Page 24 of Nightshade

This was new.

I’d always thought the powers that Ivan had—powers that none of his progeny had ever demonstrated—were trapped behind his releasing us, but maybe it was . . . Was it age?

I’d been imprisoned so long, maybe it was just getting older and I hadn’t realized.

Right then, it didn’t matter. I could only be grateful for this new trick, as the witches came into the cabin. Their footsteps were careful and slow over the old floorboards.

“He should be here.”

“What’s that hole?”

“Maybe he got out.”

“No, the crystal says he’s right here. Where the fuck would he go?”

They continued searching the cabin, even considered that I had crawled out beneath the house or had found some way to block their scrying, but they couldn’t find me.

Eventually, they left, but I stayed in the ground.

If their goal was my death or handing me to Ivan, I didn’t dare peek my head out and get caught in a trap. Better for me to live the rest of my life in the dirt than let them find me.

CHAPTER 13

Leo

I was pretty sure there was a term for how I was acting, and it was “no chill.”

Because yes, I was headed out toward the old hunting lodge, and the sun wasn’t even down. Maybe Altair wouldn’t be awake yet. Maybe it’d be rude, and I’d wake him up.

But I could try to be super quiet and make sure that he was awake before I rushed in and knocked, and I wasn’t trying to⁠—

Okay, fine, I wanted to see him again. Hear his smooth caramel voice and look into those deep brown eyes. I just wanted to be near him. He was beautiful and interesting, and I was going to use any excuse I could find to be close to him.

Was it pitiful? Maybe.

That didn’t change anything in my head.

What did change things were the voices I heard as I was speeding toward the cabin. Multiple voices. Unfamiliar voices. Multiple women, at least one man, talking about . . . about looking for someone.

Fuck.

I turned and headed toward them, automatically changing my motions into hunting mode rather than crashing through the underbrush with no thought about the noise I was making. No, this required more precision.

And also, I wanted to hear exactly what they were saying. As I moved, I pulled out my phone and opened messaging, shooting off a quick text to Aleks.

Witches in the woods, between the new square and the river.

Then I went back to stalking.

“If we convince Ivan he’s gone feral, maybe he’ll just kill him instead of stopping to ask questions,” one of the women said.

The man said something, his voice too low for me to make out, but apparently it was entertaining, because one of the women laughed, high and shrill.

“Wouldn’t that be funny? Using the dogs to do our dirty work. It makes sense, though. They should want to help us. Who wants a wild vampire running around on their territory?”

My eyes narrowed at that, teeth grinding with irritation. Not only did they call us names, but they thought they could manipulate us into hurting Altair. Of course they did. They hurt everything they touched and thought they were cleverer than any other creatures in the world. Why wouldn’t they believe they could make one of their victims hurt another, just for fun?

Monsters, the lot of them.