Page 52 of Slayer

No.

No, my poor mother.

“She lost him,” I said to the empty car.

Celia nodded. “She had always told me she’d never marry. She never trusted marriage after seeing Kitty and her father. But Donovan was perfect for her, and eventually his steadfast loyalty won her over. Something died in her that day. Her zest for life, her light. The spark that made my bestie my bestie was gone. I thought it was depression and that it would subside, but she got distant. Started going to the mortal realm for a few days at a time without a team. I think she was searching for him.”

Chills rushed up my arms. “Why?”

Celia peered at me, clearing her throat. “We all sort of have a code here…hunter to hunter. If you see one of us get turned, we want you to take us out rather than have us live like that.”

Take us out… Kill them?

She went to kill Donovan?

“Life here became too happy for her. She said she felt bad being around me and Derek as newlyweds all the time and bringing us down. Which she obviously wasn’t. Then one night, she just left. No note, no packed bag, just gone.” Celia shook her head.

My mind spun as I did the math. And then a year later, she got pregnant with me.

“Can a vampire and a hunter have a baby together?” I asked suddenly.

Celia chuckled. “No. Donovan can’t be your father. Besides, he would have come up in the hunter DNA database.”

Whew. There went that theory.

So… Who was my dad?

“I heard a rumor she went to Europe for a bit. Then I heard she’d been spotted in the northern area of Veil Haven where Shadows Hallow Academy is. Then she just fell off the map. No one had seen her or heard from her, and Kitty had her declared legally dead. It wasn’t until…well, now that I think of it, a few days after your birth that I found her dead in Spokane.”

Spokane…a few days after my birth.

“Wow.” I sat back in the car and blew air through my teeth.

Celia turned to me. “Did she leave you a note? Did she know she was pregnant? How did she have a will?” She was speaking to me but also to herself.

I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t want to read that letter to her. I knew I could trust her with 99 percent of it, but this one thing Molly had asked me to hide for whatever reason.

“No note.” I shrugged.

Celia nodded, then turned to face me. “If you want to get some of that money and say goodbye to your friend, I got permission to take a two p.m. portal to the mortal realm with you today.”

I perked up. “See Rae? You did?”

She inclined her head. “But you’ll have to see her to say goodbye. Whatever cover story you want. Scholarship to college in Australia, I don’t care. You can’t be checking in with her every week. This is goodbye.”

I nodded in understanding. Then a thought came to me. “Can we get the money first?”

Celia grinned. “I’d do the same.”

I chuckled. It wasn’t what she thought. I had something different in mind.

CHAPTER

TEN

An hour later, Celia and her hunting partner, Professor Silex, drove me to the portal site. There were many in Veil Haven, I was told, but we’d be taking one of the ones on campus. Professor Silex was a part-time professor of vampire combat, and he was also in Celia’s fighting unit. I was learning more by the minute, and Celia didn’t seem to be bothered by my questions, answering them as we walked.

“What’s your role in the fighting unit?” I asked Celia as she walked across campus with Professor Silex, my pace quick to keep up.