Page 61 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall

"Well, firstly, it means Elowen didn't do shit with the information we gave her. Nobody left the grounds, supposedly, so whoever is responsible is still in the castle."

"Plus, an undead vampire?" Novalie shuddered. "They would have to be strong to overpower one of them, or be taking the drug, which means they’re connected."

"Or very hungry," I murmured and Emerson nodded a haunted look on her face that made me want to rip whoever was doing this limb from limb.

"It's also an escalation," Hayes said, putting his phone down after sending a text off. "This person either doesn't care about the consequences, or just needs more—more blood, more power, we won't know yet."

"When do you think we will know?" Rowan asked and Hayes shrugged.

"When they kill again."

"We should have some time before that happens though, right? If they only just fed and fed well?”

Cal appeared and had clearly heard my questions. "Or they'll feed more quickly if their hunger is getting worse—bad enough that they took on an undead vampire."

I looked away from him but nodded. "Wait, you said he was dead? Surely just draining an undead of their blood wouldn't kill them?"

Novalie swallowed. “The missing blood just pointed to a vampire. But they found him in pieces. Ripped apart, heart chomped on like the one on the top floor a few weeks ago."

Fuck. Whatever was happening to this person, they weren't messing around.

"So you think they'll kill again tonight?" Hayes asked the mage—I refused to call himdad. Hayes sent me a look that told me to play nice and I rolled my eyes.

"I'd stake my life on it," Cal said and I hummed.

"A mage has to have more magick than an undead vampire right? Making your blood even richer? So maybe we should use you as bait."

"Or you," Cal shot back and I grimaced.

“What's that supposed to mean?" Novalie demanded and I glared at the mage for letting the cat out of the bag. He just smirked and god if I hadn't seen that expression on my own damn face.

"Meet Daddy dearest," I said dryly and Emerson's mouth fell open.

"You're joking,” Rowan said and I shook my head, keeping my words inside in an effort to be nice for Hayes’ sake.

"Anyway, we're all under house arrest," Novalie continued, looking back between me and Cal as if cataloguing our similarities like our curls, our mouth, and god knows what else.

"Anyone found wandering will automatically be under suspicion."

I swore. "Well what are you all doing here then? Get back to your rooms before Elowen decides to kill one of you off for being out where you're not supposed to be."

Emerson winced. "We wanted to—"

"Check on me, I know. " I shook my head. "Hayes has a phone. Call or text next time. Besides, if I was dead, it would be too late for me but you could save yourselves.”

They filed out, looking a little chastised, until it was just the three of us left.

"Well this is awkward,” I muttered and Hayes stood up and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Traitor,I thought and felt his amusement.

"Did you ever look for me?” I asked bluntly and Cal blinked, clearly taken aback by the abrupt questioning.

"I told you, I thought—"

"I was dead, yeah. I heard you before—but after my mother took off, did you not ever wonder?"

"Maybe it makes me naive, but I didn't think she’d lie about something like that. I thought she left because, like me, she was grieving the loss of our unborn child."

---