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12

  Eli nearly collapsed as he stepped through the door. Moonshine darted to him, eager to greet him, but he ignored her. Instead, he closed the door behind him with more force than necessary, causing both Alec and me to jump. I was on my feet, eyes wide, and rushing toward him seconds later.

  “Eli!” I shouted. “What happened?”

  “Are you okay, man?” Alec asked.

  “No.” Eli shifted his gaze to him.

  His eyes were cold and hard, but I could tell his anger was about to crumble any moment. Something else was poking through the surface of his features. Knots formed in my stomach. Whatever was wrong, it was bad. I could tell. Too many emotions rippled off him for it not to be. Even my wolf was on edge from them.

  “What happened?” I tried again.

  I reached out for him. My fingers brushed his face, his neck, his arms in their search for any injuries but finding none.

  The blood wasn’t his.

  Whose was it then?

  “My dad,” Eli started and then stopped.

  His eyes lifted to mine. The skin around them bunched as though he were in pain. A lump formed in my throat. I knew what he was about to say.

  “He’s gone. My dad is gone,” Eli muttered. His pupils became dilated as his face took on an ashy look. I imagined images of whatever he’d witnessed in the woods were flooding his mind. “Gone.”

  I reached out and pulled him into a hug. All I wanted was to ease his pain, even though I knew it wouldn’t be possible. Physical touch couldn’t cure the heart or mind when it came to something like this no matter how much we wished it were true.

  “I should probably get going,” Alec said from somewhere behind me. I’d forgotten he was here. “I’m sorry for your loss, man. I really am. I’ll call or text you later, Mina.”

  “Okay,” I said, unwilling to let Eli go.

  Alec stepped to where I stood, embracing Eli, and gave him a soft pat on the back before disappearing through the front door. I was glad he’d taken it upon himself to leave because I imagined whatever Eli had to say next wasn’t something Alec should hear.

  “Tell me what happened,” I insisted, pressing for details. “Is everyone else okay?”

  Eli’s grip on me tightened. I hated myself for asking, but I needed to know details. I had to know everyone else was okay.

  “It was all a diversion like I thought. A trap,” he said as he unwound himself from me and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “By the time we caught up with my dad and the rest of the pack, it was too late.”

  My stomach somersaulted. What? No! Everyone couldn’t be dead.

  I tried to think of who had gone into the woods with Eli’s dad.

  Frank, Sabin, and Glenn.

  Eli’s brows pinched together. “A couple of the guys were hurt, but my dad…”

  “Was gone when you got there,” I finished for him in a whisper.

  Tears built in Eli’s bright green eyes, magnifying their color as he nodded. I glanced away, unable to bear to looking at him, seeing his pain. I felt it stronger than I thought possible through the imprint. My vision blurred as tears formed in my eyes.

  “His throat was ripped out, Mina. There was blood everywhere.” His voice shook when he spoke. My hands reached out to cup his face. Eli leaned into my touch, and my wolf let out a howl. She was as heartbroken as I was to see him this way. To learn the news of our alpha. “There was something written on his arm. Just like Jane’s.”

  My skin tingled as the heavy feeling in my stomach spread.

  “What did it say?”

  “One down,” Eli said through gritted teeth.

  One down? What did that mean? Was this vampire planning to kill our pack members one by one? Was he planning to kill all supernaturals in town? If that were the case, then the Montevallos and the Caraways were at risk as well.

  A sob shook Eli’s body, pulling my attention back to him.

  “I’m so sorry,” I breathed.

  “He wasn’t supposed to die that way. Not like that,” Eli said. “He just wasn’t.”

  More tears filled his eyes. I’d never seen Eli cry before. He was always so sure and calm. Not emotionless or heartless but strong. Tough.

  In this situation, however, Eli was broken and he had every right to be.

  Tears burned my eyes as I held him close. His body shuddered as he let go and gave in to what he was feeling fully.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered again, because it was the only thing I knew to say.

