Page 69 of How to Entice a Fiend

“I really don’t know why he was targeted,” Vivian says. “Which is why I’m worried it has something to do with being part of the council. I’m afraid it’s the same person who targeted your council members… I’m just nervous that means that…” She sighs. “Mads is a good guy. He’s a bit quirky, but he’s a good guy. My biggest fear is that he’s young… and he doesn’t come across extremely young, which seems to fool people into believing he’s older, but he’s not going to live through something horrific happening to him. I know there was mention of someone at the scene being shot with a modified bullet, and if it was Mads, there’s no way he’d live through it.”

“Why would they have taken a dead body?” Marcus asks. “They want him alive for some reason, which means he has something they want. This leads me to believe that someone here at this table knows more than what they’re saying.”

No one volunteers any information, which isn’t at all surprising.

“We will continue our search for him. We are doing everything we can, but to do the best we can, we need to know anything you might know,” I say. Vivian flew across the ocean to be here but she knows nothing? Nah, there’s a reason she’s here, and I don’t think she’s here as a grieving friend.

Nothing seems to change as the council meeting goes on and by the end of it, I feel like we’ve gained absolutely no information. I’ve just been subjected to reasons why Callum should be council head and fears about the rest of the council members being at risk. It’s like they don’t want to deal with us but they also want protection from us.

Once the meeting is adjourned, we head outside where the VRC and Orin gather together.

“Well, that went about as well as I knew it would,” Marcus says. “They’re just a bunch of secretive assholes. All pretending to be civil while an asshole underneath it all. No surprise there.”

“You realize that until you met Finn you were also a ‘secretive’ asshole?” Alexei asks.

“So were you,” Marcus retorts.

“You two are like children,” I say just as my phone begins ringing. It’s an unknown number so I debate ignoring it, but with everything going on, it’s best to answer and not be like, “Oh shoot, I could have saved Mads’s life if I answered this call.” I accept it with a, “Hello?”

“Is this the lovely Finnigan Hayes choosing to answer my call?” Mads asks.

And while I had run the scenario that it could be Mads through my mind, I didn’t actually think itwouldbe him.

“Give me the fucking phone,” Ender snaps in the background. “Finn, is Rylee safe? If she’s not, I will hunt you down and I will?—”

“Threatening the person before they can even answer isn’t very nice at all,” Mads says. “You do understand that, don’t you? People are more willing to go above and beyond for you when you treat them with kindness and ask them sweetly. Try it again with a dash of sweetness.”

“Finn, answer the fucking question,” Ender growls before adding, “Please.”

“Good job!” Mads praises, like any part of that was good.

“I’m just thrilled you’re both okay and… have oddly become friends,” I say.

“Have we?” Ender asks.

“Define okay,” Mads says. “We are in one piece, yes. But we are being hunted by an evil vampire and are both lacking like eighty percent of our blood. It really has been such a drain that I would love a nap. I could honestly nap right now, but Ender said I can’t nap while driving. And then I might have accidentally hit a… uh… let’s say… some clothes with a… uh… mass inside of them, so it’s extremely hard to see out the windshield. And for some reason it makes me want to nap even more.”

“Clothes with a mass inside of them? So a person, then? You’re finally admitting you hit a person?” Ender asks.

“I hit… a tree branch, I mean. A bloody one. Finnigan. I know we barely know each other, but is there a way you can get us back quickly? Just… I’m worried that if you tell the council I’m not alone, they’ll swoop in and try to fuck with Ender. So maybe discreetly.”

“Of course. Where are you?”

“I have absolutely no idea. I guess someplace in Canada? We finally managed to get out of the trees and I waved down some nice old man to ask for his phone and he was so eager to let me borrow it, he screamed and threw it at me. Weirdly, he’s long gone, so I guess that means it’s an early Christmas present.”

“I’m sure that’s what that means,” I say sarcastically. “Get us your location and we’re going to get you home as fast as we can. Can you tell us what happened?”

“You never answered if Rylee is okay. Fuck my ‘please.’ I’m taking that back,” Ender growls.

“I’m sorry. Rylee is very much okay. She’s quite safe.”

“No one can know that she is mine, do you understand? If someone finds out, they will use her to get to me.”

“I promise we won’t let anyone know. Now what’s going on?”

They’re both absolutely silent.

“So you come to us for help but refuse to talk?” I ask.

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