“He’s not going to let us go quietly, is he?” I murmured, the realization crashing down.
Ursuline let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, never. Frederick Triton will chase us down to every corner of the world. He doesn’t like to let possessions out of his grasp.”
My stomach dropped. And yet, despite the reality that the Triton family would continue to haunt us, I wouldn’t be by myself. And that fact settled something deep inside me, offered a resolve I’d been searching for my entire life. “What can we do?”
Ursuline chewed on their lower lip. “I’m still searching for some answers on that.”
“You know you won’t be alone,” Jaffar offered from the front seat. “And we’ve all got connections.”
“You more than others,” Ursuline commented. “This one is deep in the politics of Peregrine City.” They separated our hands and beckoned me in. I scooted in and pressed my body against theirs. The contact soothed me at once, and by the time theystarted carding their fingers through my hair, the relief rushed through me so hard I was shaky.
I should’ve known more about who ran Peregrine City, but my entire life had been about following orders. Trying to appease parents who’d never approved of anything I did. However, Ursuline had connections to a whole other world than what I’d grown up in, and one that seemed infinitely more interesting to me. Ursuline’s fingertips strummed out a melody on my scalp, competent and relaxing at the same time. Fuck, how were they here with me?
The reality still hadn’t settled in, even as we zipped through familiar streets of the city. We’d gotten far enough from the Triton manor that I didn’t fear immediate pursuit, but my pulse hadn’t calmed.
“What will you do about your apartment?” I asked. Surely Frederick knew where Ursuline lived. He’d send men there the moment he discovered they’d abandoned their position.
That they’d run off with me.
“Already in progress,” they said. “Charles and Theo are moving my belongings over to Cillian’s for the time being. Bastard has plenty of room.”
“You planned for everything, didn’t you?” I breathed out. At least they wouldn’t have their space overturned, lose all they had.
Their lips curled into a smirk. “I never planned for you, sunshine. You were the curveball in this, the impetus of my escape.”
My chest squeezed tight. As much as I’d feel guilty if anything happened to their family because of this, I couldn’t be upset that they’d left. They’d been trapped for so long that they hadn’t known anything else. Ursuline had sacrificed everything and deserved a chance at happiness.
And I selfishly didn’t want to be apart from them either.
We drove past the bright lights of Haven Diner, and I half expected Jaffar to pull in there, even though that wasn’t where Sofia lived. Still, the place was so unabashedly her from the brief interactions I’d had that I associated it with her on instinct.
“Can you drive around the manor afterward?” Ursuline asked Jaffar. “Update me on where he’s dispatched his people?”
The comment sent a shiver down my spine. Here I sat, basking in safety, but Ursuline was in attack mode. Maybe this was why my parents viewed me as worthless.
Except when I was with Ursuline, I didn’t feel that way.
For those incandescent moments, I was useful. Wanted. Desired.
I didn’t regret leaving Arielle or the Triton family behind in the slightest. After seeing her lack of care, the slip behind the mask, I couldn’t view her in the same light. Couldn’t pretend she was the person I’d first thought her to be. And the more I learned about the Tritons…a shiver rolled through me.
“You okay?” Ursuline asked, tender concern reflecting in their eyes.
I swallowed hard. “Just…the escape settling in.”
Their lips thinned into a hard line. “I won’t let anyone harm you. We’ll find a way to survive, Elrich.”
The unspoken hovered in the air between us. Even if we had to run forever.
My parents wouldn’t let this drop, and unless Ursuline found a loophole, a way out of their contract, neither would Frederick.
“Okay, kids,” Jaffar said, pulling to a stop in front of a massive two-story house. “This is where I let you off.” It wasn’t a mansion like the one we’d left but still carved a unique space in the neighborhood. The deep purple clapboard siding, the black roof, the wide arched windows that glowed with a hazy, homey light created a remarkable sight, a place as unique and inviting as Haven.
“Kids, indeed,” Ursuline murmured, arching their brow. I didn’t know how long cecaelia lived for, but I had the feeling it was longer than a human. Yet Jaffar being a vampire meant he could’ve been around for far longer. The questions I had about his kind multiplied. Why was there so little information accessible on monsterkind?
Maybe for safety. We hadn’t made society welcome for them when the Awakening happened. Instead, Human First had emerged and other monster hate groups, and humans had stuck to their kind while monsters tightened their communities in response.
“Thank you,” Ursuline said, reaching up and squeezing his shoulder. “I’ll remember this.”
