Pushing that out of my mind, I scroll through the many messages from my Book Club. They start out normal—funny memes and texts and Sophia reminding me that it’s almost time for Mr. Mitten’s to come in to her Vet’s office for his check-up.
The texts get progressively more worried. I see texts from Hanna telling me she’s coming over, dated a few days ago. Then Lucia asking if the two of us are together because now Hanna isn’t answering her texts either. I see missed calls and texts from Tasha, begging me to call her back. And Yelena has decided it’s time to open a missing persons report about both of us. Naomi is so worried she’s practically crying asking what happened and where we went.
I look up from my phone and meet Hanna’s eyes.
“Okay, I’ll call Yelena, Tasha and Lucia,” I say. “You call Mari, Sophia and Naomi.”
“Got it.” She nods and we start calling.
The result is an emergency meeting of Book Club set for tonight—we’re all going to be meeting at Yelena’s place again. Nobody even talks about what snacks to bring—that’s how serious it is. Hanna and I promise to try and explain but honestly, I don’t know what we’ll say.
I just hope our friends will be understanding.
68
Jules
“So you’re saying you were kidnapped by a vampire king?” Tasha asks, her eyes wide, one hand frozen halfway to her wineglass.
“A Vampire Don,” I correct automatically. “Big difference.”
“Right—because it’s set up like a Mafia family?” Sophia asks, brows climbing toward her hairline.
“Families—plural,” I say. “There are six of them. The Vampires, the Shifters, the Dragons, the Demons, and the Fae.”
“And the Necromancers,” Hanna adds quietly.
Every head turns toward her. She’s gone pale again, the color draining from her freckled face.
“Okay, nope,” Lucia says flatly. “That one sounds fake. You added that to mess with us.”
“I wish,” Hanna says. She presses her fingers together in her lap. “I really, really wish.”
“So these are just…gang names?” Naomi asks cautiously. “Like branding?”
“No,” I say, firmer now. “They are legitimately paranormal creatures. Not metaphors. Not cosplay. Real.”
“You mean…” Mari’s voice drops, eyes shining. “Like the kind we read about in our books?”
“Exactly,” Hanna says. “And I know it sounds insane, but I saw it. I was there. I was touched by it.” She shivers.
“We both were,” I add. My stomach twists, remembering the Bone Gates and the cold, skeletal finger reaching for Hanna’s forehead.
“Well,” Naomi exhales slowly, “this just sounds completely crazy.”
“But we know you wouldn’t make something like this up,” Tasha says immediately. She looks from me to Hanna, her expression softening. “Either of you.”
“We were so worried about the two of you,” Yelena says. She pushes a hand through her long, silver hair, her usual polish slipping just a little. “I opened missing persons cases on both of you. I had timelines. Contacts. I was about to escalate.”
My throat tightens.
“I guess you’ll have to cancel those.”
“I will,” she says briskly. Then softer, “But don’t ever do that to us again.”
“Believe me,” I say, “Leaving the Human world and being sucked into the Shadow Realm was not the plan for either of us.”
“I mean,” Lucia says slowly, “You’re telling us you were abducted because of your…blood?”