  “I had to tell my mom. She saw me coming out of the woods and ran to ask if everything was okay.” I could feel his chin tremble as he spoke. “It didn’t feel real telling her. It didn’t feel like I was speaking. This feels like a nightmare I can’t wake from, Mina. Why can’t I wake up? This can’t be real.”

  My heart broke for him. I wanted to make his pain stop but knew it wasn’t possible. Or was it?

  Would the youngest Montevallo sister, Ivette, be able to compel Eli to forget the pain of his father’s death? Would he be interested in that?

  “I can’t believe this,” Eli said as he untangled himself from my arms. “I just…I can’t.” He wiped at his eyes and smeared the blood and grime caking his skin.

  I stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a wad of paper towels. I wet them at the sink.

  “One down,” Eli whispered. “What does that even mean? I need to figure it out. I have to stop this freaking vampire before he hurts anyone else. Most of all, I need revenge.”

  I licked my lips and stared at him. His eyes were wild. His jaw tense. His hands were fisted at his sides. With the blood and grime caked across his face, Eli looked like a madman.

  “Help me figure this out, Mina. Please. I need to know what you think the message on my father meant.”

  A haunted look entered his eyes. It had me on edge. I ignored the pricking of my scalp and stepped forward to clean him up.

  “I don’t know,” I said as I smoothed the wet paper towel across his face. “It could mean he’s planning to take out pack members one by one, or he’s targeting the supernaturals of Mirror Lake.”

  “You’re right. We should warn the others, just in case it’s the latter.”

  “The others?” I asked when he didn’t specify.

  “Everyone. The pack. The Montevallos. The Caraways. Everyone should be on their toes.” He paced back and forth, his off-kilter energy vibrating around him.

  Eli needed a release.

  Something to divert his pent-up energy. I doubted I’d be able to encourage him to go for a run, even though that would be the most helpful. If his man was this distraught, his wolf was worse.

  Crafting a plan of action might work, though.

  “You should set up a meeting sometime tomorrow with Dorian and the others,” I suggested. “Also, someone should be in contact with the Montevallos and the Caraways to fill them in on things.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Eli nodded, but still continued to pace. His hands moved to his head where his fingers tugged at his hair. “Damn it! I can’t be here anymore. I need to be doing something.”

  “Like what?” I asked, shocked he’d resorted to yelling. Eli hardly raised his voice. Especially when he was angry.

  “I need to be out there.” He pointed at the front door. “I need to be searching the woods, trying to find a clue as to who this is we’re dealing with.” He grabbed the flashlight from the junk drawer in the kitchen and his cell before I could figure out something to say that would make him stay.

  “I’m coming with you,” I said when I couldn’t think of a good enough reason.

  Eli paused at the door and glanced back at me.

  “No. You’re not coming. There’s something horrible out there, Mina,” he said.

  I folded my arms over my chest. Was he really pulling this crap with me?

  “Like that’s ever stopped me before,” I muttered, trying to play hardball with him. I wasn’t sure it would work this time. He was unhinged.
>
  The corners of his lips worked into the ghost of a smile, surprising me. “Fine, stubborn ass, but we have to be careful,” Eli insisted. “I mean it. For all we know, the Midnight Reaper could be out there still, waiting to ambush us like he did my father.”

  “I know. I’ll be careful, but I’m not letting you go out there alone.”

  I grabbed my cell off the kitchen counter and followed Eli. The trailer park was quiet as we started down the wooden steps and cut toward the woods. I imagined the rest of the pack was trying to process the events of the night. Had word traveled that our alpha had passed? My wolf howled at the reminder. I could feel her sorrow pulsing through me, adding to my own.

  “Use the flashlight on your cell,” Eli insisted, glancing over his shoulder to look at me. “Be on the lookout for blood, scratches on the ground, anything. That filthy vampire had to leave something behind. Jane wasn’t just deposited in the park from thin air; she had to have walked from somewhere.”

