He nodded as he looked around like something would pop out at us at any moment. Avery came up on my other side, hugging himself as he shivered. “Ugh, I hate this creepy feeling like worms are wiggling in my body, telling me to turn around.” He lowered his arms as he shook himself off. “Why can’t they put up normal cut-off-your-head or throw-you-in-hell type of traps like a normal person?”
As ridiculous as he was, he wasn’t wrong. It took a lot more magic to run this kind of spell at this range. It would be more efficient to have undetectable and unavoidable traps to deter people.
“Unless they are moving large groups of people that they want to keep calm.” I turned to Ax in shock, not expecting him to know a lot about magic because of his field. Ax sneered. “What? Didn’t think this meathead knew anything about magic?”
Before I could answer, Cosmo barked out, “Found tracks.”
We hurried to follow his speedy form, not wanting to be left behind, until we got to a clearing and found it littered with bodies and blood. My heart stopped for a second as all the blood drained from my face. There was no way Rayla could be dead, I would’ve felt it, right? I still didn’t know everything, but I was sure I would feel something if she was no longer with us.
Cosmo stood off to the side, frowning down at a familiar pale vampire. As we were about to disperse, he called out without looking at us, “I scanned the bodies, none of them are Rayla.”
Why did my heart calm at his words? Why did my chest fill with pride? Why was I reminded of Rayla’s triumphant face as she pelted me with my own tranquilizer gun? Why did I hope she was giving whoever did this to her hell?
“Of course, she isn’t.” Ax puffed out his chest. “My siren wouldn’t let anyone take her from this world.” His siren? What the fuck did that mean? And why was I only mildly irritated? More pissed about the nickname than his implications.
Avery glanced around at the bodies, kicking a few of the ones in hoods. “I don’t call her Fierce Girl for nothing. Plus”—he nodded toward a large boulder—“it looks like she took care of these ones.” He walked off into the center and paused with his eyes narrowed at the ground before he bent over and picked up two shiny gold rings. “What are these?”
I recognized the old weapon, opening my mouth to tell him, but Cosmo sped up to him, grabbing the two rings like they were a lifeline. “These are Rayla’s. She likes to carry these when she wants to seem undangerous.”
Avery glared at him, getting into his face when Ax stomped up to where they were but was looking at the ground. “Who did that?”
The rest of us gathered around, staring at a circle of dead hooded figures with black lines all over their faces and eyes and mouths frozen wide in fear. I kneeled to get a closer look, hovering my hand over one of their faces as I muttered out a rune spell and read the magic that did this. Whoever did this, took Rayla.
As soon as I finished my read, I clenched my teeth while standing up as I glared down at the body. “Well?” Cosmo growled, and I debated being petty and not telling him, but I wasn’t so childish.
“Demon.” I looked up at them all, knowing they knew what I meant when I said that, but I felt the need to clarify, just in case. “I think Lex has her.”
That was when the cursing, arguing, and stomping happened. We did a sweep of the sections we looked at earlier, already familiar with the places we had been before, this time, searching for traces of Rayla, but it seemed Lex covered his tracks well, and we decided to regroup back at the Desmond house.
All of us were sitting in the dining room, picking at the food Miss Lisa had given us, not really in the mood to eat. All except for Cosmo, who had to do one last sweep for the night.
Avery, Ax, and I knew what was expected of us when situations like this happened. We were taught to keep our heads, to not let emotions bleed out, and to keep thinking of solutions to implement. Rayla was not dead, so there was always time to get her back. The Syndicate might lose a battle here or there, but we never lost the war.
It was times like this that it was obvious we were trained differently than others. Rick kept checking his phone every two seconds, jumping up whenever he heard the door, and biting his nails as he stared at the table. Cosmo was no better.
His distress was bleeding out of him like a war wound. Up to this point, I had thought he was impenetrable. A stoic statue that stood at Rayla’s side, but this situation had shown me just how much he relied on her, how he was much more than her sharpened tool, one that couldn’t be wielded properly without its master. I also wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“So, Rick, is Cosmo always like this? A relentless beast searching for its bone?” Avery’s question was meant to insult, to irritate Rick enough to get information, to have him jump to his defense and let something slip.
Instead, Rick’s face shut down, almost turning robotic as he calmly said, “He’s just passionate about family. The Desmonds are like that.”
Avery’s calm smile turned feral. “Oh, yes. I would bepassionateabout family too if I had a sister like Rayla.” Rick didn’t say anything, keeping that manufactured smile on his face. Seemed like this was not the first time someone had tried to do this with him.What was really going on between Rayla and Cosmo?
Avery crossed his arms, settling back in his seat as he stared Rick down. Ax eyed Rick, too, only taking interest in the conversation when Rick’s face went into cruise-control mode. He should know that while that deters the weak, it only makes the strong and powerful more interested in you, knowing you had something you didn’t want to tell.
Before it went any further, the door opened, and Ternin, followed by the other bosses, burst in. “So, have you found my daughter yet?” Rick stiffened at Ternin’s tone, even though it seemed harmless. Maybe that was his M.O., he seemed like he was fine right before he exploded. Or maybe Rick feared him, who knows.
“No, sir, but Cosmo still hasn’t come back yet.” Ternin nodded at Rick, even as his left eye twitched.
“Keep me updated.” He turned to leave but then paused and turned back. “Also, call me if you need anything. We”—he pointed to the other bosses—“are going to the lab to see about dissecting what’s going on with that drug. I have let the men out in the field know to look for Rayla as well as anyone dealing with this drug. I have a feeling these are somehow connected. The timing of both events feels planned.”
I was surprised I agreed with Ternin. Lex, the drug, Rayla missing, this seemed to somehow connect, but the piece he wasn’t connecting was this all started when we decided to get together in person for the first time in twenty-two years. Our presence had more to do with it than they thought.
“She’s going to be fine. She’s my daughter and can withstand anything. Plus, it’s just a matter of time before either Cosmo finds her or she gets herself out.” I didn’t know if he said that for us or for himself, but we all nodded before he left with our fathers.
That spot on my hand itched again, giving me a reason to not think about the predicament we were in. I called out to Rick, “How do vampires mate?”
Rick slowly turned to face me, his eyes wide and confused. “What?”
