Understanding the warring answers in my head, Mateo flashes to me, drops a kiss onto my forehead, and hugs me.
This time I don’t shove him away.
“It’ll be okay, baby girl.”
And with those words, he leaves to go check on my friends, giving me the space I desperately need.
“Who are you?” a tiny voice asks, though not out of fear, more like she’s about to bite someone. The girl is crouching on the floor, oblivious to the fact that her hair is a knotted mess. She looks ready to pounce.
“Melony?” I ask as I sit next to Nicole. “I’m Demi. You’re safe now.”
“Where’s Blaze?” she asks, eyes flashing yellow. “I can’t smell him.”
How old are wolves when they first shift? I don’t remember, but she looks halfway to killing me in her head.
“Be thankful for that, Melony. Between you and me he pissed himself and he was rank.”
My words startled a snort out of her. She slaps her hand over her mouth and glares at me.
“Don’t be mad at me, I’m not the one who wet the bed.”
She lets out a tiny laugh, muffled behind her hand, and the yellow glow of her eyes slowly fades to reveal a stunning light gray. I suck in a breath and study her face.
“You’re Iris’s daughter.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Who are you?”
“I’m Demi, remember?”
“You’re one of them,” she says, pointing her finger at Nicole. “A hunter.”
I shrug. “Only by blood.”
This confuses her.
Blaze emerges from the locker room, wearing a pair of sweats and a T-shirt that looks about two sizes too small for him. Lord help the females who look at his crotch. That man is packing.
Good thing I hate him.
“How do you feel?” he asks Melony.
“Sick.” She presses her lips together and shrugs. “Alive.”
He smiles. “That counts for something, eh?”
“We should go,” I say, standing and brushing off my knees. “We have cars, we’ll drive you back to the city. After that, you’re on your own.”
* * *
X and Zanderride in a car with Colt while I ride in another with Mateo, Blaze, Melony, and Grayson. The vampires who don’t fit in the cars due to our company flash home.
I let my hair down, scrubbing my fingers over my scalp and easing the dull ache from having it pulled back so tightly.
The landscape whizzes by and the afternoon sun teases the sky with promises of nightfall. I watch the clouds pass, losing myself in my worries. The hunters are going to cremate Tyra’s body and find a nice urn for X. Once they’ve done that, X will go back to pick it up. Since Tyra’s parents died during Nix’s attack, X is as close to her next of kin as any other hunter. Since they were together, Nicole thought she should have the ashes. It wasn’t an easy discussion. Having to figure out what to do with my friend’s body before we left the compound put a sour taste in my mouth.
On top of that, there’s so much to do. We know for sure Sisco has Alissa and maybe Lacey. But why would he take my parents?
Because you snapped his neck.