Page 22 of Wrath's Call

Chapter Nine - No Good Deed Ever Goes Unpunished

Aeryn

I wasn’t sure when I had fallen asleep, my head resting on my forearms, fingers still curled around the newly completed bracelet, but the creaking of the apartment door and the pitter-patter of Ness’ sock-clad feet awoke me from my restless slumber.

“You won’t believe it!” she gasped, her eyes full of trepidation. I sat up immediately, rubbing at the crusted tears in the corners of my eyes.

“What?”

“You remember that guy you saved earlier? The Scout from Boralis?”

“Not the foggiest.”

She scoffed. “Shut the fuck up bitch. Seriously, this is no joke.”

“I found it funny,” I muttered under my breath.

“He’s dead.” came her flippant response.

“What the fuck?” I shot up, leaving the faded rolling office chair spinning in my haste. “I healed him enough to make sure he wouldn’t die! What the hell were they doing down there?” I ran my hands through my hair, lifting strands that fell over my face in a disheveled mess.

“Oh, he was fine from that. He went to dinner, apparently. But he failed to show up at the vote afterward and was found dead in the hall.”

I blinked rapidly, plopping down on the bed next to her.

“Yeah...I know. Crazy. What’s even crazier was that they're saying he was drained!”

I ran a hand over my throat. “Like...a vampire?”

“Nope.” She drew out the N and popped the P, letting the single word hang in the air between us.

“Well...what the fuck do you mean?”

“Cool your jets, chickadee. Relax.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to relax Ness?” I got up to pace the room back and forth. “You just told me a guy I was heavily involved with today was murdered!”

“Yeah...but you had nothing to do with it.” she didn’t seem to get my distress. “And you wiped every trace of your involvement, didn’t you?”

“I mean, I tried, but you never know if they may have some supernatural hounddog caster or some shit. What if he catches a trace of me on the body?”

Ness shrugged. “No good deed ever goes unpunished?”

“Ugh.” I groaned. “Thanks.”

“What are friends for?” she asked casually. “I mean, if you can ignore every single time I tell you not to waste yourself on heroics because it will eventually bite you in the ass, I can make sarcastic comments while you try not to hyperventilate.”

I breathed deeply in through my teeth, my pace increasing.

“Need a bag? I heard that can help.”

I stopped and shot her a look. She shrugged.

“So, what does ‘drained’ mean exactly?” Focusing back on the problem at hand, I leaned against my desk.

“Well...a bunch of us were listening in from the grand hall discussing the vote tallies. I made the trial today B-T-W. I was a little worried about it, but I was in the third slot, which must mean that people like me. I don’t know how many votes that takes, but I am super pumped about it. I’ll probably hit the gym-”

“Ness!” I interrupted. “Focus!”

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