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Kota released a pent-up breath and pulled his hair tie free, regathering the long locks and manhandling them into a bun that sat on the back of his head. “And none of these places are supernatural havens?”
“You mean places where supernaturals are known to congregate?” I clarified.
“Yeah, like how the fae are in Los Angeles and the vamps are in New York City.” Kota pointed to the opposite sides of the United States as he spoke.
“Not this vampire,” I replied, realizing how odd it was to classify myself as such, even though I’d been drinking blood for a few days now. “Then again, that kind of makes the point doesn’t it? None of these towns seem to be supernatural in any way, yet all it takes is one person with a target on their back to endanger so many.”
My heart squeezed. My comment sounded so painfully familiar, I didn’t know how to react.
I was that supernatural in almost every instance.
“It’s not possible they were looking for me, is it?” Oh God. It hadn’t occurred to me, but it was possible I was the reason they were flattening towns.
I had enough guilt over my part in my mother’s death, guilt I hadn’t even begun to deal with, and I didn’t know how I’d feel if I had countless lives on my hands.
Just like a pearl was formed under pressure, my resolve hardened. I was going to figure out who the hell was summoning shades and fucking end them for the destruction they’d caused to not only my life, but everyone else’s. And when I was done, I was going to settle down with my mates and live a happy life.
“Even if they were, you can’t blame yourself. You didn’t have anything to do with the shades attacking these towns,” Kota reasoned. “You didn’t even know what you were when these attacks happened.”
“Sounds like a familiar argument,” I murmured, giving Kota a sideways glance.
He tensed and then shook it off and smirked. “Touché.”
“So this is where the party’s at?” Axel strolled into the room, a bowl of popcorn in his hand. The butter and salt smelled divine, but I didn’t dare steal some and chance how it would sit in my stomach. I missed food.
“Not a party. More like work. Want to make yourself useful?” Kota motioned to the laptop, and I hopped out of my seat to give him room to check out the map Kota and I had assembled.
“Damn. Nice work.” He leaned in closer, his nose practically touching the screen. I could imagine Dason’s reaction if he opened his laptop to find a nose print inside.
“Be careful,” I warned, and Axel set down his bowl. Orange magick glowed and encompassed the laptop, and then he thrust his hand toward the blank wall on his right. Suddenly, the wall transformed, and the image of the map blew up like a magickal projector.
I huffed out a laugh and went to investigate. Gooseflesh rose along my arms from the tingle of magick as I neared and ran my fingers over the map that hovered only centimeters off the wall’s surface.
“That’s incredible,” I breathed.
“Eh. It’s simple magick, but it makes it a hell of a lot easier to see the grand picture when it’s not buried on a laptop. What are we looking for?” He came up beside me, crossed an arm around his middle, balanced his other elbow on it, and hooked a finger over his lips, focusing hard on the image Kota and I had been staring at for far too long.
The bigger image was nice, but nothing else jumped out at me.
“Patterns. Commonalities. Anything that can link the attacks together,” Kota informed Axel, and while the two of them double-checked that all of the marks were correct now that we could see the map easier, I roamed to the other side of the room. Staring at the map for so long was starting to give me a headache.
The wooden bookshelves that lined the wall were empty save for a few items the guys had packed for Dason before they’d fled our last home.
My father’s map and scrying glass sat alone on one shelf, and I trailed my fingers over them, missing him terribly. He always had a way of helping me figure out my problems. His logical mind worked differently than mine, and he had an uncanny ability to analyze situations or information and find the answers within. I wished I had a little of his intuition. Perhaps it was a silly dream, given that I wasn’t truly related to him, but I loved and admired him enough to wish I was.
My heart twisted with sadness. It was an ache that grew whenever I allowed myself to think about him. Wherever he was, I hoped he was surviving Avalon and her wickedness.
Just hold on a little longer. I’m going to find the grimoire, and then I’m coming for you.
The only glimmer of relief I had was that my adoptive mother, Avalon, planned to keep him alive. She was so delusively in love with him that she’d teamed up with my faceless enemy to have him possessed so she had the ability to control him and force his affection. You didn’t do that if you planned to off a person.
Glancing back to the action, I saw Axel pick up his popcorn again and absently take a bite while Kota made a guess.
“Could our enemy be using the shades to pick off some of his enemies? Maybe they were off the grid which would explain the small towns?” Kota mused.
“Could be a valid theory, but there are too many attacks. I think they were looking for something.” Axel threw a kernel into the air and maneuvered himself to catch it in his mouth.
Kota grumbled and reached for the popcorn, stealing a small handful while Axel whined.