  “Didn’t your dad and the others follow a trail from her earlier?” I asked, remembering the blood splatters across the gravel behind Jane’s body that led into the woods.

  “The trail stopped inside the woods. There wasn’t much to follow.”

  I stepped into the thick foliage behind him. A cool wind kicked up, unraveling hair from the bun on top of my head and chilling me. I should’ve grabbed a light jacket.

  “There.” Eli positioned his flashlight on a patch of ground a few feet in front of us. “That’s where Jane’s blood trail ends.”

  I stared at the drops of red blood splattered across bits of gravel and clumps of dirt. My stomach quivered.

  “Watch where you step,” Eli insisted. “We don’t want to destroy evidence while we’re out here.”

  “This isn’t my first rodeo.”

  Eli glanced at me from over his shoulder. Even in the moonlight, I could see his eyes soften.

  “I know. I’m sorry,” he said.

  I licked my lips as I held his stare. “It’s okay.”

  “It’s not. I’m being an ass.”

  “Well, at least you can admit it.” I grinned.

  “I can,” he insisted. “Thanks for coming out here with me.”

  “You know I’m here for you.”

  He nodded. “I know.”

  We walked side by side as we made our way through the woods. Memories of the last time we’d tramped through the woods together at night flashed through my mind. We’d been searching for clues in regards to Glenn’s disappearance.

  God, that seemed like so long ago.

  Another gust of wind blew as we walked deeper into the woods. A scrap of white fabric stuck to a bare tree branch caught my attention as it flapped in the wind.

  Was it a piece of Jane’s nightgown?

  I started toward it against my wolf’s advice. She wanted me to stay by Eli’s side, but I ignored her.

  When I reached the tree, movement at my left caught my eye.

  Adrenaline flooded my system. I froze and glanced around, searching for whatever it might have been, but there was nothing there. I held my breath and listened. All I could hear was Eli. He was hunched down, brushing his fingertips against the ground, seeming as though he may have found something else.

  A twig snapped behind me.

  I spun around barely fast enough to catch the tail end of a person. They were too fast for me to tell if they were male or female. My wolf nudged me, reminding me that their gender didn’t matter. What mattered was someone was in the woods with us.

  The question was: Who? Was it the Midnight Reaper?

  I eyed the section of the woods I’d seen them disappear in. Either they were hiding, or they’d moved on. With shaky legs, I moved to the scrap of fabric dangling in the tree. I pulled it from the branch and noticed there was a smear of blood staining it.

  “What’s that?” Eli asked. His sudden close proximity had me jumping. He reached out for me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. It looks like you found something, though.”

  “Yeah.” I held out the scrap of fabric. “I think it’s a piece of Jane’s nightgown. There’s a smear of blood on the edge. It might be hers. Also, I think there’s someone out here with us.”

  “Where?” Eli glanced around. “I don’t see anyone.”

  “They’re gone now, at least I think they are, but they were fast. Like vampire fast,” I said.

  “We should get out of here, then,” Eli insisted.

  The instant he said something, I could pick up on the sensation of someone watching me. Whatever it was, the eyes didn’t feel friendly.

  Cold chills swept up my spine as my wolf fought to take over.

  “Stay close.” Eli gripped my forearm and pulled me behind him. “It was a bad idea to come out here tonight. I should have never agreed to bring you with me.”

  I didn’t argue because I wasn’t one hundred percent focused on what he was saying. Instead, my attention was fixed on scanning the woods for whatever was watching us. Chills crept along my spine as I realized yet again that something sinister lurked in the Mirror Lake woods.

  13

  I woke to the sound of a fist pounding on something. I wasn’t sure what time it was or how I’d ended up in bed. The last thing I remembered was being on the couch with Eli after we came back from the woods. We’d been talking about what we found, who might have been watching us, and coming up with ideas for how Jane might’ve gotten to the park. When I thought I’d seen someone, Eli had been examining the ground where he found a large splatter of blood. We’d been pinging ideas off each other when my eyes grew heavy, but our theory was Jane had been attacked while she was in the woods. I must’ve dozed off shortly after we came to the conclusion.

