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I bite my lip, jaw tense, eyes darting to Dylan who is still lost in thought, before dropping back to the desk. I’m not quite sure where we’re at and it’s messing with my head a little. Making insecurities leap up that I can usually keep away. I know we need to talk about what happened the other night after our popcorn fight, but I’m not quite sure how to bring it up. There is also the fact that I like all three of them. Even though it’s a fairly common practice to have more than one partner in the supernatural community, it doesn’t make it any easier to bring up.
There is also the fact that a small part of me wonders if that’s something they would want. To be in a relationship together, or if they haven’t brought it up either, because they view this as a friends-with-benefits sort of a deal. That’s probably just my insecurities talking though.
I also need to talk to him about this whole drinking blood and new vampire powers issue. I’ve done a little research on it, but couldn’t find anything that correlated with my circumstances. But of everyone I know, he should be my first choice to get some real answers about what to expect at the very least.
I blow a strand of my black hair out of my face and peer back down at the potions book in front of me. I specifically searched for one about powerful supernatural’s, hoping to find something that backs up what Foster said in potions. I’m hoping that there might be a way around needing to get a balancing stone, so I’m looking for more information on that too, but so far no such luck. Well, I’ve found some information on why I need a balance stone, but nothing on how they actually work. Or ways to get away with not having one. The books are also curiously missing any mention of where the hell I can get one.
Groaning, I dig my palms into my tired eyes. After a minute of that, I let my hands drop back to the table with a thud. “Dylan, have you ever heard of a balance stone before? You know what Foster mentioned in our potions class?”
Those blue eyes flick up to me from his book, narrowing as he cocks his head to the side in thought. “A vague reference maybe? But nothing specific, sorry.”
Rolling my bottom lip between my teeth, I shake my head. “That’s okay, it’s just frustrating, I can’t seem to find much of anything about them,” I mumble. Guess I’m going to have to call my fathers. It’s something I meant to do last night but it slipped my mind. Which I completely blame Corin for, the bastard pampered me into a fucking coma and I fell asleep on the couch in the middle of our TV marathon. The sweetheart carried me to my bed and tucked me in before leaving. He left a note too, good thing, otherwise I would’ve panicked over how I got to my bed, especially with Ethan hanging around like a bad smell.
I grind my jaw before shaking my head. No need to linger on the creep. How the serial killer has morphed into my stalker is irritating as fuck and has me worried. Not for myself but for others.He’s obviously still killing to get the body parts, but the question is where and how since he’s clearly not killing on the Academy grounds. Evidently he’s focused most of that craziness onto me at the moment.I sigh, Goddess so much for this term being easier. I have been trying to track him down, but I can’t for the life of me find the bastard. I don’t have the same level of computer skills that Lexi does so without her help I’m limited. If I can’t come up with something soon then I’m going to have to cave and tell the guys and Lexi about what’s going on. I know Lexi said she was alright to do this now, but I want to shield her from this for as long as possible. Still, I don’t want him to escalate.
I’ve also been seeing Ghost Girl—or as I now know, Aurora—around the place a lot lately, not just when Ethan has a gift for me. She’s constantly hovering in my peripheral vision of whatever room I’m in. Always watching blankly, even when I try to interact with her, and I’m not sure why that’s happening.
Checking the time on my phone, I start packing up my stuff. “Are you done for today?” Dylan inquires, sitting back to watch me.
“Yep, meeting up with Lex this afternoon.” It takes me hardly any time to have everything packed up and slip my backpack onto my shoulders. Excitement bubbles in my gut and I lift my hands up, stretching them towards the ceiling to relieve the soreness in my back from sitting down for so long.
I grab my phone and keep it in my hand, may as well call my fathers on my walk back to the dorm. Grinning, I look down at Dylan. “Thanks for inviting me, I learnt some interesting stuff,” I say, gesturing over my shoulder to my backpack with my thumb.
“Of course, you can find me anytime. I spend lots of it here.” He lowers his eyes again, that cute shyness coming out full force. He’s fucking adorable.
I move around the table to plop down beside the shy vampire and pull him into a loose hug, placing a firm nip to his jaw before I’m up and strolling down the library aisle. “See you later,” I call over my shoulder. I bite my cheek to contain my laughter when a strangled sound comes from behind me. Yep, fucking adorable.
I’m still lost in my head, thoughts of Dylan clouding my mind when the tingle of Ethan’s magical residue surrounds me and my foot catches on something that sends me sprawling. I let out anOofas I land on my elbows and knees, the full weight of my backpack slamming down on me.Godsdammit. Textbooks are a bastard to carry around. I say as much out loud as I climb to my feet. Thankfully, I’m far enough away from Dylan that he doesn’t hear or come running as I straighten from dusting off my busted knees.
