27. 26

26

Serina

T he last rays of the sun kissed the horizon, bleeding into a dusky purple. From my vantage point at the window, I watched the twilight dance in idyllic colors while I slid into my black attire that had pretty much become like a second skin.

My fingers worked deftly, strapping weapons to my body with a practiced ease that came from too many nights where silver and wood were truer companions than flesh and blood.

The weight of them was comforting, familiar.

“Let’s go,” I said as I walked toward the garage door to where the car was parked, determination in my steps.

Thorne and Nox moved with lethal grace; no weapons adorned them because they were walking forces of nature. Yet as we neared the garage door, ready to plunge into the night’s embrace, they halted—a pause so slight, so fraught with tension, it might have gone unnoticed by anyone who didn't know them as intimately as I did.

“What is it?” I questioned, sharper than I intended, betraying the coiled impatience inside me.

Time was slipping away, and with it, Bastian.

We didn’t know what was happening to him. And it was killing me.

It was then, when I saw the furrow of Thorne’s brow, the almost imperceptible tightening of Nox’s jaw, that I knew they weren’t going to let me go with them.

“Serina,” Thorne began, the single word a plea. I knew that tone, had heard it whispered against my skin.

“Let’s not waste time,” I pressed, ignoring them. I needed to move, to act, because stillness was a luxury afforded to those who didn’t carry the weight of lives on their backs. “What is it? Why are we stopping? Let’s go.” My voice cut through the quiet.

“Serina,” Nox started this time, his voice betraying an edge of hesitance I rarely heard from him.

The furrows deepened on his brow as he exchanged a glance with Thorne that didn’t need words.

“We want you to stay here,” Nox said, his voice firm yet laced with an undercurrent of something tender, protective. It was a tone I was sure I would cherish in other circumstances, but now it grated against every instinct screaming inside me.

“Why?” I questioned, making my tone raw and unfiltered.

My heart thundered because staying behind was never part of the plan, or so they thought. I had played my part well.

“Serina, please,” Thorne pleaded, his hand resting lightly against my cheek as he gazed into my eyes. "We don’t know who all is going to be there or how many, and we don’t want to risk your safety. Please, we’re begging you, please just stay here. We will bring him back."

“We know how capable you are… but please, we can’t lose—” Nox began, his voice heavy with concern.

“Okay. Fine,” I cut them off, more abruptly than I intended.

Their surprise was almost comical; they clearly expected resistance, a fiery retort from the woman who never backed down from anything. But I held back.

They didn’t know about the ace nestled up my sleeve that would lead me straight to the heart of everything.

I had been lax for too long. But I had a mission, and I intended to follow through with it.

“Why did you even let me get ready if you weren’t planning on letting me tag along?” I asked, half-challenged, trying to dispel the tension clinging to the air like the remnants of dusk.

“We still wanted you to be prepared…” Nox said, his words trailing off as if he were grappling with what remained unsaid. “We don’t know when we’ll be back, and—”

“I’ll be fine,” I assured them, holding their gazes. “Just please… promise me you’ll all come back safe.”

Their eyes locked onto mine, twin storms of blue and green—Nox’s oceanic gaze and Thorne’s forest depths. In that moment, the world outside our little circle shrank into insignificance.

“I promise,” they both whispered.

Nox leaned in first and gave me a quick kiss on the lips, as Thorne placed a tender kiss to my temple.

Turning, they strode toward the door. I followed a step behind, trailing them. The evening air kissed my cheeks as they opened the garage door, the hum of the world outside filtering in. Crickets, the sway of the trees to the gentle breeze.

As they climbed into the car, the engine roared to life. The headlights pierced the twilight, banishing shadows and casting long lines across the long, graveled driveway.

I waved, though the motion felt too small for the enormity of the moment, watching as the car rolled away. Its presence shrank with distance until it became nothing more than a pair of red eyes fading into the night. The sound of gravel crunching beneath tires was a harsh goodbye, a reminder that every second they were out there was a second where anything could happen.

The last glimmer of light vanished beyond the bend. “Be safe,” I murmured to the darkness, hoping that somehow, they could still hear me.

I retreated back into the house, my chest tight with emotions—fear, hope, determination. As much as they wanted to shield me from the storm, they had unknowingly nudged me straight into it.

I felt that familiar thrum of adrenaline coursing through my veins.

The game was on, and I was anything but out of play. With every beat of my heart, I was already shadowing them.

I paced, my mind running tactical scenarios, while my thumb hovered over the screen of my phone, ready to unleash the plan they never saw coming. They had been driving around for a while now, and I had no doubt they were only doing so because they thought I was trailing them.

Which I was, just not in the way they were suspecting.

The tracker app blipped steadily, the tiny blip marking their journey until finally it stopped. I zoomed in on the map, scoping the surrounding area, and then I saw it.

