CHAPTER SEVEN #2
Collith had come up behind me. He saw the paper, too, and moved in a blur, taking it out of the guy’s fingers before I could. But he didn’t read it—he just handed it to me without a word.
I took it slowly, knowing Collith had gotten the note so I wouldn’t have to. He was trying to spare me whatever horrors he could, no matter how small. My gaze lingered on him for an extra beat, my heart aching. Then I forced myself to look down at the trembling paper.
There were only three sentences, but they hadn’t been written in haste. The handwriting was neat and clear. I read the male’s last words once, then twice.
I have heard about the others. I am the last. He will come for me soon.
He seeks the grave of Olorel.
Collith swore under his breath as he reached the same conclusion as me.
There had been a purpose behind all this, a connection between the victims. These people hadn’t been hunted and eaten—they’d been killed for information.
For whatever reason, Lucifer thought they knew something about Olorel’s grave.
That was why he was doing this to all these people. Every time Lucifer got a lead, he sent Oliver. And judging from the fact that they’d slaughtered so many families, the devil still hadn’t found it.
Why was a long-dead original angel’s grave so important? How did Thuridan tie into all this? Or the mark?
Once again, I reviewed what I knew about about Jassin’s adopted son, and the faerie that my best friend had fallen in love with, for some unfathomable reason.
Well, maybe not so unfathomable now that I’d been inside his head.
Thuridan had been kind once. He’d been the sort of person who protected his gentle brother and befriended a lonely, isolated Lyari, who’d been spurned by all their peers.
Then he’d become a Guardian of the Unseelie Court. He’d cut off his brother and Lyari like they’d meant nothing to him, and years later had marched into my Court to accuse me of murder.
He was also afraid of werewolves. Deeply, deathly afraid.
None of this was relevant, though. No matter how many details I came up with, I couldn’t piece together a reason why on earth the devil would want him. Or why Oliver was doing such terrible things to innocent people, I thought, looking down at the spatter of blood near my shoe.
It was beginning to feel like I was trapped in purgatory. I was going around and around—obsessing over Lucifer, Thuridan, Oliver—and drifting through all these bloody houses, but nothing was changing.
No, that’s wrong. I raised my gaze, a frown hovering at the corners of my mouth.
I looked at the body in the chair again.
Even if I couldn’t figure it out, I knew at least one detail had changed.
These victims, this house, was different from the others, somehow.
I didn’t know why, but the mere fact that Lucifer had deigned to make an appearance was proof of it.
Before tonight, only Oliver’s scent had been at the scenes.
Was the Dark Prince closer to finding this mysterious grave, or had he actually learned where it was? And what did that mean for us?
The ominous message also explained the wreckage downstairs, and the fact the children were gone.
This family had known the devil was coming.
They must’ve sent their kids away, then waited here for Lucifer to show up.
But why? Was it just to keep his attention on them, or had they actually thought they might survive if they fought back?
Even if they could’ve beaten Lucifer, they’d never have stood a chance against Oliver.
The paper crumpled in my hand, startling me. I held it up again, frowning as I glanced between the white-haired male and his final words.
“Something isn’t adding up. The note, or the timeline, maybe,” I muttered.
I went over it in my head, thinking out loud.
“So he hears the Beast killing the two downstairs, then shoots himself. The Beast comes up and sees the body, but just … leaves? And how did this guy know his killer wouldn’t find the note? ”
We were still standing close to the desk, near enough that the distinct smell of decay was getting to me.
Lost in thought, I turned away and instinctively started walking toward the stairs.
Unless the dead guy had a message in his other hand, there was nothing else to learn here.
I was desperate to be back in the fresh air, far away from the stench.
“He didn’t just leave.”
Collith’s voice was soft, but it stood out in the heavy stillness. I paused near the top of the stairs and looked back at him. “What?” I said.
Collith’s expression was strange. His gaze dropped to the piece of paper I was still holding. “The Beast. He didn’t just leave.”
“How do you …” I trailed off as the answer came to me. I looked down at the note and thought, Of course.
Oliver’s scent.
