“...can’t believe Declan left us here,” one of them grumbled.
“Yeah. Waste of time,” the other agreed, his voice tinged with annoyance. “Asher’s long gone. Took that damn vampire with him.”
A sick twist of guilt coiled in my gut.
“Declan thinks Asher betrayed us.” The first hunter’s voice was bitter. “After everything he did for the Guild... Hell, I looked up to him. Thought he was one of the best.”
I felt the words like a punch to the gut.Betrayal. That was what they thought of me now. Maybe they weren’t wrong.
Maybe I’d lost my way the moment I hesitated to kill Gael. The moment I put him before the mission to find Finn.
I clenched my jaw, forcing down the surge of emotion. I couldn’t afford to think about this now.
Turning away from the window, I slipped back into the shadows, the hunters’ voices fading behind me.
My feet carried me toward the train station. The hollow ache in my chest deepened with every step. I was wasting time here.
Finn’s trail was growing colder, and I couldn’t let my brother slip further away.
The station was nearly empty. A few travelers loitered near the tracks, their faces drawn and distant.
I approached the ticket booth, my gaze flicking to the destinations posted above.
East, west, north. Every direction held the same promise of escape.
The ticket agent, a woman with tired eyes and a weary smile, looked up. “Where to?”
I hesitated, the words catching in my throat. Anywhere, I wanted to say. Just away from here. Away from this mess.
I slid a fake ID across the counter.
“One ticket,” I muttered, barely meeting her gaze. “Doesn’t matter where.”
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask questions.
She handed me a ticket, and I nodded my thanks, the paper trembling slightly between my fingers.
I made my way to the platform, the distant rumble of an approaching train vibrating beneath my feet.
I should have felt relief. This was what I needed. To move forward, to keep going, to find Finn. But all I felt was emptiness.
Like I was leaving something behind that I couldn’t quite name.
Gael.
The thought slid into my mind unbidden. I pictured him lying there, helpless, the cold warehouse swallowing him whole.
What if those hunters decided to check the place out again? They’d find him defenseless. To them, he’d be nothing but easy prey.
A wave of nausea rolled through me. I tried to shove the thought away, but it dug in, relentless and sharp.
You can’t leave him.
I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms. This was insane. Gael was a vampire. He wasn’t my responsibility.
He wasn’t supposed to be anything to me.
But the image of his lifeless form wouldn’t leave me. I could almost feel the weight of the knife in my hand again, the choice I hadn’t made.
