Chapter 27

Julian

Those green eyes sliced into my soul as we lay there staring at each other, and I couldn't remember the last time I felt at home.

"I miss you," she said softly, and those three small words shredded my heart.

"You have no idea how much I miss you," I said, lifting my hand to push a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear.

Brown. Didn't it used to be red?

"Julian," she sighed, closing her eyes to savor my touch.

"Julian?" An invited voice cut through my dream, startling me awake, and when I opened my eyes, the face laying far too close for comfort was the last one I ever wanted to see.

I pushed myself up to sit, scooting away from her. "Get the fuck out of my bed, Marguerite."

"Oh, somebody's testy this evening," she teased, propping her head onto her hand and looking up at me like we truly were the playful lovers she wished we were. "Who is Shea?"

My heart slammed against my chest, and I paused momentarily in the process of getting out of bed.

"What are you talking about?" I growled without looking back at her.

"You always used to murmur Alice's name in your sleep, but just now, you said ‘Shea'," Marguerite explained, jealousy tainting her tone. "Have you finally moved on? With a girl who isn't me?"

I didn't respond, mostly because I found that ignoring Marguerite eventually made her get bored and walk away. But also…it had been Shea in my dream, not Alice. Ever since my delirium from whatever shit Hadrian had put in the tank, Shea and Alice had become interchangeable in my dreams, and even in my mind.

I blamed it on the drugs and on the lack of blood I'd consumed since I got here. I was devastatingly thirsty, but blood bags were against Hadrian's rules, and I absolutely refused to drink from the irritating Initiate he'd assigned to me. I didn't drink from people, period, but even if I were to start, that girl would be far down my list of candidates.

I climbed out of bed and shrugged into a white button-up shirt, trying to ignore both Marguerite and the guilt that was welling inside me as I pushed the buttons into place. Why was I dreaming about Shea at all? Perhaps it was just because she looked so much like Alice, and her magical signature felt so similar.

I hadn't so much as looked at another woman since Alice died, and I couldn't help but feel like I was betraying her memory by craving this young witch.

My fingers suddenly fumbled in their task at the realization that shook me. I hadn't admitted even to myself until that moment that I did indeed crave her. And I had no idea how to feel about that.

I'd been here a week now with no word from Shea, and thoughts of her consumed most of my waking hours. Why hadn't she contacted me? Was she in danger? Or worse…had she decided to take the grimoire and run? No, I didn't see her going back on her word. Not that I really knew her at all, having only met her once, but for some ungodly reason, I trusted her. And I didn't trust easily.

Marguerite scoffed behind me. "I wish you would talk to me, Julian, like you used to. And just so you know, I came because Hadrian wants to see you."

I fastened the final button and turned for the door of my room. "Thank you for delivering the message."

I walked out without giving her so much as a passing glance. I'd have to acquire a deadbolt for that door. She could easily break through it if she wanted to get in badly enough, but at least the noise would wake me next time.

As I walked through the halls, I couldn't help but notice that there were more vampires walking about than usual. And they seemed preoccupied, blurring down the halls with their inhuman speed. What were they preparing for? Did it have anything to do with why Hadrian wanted to see me?

Hadrian's trophy room door was open, but I rapped my knuckles on the doorframe to announce my presence before I walked in. The vampire leader looked up from his papers on the table in front of him and waved me forward to sit beside him. I did as I was bid.

"What is the progress of your Initiate's work?" he asked, getting right to business.

I straightened in my chair. "To be honest, the work is slow and tedious. We've tested several samples with no success yet."

A flicker of displeasure crossed his blue eyes, striking a note of fear through my heart.

"But I believe we'll be close very soon," I amended quickly. "Edison failed a thousand times in his attempt to invent the lightbulb. Successes are hard won through failure."

He tilted his head in appreciation at the metaphor. "I suppose that's true. I like the way you think, my boy."

My shoulders relaxed slightly. Hadrian was not someone you ever wanted to disappoint, so I'd had to be very tactful in my sabotage of the samples in the lab. I would do absolutely everything in my power to stop him from creating the hybrid monsters he was striving for.

While almost every attempt at genetic merging had indeed failed on its own, we got dangerously close yesterday. So, I did what had to be done, exposing the sample to oxygen before the merge could complete. It was a great risk because, if I'd been caught, I would have been executed on site.

If Piper suspected anything of my treason, she hadn't let it show. I truly believed that her sleep deprivation made her a little less than sharp these days. All part of my plan.

"Well, seeing as you're clearly not much needed in the lab, I have a special assignment for you," Hadrian said, lacing his fingers on the table in front of him.

"Oh?" I asked, curiosity and apprehension playing tug-of-war with my heart. "What is it you want me to do, my lord?"

I added the last bit for extra flattery, and judging by the haughty smile he offered in response, it had paid off.

"I need you to find someone for me," he said. "Her last known location was a house in Short Grove, a small town outside of Chicago. I have sent others to do the job, but they don't know the area as well as you do. I figured that, since Chicago was your most recent hunting ground, and you have the added benefit of being able to walk in the daylight, you might be particularly well-suited for the task."

Curiosity won, making me furrow my brow with intrigue. "Who is it you want me to find?"

"Her name is Arya Walker," he explained. "She's a young girl of about seventeen. County records show that she still resides at the house, but she hasn't actually been there for three weeks or more. I need you to put your keen sense of smell to work and sniff her out, using your knowledge of the surrounding area to predict where she might be hiding."

