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Chapter 13
I’d never been to Willa’s apartment, but I knew about where she lived. When I got close, I called her on my phone which had thankfully been in my messenger bag. I rarely used it, and even more rarely remembered to charge it. I’d gone so long without one while in Lazarus’s community that I wasn’t as attached to my phone as other people my age seemed to be. For emergencies only, I supposed. And this certainly was one.
“Hello?” Willa asked as she picked up the call.
I wrung the broken strap of my messenger bag. It’d been nearly torn to shreds in the attack outside the bar the other night. I’d carried it like a bundle of blankets. I’d not even have it right now if Mrak hadn’t had the mind to collect it all and bring it back home after killing my attackers. “Hey, it’s me. Can I come inside?”
Sounds of shifting and movement came through the line. Then the opening of a window. “You’re here?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding, although she couldn’t see it. “Something’s happened. I wondered if you learned about Leif, but I also need a place to rest for a few minutes.”
And then… then I’d have to get rid of the ward and let Mrak come to me. But just a few minutes of clarity and rest before Mrak’s fiery vengeance took over would mean a world of difference, I was sure of it.
A waving motion in a third-floor window caught my attention. Willa. I was at the right building after all.
“Come on up,” Willa said. “You’re always welcome here, Aisling. Unit 3-B. I’ll wait at the elevator.”
I rushed into the building and into the elevator. Willa was waiting for me as promised, and I all but ran into her arms. I decided to spare her the mess, though, as her wide eyes appraised me.
“What happened?”
I glanced down at my bloodied clothes. This was beginning to happen to too many outfits. “Members of Lazarus’s old coven paid me a visit. We should talk inside about the rest.”
I had no idea what kind of neighbors Willa had, but on the off chance any of them were fans of gossiping and happened to run in circles with vampires, I didn’t want to risk any of them overhearing any part of this conversation.
Willa nodded and led me into her tiny apartment. She had a one-bedroom, but it may as well have been a studio for all the space it didn’t have. She shut and locked the door behind us, throwing several deadbolts in addition to the standard set of locks. “Who attacked?”
“Val and some enforcers. Do you remember them?”
Willa nodded.
I leaned my back against one wall and dropped my tattered messenger bag to the ground. “They’re also not happy about Mrak, although apparently, Cassius is alive and wants to turn me into a vampire.”
Willa raised an eyebrow. “What? Why?”
“I wondered the same thing, considering I killed Lazarus and so many others.”
Willa’s lips parted as she must have put some pieces together. “They want to harness Mrak’s power within you.”
I nodded. “I don’t think that’s how it works, though, and I don’t think they know that. But I’m worried so many people seem to know what’s in me when even I didn’t—not really—until last night.”
Willa took a step toward me. “And whatisMrak?”
“A monster,” I said evenly. It wasn’t a revelation to me. His form had been, with his massive hulk and six red, glowing eyes and the shadow tendrils that seemed to roam everywhere. “But I’m not sure he’s more of a monster than Lazarus was.”
A soft expression came over Willa’s face. “I’m not sure many are worse than Lazarus. It’s concerning survivors of his coven have regrouped.”
“And created a new feeding community,” I said before realizing something horrific. I pushed off the wall and grabbed Willa’s hand. “Hunter probably targeted you because of me. Willa, I’m so sorry.”
She shook her head. “No, don’t do that to yourself. I could have been a target because I also survived the community and its destruction. It’s much easier to return one of us than break in a new feeder.”
“I guess.” But Willa didn’t have Mrak inside of her, the darkness and shadow that was some demon from another plane of existence.
“Where’s Mrak now?” Willa asked in my silence.
I swallowed hard and winced. “I warded against him.”
Willa’s brow furrowed. “What?”
