Page 58 of Unbound

“What? You killed that chaos demon pretty quickly, and it’s been quiet ever since.”

We all stare at her in disbelief. Does she have any idea how badly she could have just jinxed us? Though, annoyingly, she has a point. Vaelric has been free for several days. And all he’s done is unleash one chaos demon? One we managed to kill almost immediately?

That doesn’t feel like him. It feels too easy. Almost like the chaos demon was never the real attack.

Just something loud enough to keep us busy while Vaelric did something else.

“He’s poking holes in everything,” Xavier says. The coalition. The humans. The wolves. Us. And yet one chaos demon really wasn’t much of a challenge. I think part of me has known that all along. I just didn’t want to admit it. There was something about the way Vaelric looked at me though.

Vivian’s eyes. Something calm. Knowing. Like none of this had surprised him. Like this was only the beginning.

And I would definitely be seeing him again.

Chapter

Twenty-One

Anotification dings on the computer, and Leo scoots it closer. “Oh, good. The rest of the therapy notes finished downloading.”

“What’s the most recent one?” Xavier asks.

“Give me a second.” We all watch anxiously as Leo scrolls. “Okay, the most recent note…” He skims the text, then narrows his eyes. “Sorry. It’s a scanned copy of handwritten notes, and it’s not exactly easy to read.” He takes another few seconds to decipher it, then makes a face.

“What?” Antonio asks. “I know that look.”

Leo starts reading. “Claire came to see me quite agitated and upset. It’s the first time she has requested a meeting in nearly three months. She had a visitor today, a woman named Abigail Mills, who claimed to be one of Claire’s teachers. Claire insisted she had never seen Mrs. Mills before and said the woman was lying. She repeatedly stated that ‘he sent her.’ When I asked who ‘he’ was, Claire said, ‘the man from my dreams. The man who wants my blood.’”

A chill runs down my spine.

Leo keeps going. “Claire was crying and exhibited behavior consistent with genuinely believing what she was telling me. She was cooperative with staff, and after consulting with Dr. Mona, she was given one milligram of Xanax and went to bed.”

“Abigail Mills,” Antonio says. His eyes land on mine.

“I take it that means something,” Xavier says.

“That was one of Vivian’s aliases,” I tell him. My stomach drops. “What’s the date?”

“Two days before Claire disappeared,” Leo says. “Just about three weeks ago.”

“So Vivian visited Claire.” I stare at the laptop. “Why?” No one answers. “If the Order already discarded her, what would Vivian want with her?”

“The demon communicated with you because he had marked you,” Devon says slowly. “If someone had already cracked the door open and had access to even a little of his power, could he communicate with them too?”

“Oh, definitely.” I nod. “We know the Order has been siphoning power from him for centuries.”

“And if the Bellamy family was responsible for imprisoning demons…” Xavier begins. His expression darkens. “It would make sense that Vaelric would be interested in the girl.”

I let out a ragged breath and stand, suddenly too anxious to sit still.

“We need to think through every possible reason Vivian could’ve been there,” Antonio says. His tone makes it clear he isn’t defending her. “I know we don’t have many other explanations, but I don’t want us jumping to a conclusion and missing something.”

“Maybe she thought she could switch Claire for one of you and make her be the one she gave up,” Mabel suggests. Then she immediately shakes her head. “No. She’s too young. And Wren had already been here for more than three weeks by then.”

“Vivian left without her,” Leo says, scrolling through more notes. “And from what I can tell, this is the first mention of her at all.” He looks up. “Before Abigail Mills, Claire didn’t have visitors.”

My chest tightens and I sit back down. “This poor girl.”

Xavier’s hand lands on my thigh. “Don’t let your emotions get the better of you,” he says softly. “Your compassion is one of the many things I love about you, but I need you to keep your head on your shoulders.”