  How did I get here, then? Had Eli carried me to bed?

  The pounding came again, startling me.

  Was someone beating on our front door? Or was the noise coming from somewhere inside the trailer?

  I flung my blankets off and slipped out of bed. Every light in the trailer seemed to be on as I entered the hallway.

  “Damn it,” I heard Eli mutter. “This just doesn’t make any sense.”

  “What doesn’t?” I asked as I entered the living room.

  What was he still doing up?

  My gaze skimmed the room. Crumpled papers littered the floor. Throw pillows had been tossed around. And a hand-drawn map took up most of the coffee table in front of Eli. There was a spiderweb of red lines and circles marking up its surface that drew my attention. I tried to make sense of what I was looking at but was unable to figure it out. My gaze drifted to the laptop beside Eli, its screen still glowing as though he’d set it aside for a second.

  “Have you been up all night?” I asked as I continued toward where he was sitting.

  Eli didn’t look at me. He scooped the laptop up and placed it in his lap. His index finger and thumb worked the mouse pad in the center as his brows furrowed.

  “I couldn’t sleep. I need to figure this out,” he said.

  “Figure what out? What are you doing? And what’s the map of?” I asked as I moved to sit beside him.

  “The killings. There’s no rhyme or reason. Some of the victims were drained while others were mutilated,” Eli insisted as he clicked around on the computer. “Some of them were toyed with as though it was all a game, like Jane. I don’t understand. If this were a true serial killer, there would be a link between the murders, but there isn’t.”

  I tucked my legs beneath me as my gaze skimmed over the giant map he’d drawn, taking in every circle and line he’d created.

  “That just proves what we thought earlier, doesn’t it? There’s more than one person? More than one vampire?” I suggested.

  Eli shifted to look at me. “You’re right. For whatever reason I’ve been set in thinking it was one vampire again.” His attention shifted back to his computer. “This could be the work of multiple vampires. An entire group. They could be doing this all for the hell of it.” Eli�
�s body vibrated with rage.

  While I was glad to help, I hoped I was wrong. A group of vampires hell-bent on killing and massacring people for the fun of it wasn’t something I wanted to encounter.

  Ever.

  “It’s almost six,” Eli insisted as he closed out tabs on his laptop and shut it down. “I need to call Dorian and the others to set up a meeting this morning. Explain my theories and create a better plan. I want this vampire, or group of vampires, stopped today.”

  I stared at the dark circles under his eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want to get some sleep, and maybe something to eat first?”

  Eli shook his head and closed the laptop. “I don’t need sleep or food. I need to find the person responsible for murdering my father.”

  I swallowed hard. “Okay. Let me get dressed before you invite everyone over,” I said as I headed to our room. Eli didn’t respond. Instead, he got up to gather the papers he’d tossed around.

  My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I walked down the hall. I didn’t know how to be supportive in a situation like this. It was new territory. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then reached for a hair tie from on top of our dresser. When I started back down the hall, Eli was already on the phone with someone.

  I had no idea who he was talking to, but I could guess. Dorian was his second. They’d grown close since everything with Regina in the city.

  A whimper came from the opposite side of the living room. Moonshine. A towel had been placed over her crate in the corner so Eli’s light wouldn’t bother her. I crossed the living room, ready to take her outside.

  When I came back in, Eli was off the phone and sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. His head was in his hands.

  I closed the door behind me and bent to release Moonshine from her leash. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” Eli said as he shifted to stare at me. “Dorian and some of the others will be over in a few minutes.”

  “Okay. I’m sure you’ll feel better once you talk things out with the others,” I said.

  “We’ll see.”

  “How are the others? Frank, Sabin, and Glenn were with your dad. You said they were hurt. Are they okay now?” I prayed they were. I couldn’t bear to think of losing another pack member.