Page 66 of Ava: Part Two

“You know that rat Jared went in for two days last semester. He’s not been the same since,” Derek said.

The moment she heard his name, she remembered what had got her into this mess in the first place. That grip Zeke’s wolf had on Jared had looked deadly, and there had been a lot of blood in the ring. Was he okay? She shouldn’t care about him after what he said to her, but she couldn’t help it. She wasn’t heartless, and despite how things had turned out, Jared had helped her a lot.

Maybe she could check on him before she went to sleep. But she knew Zeke wouldn’t like that, and she didn’t feel like arguing with anyone today.

“Where’s Zeke?” she asked without commenting on what Derek said.

Derek had probably never been to Isolation or set foot in the forest. That evil she’d felt in both places was enough to break anyone. If she hadn’t been able to escape so completely in her head, there was no telling what would have happened to her.

“Just taking care of some pack business. He’ll be back soon,” Myles answered.

Hopefully not too soon. She had been disappointed that Zeke left so soon after her release, but now she could see it was a good thing.

Once they finished eating, she helped the Omegas clear the table even though they protested. Zeke still wasn’t back by the time the kitchen was tidy, and it sounded like his wolves were watching the TV in the living room. Instead of going up the stairs, she kept her steps light and her breathing steady as she walked towards the front door and quietly opened it.

When she was at the end of the driveway, and no one had followed her out, she turned towards Jared’s house and started jogging. She didn’t know why she was doing it. Jared had his pack to take care of him, and it was none of his business. It had been two days, so he had to be alright by now. But she jogged anyway until she was at his front door and ringing his bell. She would just see him and head back. No one would even know she had left the house.

Five minutes later, she was ready to head back. Either the house was empty, or Jared was ignoring her. As an Alpha, he would have known she was coming.

She sighed and turned away from the door to walk down the steps. It was for the best, anyway. This had been the second time she had seen Zeke attack him; a third time might not end well for anyone.

The front door cracked open before she reached the bottom. She turned back to speak, but her eyes widened, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw the wolf standing in the doorway.

What the hell happened?

Chapter 44

Zekeleanedagainstthewall near the door, watching the vampire chained to the wall opposite him. The silver sizzled against his skin, but the vampire was barely conscious.

The morning sunlight filtered through the windows, the rays touching every inch of the room except where the vampire was chained. He hadn’t had his charmed ring on since he came out of isolation, and Prince Gideon got his hands on him. If he moved even an inch, the sun would fry him, but as was his nature, he would also feel the sun's pull without the ring. Keeping him awake during the day was torture beyond anything else they could do to him.

But the vampire had remained silent. Kept his mouth shut in the face of his prince’s anger, and Gideon’s royal blood made him the strongest vampire at the academy.

This told him one thing: he feared whoever told him to yield much more than his prince.

Or it could be that Isolation had fucked his head up.

“Who told you to do it, Nathan?” the vampire prince hissed again, yanking his prisoner’s hair to bring his face close to the sun’s rays.

Nathan groaned and shut his eyes as if he was waiting for death. Welcoming it. Gideon couldn’t kill him, not here, but whatever reprieve Nathan would get would only be temporary. If he didn’t talk, he would likely never be heard from again after the semester.

“Didn’t I tell everyone that a truce has been reached? Do you really want to be the man that brings it all down?” Gideon said through his teeth as he shoved Nathan away in frustration and walked back to join him.

“He’ll be dead by the end of the day if we leave him there. Do what you need to do,” Gideon said before he left the room.

And then it was just him and Nathan.

The vampire struggled to open his eyes, and it looked like he couldn’t focus, but when he saw Zeke leaning against the wall, there was a hint of fear in his eyes. Maybe Isolation hadn’t messed him up at all.

“I see you’ve heard of me,” he said, pushing himself off the wall to walk towards the biggest window.

Every window in the vampire dens had shutters and blackout curtains as added protection if they ever misplaced their rings or in the rare event that the spells on them stopped working. He’d heard that, at the beginning, it had happened a lot, but the witches perfected their spells since then.

He pushed one side of the curtain, allowing the sun’s rays to reach further, and heard the weak scream behind him.

“My bad,” he said without remorse, pulling the curtain back. “Let’s start again, shall we?”

Once Nathan fell asleep, nothing would wake him until the sunset. He didn’t have much time to get the answers he needed. And Ava would be waiting for him.

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