“He found the note and read it,” Collith said, confirming my suspicions. “Then he put it back.”
The implications of what he was saying sank in. I pursed my lips to hide my reaction, but I knew Collith could hear it. I stared at the floorboards, my heart racing.
Just as the white-haired male had known the devil was coming, Oliver had known that, eventually, I would come here, too.
He’d tucked the note back in those curled fingers and kept its existence from Lucifer.
It meant that he truly did have some humanity left.
It meant that he wasn’t loyal to the Dark Prince.
It meant that he was trying to help us.
I lifted my head and refocused on Collith.
He’d gone back to appraising the body, his dark brows knit together.
I probably should’ve been doing the same, but all I needed to do was close my eyes and I could see every detail.
I’d had enough death and horror. Now I only looked at Collith.
There was a faint sensation in my chest, and it was one I’d felt before.
A gentle tugging, as if there were a string around my heart and the other end was tied to his.
He could’ve kept this from me, the fact that Oliver had defied Lucifer and left us a clue.
I wasn’t sure it was a truth I’d even wanted to know, but when Collith and I had been together—if we could even call it that—lies had been our undoing.
If I’d wanted proof that he had changed, and things between us were different, here it was.
The invisible string tugged again, and I wasn’t sure whether it was fear or love.
Maybe both. For me, the two always seemed to go hand in hand.
I waited until Collith met my gaze, and then I said, “Let’s go home.”
Something in his expression shifted. Something that made me feel a little better in this awful place.
Nodding, Collith crossed the room and followed me down the stairs.
We made our way back through the house, and when I saw that open doorway at the end of the hall, it took everything inside me not to run toward it.
Seconds later, we were beneath the stars, breathing fresh air.
Our rental car was parked right out front, since the house was so rural there was no chance of witnesses.
Collith opened the door for me, and I lowered myself into the passenger seat, fighting a sense of déjà vu.
He circled the hood, got in on the other side, and pressed the start button.
Gravel crunched under the wheels as he navigated down the driveway and back onto the paved road.
“The Order will hear about this, if they haven’t already,” Collith said.
Pressure bloomed behind my ribs. I mentally added it to our growing list of problems. “And then they’ll be even more motivated to find him. Dracula will get involved, if he hasn’t already.”
Collith didn’t respond, but I could see the signs of worry he didn’t know I’d learned to recognize.
The subtle tightness in his jaw. The distant look in his eyes.
Neither of us spoke again as we returned the rental car and then ordered a ride to our next destination, the address of the closest Door.
Within minutes, a car stopped next to the curb where we stood.
The driver was a middle-aged human with a kind face.
Collith waited for me to get in first and folded his long body in next to me.
He sat close enough that every time our driver turned, Collith’s hip brushed against mine.
Neither of us moved away.
Once we’d arrived, the driver pressed on the brakes and bent his neck to peer upward. His tone was dubious as he said, “Are you sure this address is right? Pretty sure it’s a slaughterhouse.”
“It’s right,” Collith and I answered in unison. Then we got out and closed our doors at the exact same moment.
“We’ve been spending too much time together,” I told Collith, walking toward the looming building. Behind us, the driver hadn’t moved. I could feel him staring in our direction, but Collith and I both ignored him.
Collith shrugged. “As the humans say … jinx.”
“You can’t say it now.” My lips quirked. “You have to say it right after the jinx happens.”
“Says who?” Collith countered. We reached the door and he opened this one for me, too.
I touched the corner of my mouth, feeling the soft rise of a smile.
It seemed impossible after everything we’d just seen.
I walked past Collith, and when he moved to follow, his hand pressed against the small of my back.
The brief pressure felt like he was saying it again, those words he’d murmured to me at the last house. I’ve got you, sweetheart.
And as I stepped into the darkness, feeling the familiar whoosh of magic, I believed him.
My nephew was dreaming about elephants.
I stood beside his crib, staring down at Matthew’s sleeping face. The images from his mind were brief, almost hesitant. I saw a long nose spouting water. A baby elephant pressing against its mother. A herd of them playing in a sunny lake, surrounded by birds and tall grass.