Chapter 13

THIRTEEN

INDI

"Okay, okay, okay. Hold on." I stopped walking and turned to face Daniel. "We're thinking like normal people."

He scowled. "I'm gonna need more information than that."

I grinned and rolled my eyes. "We are asking ourselves where would Carter hide? But Carter doesn't know the Island like Lex does. There's no way she picked their hiding spot."

His eyebrows rose.

"We need to think like a near five-hundred-year-old grumpy vampire who is basically just a black cat who wants to hiss and bite everyone who comes near him."

"Ah. I see your point." He pursed his lips and looked around. "I'm thinking like a cybercrimes detective, not a homicide detective."

"Now you're with me." I snapped my fingers and tried to think about Lexington. "Where would that guy hide?"

"Well, you know this Island better than me, I would suspect?—"

"Yeah, but you're old like him?—"

"Hey!" He laughed. "Okay, that's fair."

I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded. "So, being centuries old and sneaky, because Lexington is hella smart, where would you hide?"

"Well nowhere in town, right? I mean, they said the whole Island was up for grabs." He tapped his teeth together, his green eyes locked on nothing as he thought. Then he narrowed his eyes on me. "Question, do you think it's coincidental that we're nearing the end of Vampire Night and they chose Lexington to be the hider?"

I pointed to him. "They know he's going to be hiding in a tricky spot that most people won't find. Save the hardest round for last, for the diehard sardines players who stuck it out all night."

"Exactly. And my guess is Carter has been instructed to raise that dark mark to call the round off when no one finds them."

I snorted. "Dark mark."

He shrugged one shoulder. "I'm trying to stay young and hip?"

"Good boy." I patted his shoulder. "Right, so . . . a tricky hiding spot that's off the beaten path. Definitely somewhere old?—"

"The lighthouse." His eyes widened. "One of the first pictures I ever saw of Megelle Island was actually a painting—because, ya know, cameras hadn't been invented yet?—"

I cackled.

"It showed the skyline, so to speak," he continued. "Obviously the castle and The Pemberley were there, along with some other smaller buildings on Main Street . . . but the lighthouse was there too."

My jaw dropped. "And the magic they use in the lighthouse to deter ships from coming near also lingers in the air on the ground. Most people stay away from it."

We stared at each other for a moment, then grinned.

I arched one eyebrow. "Question, would it freak you out if I flew there as a parrot?"

He smirked and then wings popped out of his back. They were pale-green just like his eyes. "It's a race?"

Then he shot up into the sky like a rocket. I cursed and giggled, then shifted into my parrot form to chase after him. It was a damn shame Daniel wasn't my soulmate. He was so fun and easy to be around. I loved how old he was. He just knew so much about life and the struggles that came with it. He'd been through hell, and I related to that on such a deep level that most didn't.

Like Will hadn't.

I cringed and shook my head as I flew. It wasn't fair to judge Will for having a good life. It wasn't his fault his parents were amazing, just as it wasn't my fault mine weren't. I didn't begrudge him his happiness. I wonder if he's struggled at all since we broke up? NO. Stop it. Don't think about him.

It was torture. It'd taken me literal years to stop thinking about that man, and now all of those old feelings were being dragged back to the surface. It was like detectives finding old dead bodies that'd been buried under the ground for decades. It was like the artifacts we dug up on our dig sites. I needed closure, yet I had no idea how to get it. How to rid myself of Willem Bow for good.

Daniel whistled and spun in tight pirouettes in the air while casting me sideways glances. I squawked at him. He was reading my aura again, which meant he knew I'd slipped into a dark mood, and being the detective he was, he'd probably guessed the topic. I hadn't originally intended on participating in Vampire Night, mostly because I was afraid Will would be there since he was now a vampire, but Torren was asking so many questions about Will. She wanted all the details I'd never told her. Torren was friends with Will. Learning he was my ex was ripping the scab off a wound that hadn't healed. She wanted to know everything now that she knew the truth.

I wanted to pluck my eyeballs out with a plastic spoon.

So, joining the Island for a night of sardines was my savior. And I was actually glad I went. I hadn't played this game since middle school. I'd forgotten how fun it was. Sardines was so much better than hide and seek. The person, or people, chosen to be it had to hide somewhere . . . then everyone else had to find them. Then you call crammed in like sardines in a tin. The last two people to arrive to the hiding spot were it for the next round.

It wasn't a shock that a detective and an archaeologist excelled at it. We'd been it about three rounds ago, but we'd only lost the previous round because we wanted to be it before all the good spots were taken. And we'd done well. We hid in the front lobby bar inside The Pemberley in a spot so obvious no one thought we'd choose it. We'd all been playing for a couple of hours now, so I suspected Lex and Carter were chosen specifically for this round.

All Carter had to do was raise a flare into the sky from her wand to signal the game was over.

"All right. Let's see if we're right," Daniel called out through the wind as we approached the lighthouse.

