Chapter 27

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

FLYNN

T he drive to Evanora is quiet, but it feels right. Talulla's hand is on top of mine, caressing my knuckles as I hold her thigh.

If my heart had a pulse, I know it would be beating fast right now as we approach the witch's driveway. And maybe by the end of this visit, I will have a pulse, and I will have Talulla falling asleep on my chest as she listens to my heartbeat. But what if we haven't avoided the biggest obstacle, and she's still in danger? Would this still be worth it?

We called Cassandra to meet us there to see what was bugging her, but mostly because I wanted Talulla to have a friend close by in case things didn't go as planned.

"Ready to go inside?" I ask, interlocking my fingers with hers.

"Are you?" she replies.

I nod. I get out of the car and jog to her door, opening it for her. A small gesture that she still seems to find quite unnecessary.

We're greeted at the door by my lover's best friend, and I relax at the knowledge of her presence.

"Everything is ready in the living room," she says, gesturing for us to come inside.

"You wanna tell us what's up?" Talulla asks, still holding my hands in hers.

"After. This is more important right now."

Evanora has some tea on her coffee table and a vial with a greenish-bluish liquid inside. It's almost fluorescent.

I don't know why, but I just assumed it would be a different color, perhaps red. This looks like liquid sour candy or something like that. Almost as bright as absinthe. Hopefully, it tastes like it too.

"Flynn, Talulla," Evanora starts. "It's so nice to see you both."

"It's nice to see you too," Talulla replies, her teeth torturing her lower lip. I press my hand on the small of her back, letting her know I'm still right beside her, and I can see her shoulders relax.

"Is there anything I need to know before I do this?" I ask, keeping my hand on my mate's back, caressing her.

"As I already mentioned when you asked me to prepare it for you… It might not work at all. It probably won't work."

"Anything else? Could it have any side effects?" This time, Talulla is asking the question.

"I can't be one hundred percent sure, but no, there shouldn't be any sort of side effects."

With that, she sits down and rubs her hand on her forehead.

"Would it be too much if I asked for some privacy?"

"Of course not. Take the time you need," Evanora replies, leaving the room with Cassandra.

"Wait. Can Cass stay?" Talulla asks, her body trembling as she tries to get the words out, and I nod.

"She's right here," I say as her friend sits beside her, still keeping a bit of distance between us.

TALULLA

"What if it doesn't work? Or if it kills you? You can't—" My hands shake at the thought of possibly losing him.

"Talulla, I'm not going to die if I take this. Evanora would never give me something that would kill me."

"She even isn't sure of it—"

"I'm not going to leave you. You won't be alone." He lowers himself in front of me so he's at eye level with me. His soft, velvety fingers caress my cheeks.

"Flynn, I—" I feel my eyes filling with salty water and my lips trembling because I can't even get the words out.

"I know, and I don't want to leave you."

"Then don't risk it."

"You're my entire world, Talulla. If I have the smallest chance to live a human life with you, I have to risk it." And that's when he finally does it.

He grabs the vial, opens it, and then brings it to his mouth. My hands are clenched into fists as I try to force myself not to grab the little glass container and throw it far, far away.

Cassandra's eyes are wide as she stares at me and my reaction. I'm immobilized and rigid as a statue as I see Flynn's Adam's apple go up and down.

We don't move for a moment that seems to last forever before Flynn finally breaks the silence. Evanora joins us back, remaining in silence just like Cassandra is.

The quietness of the room continues to envelop us as we patiently wait for something to happen. I can almost hear the chirping of the birds outside and the sound of the leaves as the wind caresses them, creating a beautiful, melancholic melody in my ears.

"Well, I don't feel anything different," Flynn says with his lips in a thin line.

I stand, and as I get to him, I start touching his hair. Then I pat him down to make sure he's still in one piece. "Open your mouth," I order, and he obeys with dark eyes fixed on me.

He raises an eyebrow as I continue to touch him. "I usually am the one giving orders."

"Well, not now." I carry on with my meticulous checkup.

I grab his jaw with my hand and bring his face down to my eye level. I examine his teeth and fangs, noticing no difference. I even press my fingers on them to make sure they're still working. That's when he grabs my hands—before I puncture myself. His arms wrap around me, and I finally let myself melt into his embrace. He's still here, alive, and a vampire.

I take a deep breath and exhale as his skin touches mine. Electric shocks start to trail from my fingertips up to my arms and then down to my chest.

He's here. He's still here, alive with me.

"You're okay," I whisper, nestling my head against his chest. His vanilla cologne calms me down.

"I'm not human." His voice is a soft whisper.

I grab his head in my hands and force him to look at me. His gray eyes look particularly shiny right now. "It doesn't matter. You're still here," I declare, the corners of my lips lifting into a smile.

"Talu—"

"I don't give a shit if you're human, a vampire, or a fucking unicorn. I just need you, Flynn, no matter which version."

His eyes soften. "And you have me. You'll have me for as long as you want me, and even after that, you'll still have me. I'm yours, Talulla Popescu. Forever yours."

"Good. Now that this is settled, we can go back to our normal scheduled events." I turn to look at Cassandra. "What's up with you?"

"Well, you switched up moods real quick," Cassandra says, plopping into the love seat closest to the fireplace.

"What did you see?"

"When I grabbed Mr. Wagner's arm last night… I saw something weird."

"Okay?"

"It was Eric and his wife, and then I saw his wife with Dalton Reyes, Kaden's father."

"Cassandra, this makes no sense," I state because what would these three have in common?

"I think they knew each other."

"Elaborate." It's Flynn who's talking now. I turn to look at him. He's focused on Cassandra, listening to every word she says.

"I think something happened between Eric, his wife, and Kaden's father."

My vampire rests a hand on the small of my back before he starts his theory. "We did assume that Reyes wasn't alone in the car the night he died."

"Alina and Dalton died at separate times," I say, not even sure about my words anymore.

"Are you sure?"

"Eric's wife has been dead for a while. Dalton died after."

"You weren't working for him when she died—" I stop Cassandra before she can finish her sentence.

"No, but we both were in his class when he took time off. It was before Dalton's death." There's no way he has something to do with this. Not when he did so much for me. "I know what you're thinking, but he is not involved in this. He even tried to help us."

"How?"

"If he really had anything to do with any of this, why would he let me read his wife's research? It makes absolutely no sense."

Flynn clears his throat. "Okay, so maybe we should talk to Kaden again and see if he knows who could have been with his father that night."

I nod. "Yes, good idea."

A phone call makes me jerk in surprise.

"It's Set," Cassandra says, pressing the accept button and then putting him on speaker. "We can all hear you."

"Good, because I know how we're going to get the full report for Dalton's accident," Set states, making us all close our mouths shut.

"Oh?"

"Yes," he adds before chuckling a little. "And Talulla is not going to like it one bit."