Page 75 of Absentia Mori

“Who?” Mordecai asks as he tries to follow my gaze.

“Mia Harker. She’s the only one who got out of Absentia Asylum alive besides us. I’m happy for her.” When I close myeyes, I can still see her painting hanging above her old bed at the asylum. Her nightmare man. Now that I know it’s not just a myth, that these creatures exist, I wonder if she has one.

“Did you know her?” Fabien asks.

I shake my head. “Never met her. Didn’t even know she existed until Absentia. Professor Harker is her uncle. One of the ghosts told me he got her out. That her grandmother died and left everything to her.”

Raithe lets out a low whistle. “That’s some fortune. The Harkers come from really old fucking money.”

“Maybe she can do some good with it now.” I smile toward her house, hoping the energy behind it reaches her and sends her good fortune. It’s the least I can do to start making amends for my past bad behavior.

We wind deeper into the forest until we pull up to the front of Aries’s house. My happiness to finally see my brother is squashed as soon as I spot the other two shadows lurking beside him. Bones and Draven. Fuck.

My guys tense as we sit in the car, stalling.

“Keep your cool. Their loyalty is to my brother. But his is to me,” I assure them. Still, my nerves are on edge even as I try to show strength in front of my three unhinged heathens.

Mordecai kills the engine, and we all step out, unsure but with our heads held high.

“A fucking hearse? Damn, Lib, you always know how to make an entrance,” Bones snickers. In a white muscle tee and low-slung jeans, he looks very much like the street fighter he is. His black hair is cropped short, and his dark brown eyes look as crazed as ever.

I tip my head to his bruised knuckles. “Still starting brawls at Duff’s Bar?”

He flashes me a wicked grin. “Nah, finishing them.”

Aries rushes me and pulls me into his arms. “I’m so fucking happy to see you, sister.”

I gaze up at him, looking into blue-green eyes that mirror mine. That same flawless peaches and cream complexion. My heart flutters to be reunited with my twin. “I missed you so damn much.”

Draven glares at my guys, his gold-flecked eyes narrowing. I didn’t realize how much they resemble Maureen’s until now. It must be a Blackwell trait. His dark, wavy hair is slicked back, a stark contrast to his pale, white skin. Under the moonlight, he looks like he walked out of a Bram Stoker novel.

“Who are they?” he says, his voice monotone as usual. I’m pretty sure ice runs through his veins instead of blood.

I motion them forward. “They’re with me. Mordecai, Raithe, and Fabien.” I point to each one of them. “These are the heathens of Ever Graves.”

Bones snorts. “Shit. Like you haven’t caused your own share of trouble around here. Duff still has that restraining order framed above the bar. Even though it didn’t stick. You can’t keep a Thorn out for long, right?”

I laugh as I remember bumping him with my car after he grabbed my ass the night before. “Fucker had it coming. He’s lucky I didn’t break both his legs.”

Mordecai laughs. “I knew you belonged in Absentia.”

Raithe sticks out his hand to shake Draven’s who leaves him hanging. “We got a problem, buddy?”

Draven doesn’t move a muscle except for the one in his jaw. “Why are your clothes covered in blood?”

“Because we murdered over a dozen people the other night,” Fabien snarls as his lips curl into a sadistic smirk.

Bones slaps him on the back. “I like this one.”

A chill sweeps through the wind, whispering around us. Aries shivers. “Come on, let’s get inside. I want to hear everything.”

Draven continues to glare at us as we follow them into Aries’s massive compound, making me anxious. He’s always been impossible to read. If I don’t have his support, I’m fucked.

The three of them stare at me in disbelief as I recall everything that’s happened until now. Aries downs two vials of nightshade through pursed lips.

Draven smooths his hands over his suit pants. “Mordecai, is it? What’s in it for you? You must think you hit the jackpot waltzing in here with Libra Thorn.”

That fucking hurts. As if all I’m good for is my name and trust fund.

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