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.“What happened?” the father demanded.“What happened to Anto?”“The very first vampire killed him and his partner last night,” Shay said.“They didn’t have a chance.”“I knew it was a bad idea, sticking him with a human partner.” The mother crossed her arms over her chest.“I knew it, didn’t I? I said it all along.”“Don’t be stupid, Ma,” one of the young men said.“He said she was the best of the bunch.”“She had a baby,” the girl said sadly.“Poor little baby.”“Oh, no,” Mrs.May said.“She was a nice girl, all the same.Just, you know, one of them.”“Anto was crazy about her,” one of the brothers said, laughing.“He was going to ask her out, but he was too chicken.”Shay ran his hands over his face.I worried he was close to breaking.“He would never ask out a human,” Mrs.May said primly.“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mr.May said.“How are the Corcoran family? Do they need anything?”I cleared my throat.“It might be a good idea for the two families to grieve together.” I couldn’t resist adding, “Even if they are human.”“Of course,” Mr.May replied.“We should go see them.Do they have any other children?”Shay shook his head.“She was all they had.There’s just the grandson now.”The family began a discussion of how they would help the Corcorans, immediately turning their grief into something completely different.Shay said over the noise, “Someone will come over and discuss the arrangements.Let me know if you need any help.I’m truly sorry for your loss.”“Wait,” one of the brothers said.“Where’s this vampire?”“We’re working on that,” I said as Shay abruptly left the room.“He doesn’t have long left, trust me.”I followed Shay outside.He was standing as if frozen outside the front door.“I’m not cut out for this,” he said.“I thought I’d be doing some good, but all I do is give people bad news, break their hearts.It’s too much.I can’t be this person.”“You help,” I said, puzzled by his attitude.“How can you not see that?”I hugged him, not knowing what else to do.He leaned against me.He was too human.He cared too much.And the rest of us were too used to death.Chapter EighteenI returned home to find Phoenix at my kitchen table, which was covered in documents.I squinted.“Uh…”“Sorry,” he said.“I came back to talk to you, but you were already gone.I thought of something and got lost in the paperwork.” He didn’t sound very apologetic.I took a seat.“I went with Shay to tell the families.”He dropped his pen and leaned back in the chair.“I didn’t realise.How did it go?”“Awful.Shay’s not taking it well, either.” I gestured toward the papers.“What’s all of this?”“Transcripts of phone calls to the emergency line.And whatever info that could be found on the callers.”I picked up a piece of paper, and my eyes were drawn toward a paragraph that had been crossed out.Reading the lines, I sighed.It was documentation of an emergency call Jess had made while she and her father were being chased.“This call was from Jess.Poor kid.”“Yes, but look at this.” He pushed more papers toward me.He had highlighted dates and times all over the page.“Okay, but I’ve no idea what I’m looking at.”He jabbed a finger at the page.“Most of the calls were made in a specific post code, in a relatively small area north of Dublin, mostly from public phones in places like pubs or restaurants.”“Didn’t anyone who picked up the emergency calls notice this at the time?”“Lots of nightlife.So it’s a busy area.” He looked a little sick.I took a seat.“So we’re thinking what, exactly?”“That Seth used vampire volunteers to place the calls, and perhaps some of them were too lazy to leave the location they live in.The calls are clustered too close together to be a coincidence.”“And if Seth meant it to be a sign? If he’s calling us to him?”“We’ll go in daylight and talk to the volunteers of whichever coven runs the area.It’s a lead.It might be a poor one, but it’s still a lead.”I pinched the bridge of my nose.“Maybe Daimhín will have something by tonight.”“I’ve had people looking out for Fionnuala’s assassins, anyone with those tattoos.It’s going to be hard to sort the real thing from bogus reports.”“Not many people have seen the real thing.” I frowned.“I wish we could get our hands on Aiden.”“He’s gone.He has no ties here.He has to have fled.The shifters have turned against him, even those who once helped to break him out of the Council’s jail cells.It would be too dangerous for him to stick around.”“But Esther’s here.He thinks he can get back what he once had.I wouldn’t be surprised if he were still in the country.I don’t think he can leave behind the glory days so easily.”“More fool him.He has a chance at a fresh start.Anyway, I’m almost finished.Sorry for taking over your kitchen.”I waved a dismissive hand.“Take as long as you need.” Even though you have a house and an office, I might have added.I headed over to Carl’s place to check on Jess.She was there with Parker and Adam.She jumped to her feet when I entered the living room.“Any news?”“Not so much.Everything okay here?”She and Parker nodded, but Adam just stared into space.“You doing okay there, Adam?” I asked a little nervously.He didn’t look at me.“Nobody will let us leave.She’s not safe when we stop running.”I snapped my fingers in front of his face, but he had gone into an almost catatonic panic mode.“Jess…”She smiled.“I’ll stay with him and Parker.You don’t have to worry.”“About what happened,” I said.“That’s not typical of living here.Well, sometimes things get crazy, but that’s usually when there’s a war of some kind going on.”“I’m sorry about those people,” Parker said.“I’m staying inside because I don’t want to remind anyone of what I can do.”“Those people were brave even beyond the end,” I said.“And don’t worry, Parker.Nobody would link you to that kind of behaviour.Seth is emotionless.We have to think like him to predict what he’ll do next, and I don’t think that’s possible for anyone with half a heart.I’ll be back around later.If you need anything, just shout.”I went to Anka’s place next.She was making cookies with Leah, Dita, and Emmett.“Hey,” I said.“Smells good in here.”“Keep working while I talk to Ava,” Anka told the children.“You’re doing a great job.”Leah gave me a look that said she knew how serious things were.The younger kids waved at me and carried on, the previous night probably mostly forgotten in their childish minds.Anka drew me into the hallway.“Are we safe?”“Yes, as long as you’re in here, you’re okay.You saw it last night.They couldn’t come in, couldn’t do anything to us.”“That was a threat.”I sighed.“I know.I’m going to handle it as best I can.This new government is doing most of the leg work.”“But it’s always up to you to clean up the mess.What does this man want? And why now?”I leaned against the wall.“Adam reckons it’s my fault, that I called Seth out when I took everything public.I just wanted people to be protected, to know that there was a way to fight back when the beasts came.I didn’t think about the first vampire or being tainted or any of that crap.I just thought about saving somebody on that night.”“He was already after that girl.She found you.What if more come? I think that’s why Seth is here.He sees you as a beacon.If there are more of you and you gather to make an army of your own, what’s left for him?” She patted my shoulder.“I must get back before Emmett puts salt in Dita’s batch.Be safe, Ava
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