Dozens of photos litter the aisle in front of me, some even tacked to the bookcases, and I let out a ragged breath. Girls. All dead or being tortured, brutally. Some are screaming while Ethan hurts them, his features shadowed, but recognisable and others the women are dead and unidentifiable.Goddess. I don’t even take a moment to collect myself,no. Instead, I quickly step back, careful not to hit the taut knee-height wire that tripped me in the first place. The photos aren’t the part that has my gut twisting though, no, that would be the bright red blood splattered on the ground underneath and around the photos. Bloody splatters weave a path through the bookshelves and out of sight. “For fucks sake Ethan, all these presents are really starting to piss me off,” I mutter hotly.
Ethan had to have known exactly where Dylan and I were to set this up, knowing that I’d come this way. I immediately triple the warding covering myself and send a message to Dylan to do the same, not bothering to explain why. I know he’ll do it.
I snap pictures of everything, because I don’t have time to bag it myself then ward it, so everything is hidden behind my magic, and send Ridge a message with the location and a link to track my phone. He’s become quite fascinated with Ethan’s mind and has expressed his interest in helping me with things when it comes to him. He says it’s because he wants to gain an understanding of Ethan’s mind and thought process. I shake my head and refocus on the task at hand.
He’s getting bolder. It’s all I can think about as I scan the space once more before taking a step towards the bloody trail, intending to figure out where it leads when I see it. The photo that is pinned the highest, and I know it’s because he wanted to make sure I’d see it.See them.They’re all of Lexi while she was being tortured.
“That sick fuck.” My lip curls into a snarl and rage has my fingers curling into fists, my body trembling. That foreign magic inside me, rises at my emotional turmoil, but I forcefully shove it back down. I don’t have time for that right now.
I shake my head and force myself to count back from a hundred to calm myself down. He better not mean that as a threat or else I’m not just going to hand him over to the SFBI when I catch him, I’m going to take his balls and his cock as well. Make him watch as I slice them off with a rusty fucking knife, then shove them down his throat.Nobodythreatens my family. Hell, I might even kill him. Even with everything he’s done, there was this small part of me that struggled with it. The part of me that still sees him as the innocent and kind older brother of one of my best friends. Well that part of me? It crumbles and fuckingdies,vanishing like it wasn’t there to begin with. He’s going to pay for what he’s done. For what he did to Lexi. For everything.
Shaking my head, I pull myself together and continue following his bloody trail. I feel the moment Aurora joins me, trailing behind me, and I mumble a greeting. She’s silent as always and it doesn’t help with my volatile emotions. I’m not frustrated withherthough, just the situation.
We weave through the tall library shelves and a bad feeling settles low in my gut when we get closer and I feel Ethan’s magic. It’s so much stronger this time. The waves of his magical signature are brushing against my skin, making it buzz rather than tingle uncomfortably like it usually does.
The trail is taking us deeper into the library, the walkways between the shelves growing ominously dark. That sense of foreboding in my stomach grows and I take a deep breath, hesitating slightly before I step around the corner that will reveal Ethan’s latest present. When I do, I go rigid with shock, a cold panic washing over me as I’m drawn into the past.
Nessa, eleven years ago
A laugh fell from my lips as I raced into the clearing. My dads let me come out to meet up with one of my best friends this afternoon. Anna. My eyebrows furrowed as I got closer to our treehouse, and I stopped. It was so quiet all of the sudden. No birds singing or forest animals scurrying through the trees. Even the trees didn’t sway.
I was running a little late because I’d forgotten to do one of my chores, so maybe Anna was mad at me? Yeah, that’s probably the reason she hadn’t come out to say hello like she normally would. I let out a shaky breath when I reached the bottom of the stairs. My hands trembled slightly as I took them one at a time, the air thick with the scent of old pennies. A gentle breeze rolled through the clearing and a slow rhythmic woosh and creak started up.
I sucked in a breath, tipping my head back to look at the front of the treehouse. Its door was open and swinging in the breeze. That dread in the pit of my stomach deepened and I swallowed hard.Something’s wrong.
I bit the inside of my cheek.No, don’t be silly Nessa, it’s just the stupid tenth graders playing a prank on me. On us.Taking the rest of the steps two by two I called out, “You don’t scare me, Dummies.” There was no reply.
I paused at the door which had swung partially closed, blocking my view. Wiping my sweaty hands on my pants, I pulled the door open and stepped inside, a whimper falling from my lips as I processed the scene in front of me.
