Page 45 of Wicked Thirst
He rubbed the back of his head. “Only you could get away with that.”
“You deserved it.” She gave a casual shrug with one shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve ever regretted hitting you.”
“And here I was thinking you actually cared.” He shook his head. “Sisters are useless sometimes.”
“Except when breaking you out of jail.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
I raised my eyebrows. “You know, every time I learn something new about you all, I start to question whether or not you’re actually the good guys. Murder, jail, killing sprees . . . Might be a bit much.”
Zinnia chuckled. “I could see how that might make you question things, and if we had more time, I’d give you all the details. But that’s a story for another time.”
Beckett took a step toward the portal. “Just trust me, Piper. I got you.”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice.” Portaling would be the fastest way to get to Gray.
Kylian was the first to go through the portal. He threw his shoulders back and stepped in without hesitation. I sighed and followed, stepping into the swirling magic. It wasn’t anything like mirror travel. This wasn’t walking from destination to destination. This was like floating in nothingness. I was surrounded by soothing warmth like floating in a pool, and then suddenly I was on the other side stepping out into a dark street. I knew the smell of this land well . . . and the feel of the dampness in the air and delicate falling snow.
We were back in England.
Astrid stepped out behind me. “You should’ve been around when he was annoyed at me. Rollercoasters don’t have anything on a moody Beckett.”
“I am not moody,” Beckett protested as he stepped from the portal and right behind us.
“Right, and those portals from the early days were so calm and serene.” She crossed her arms and pursed her lips.
Beckett kissed the top of her head. “You survived.”
I snickered and turned to walk beside Kylian. “How do you know this is where he’ll be?”
We were in the middle of a small town in the midlands. I could tell by the homes that reminded me of town houses. They were clustered in groups of three or four standing side by side down the narrow streets. At the town center, there was a simple main street that was dark but for a small pub. The smell of liquor and blood permeated the air and drifted on the wind. I froze and the rest of them didn’t move.
Kylian knelt to the ground and pressed his hand to the cobblestones below our feet. Burgundy smoke seeped from his fingers and drifted over the ground. The stone cracked beneath his touch and crushed in on itself until it transformed into a long, thin dagger. I tried to hide the shock from my face as he stood straight with his newly made weapon. But I must’ve failed horribly because he chuckled at my face.
“I didn’t think elves had witchy powers.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Elves are creatures of the earth and as such are tied to it.”
He said it so simply as if that was all the explanation I needed, but before I could ask follow-up questions, the door to the pub flew open and five people ran out screaming. Some of them fell in the street with bite marks on their necks. Blood coated the sidewalk and sirens blared in the distance. I ran headlong into the pub and felt the others hurry behind me. When I ran through the door, I froze. It was an utter disaster. People huddled in corners and under tables while others lay lifeless on the floor. The lights above flickered, and the TVs hanging in the corners of the room were shattered. Music skipped over the same three lines of song as though a record was being played on repeat. Broken glass, food, and furniture littered the narrow room.
When I looked deeper into the room trying to search out Grayson, I knew he was gone. His scent was dull and nearly undetectable. I hurried through the room listening for heartbeats to see how many he’d killed with his thirst. Not a single one had perished, though their injuries were grave, and if they didn’t get help soon, several of them would perish this night. The others ran through the door and stood frozen, their eyes wide at the carnage. The sirens moved closer. Kylian bent down, pressing his fingers to a man’s neck.
“Well, at least this one is alive.”
I motioned to the whole room. “They all are. Barely.”
Astrid sighed with relief. “What are we gonna do? If the humans find them like this, Grayson will be in a shit ton of trouble.”
“But how do we fix this?” I looked around. It was clear a monster had ransacked the place, or a wild animal, and the midlands didn’t have wild animals like this.
Astrid opened her hands and golden magic poured from her to cover the ground. “If we had Logan, we could convince them it was a gas leak or something.”
Beckett opened a portal right away and stepped in. A moment later, he stood there with Logan by his side. Logan hardly showed an ounce of emotion when he stepped through the portal and looked around. He gave a low whistle. “And what’s on the agenda for tonight?”
“We need them all to believe this is a gas leak or something like that,” Astrid instructed quickly.
Logan opened his hands and dark orange power seeped from his hands and covered the people around us. He closed his eyes, and the people cowering under the tables and hiding in corners passed out, falling to the floor limply as though in sleep. He walked around slowly, letting his power run in all directions while Astrid did the same. Gold and orange power mingled together, and I couldn’t see two feet in front of me. I waved my hand, trying to clear the magic from my face. A moment later the power faded, and the room was back to normal. Kylian walked into the room. He carried a man on each shoulder.
“You got them from the street?” My voice raised with disbelief.
