Had he died of a broken heart…?
I force myself away from that thought, settling on the idea that he got out and is searching for her—just like I am.
Hearing footsteps, I shift my gaze over my shoulder and watch as Alaric pushes off the wall, sauntering down the hall toward us.
“The answers to those questions waste time. While you throw this tantrum, she is getting further and further away from us.” He stops only a few feet from us, and I turn to face him, forming a barrier. “Youneedto feed, Sydni.”
“I will when I have my Phiny back.” I hear her choke back a sob. My little butterfly is fighting so hard to stay strong, but I can hear her throat tighten, trying to keep her emotions in check.
It’s then Alaric looks at me. “Make her feed, or Niyla will.”
My nose twitches, knowing exactly what he means. Because she is Sydni’s creator, all she would need to do is command her to do so, and it’s done. Upon creation, the creator’s blood is given to the dying, and the moment the heart stops, their blood is what pumps them back to life.
Theyare connected, and I know Xeraphine will kill Niyla the moment we get her back. This Vampire has to know that. Maybe that is why she is trying to take care of Sydni. In the hope that she’d see that she isn’t a badcreator. Not the master, but a… concerned acquaintance.
Unfortunately for her, that is not my girl. When it comes to her princess, there’s no forgiveness for anyone or anything that hurts her.
Nodding, I demand, “Fine, but you will answer two questions, and this senseless back and forth will cease.”
I can see in Alaric’s eyes the hesitation, but he must understand that lying will only cause more delays, because he nods.
“Why were you tailing me?”
He takes a deep breath. “Weweren’t. Brice was watching Sydni?—”
“Creepy asshole!” Sydni hisses.
Without much pause, Alaric continues, but I don’t miss the way her words hurt the Werewolf. The uplift of his nose and the downturned gaze speak volumes. “He smelled something weird on Tyson’s car.”
“Pause,” I cut him off and look at Brice. “Why were you following Sydni?”
“I was concerned, after Xeraphine was taken—and before you can even ask, yes, we knew about her abduction, and yes, were actively looking for her as well. You two were just a step ahead of us.” He clears his throat. “Back to your question. I was concerned that they would try and hurt her through Sydni. She had been with you both at your place for several weeks, but when she went back to work, I just wanted to make sure. And that’s when I smelled the leaking of fluid from the vehicle.”
Returning my attention to Alaric, I nod for him to continue. “Brice called us the moment your car stalled. Nothing a Werewolf can do against a thirty-five-thousand-pound semi.”
His concern lies with Xeraphine, and part of me wants to be pissed off that he didn’t go for her instead. But I’m not, because if he had saved her, that somehow terrifies me just as much as Lars taking her.
It feels like he’s going to try to do the same; take her from me.
I shake the thoughts away and ask my second question. “What are you, Alaric?”
“Is that a pertinent question to our situation?” He narrows his eyes, the already slanted shape now even more pronounced.
“Yes.”
He blinks and looks to Niyla, then to Brice, and then back to me. “I will answer what I am, but then we need to get moving. Eldritch makes the most sense to start at, and now with the understanding that Xeraphine herself is connected to the same mental facility her mother is at?—”
“What?” I cut him off.
Sydni puts her hand onto my forearm, and I look down as she steps to my side. “We missed it… I don’t know how I didn’t make the connection.” Pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket, she hands me the same toxicology report we found while looking for her when she was first taken from us.
“EHA. Eldritch Haven Asylum.”
My lips part, but I’m slightly too stunned to speak. Why would the toxicology have come from an Asylum?
“Lars’s mother stated he spent about a year in Eldritch seeing a woman...” I fold the piece of paper and put it in my pocket. “It’s at least a good place to start. Now…” Returning my attention to Alaric, I urge him, “My answer.”
Licking his lips, and after clearing his throat, he says, “A Fallen.”
