Page 108 of House of Crimson Hearts
“I agree,” Sadie signs and Dahlia translates. “No matter what, nothing is going to be the same in this city after these trials, regardless of the result.”
Beside him, Talulla rubs her jaw, her wide eyes tell me everything. She looks how the rest of us feel.
“We should increase security around the hunters and your children,” the Chief says.
Cordelia huffs. “Please, if the hunters are with my children, then they’re safe.”
The Chief’s expression darkens. “I don’t care whether you believe your children are heaven-sent from the Mother of Blood herself. My hunters were attacked last night and look at the state of them. Besides, you are still vampires, and we are still hunters. I’m going to be assigning more guards to protect them.”
“And what do we do in the meantime?” Fenella asks.
“We carry on with the trials,” Sadie signs. “We have to push harder than ever now that other people know what’s going on, they’ll be trying to get there before we do.”
“Sadie’s right,” the Chief says. “You only have two days before the next trial. We will be investigating these attacks while you continue with the trials. Good luck, everyone.”
Mother and the Chief walk out together, side by side.
Lincoln glances down at Red, “You look okay, how are you not more injured?”
She shifts, realising that while I know that she’s an addict, no one else does. This is a precarious position to be in given the rest of the hunters aren’t faring too well. Had I realised that the others would be attacked, I may not have given her quite the amount of blood that I did. I’d have left her at least a little injured.
I step forward ready to jump in with any lie I can think of. But she puts her hand on my arm.
“I was just quick with a blade,” she says, but her eyes don’t meet Lincoln’s and I’m not sure he buys it.
“Okay,” he says, but I know from the increase in his heart rate that he hasn’t bought it and that he will question her later. I wonder if this is the start of how it all unravels. If all the secrets I’ve kept are going to unwind.
I decide that no matter what, I’ll tell her tonight. We’re spending way too much time together for me not to tell her. If she found out some other way…
“So, we’re going to find out who did this and attack, and slaughter them, yes?” Dahlia says, cracking her knuckles.
“I don’t think we should,” Keir says, scratching at what looks like a new tattoo, a little piece of scab flakes off it.
“And why the hell not?” Dahlia says glaring at him.
It’s Lincoln that speaks up this time. “Because we’re on a time crunch. You heard your mother and the Chief. We only have two days. And that is already trickling by. If we want to stand any chance of breaking that boundary, we need to stay vigilant but carry on. There will be more attacks I’ve no doubt. But would you rather lose?”
“Exactly,” Keir says. “Gabriel and I are going to hunt for the map, and you can do whatever you want.”
Dahlia gapes open-mouthed at the hunter boys. It’s not often she’s spoken to like that. Vampire nobles tend to treat us with absolute deference, and I can’t imagine Dahlia hangs out with too many hunters.
She springs forward but Gabriel steps in the way. “Not today, sister.”
“Did you hear how he spoke to me?” she snaps.
“I did. But he’s also correct. Each hunter has a vampire partner. They are arguably as trained in combat as we are.”
“More so in some cases,” Xavier drawls.
“What’s that? Too pretty to train in case you break a nail or nose?” Gabriel snarls.
“At least mine is straight,” Xavier quips.
Gabriel rounds on Xavier, but this time Dahlia stands in front of him. “Lincoln and Keir are right, this is wasting all of our time.”
Gabriel stands a little straighter. “Fine. And to show there are no hard feelings, I will give you all a clue as a head start. I will be heading to the archives. Where all the most lyrically written books and maps lie. But that is all the information I am willing to give you. You’re on your own for the rest of it.”
With that, he rounds on his heels and places his hand on the small of Keir’s back, pushing him out of the library and down the corridor.
