Page 51 of Little Wing
Sticking her rag into the back pocket of her jeans, Kait led me outside of the Nomad to an alley in between the bar and the adjacentbusiness. It was full of empty crates that were stacked beside a dumpster. It wasn’t ideal, but it provided enough distance and privacy from any nosy customers.
“Silas…” Kait started.
“Where is she?” I demanded. I realized how harsh I must have sounded, but I couldn’t hold back. “You two have been dodging my calls and texts and shit is out of control. I know she must have reached out to you. Please tell me she’s okay.”
Kait pulled her phone out. I watched her fumble with it before she quickly tapped the screen.
This was getting ridiculous. I reached to tug Kait by the wrist gently, but she quickly recoiled.
“Relax,” I sighed. “I’m not here to hurt you. I need to know where Lotus is because her brother came looking for her at Little Wing. If he found a trace of her there, it won’t be long before he finds her. And if she’s with you—” I let go of her wrist and bent forward, pressing my hands flat against my thighs. “You’re used to vampires who follow the rules. We like the treaty, okay? But this guy was the reason it almost didn’t happen.”
Kait stepped back and leaned against the stacked crates. “Lotus told us.”
“Us?”
“Reina knows too. We know who Luca is and what he did.”
“Lotus told you,” I repeated. The matter-of-fact way that Kait revealed what she knew threw me off.Why couldn’t she come to me with this? Why did she run?
She nodded. “She came to me a week ago, Silas.” She crossed her arms and looked down. “She’s been asking about you every day, but every time I ask her if she wants to talk to you or see you, she changes the subject. I'm sorry."
The anger I felt before arriving at the bar dissolved when I saw Kait’s pained expression. “Is she okay?” I asked.
Kait shrugged. “Would you be if you had to reveal to your closest friends, your family, that your name and blood is tied to a murderer? I mean, she barely changed her name. She’s tired of hiding, Silas, but with that guy at Little Wing…” Kait exhaled slowly and rubbed her eyes. “She came over covered in bruises and barely able to speak.”
“Can you please let her know I’d like to speak to her? I’ll be home for the next few days and I’ll stop by her apartment after sundown each day.” I figured giving Lotus a few options would allow her to pick what she was most comfortable with. I had to try anything at this point. At least I knew she wasn’t alone. I couldn’t bear thinking she didn’t have any kind of support. And I knew Kait could see it in my eyes—the disappointment that Lotus couldn’t confide in me.
“I can do that,” Kait agreed. She glanced back towards the bar and bit down on her bottom lip. Outside of her work and even away from her friends, the tough front that she maintained softened for me. Before she ended our conversation, she placed a hand on my shoulder, just as Quinn did and gave it a quick squeeze. “She wanted to come to you, but in this situation, she feared running to her own kind was like jumping into a pit of sharks, okay?”
My gaze lowered to the concrete and I swallowed hard until I felt Kait squeeze my shoulder again. I could feel her eyes on me, urging me to look up. Maybe she was right. Maybe what Lotus feared most, especially after the scene that unfolded at Little Wing, was putting her trust, her vulnerability, in another vampire.
Kait offered one of her rare soft smiles as I nodded. I understood completely. Had it been me, I didn’t think I’d turn to our own kind either.
“When you do see her, Silas, please listen to her,” she urged me before she let go and stepped back to return to work.
I’d listen to Lotus. Her truth deserved not to be overshadowed by the mania that surrounded that entire situation. And while I wanted to understand it all, Luca’s mention of Wesley invaded my mind. Would she have something to say about him?
“Luca—you cannot do this!” I screeched, slapping my hands against the thick barn doors. No, he could not do this—he could not just leave me.
“This will teach you, whore,” Luca spat. I could hear chains rattling against the surface of the door. “I let you off your leash, and now I find out you’ve been fucking some human. You’re a fucking monster—it’s time I cage you like one.”
I listened for the sounds of my brother’s footsteps that would assure me that I was not going to be left alone, that this was all a jest. I had done everything he wanted me to. I only went out in the evenings, I wore my makeup, and I avoided large crowds. I also never consumed human blood. We strictly consumed animal blood to avoid detection as well as trying to retain some form of humanity.
Though perhaps what Luca hated most was that I found comfort in Wesley, who loved me for who I was. True, he did not know of our vampirism, but he did not fear me. He did not question my chilled skin, my ruby eyes, or my strange curfew. We treasured each stolen moment. But now… Luca discovered my secret pleasure. Now… I had no way out.
Days passed, or perhaps it was weeks? Time’s only indicator was the level of thirst that I felt, which worsened with each passing hour. Lucaleft me with no sustenance and no matter how hard I banged on the thick doors, no one ever answered.
As much as I did not want to think it, I began to consider the possibility that my own brother, who took my life the first time, was going to erase me completely.
When the thirst began to make my throat burn, I hissed softly while resting my head on the hay. What I would not give for a single drop of blood to quench the pain I was feeling. Each hour made my heart ache and brain cry out for feed. I wanted to bury my fangs and overgrown claws in my prey and suck the life force out of it. I wanted to bathe in its blood and—
The door of the barn rattled, stirring me from my fantasy.
“L-luca?” I asked, crawling off the hay pile toward the door. “B-b-brother.”
“Lotus? Are you in there?”
Oh gods…