I nodded, the curiosity now blazing in my chest. "If you don't mind me asking, sir, what is her importance?"

He looked down at his hands, tapping his index finger over the top of his other hand as he considered my question. "Let's just say that her blood is of great value to me."

I waited to see if he would elaborate any further, but he didn't.

"Very well," I said, pushing away from the table. "I'll take my leave at once. If she's still in Chicago, I'll find her."

He rose with me, slapping a firm hand on my shoulder. "Thank you, Julian. I knew I could count on you for this job. I'll text you her address. Let me know immediately when you find her."

I offered an obedient but shallow bow that made me feel dirty before leaving his office and heading straight for the front doors.

To be honest, I was immensely grateful for this opportunity on a number of levels. I couldn't stand Piper, and any chance to be free of her for even a few hours was a great boon. But also, leaving the strict confinement of these walls would allow me to get my hands on some blood bags. Short Grove wasn't far from Chicago. I could make a stop at my apartment and sate this maddening hunger.

And…I might be able to see Shea. I had no way of contacting her on my own, and I had no idea where she lived. But maybe I could follow her scent from my apartment and…what? Just check on her, I supposed. Make sure she was alright.

Though, for her safety, it might be best for me not to leave a trail to her door for others—Marguerite, namely—to follow if they got suspicious. I wouldn't put it past that leech to follow me on this task. I'd have to be very careful of what I did and how I operated so that anyone Hadrian might have secretly assigned to watch me would have nothing untoward to report.

* ? * ? *

The flight was mercifully empty, not many passengers needing to travel so early in the morning. And without an excess of human blood to distract my already fraying senses, it gave me time to think.

Caesar had said the mermaid he'd rescued had been in Short Grove. Was this the same girl I was supposed to track down? If so, what was Hadrian's interest in her?

He hadn't said anything about a siren or prophecy while I'd been spying on him, and certainly no mention of that when he assigned me this task. He'd only said that her blood was of great value, whatever that meant. And if this girl was, indeed, the same girl, I already knew where she was. At the shifter school.

I would make a show of looking for her nonetheless. And under no circumstances would I leave any breadcrumbs to the secret entrance of the school. I would stray before getting so close.

When I exited the airport, it was already afternoon in Chicago. I had lost much of the day, but no matter. It left me plenty of time to scope out the house at the address Hadrian had sent me before returning to my apartment for the evening to finally gorge on my supply of blood.

I took a taxi to the outskirts of town, and, from there, used my vampire speed to run the distance over the grassy fields to Short Grove, stopping in a thicket of trees before emerging in the small town's main street. I pulled out my phone and pinged the address in Google Maps, adopting a leisurely human stroll as I followed the directions to the quaint house.

Sure enough, I caught Caesar's scent as I approached the front door. But it wasn't as stale as it should've been after so many weeks. No, it was fresh and potent. He'd recently been here, the musk of his cologne stinging the back of my parched throat. Hell, I might have just missed him by an hour or so. I couldn't help but wonder why. Perhaps to collect some of the mermaid's personal items?

I honed my auditory senses, listening for any movement in the house. Nothing, not even the scurry of a mouse. I turned the knob and let myself inside, two distinct scents hitting my nostrils, one of which striking me so violently that I stumbled into the back of the couch.

Shea!

Shea had been here too. Her scent was just as faint as the other, certainly about three weeks old, but just as sweet as I remembered.

What the hell had she been doing here with the mermaid? Had they known each other? Did she know Caesar? What the hell were the odds?

I tried to focus on the mermaid's misty scent, but Shea's was taunting me, holding dominion over my body and soul and making my fangs throb with my heightened craving for her. I needed to leave this place before I lost control and went feral.

It had been a grave mistake to come here before feeding on my stash. That should've been the first thing I did, but I hadn't wanted to raise any suspicion in whomever might be following me, if anyone even was. Dammit!

I tripped out of the house, closing the door assertively behind me in hopes of cutting off that intoxicating aroma. I sucked in a breath of fresh air, hoping the smells of grass and autumn would wash away the taint of Shea's presence.

It helped slightly, but I could still smell her, her scent oddly intermingled with the mermaid's. Get a grip, Julian. You have a job to at least pretend to do.

Like a heroin addict, I embraced the two scent trails, giving in to the pull of following them as the urges of the hunt set in. Shea's trail weaved in so many directions from here, and it was overwhelmingly tempting to stray from the path, to find her now and—

Nope, not going there. I had to follow only the trail that included Arya's scent, too. And Caesar's.

Shea had gone with the two shifters when they'd left the house. But why? She and Arya must have been close friends. That had to be how she knew about the school. She'd been there when Caesar told Arya about it, and she'd gone with them to the subway. I didn't even have to follow the trail to the end to know that.

But where had she gone from there? There was no way Caesar had taken her to the secret entrance, no matter how close she and the mermaid might be.

I quickly followed the scents to the stairs of the subway, making a show of looking confused and lost at the top of the staircase. I would follow this trail no further, and it had to be believable to anyone watching that I had lost it.

I stood there for a few minutes, frowning as if considering what to do. Well, that part wasn't an act. I had two separate urges driving me in opposite directions: follow Shea's scent to wherever she might be now, or go home and get my fix before I did something stupid and disastrous.

Not really much of a choice, was there? I had to go home. I had to quench this horrible thirst before I did anything else. For my sake, and for Shea's .