CHAPTERTEN
The trip to Long Island took forever and wasn’t exactly fruitful. Drea picked the lock on the small bungalow, and we rushed inside only to find out that there wasn’t a scrap of furniture left in the place. The marks on the carpet where the couch and bed used to be were still there though, as were two full trash bags on the kitchen floor. We ripped open the bags looking for clues. The only thing the trash revealed was food that hadn’t rotted yet, giving us confirmation that he’d recently moved out. Probably even within the last day.
Did he know I’d come here? He knew thatIknew where his safe house was, and so was that why he moved? Or maybe he’d had a run-in with his dad and was trying to avoid him.
“I don’t see anything here. Maybe check some other places he might be?” I called to Drea, who was investigating a different part of the house.
“Hang on. Come look at this.” Drea’s voice held a note of fear that spiked my heart rate.
I hurried down the long hallway to the bathroom where Drea was, and gasped when my gaze fell on the bloodstained tub.
Streaks of blood and thin black strands lined the tub, and there were gashes and broken tiles along the shower wall.
“Is thathair?” I stepped closer, my heart in my throat.
Please don’t be Gage’s hair and blood.
Drea crossed the room, sidestepping me because I’d frozen in horror. She ran her hand over the white surface of the tub, scooping up some of the strands. Bringing them to her nose, she inhaled and then rubbed them between her fingers.
Okay, slightly weird, but I was down for it if it led us to Gage.
Please don’t lick it.
“It’s fur.” She sounded as confused as I felt.
Fur? I glanced at the gashes on the side of the shower wall, realizing they could easily be claw marks. I could think of several demonic creatures that had fur and claws.
“Looks like a demon attack went down here,” I said, trying not to fully lose my mind. “The master Lumen who saw Gage said he was covered in blood. What if Gage’s blood somehow attracted a demon, or his dad sent one here after him?”
She cocked her head to the side, her gaze thoughtful. “It’s plausible. If he killed another demon, the body would have just disappeared.”
I wasn’t sure of anything at the moment. “Maybe this is just leftover blood and fur from the hellhound attack?” I didn’t have an explanation for the broken tiles, but maybe they weren’t even related.
“But then where is Gage now?” Drea asked.
I shrugged. This was all I had—the only place I could think of to look.
I ran my tongue over my teeth as I tried to reason the rest out and think of who else might have an idea of where he went. Would Gage contact Indigo for help? Probably not. He wouldn’t want to involve her in his mess.
I paused as something occurred to me. Could Indigo have told Arthur about Gage being alive, andthat’show his dad knew to send demons after him?
Indigo was the one Shade that I knew for sure knew about Gage being alive. She might have even known about this house.
What if…no!
I shook my head, immediately dismissing the suspicion before it even had a chance to fully form and grow in my mind. I wasn’t going to think that of Indigo. I’d spent time with her; she was good, even if she was a Shade. She’d risked her life to bring Gage to Lumen Academy when he was dying, and I’d seen the indecision in her eyes when she was protecting that portal. I trusted her. End of story.
“I don’t know where Gage is now,” I said. “The only thing that brought him out before was when I was in danger with the hellhound—” I stopped mid-sentence, and a grin pulled at my lips.
“No,” Drea said, shaking her head hard enough that her tight curls slapped her cheeks. “I don’t like that look.”
It was a crazy idea, but if Gagewaswatching over me, it might draw him out.
“I’ll do something dangerous in public and he’ll try to save me again. It’s too random that he was there when I was attacked by that hellhound. He must be watching over me.”
Drea just laughed. “What are you going to do, go skydiving without a parachute and hope he catches you? Besides, he’s clearly injured and can’t just jump in front of another hellhound for you. Come on, Tatum. Plan B. What else you got?”
Thiswasmy plan B. Plan A was coming here, and I was running out of options.
