Page 65 of Fallen Thorns
I raised my brow.
“Just a moment.”
I slipped back down into my chair, anxious as to what Marianne could possibly have to say after witnessing that. She most certainly wasn’t deaf and had been around long enough to read between the lines. You could cut the tension with a knife.
“Mars will look after you, you know that?”
I subtly nodded. “I do.”
“They trust you, a great deal and they’ve taken a clear liking to you.”
I know, but why?
Mars was ten years older than me, yet I was aware Marianne’s perception of age was much different to mine. To her, I must have been but a child.
“I’m sorry we left you for so long.”
Oh.
I inhaled and exhaled as a response formed in my head. “It’s…” I lowered my gaze, damning myself. “Thank you.”
She looked at me with that same sympathetic look given to those deemed naïve and immature — someone who didn’t know any better, despite wishing they did. The pity look.
“I did some digging.” At this, she leaned in closer, quieting her tone. “I analysed the blood samples left on your shirt from that night and I confirmed my suspicions. That was not the blood of a vampire. In fact, I barely recognise its origins at all.”
I didn’t know why she thought to bring it up at that very moment in time, but for the first time since I joined this world, I was thankful my questions had been answered without me having to dig tooth and nail to get them.
“From what we could salvage, the murders are purely the typical works of our kind, or at least two of them are, though I am fairly certain, given all the circumstances of these occurrences, that all three are closely connected. It is obvious this Lucy is involved somehow, though she may not be directly responsible for them all. Whoever she is with also holds great strength. It might be this creature, or it might not.”
The back of my throat dried and my eyes welled up uncontrollably.
Hold it together, Arlo.
It’s all so overwhelming.
I had of course figured out her implications, that the creature pursuing me could very well be Lucienne’s leader, which meant that I, for whatever reason, was chosen specifically —but why?I wasn’t special in any way, there was nothing about me that stood out. So why? And why only now? I’d been dead for almost a month at this point. None of the puzzle pieces fit.
“I do not know why she spared you, if she even realised she did at all, but…”
Sweet dreams, Arlo.
Marianne breathed out a sigh. “I’m conscious I’ve said this before, but I need to know you hear me. We’ll find Lucy, that is a promise. We will stopeverythingthat puts this city in danger, and we willnotstop until I am satisfied we have done so. You’re safe and you will never, ever be alone again. Welcome to The Thorns, Arlo. I have a feeling you’ll go far.”
ChapterSixteen
Human kind are so simple, all following the same cycle, the same steps.
When I first took this body, I wondered how long I would last. But I quickly concluded that it is not their bodies that age, but their souls. They do not allow themselves to live long enough to fulfil their purposes, and oh, how sad it is once they realise this.
For millennia we have existed, and for millennia we will survive.
I know we made the right choice, and soon we shall be united once more in all our glory. Unstoppable.
Like gods.
I caress his shoulders as delicately as a lover may, and encourage him to ease his mind. He works himself too hard, slips away and forgets himself too much. His poor human mind is still too stubborn to let go. A testament to his soul, it seems. So old.
He raises a ringed finger to signal me to stop, his auburn mane tumbling from my hands as I release him. Enough working for today, he says. He is tired.
