Chapter Four
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CYRIL WASN’T GOINGto be able to go back to sleep.How could he when once again, he’d been too late?When there had been nothing he could have done to save Diana, when he’d seen her death from her own eyes?
He felt nauseous, and while he didn’t think he was going to throw up, he knew for sure that going back to bed wouldn’t help.It was three AM, but he knew that the only thing he’d see when he closed his eyes was Diana’s death, and he couldn’t deal with it.
He rubbed his forehead as he walked into the apartment.He was going to have to find a way to deal with this.He couldn’t lose sleep every time he had one of these nightmares.He hated what was happening to him, but he also needed to learn to live with it.He doubted it would stop anytime soon.
Unfortunately for him.
He flopped onto the couch.Vale didn’t say anything, but Cyril knew he wouldn’t be going back to bed, either.When Vale disappeared into the kitchen, Cyril suspected it was to get some coffee ready, which was probably the worst thing they could drink at this time of night, but he didn’t care.Since he wasn’t going to sleep, he might as well get some work done.
He’d seen Marcus and Diana die.He knew enough to be sure that their killer wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.He didn’t think he was in danger yet, but he would be eventually.He was a necromancer, just like Marcus and Diana, and he was involved because of the nightmares.He wanted those to stop.He wanted the deaths to stop, and there was only one way to obtain that.
He had to find the killer.
He opened his email and scrolled back down to Diana’s.He reread it, hoping he’d missed something.The words hadn’t changed.There were some things he hadn’t paid much attention to earlier that he noticed now, though.In fact, there was a name that he hadn’t noticed before that gave him pause.
“Have you ever heard of Iris Bellamy?”he asked Vale when he walked back in, carrying two steaming mugs.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that name, no.Should I know who that is?”Vale asked, setting the mugs down on the coffee table and sitting next to Cyril.
“She’s almost a legend amongst necromancers.She’s a necromancer herself, and she’s powerful.”
“As powerful as you?”
The question was innocent, but it made Cyril feel some kind of way to hear himself put on the same plane as Iris.“I don’t know.I’ve always heard her mentioned as one of the strongest necromancers ever.I don’t know anyone who’s ever met her, though.I was never sure she was a real person.Everything I’ve heard about her sounds too outlandish, you know?”
“A little bit like how some of the things said about you are?”
Cyril shrugged.“Maybe.Anyway, Diana mentioned Iris Bellamy in her email.She said that she went to talk to her.”
Vale took a sip of coffee.“So the woman exists.”
“She does.”
“And she’s involved, even if she has nothing to do with this mess.If she’s as powerful as you say, she might know what’s happening to you.”
“Maybe.”Cyril did want to know what was going on with him, but he wanted to find Marcus and Diana’s killer even more.Unfortunately, he thought that the two were probably linked.It couldn’t be a coincidence that the change in his ability had made him live through Marcus and Diana’s deaths the way he had.
“Which means we need to find her.”
Cyril wasn’t surprised that Vale had come to the same conclusion as he had.“I think we do.I don’t know if she has any answers when it comes to my ability, but she met Diana.She has to knowsomething.Whatever it is, it wasn’t enough to save Diana, but I still have to try.”He’d go alone if Vale didn’t support him, but he didn’t think he would have to.
Vale would do everything in his power to protect Cyril.Cyril didn’t think that Vale cared much about Diana and Marcus, but he did care about him.If there was even one possibility that Iris knew what was going on and could help him, Vale would want them to talk to her.They just needed to find her.
“Do you think that we can find her?”he asked.
Vale gave him a crooked smile.“Us, maybe not, but I think that there are very few people in the world that Rachel wouldn’t be able to find.If Iris Bellamy isn’t just a legend as you initially thought, Rachel will know.”
He was already taking his phone out of his pocket.Cyril watched him, wondering what he would’ve done if all of this had happened and he hadn’t known Vale.Hell, he wasn’t completely sure that his abilities would have started to change if he hadn’t met Vale.If they had, though, he would’ve been completely alone dealing with it.He didn’t know if he would have survived.
He was glad he would never have to find out.
* * * *
VALE PUT THE CALL ONspeaker so that Cyril could hear the conversation.This was about him, and he shouldn’t be left out, even though Vale wanted nothing more than to wrap him up in bubble wrap and hide him in their bedroom.He felt like he’d spent most of their time together protecting Cyril from one thing or another, and while he didn’t mind being Cyril’s protector, he did wish that Cyril didn’t have to deal with that kind of mess regularly.He deserved a peaceful life, but instead, he kept getting drawn into mysteries, including one about himself.
