“Are you almost home?” His voice was tight and thin. Behind him, I could hear the unmistakable chaos of sirens and shouting. My blood ran cold. A thousand worries hit at once, from ourdad coming to drag him back home to shadows rising out of the walls.
“Almost. Are you home?”
Angel’s hand landed on my knee, a brief, steadying pressure, before he slammed the accelerator.
“Yes, but you need to get here. Now.”
“Are you okay? Are you safe?” The words were sharp, fear lending them an edge. “If Xavier let anything happen to you?—”
“I’m at Nikki’s,” he rushed out. “But Jude… someone was in our apartment. The door was wide open. The whole place is trashed. And there’s blood.”
“Trashed?” The word was a hollow echo. My heart hammered against my ribs. “Blood? Ivan, tell me you didn’t go inside.”
“I had to!” he protested, defensive fury in his tone. “I grabbed Peanut Butter. He was hiding under your bed, but he came when I called.”
A single, frayed thread of tension in my chest snapped. Peanut Butter was safe. I choked back a sob of relief. “He’s okay?” The second Ivan had said blood, I feared someone had murdered my cat.
“He’s fine. But Jude,” His voice cracked. “Everything’s broken. Even my new stuff.”
The ache in my chest intensified, a fresh wave of guilt. He’d just started to feel like this was home. “I’m so sorry, Ivy. I’ll replace everything, I promise.”
“The police are everywhere. The manager is screaming. But Xavier won’t let anyone talk to me until you’re here.”
“Good.” At least the creepy supernatural crime lord was upholding his end of the deal. “We’re here. Hold tight.” I hung up, eyeing the chaos with more than a little irritation.
The scene was a circus. Squad cars formed a glittering barrier around our building. We were stopped at the garage, brieflydetained by stone-faced officers before being escorted through a gauntlet of stares and up to my floor.
Uniformed cops created a wall of blue down the hall. And there, leaning against the wall beside Nikki’s door with an air of profound boredom, was Xavier. The twins, Keanan and Sylas, flanked him like living shadows, a silent, impenetrable barrier standing between the world and my little brother.
Xavier’s gaze, cold and assessing, slid over the escorting officers and landed on us. With a subtle, almost imperceptible tilt of his head, the twins shifted, creating a narrow gap between them.
“Go,” Xavier said, his voice a low rumble that cut through the cacophony. “The kitten is safe.”
Angel and I slipped past the wall of muscle and into Nikki’s apartment.
The contrast was jarring. The hallway was a storm of noise and aggression; inside was a pocket of strained silence. Nikki stood with her arms crossed, her knuckles white, her face a mask of worry. On her couch, Ivan sat hunched over, clutching a purring Peanut Butter like a lifeline. My brother was shaking like a leaf.
“Ivy,” I breathed, my voice cracking.
He looked up, and the second our eyes met, he launched himself off the couch and into my arms. I held him tight, his face buried in my shoulder, his whole-body trembling. Peanut Butter snuggled between us. Over his head, I met Angel’s eyes, seeing my own helplessness reflected back at me.
“I’m sorry about your stuff,” I whispered into his hair.
“It’s just stuff. I was so worried about Peanut Butter. What if he got out, or they…” He shook his head, then pulled back just enough to look at me, his voice a terrified whisper. “Is Nox okay?”
I gave a tight, sure nod. “He’s with me. He’s safe.” A trickle of warmth pulsed along my spine as a reminder.
The relative peace was shattered by a new wave of shouting from the hall. The building manager’s voice, shrill and panicked, pierced the door. “—I don’t care! This is the last straw! That unit is done as of this moment! I want him and his… his menagerie out! This is a respectable building!”
A uniformed officer, looking harried, knocked on Nikki’s doorframe. “Mr. Holt? We need a statement. And we need you to take a look at the scene to answer some questions.”
“We’ll also have to interview the kid,” someone said from behind the officer.
I gave Xavier a beseeching look, and he nodded, assuring me he’d be at Ivan’s side. I turned my brother over to him, squeezed Nikki’s arm, and made my way out to face the next battle of the day, Angel at my back.
The door to my apartment gaped open, revealing a nightmare. Furniture was slashed and overturned, stuffing leaking like entrails. Every dish and mug was shattered on the floor. Ivan’s new monitor was a spiderweb of cracked glass. My books were torn, pages scattered like fallen leaves. Slashes had been made through the carpet, and anything that could be overturned lay strewn as though a giant had swept through the place like an angry toddler.
Dark, angry splatters of blood arced across the walls, soaking the carpet so thoroughly it made a sickening, squishy sound under the booties of the forensic team. My stomach churned. There was so much of it. Who had died here to create this?
