Page 46 of Little Wing
“HEY! Get your fucking hands off her!”
Silas…
“Fuck off!” The man hollered, looking over his shoulder. “Did you know you’re letting a fucking traitor to our people near our young vampires?!”
I couldn’t see Silas beyond the man whose anger and hatred could be felt in his firm grip. However, I could hear him. Silas paced and whispered instructions to the volunteers and Quinn. He sounded stern, rushing them along before I felt him come closer.
The furious vampire didn’t listen. He didn’t let up. He yanked and squeezed me like nothing more than a rag doll. He knew nothing about me other than the accusations that were spread nearly a century ago. When the elite vampires could not locate my brother, the vampiric citizens took justice into their own hands, tangling my fate in that of my brother's. Even I longed to punish him for all that he had put me through.
But did anyone ever listen beyond the stench of Luca’s scent on me? Did anyone bother seeing that I was his victim too?
“I fucking said…” Silas growled. “Take your hands off her!” He stepped forward, bringing his hands up when he watched the man adjust his grip around my throat. “You have an issue with who volunteers their time at my facility? Be a man and talk to me about it without assaulting innocent women.” I could hear the rise of his rage in his voice. I could smell the intensity of emotion. Would he feel the same way once this brute fed him the poison of my true identity? Would the rage turn on me?
“That is Lotus Everett. You dumb fuck! You had this bitch under your nose and didn’t turn her in?” He slammed me back against the wall. My head ached, but all I could listen to were the gasps that sounded around the room.
Before he could say another word, a pair of quick fists swung at the man’s face, knocking him off balance enough for Mateo to pin him to the ground. He blew a strand of his hair away from his face and bobbed his head for me to get to safety. When I stepped away, I could still feel the eyes of everyone in the room settle on me. Many stared in shock, some in disgust, but most… in fear.
No… no… this was not supposed to happen.
“Luca Everett—ring a bell? Two human women murdered and he’s still fucking out there! This bitch is just as guilty as him," he roared beneath Mateo, fighting to throw him off his back. He lifted his head enough to stare at Silas. “Do yourself a favor and stick her out in the sun, put a bullet in her skull, and do a fucking—”
Mateo slammed the man harder against the ground with what appeared to be his last burst of energy. He struggled to keep my aggressor down, but as he called for Silas, he didn’t move. He stood frozen as other volunteers rushed to help Mateo, quickly working to pin the vampire’s arms behind his back while the others worked on calling the authorities.
Silas was still silent and I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. Without another word, I turned on my heel and ran out of Little Wing.
“Thank you, officer,” Mateo said, shaking the uniformed man’s hand as he handed him a business card. “If you need any additional information from us, please don’t hesitate to call. If it’s not me, then my partner, Silas, will be available to step in and help.”
The officer looked past my brother and gave a quick incline of his chin before walking out to the squad car where the man who attacked Lotus was stuffed into the back seat. The last few hours seemed like a blur.
When I heard the yelling, I ran out of my office past Quinn only to find Lotus pinned against the wall. Watching that scene, I felt so fucking helpless. I gritted my teeth at the fresh memory of her terrified expression—the pleading in her eyes as she was slammed against the wall.
My fists clenched. I was furious with myself for not rushing out faster, for not protecting her from him. Had it not been for Mateo, I didn’t even want to think of the damage that could have occurred. Not to Little Wing, but to the woman I was having a hard time reaching now.
I looked down at my phone again to see if Lotus responded to any of the twenty texts I fired off. But there was no response. She wasn’t even reading them.
Mateo grabbed me by the elbow and spun me around towards the office while Quinn and a handful of the remaining volunteers worked to push the tables and chairs back to their normal spots. So little was moved or damaged, yet the energy in that part of the community center made my chest ache. It was thick with anger and sadness—how the hell was I supposed to purge a feeling from a space?
“Any word from Lotus?” Mateo asked, shutting the door behind us. “Because dude—that was insane.”
I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed before glancing at the hand he was rubbing gingerly. “How’s your hand?”
“It’ll be fine. It’s already healing quickly, but… is it true?” he sighed and brushed his uninjured hand through his messy hair. Once he moved to his side of the office and sat down at his desk, his fingers skated across the keyboard in quick strokes until his concentrated expression turned to one of pure exasperation.
“What?” I mumbled.
“Holy shit.” Mateo leaned back, the leather of his chair squeaking as he pointed his finger at the screen.
My stomach turned; the AB negative I consumed suddenly threatened to come back up like battery acid on my tongue. Part of me hoped that whatever was said out there was a complete misunderstanding, but if Mateo was able to find something that quickly, then I worried how much I didn’t know about the woman with whom I was so enthralled.
“What does it say?” I finally asked, stepping closer to his desk. I didn’t know if I could stomach seeing the words myself.
Mateo sighed and leaned forward as he began to read. “Local author and her daughter were both found submerged inside a vehicle that had fallen into a lake. Both women appeared to be deceased before the car plummeted into the body of water. Both were apparently mutilated and drained of blood.”
I leaned against the desk and rested my face in the palm of my hand.What the fuck…
“After long conversations between the FBI and local police precincts, the suspected murderer has been identified as Luca Everett.” Mattie shook his head and clicked around the page. His silence forced me to turn towards him. What else did he see?
“How is Lotus part of this?” I asked, gripping the edge of the desk tightly.