I followed Daniel to the base of the lighthouse and through the front door. There wasn't anyone else around, so either we were wrong or we were so right, and no one else could find him. Inside the lighthouse the air was damp and thick. The only light came from the red exit sign above the door. I flew over and landed on Daniel's shoulder as we both looked up the spiral staircase. It was dark and eerily quiet. If we were right, this was hands down the sneakiest hiding spot ever, because most people would be too spooked to actually go up the stairs.

"You also think it looks creepy up there, right?"

I squawked.

Daniel let out a deep sigh. "Tell me you've lived most your life in First Realm without telling me you've lived most your life in First Realm."

I laughed and the sound my parrot body made sounded more like an old smoker coughing.

"Right. Might as well get it over with. No violence on the Island, so nothing for us to worry about." He stepped onto the first step. "I'm going to fly, though, so meet you at the top?"

I flapped my wings and took off ahead of him. We were about twenty steps from the top floor when we saw dim golden light billowing down the stairs. Excitement rushed through me. About ten steps later, we heard loud, boisterous male laughter. Daniel froze. I hovered in place. We looked to each other. I nodded. He grinned and held his hand up. I slapped his palm with my wing.

He gestured for me to go first, so I flapped my wings with excitement and hurried up to the finish line. I knew I'd left Daniel in the dust, but he didn't seem to care. We were right. I knew we were. As I approached the open door, I shifted back into my human form. I blinked my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, then looked up—and grinned. I was still outside the door and in plain sight, and yet none of the people inside had spotted me.

We were right.

Directly across from the open door, sitting on the stone floor in his dressy black suit pants and button-down shirt rolled up to his elbows was Lexington Prescott. Even when he was playing a silly game, the dude was basically in a suit and tie. To his right was his soulmate, Carter. Or I assumed it was Carter by the way she was cuddled up to his side, but she had her face in both hands as she laughed and shook her head.

Lex was looking to his left to someone. He clapped his hands together and laughed. "Bash did not eat that?—"

"I swear on my life he put it in his mouth."

"I've said that about Caleb too many times," a very, very familiar voice said. "I suppose we should've known at a young age."

While they all laughed . . . my heart stopped. No, no, no, no. I was frozen in place. My stomach tightened into knots. My gaze slid to my right, and my breath left me in a rush. Sitting on the floor were Brian Bow, Zita . . . and Willem.

I wanted to die. Maybe I could run and hide. They hadn't noticed me yet. I could just shift into a bug and bounce?—

"Well, look at that," Daniel shouted as he landed behind me.

They all looked up at us and smiled.

"Nailed it." Daniel held his hand out in front of him for a high-five. "We're so good together."

I tried to smile as I slapped his palm with mine, but the way Will's face paled sent my pulse into hyper-speed. Daniel wrapped his other arm around my body and draped it over my right shoulder. Will's eyebrows scrunched together. Those amber eyes locked on to Daniel's arm like it was a bomb about to detonate.

Zita glanced to Will.

Lex cleared his throat and arched one eyebrow. "Do come in before you give away our location to everyone."

Daniel squeezed my shoulder and gently led me into the small room. "There is a line out the door."

Carter smiled up at me and patted the stone floor beside her. "Join us."

I rushed over so I could get Will's face out of my peripheral vision. But when I sat down beside Carter and looked up, I found Will sitting directly across from me. Our eyes locked. I needed to look away. I wanted to look away. But I was paralyzed by the flickering glow in his amber eyes from the candle in the window above Lex.

The circular room was tiny, maybe ten feet wide in diameter. There was no furniture of any kind, just cold gray stone that did nothing to keep the chill out of the air. If anything it made it colder. The only light came from the candles and the moonlight streaming in through the one narrow window.

"So, how'd you three find them so fast?" Daniel sat down beside me and our legs brushed.

I waited for heat to rush through my body at the touch, but none came—until I looked up and saw Will's jaw clenched tight with his gaze aiming daggers at the spot where Daniel's knee pressed against mine. My body warmed. I wanted to scream. The man always unraveled me.

"Zita cheated." Brian made a face at her.

She shrugged. "Duh, I'm fae."

"You gonna let her talk about your wings like that, detective?"

Daniel chuckled. "Work smarter not harder, Brian."

"Finally, people who speak my language," Lexington mumbled.

"I would've cheated. For sure." Carter grinned.

Lex looked down at her and made a face.

"So how did you cheat, Zita?" Daniel's voice was chipper sounding, but I knew he knew what he was doing. He was trying to save me from this awkwardness by filling the silence.

"I didn't cheat?—"

"Debatable," Brian grumbled.

"No one said I couldn't use my magic to track their auras down."

Daniel whistled and shook his head. "I bet that skill was harnessed and fine-tuned in the tundra," he said softly.

