire—the mayor's daughter—speaks.
"All right," she says, eyes darting between us, "either the world's gone completely mad, or…
I don't even know. First you say Sage is dead.
Then that she's turned. We went searching for those injured people, and now—" she gestures at me, incredulous, "now he's here? "
Kayden rolls his eyes, a small, bitter smirk on his lips. "Yeah, we noticed. Hard to miss, isn't he, Don? But he's on our side. For now."
Tomas speaks directly to Asher. "Do you trust him? After everything?"
The valkyrie watches me in silence, her hand near her immaterial weapon. I meet her stare evenly. I expected the distrust. It changes nothing.
I stand still, arms crossed, shirt sleeves rolled to the forearm.
Asher's nod is short and decisive. "Yes. For this mission—for finding Sage—we have no choice but to trust him." Shifting back to command, he adds, "Did you find the humans?"
Tomas answers, "We did. Three targets. Two are alive, transferred to the hospital. The boutique owner didn't make it. Eira checked the medical records—heart condition. She was gone before we arrived."
Two of three. Better than I expected from this assembly.
"Do you have a strategy to find her?" Tomas asks, glancing again toward Asher. The echo of hierarchy between a commander and a soldier, merged with that of a sire and his progeny, is not lost on me. An interesting dynamic: authority and allegiance, forever entangled.
"To find her," I say, "we must first understand what she wants. Desire dictates movement. If we identify what she seeks, we can use it. Leverage it. Without that, she could be anywhere."
Kayden gives a sharp laugh, all venom. "Oh, I can enlighten you. She wants blood. Carnage. Maybe to crush my heart again or try to kill me for the fourth time. She's part vampire now. Logic doesn't factor."
Asher shakes his head. "No, Darius is right. She's thinking strategically. She halted our pursuit, sent us chasing the people she injured. That means she's still close, searching for something. If we can determine what that is, we can set the trap."
Kayden mutters under his breath, "Right. Forgot that Mr. Strategy and Mr. Destiny are teaming up now."
I ignore the remark. Their tension, their grief, their pride—all are noise. Sage is the signal. And I will find her.
"All right then, I have a question." The valkyrie speaks at last. Her gaze remains fixed on me, though her words are aimed at the others. "When we find this… evil Sage, what exactly do you plan to do? Is it even possible to bring her back? She isn't a regular vampire, from what you've told us."
"A wise question," I comment.
"Don't flatter me," she snaps, eyes narrowing.
"A fact, not flattery," I reply evenly. "Our intent is to bring her back to reason, as Darrow has done before with other vampires."
"Will it work?" she presses, turning to Asher.
"We hope so," Asher answers.
"It will have to," Kayden adds, his jaw rigid with resolve.
"While I believe in Asher's methods," the young vampire cuts in, her tone uncertain, "don't you have some… I don't know… plant-based remedies? Powders, elixirs. Something that might work on what she's become?" Her gaze finds mine, wary, but touched with pleading.
"There is something," I admit. "A serum of sorts. Not guaranteed to succeed, but possible. However, it requires a main ingredient we don't possess—her blood from before the change."
I don't elaborate further. There is little record of dark nymphs for good reason: they are meant to be eradicated, not studied.
The vampires exchange a glance. Asher speaks. "The druid has it. She asked for a vial of Sage's blood as part of the payment to perform our wedding ceremony. But I don't know if she's still in town."
The mention of that ceremony, the bond forged between them, sours the air in my throat. I suppress the taste. Emotion serves no purpose here.
However, the knowledge does. A thread of possibility unfurls where none had been. A path that does not depend on the moral optimism of a vampire monk who believes enlightenment can tame such kind of darkness.
"Maeve O'Cairn is still here," I tell them. "I keep track of her movements. She hasn't left."
Kayden's brow lifts. "Though you scorned her badly, satyr, that little funding withdrawal stunt of yours wasn't subtle."
"If she has what we need, she will give it," I answer, tone unchanging.
Whatever it takes.
"He talks, and it gives me shivers down my spine," Donna blurts out. "How you managed to get Sage to say yes to marrying you with this—" she motions towards me, "is beyond me."
The words hang in the air, heavy and unwise. The room stills. All eyes shift to me, waiting to see if her candor will cost.
I offer a faint smile. "I appreciate your honesty, Donna Bright. But Sage knows me in ways others don't."
The relief is almost palpable. Shoulders ease.
Breath returns. They mistake my composure for mercy.
I am not petty enough to strike for words, and certainly not from someone so young.
But they don't know that. Volatile creatures, all of them, reacting to every flicker of power like mortals to a storm.
"Well," Donna continues, voice quieter now, "I hope you bring some of that Sage-seducing side of your personality forward, because you can't bribe or brute-force this transformation.
What Sage is now, and I can understand a part of it, will take everything you have—everything we all have—to bring her back. "
"And she will have it," I say simply. "Everything."
She studies me for a moment, then nods. It is a gesture of trust. Small, but real. The first of their circle to accept me, however tentatively. Not a development I expected. To them, I'm still the necessary evil, tolerated only because there is no alternative.
"Then we go," Asher says. "To Eira. Maeve is either with her, or she'll know where the druid is."
"Eira hasn't answered my last messages," Donna adds carefully, glancing up from her phone.
"Sage doesn't know we need her blood," I tell them. "She wouldn't go there."
Kayden shakes his head. "Unless there's another reason she'd want the banshee. Or the druid."
That possibility lands like a chill through the room.
We move at once. There is no time to waste.
As we leave, a thought settles quietly at the back of my mind: time is not on our side, but perhaps destiny is. Even if I no longer believe in it.