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Chapter Twenty-Four
Skylar
“What the fuck are you?” Heidi asked as she followed me. “I get that those other fuckers were vampires but I can’t figure out how you fit in with all this.”
“I’ll explain later, I swear. Right now we have to find Elias,” I said.
“I am so lost,” she said. “Is Elias a good guy or a bad guy?”
I glanced at her. “That’s a loaded question. I think he’s a good guy.”
“You think?” she clucked her tongue.
“I hope he is.” I stopped right outside the door, the memory of the stone flooding back all at once. “Nobody’s touched the necklace, right?”
“Nobody even noticed it,” she said. “Who are we looking for?
I felt guilty for bringing her into it, but it turned out to be the right choice. Though, I had a feeling the trauma of getting held hostage by a vampire would sink in sooner or later.
“Elias. He’s a cop, well sort of. He’s been helping me find Lola’s killer.”
“So much explaining to do,” Heidi said.
“In time,” I said.
Reaching out with my senses, I locked on to the faint trace of Elias’s dark magic. It was fading fast. I took a few steps at a time, pausing every so often to adjust my direction so I could follow the feeling of his magic. Heidi stayed at my heels, stopping when I stopped, following along in the dark. She had to be totally freaked out but she was handing it well.
“There was a stone inside the necklace?” Heidi asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Huh. They kept asking me where I’d hidden a stone. They hypnotized me or something. I had to answer. It was so messed up. But I didn’t know anything about a stone so I couldn’t answer. Now I see why you wouldn’t tell me.” Heidi sounded like she wasn’t upset at all.
Okay, she was handling this whole situationverywell. “There is a stone and it’s more valuable than you could ever know. I’m sorry I brought you into all this.”
“I always suspected vampires were real,” she said. “I just thought maybe I was insane. This sort of makes me feel validated, you know?”
“Uh-huh,” I said, half listening to her as I continued around the house toward the back yard. Had he been ambushed back here?
As I stepped into the outdoor ceremony area, it felt like my heart fell to the ground. Elias was on the grass, unmoving.
“No, no. I can’t lose anyone else. This can’t be happening.” I rushed to him, nearly collapsing at his side. “Elias, talk to me.”
“Oh my god, they shot him,” Heidi said.
I looked from his closed eyes to his chest, where the dart was still sticking out of him, right near his heart.
Elias didn’t have the black spider veins on his skin the way the vampire did, but whatever was in that dart was bad enough to take down a demon.
I tugged the dart out and tossed it aside before returning my attention to his face. Cupping my hands on his cheeks, I leaned over his face. “Elias, wake up, asshole. I need you.”
“Is he a vampire too?” Heidi asked.
“No,” I said. “He’s something else.”
I pressed my fingers to his neck and leaned my ear against his chest, listening and feeling for a pulse. I could still sense his magic, but it was fading fast. Under my fingers, I could just make out a faint pulse.
“He’s not breathing,” Heidi said.
