Page 94 of Caelum

It was disgusting, dirty work but somebody had to do it.

A gargling sound grabbed my attention, and I quickly scanned the Ghouls. Holding onto my taser in case one of the motherfuckers was going to wake up and go on the hunt with me in its crosshairs, I saw none of them stirring.

In the shadows up ahead, in front of a wooden building, I saw something wriggling on the floor.

Concerned it was a stirring Ghoul that needed to be contained, I rushed over and grunted when I saw the torn-out throat, aware it was one of our own.

Lifting my receiver to my mouth, I rasped out, “Man down.” Quicklylooking at my phone for my location, I blurted that into the receiver too, but as I stared down at Nestor, one of Stefan’s Pack, I knew it was too late for outside help.

It was down to me or the dude was going to die.

Squatting at his side, I grabbed a hold of his hands. His muscles were weak, and I knew he’d been trying to stem the blood loss, but with that level of damage as well as the beating he’d endured, it wasn’t going to happen.

“What soul are you today?”

“Vampire,” he rasped. The two-syllable word was drawn out into four.

Relief filled me. “Then it’s your lucky day, you jammy son of a bitch.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

EVE

Nerves filled me as I waited for the plane to land.

I wasn’t even sure if they’d want me here, waiting on them, but I wasn’t back at the compound now. I had free will, and after what Damon had told me, I felt like I needed to be around people who I thought gave a damn about me.

I needed not to be alone.

My throat felt tight and itchy as I stared up at the sky, waiting on the glinting body of the plane to appear in the distance.

I wasn’t even sure which direction it was coming from, so I could have been totally looking the wrong way, but it felt so much better than just staring into space as I pretended to read.

All those years alone at the compound, I’d thought I’d known what it was like to be lonely. But at Caelum, I was alone. Unless I had those four guys around me—even Dre would do at the moment.

He was mean, but I could handle him. At least, I thought I could. If I could deal with Samuel, then Dre’s horrible attitude could be remedied with a smack at some point in the future. Better that than to be ignored by everyone.

And I meant everyone.

It was like I was invisible.

Since they’d gone off, the only people to interact with me were my tutors and the faculty. Why that was, I didn’t know, but it hurt.

Made me feel even weirder than I already was… a Ghoul in the making.

Shivering at the thought, I tried not to recall what I’d been reading in the two days since the boys had gone and Damon had decided to reveal all about the Ghouls.

My future had always been bleak, but the prospect of having to eat humans was just so beyond me that I was…

No.

Suicide was a sin.

It didn’t matter that I wasn’t supposed to believe in that anymore. I had a few years for something to change, and in that time, maybe I could do some good.

Everyone had a purpose in life. Even if mine would be short, I could influence someone or do something that made my existence have meaning.

At least, I hoped so.

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