Page 107 of Eternal Obsession

Still, an unease tugged at me.

Something darker was stirring beneath the surface.

Danger loomed within her home.

Him. Orpheus watched over Ingrid while she slept. He had been tracking her. If unable to follow her himself during daylight hours, he arranged for his mortal devotees to.

I see exactly what you're doing—I sent him the stark warning. Sensing if I flew in there, I would put her in more danger.

You will cease this—before it’s too late.

Now get the fuck out!

Orpheus closed his mind to me.

Waves of anxiety threw me into a panic. I shot through Ingrid’s sitting room window toward her. Hearing me enter, Ingrid awoke. I skidded and caught myself seconds before stumbling into her bedroom. She leapt out of bed and peered into the sitting room.

Orpheus had disappeared before Ingrid had even caught sight of him.

Upside down, I clung from the light fixture suspended from her vaulted ceiling, staring down at Ingrid as she walked about the room.

Do not look up.

Ingrid checked both the kitchen and her front door, reassured not to find anything out of place. The phone’s shrill ring almost sent me hurtling. Ingrid answered the call and spoke rapidly into the handset, her expression stressed.

“Where is he now?” Ingrid asked the caller. “That name again?”

Alexander?

“Keep him locked up until I get there.” She headed into her bedroom to get dressed.

She was talking about Alex, and my grip loosened on overhearing that he was imprisoned back in Ingrid’s station. With sweaty palms, my grasp slipped, and I swayed on the fixture. Where the light was secured into the wall, cracks appeared in the ceiling. Dust fell into my eyes, hinting that the light was about to give way. A jolt confirmed my fear.

Ingrid passed beneath me and a sprinkle of dust trailed behind her. Without noticing, she headed out of the apartment.

I did a back flip and landed on the floor. I hesitated at the window, moments before exiting, astonished by the book titles strewn on Ingrid’s coffee table and disconcerted that all referred to vampires. Several beige folders lay nearby, and I peeked inside those too, dismayed by the content of the police files. Ingrid was investigating vampire-style murders.

Did she know who I was—what I was?

No, impossible.

Within minutes, I had followed Ingrid to Salisbury Police Divisional Headquarters on Wilton Road. I flew past the guards, making a discreet leap toward Alex’s cell undetected and tapped on his door. The place was awful, and it was terrible to bear the thought he was in here.

“Jadeon!” Alex jumped off the prison bunk and peered through the door’s grate.

“Shush.” I checked for the guards. “What the hell happened?”

“I couldn’t do it anymore. I can’t bear their thoughts,” Alex said.

“You’re not making any sense,” I snapped.

“I heard it was possible to get blood.”

“Alex?”

“The hospitals, they extract it for humans. And they⁠—”

“Who told you about such a thing?”