"Without my consent, yes." Zita let out a deep chuckle. "I don't know why you're upset, Brian. Will beat me here anyway."

Brian's eyes widened. "You two didn't search together?"

Zita glanced to Will, but he was staring at the ground silently. "The last two rounds we decided to compete against each other for fun. This was the tiebreaker. He beat me."

Brian leaned over Zita and smacked Will's arm. "Dude. How'd you find him first?"

Will glanced up, then back to the ground. He shrugged one shoulder. "I . . . uh . . . know Lex."

"How'd you find them, Brian?"

"Look, I came up here to use this lighthouse as my own personal flashlight." Brain threw his hands up. "I was gonna point that light on the streets until I spotted this fool. Imagine my surprise when he was in here."

Everyone laughed.

Except for me . . . and Will.

Daniel cleared his throat. "Well, nice job on the hiding spot."

"I told him to pick the sneakiest location on the Island." Carter stretched her legs, then draped them over Lex's lap. "My feet hurt. I wanted this to last the rest of sardines night."

I stretched my legs out in front of me at the same time Will stretched his. We both cursed under our breath and pulled our legs back in. Neither of us looked each other in the eye.

Awkward silence filled the air and echoed between the stones.

Lex rubbed his hands together. "So, is it awkward in here or is it just my imagination?"

"Seriously." Brian looked over at Will with a scowl. "What's wrong with you?"

"I've been asking him that since he was two."

We all looked up as Archer strolled into the room. Except for Will, who was staring intently at the ground in front of him with a strange expression on his beautiful face.

"You're late, Archer." Lex shook his head and made a tsk tsk sound. "I expected you first."

"Sorry to let you down." He slid down to his ass on the stone floor next to Brian. "Ivy convinced me you two would be sneaky and hide at Bowlicious knowing Connor had all his brand-new blood treats for Vampire Night. Turns out she made it up just so she could sit at a booth with Cameron, Brittany, and Kate and stuff their faces with brownies dipped in a chocolate fondue."

Brian shook his head. "She tricked you."

"Duh . . ." Zita pointed to the tips of her ears. "She's fae."

Daniel snickered. "Work smarter not harder."

"Wait . . ." Lex scowled. "Did Connor really make new blood treats?"

"Oh yeah," Archer and Brian said at the same time.

Lex looked at his watch. "Carter, ten more minutes and we're calling it. We need to make a pit stop at Bowlicious."

Carter sighed. "I started that timer the second I heard brownies in a chocolate fondue."

I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Liam. ‘ I hate how I can be doing super great being single and then suddenly seeing couples be all lovey-dovey around me makes me want to vomit.'

Archer cleared his throat. "What's wrong, Lemon Drop?"

Lex nodded. "That's what I was just asking a minute ago. It stinks like secondhand awkward in here."

Brian narrowed his eyes at Will. "Yeah, what is up with you? You were all chatty and laughing a minute ago?—"

Will's eyes widened but his gaze was locked on the ground. He shrugged and his cheeks flushed ever so slightly. Archer was staring at him blatantly, waiting for a real answer. Zita looked at me for just a second and I knew she knew. I couldn't seem to take my eyes off of him for more than two seconds. The moment someone else spoke it was like I had an excuse to look up.

"Well, well, well. Look who I found." Henry strolled in and then stopped and frowned. "What's wrong? Someone fart and I can't smell it?"

Silence.

"Wow, even Brian didn't laugh at a fart joke. What happened in here?" Henry looked to me with a scowl. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, but my voice was soft and cracked.

"You're not." Henry sat next to Daniel but leaned forward to stare at me. "I know you, Indi. This face is not fine. What's wrong?"

"No one is acting normal here." Lex looked back and forth at everyone. "So who is fucking who?"

" Lex." Carter elbowed him. " Shhh. "

"Whatever. I wasn't the only one thinking it."

"LEXINGTON, ARE YOU UP THERE?"

Lex sighed and hung his head. "That's not how the game works, Dawson."

"The game said nothing about all these stairs, Prescott."

"Who is that?" Daniel asked softly. "Dawson who?"

"Dawson Whittaker, co-owner of Starlight Tours travel agency," Henry replied. "He has a cousin named Monroe?—"

"OH. I was at their home decor thing the other night." Daniel nodded in approval. "It was cool."

A woman giggled and it echoed up the stairs. "Are we the last ones to get here? If so, tell me now. That's a lot of stairs for a siren."

"Hi, Pickles!" Carter yelled. "Do you see anyone else coming near?"

"Hi, Carter! And nope. No one."

"You've really stumped everybody," Dawson yelled.

"Screw it. I want a fondue brownie." Carter jumped to her feet, opened the window, and stuck out her wand. Light flashed from the tip. "Let's call it for the night."

Thank GOD. That window was open and my escape was calling. I shifted into a bat and bolted into the open air as fast as I could. I couldn't sit there with Will that close to me for another second longer.