Page 49 of The Secret of Pain

K

I sigh at his words, and my heart clenches at the thought of seeing him again. Especially after my dreams of him. Will seeing him trigger more memories?

I pull the ribbon on the box and find a black dagger, the hilt topped with a violet gemstone. Shaking my head, I lift it to inspect it. The blade looks as if it is made from the same material as the altar I had my ritual on. His house crest is engraved on the blade, just under the hilt.

It’s beautiful.

I look back into the box to find Fallon’s talisman, and I smile. He returned it, just as he promised.

Making my decision to meet him, I know I’ll have to find an excuse to not be around in three days’ time, but first I need to speak to Fallon.

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait." Fallon practically squeals from her perch on my couch. "You mean to tell me Creek kissed you? Like twice… and you had memories about him telling you he loves you, and you haven't mentioned that to him yet? Mind blown, Remy. Mind. Blown. I need more details!"

I shrug at her outburst, because I kind of expected it, but at the same time, I haven't told her about Kain yet and I don't know if I even can.

"Can I ask you a really, out of this world, question?"

"Out of this world is pretty much my specialty, shoot." She grins at me, and I know she has no idea what's coming.

"Are all of the monsters really as bad as my family makes them out to be? Or are there exceptions? Dracul who actually feel? Lycans who don't just want to dominate the world?" I wrap my arms around myself, preparing for the worst. Readying myself for the fact that in my past lives, I must have taken one too many hits to the head.

"No, they're not all that bad." She says before biting her lip, chewing on it like she’s nervous that she said as much.. "Just don't tell your dad I said so. Hunters are… well usually they're pretty biased. Once upon a time, all of our factions lived in relative peace. Hunters were created, essentially, to police the factions, to keep the rebels in line. At least that's what I garner from my ancestor’s journals."

"Woah." I lean back against the arm of the couch, facing her. "Why don't I know this?"

"Well, I mean, you might, you just don't remember knowing, but probably because it’s some closely guarded secret in the Hunter world, and if the Dracul or Lycans were to say something, no Hunter would believe them. Witches, we always ride the lines, but still, it would be thought of as some myth or some lie. I'm only telling you because you asked, otherwise I'd keep my mouth shut. Goddess knows what sort of trouble I could get into for telling you this." She sighs and shakes her head.

"Have you… ever, you know…" I say awkwardly, and she laughs.

"Have I ever what? Fucked a monster? Yes, yes, I have. Like I said, they're not all bad. There’s a reason you hunt rogues when you first start out. So that you see the worst their kinds have to offer, so that if you later come across someone different, you think it’s just another lie, a deception to draw you in and get you killed. What makes you ask anyway?"

She watches me closely, and I try to keep my face straight and not squirm under that gaze.

"What happened?" she asks, and I shift in my seat. I don't know about old me, but this me has never been any good at lying.

I reach around the couch to lift the box holding her talisman and hand it over to her. "Open it."

She unties the bow I put back in place and lifts the lid.

Her eyes go wide as she sees her talisman.

"You got it back?" she asks. "But I don't understand… why the box? And why so big?"

"I didn't exactly get it back." I sigh, running a hand through my hair.

"Girl, why are you so nervous? Your eye is practically twitching." She watches me closely, taking in everything. "Tell me what happened."

"Well, I took Creek to the address you gave me, to get your talisman. And there were definitely Dracul, but it was not some rogue nest. It was a home… a vampire clan lived there. There were children, families, but they discovered we were there."

"Oh shit." Her eyes go wide at my words.

"Something like that, but then… then someone helped us escape. He delivered that, or had it delivered here this morning."

"What the ever-loving fuck?! A Dracul helping a Hunter…" She looks like I just dropped a nuclear warhead on her world, and guilt ravages me. I should have kept this to myself, I knew it, I just… it was selfish of me to want some help navigating the craziness I find myself in the center of.

"I know. I mean, I have no fucking idea, but I know," I say with a small shrug.

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