A warehouse, isolated, hidden amongst the trees, now laid bare before me on the screen. The pieces clicked into place, a grim smile tugging at the corner of my lips. Bingo.

Time to make a call, to bridge the distance I had placed between myself and the one person who would be able to help me. Sam. I dialed her number.

“Serina?” Sam’s voice crackled through the line, tinged with surprise and something akin to relief. The line went dead silent, as if the world itself held its breath.

I imagined Sam, phone pressed to her ear, eyes wide with a mixture of shock and hope.

It was no small thing, my reaching out—not after all the walls I’d built, not after all the distance I’d put between us when Dad died.

“Sam—” I began, but she cut me off.

“Look, I know you lost your dad, and I know how hard that has been for you, but you can’t keep pushing me away, Serina. I love you, and I’m sorry for being mad at you over the hunts. But just know you weren’t the only one who lost someone that day, and I can’t lose you too.”

“Sam,” I interrupted, gripping the phone tighter. “I hear you, I do. I know. I’m sorry, too. But right now, I need your help.”

There was a hitch in her breath, a pause that stretched between us. But Sam was family, resilient and relentless. She rallied, the resolve in her voice clear as she asked, “What do you need?”

“Information,” I said quickly. “There’s a warehouse; I’m sending you the location now. I need everything you can dig up on it. Layout, security, guards, monsters, anything unusual, the comings and goings. No detail is too small.”

“Got it,” Sam replied. I could hear her scribbling down the address, but then an eerie quiet fell over the line.

“Sam, you there?” I pressed.

“Uh, yeah, I-I…” she fumbled over her strained words before she cleared her throat and tried again. “Consider it done.” Her response was immediate, unwavering. “And Serina, listen to me,” she added, her tone taking on that fierce protectiveness I’d missed more than I’d ever admit. “You’re not doing this solo anymore. Do you understand me?”

“I…” The knot in my throat tightened, words failing me for a moment as I battled with my demons all over again before finally responding. “Thanks, Sam. I love you. And I promise, when it’s time to make a move, you’ll be the first to know.”

“I love you, too.” She didn’t have to say it, but I heard the relief in her voice, like we’d both found our way back from a long, cold silence.

We hung up, and I let my phone slip from my fingers, its impact against the cushion lost in the hush of the house. Alone now, I wandered to the window again, pressing my palm against the cool glass.

The darkness outside seemed less suffocating knowing Sam was out there, somewhere, helping me.

I hugged myself, trying to chase away the chill that had nothing to do with the night air. Thorne, Nox, Bastian—they were out there too, and I didn’t know how much time we’d have left together, but I was determined to make the best of it.

I heard the tires coming up the driveway and rushed downstairs through the front door and out on the porch.

The car came to a stop, and Thorne and Nox both quickly got out and opened the back door, where they helped Bastian to his feet by slinging his arms over both of their shoulders.

He looked like hell, but he was alive.

I guess whatever they said worked, or maybe they just let him go like they had said before. Maybe after Victor was done and didn’t get any answers, he would move along now.

I wanted to leap off the patio and tackle all three of them to the ground, but I held myself back. My stomach was doing somersaults from seeing all three of them together again.

It had only been a week, but fuck, what a year this week had felt like.

As soon as they got a little closer, I ran to Bastian, but his body slammed into mine first as he moved at his Vampire speeds and pinned me against the side of the house. His eyes were red, the whites were black, and the veins were reaching further down his face than normal.

He stared at me, his eyes unwavering and fucking filled with desperation.

Desperation to eat me because he was starving .

Or desperation to keep himself from eating me.

My breath stilled as Thorne and Nox caged both of us on either side.

“Bastian,” Thorne warned, grabbing his arm while Nox grabbed the other one.

“Let her go,” Nox ordered as they eyed him, but I wasn’t scared. I lifted a hand and gently ran it down the side of his bruised face. He closed his eyes, taking multiple steadying breaths before he finally released me, but his eyes stayed the same.

“Serina,” he rasped, his voice hoarse and weak and filled with so much emotion as he took a few steps away from me. “Get away from me,” he demanded on a growl. “Please.”

His hands practically trembled with restraint as Nox and Thorne kept a soft grip above his elbows.

“Go back inside, Serina,” Nox said. “We’re going to go for a hunt. We’ll be home soon. We only brought him here so you could see he was okay,” he said as they shifted Bastian away from me, giving me all of their backs.

“Wait,” I whispered as I walked up behind them, and I noticed Bastian’s muscles get more taut the closer I got.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, assuring myself that he was okay, and he slouched a little in my hold. I laid my cheek against his strong back.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” I murmured, and he released a breathy sound that almost sounded like a laugh. I released him and turned back to the house.