Chapter Twenty-Three
It took a while, but gradually, people started to leave. Pretty soon, the only people left were the pack and their dates. Vaughn and I helped with cleanup, but Christian shooed us out. “I’ll deal with the rest of it tomorrow,” he said.
Rose and Lucas left first, walking to his car hand-in-hand. Xavier, Beckett, and Thorn stood around, obviously waiting for us. Both werewolves were listening intently to something she said, but when Xavier’s laugh rang out, Beckett’s eyes lingered on him.
“Where’s Connor?” Beckett asked.
Vaughn said, “We’ll go look for him. You guys can take off.”
Thorn gave him a little salute and started walking. “Car’s a couple of blocks away,” she said.
Xavier put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll protect you.”
“More like she’ll protect you,” I shouted after them. Beckett’s laugh was my only reply.
“What a night,” I told Vaughn.
“Ready to go?”
“Where are Skyler and Connor?” I looked around but didn’t see them. I tried to quell the panic that welled up whenever my best friend was out of my sight.
I sent her a text.
It took a minute, but her reply came.
Vaughn came up to me and draped his arm over my shoulder. “Did you find them?”
“Still no word from Connor,” I said. “But Skyler’s on her way.”
Skyler finally showed. “Did Connor already leave?”
“I thought he was with you,” Vaughn said.
“He was, but then said he had to use the bathroom,” she said. “I helped Christian take out the recyclables, and we started talking. I guess I lost track of time.”
“He’s probably asleep inside,” Vaughn joked. “He’s not much for late nights.”
Only a few stubborn stragglers lingered. There were a couple of guys passed out in the living room, but neither of them was Connor.
Skyler went looking outside, and Vaughn and I searched the bedrooms, making sure to knock several times before opening the door, just in case.
“I’m going to check the bathrooms,” Vaughn said.
We’d checked every bedroom, except one. As I approached, I caught the scent of blood.
My nerves went on full alert, and I twisted the handle slowly, trying for stealth.
The bedroom was dark, so I flicked on the light. Connor was lying on a white comforter, which was stained red by the blood pumping out of a wound in his chest.
Travis stood over him.
“Get away from him,” I said. “Now.”
Travis held up his hands, which were dripping with blood. He moved toward me slowly. “I didn’t do it. He’s still alive.”
But Connor wouldn’t be if I didn’t stop standing there with my mouth open. Blood clots that looked like pitted cherries dripped from the gouges on Connor’s chest.
“Vaughn, find Xavier,” I shouted. “Now! Connor’s hurt.”
He swore. “I’ll hurry,” he yelled back and then I heard him running down the stairs.
I prayed that he’d find Xavier in time.
I didn’t know what to do, how to help him, not when there was so much delicious-smelling blood everywhere. I stood frozen as Connor’s blood leaked out of him.
I was scared to get anywhere near all that blood. Scared that I’d lose control. I was a vampire queen, but I realized something else—I was also a Mariotti witch. My charm necklace. The chalk. It was worth a try.
I’d never tried to repair skin and bone, but I slowly passed the chalk over Connor’s torn flesh, trying not to gag. “Heal.”
The minutes went by slowly, but Vaughn and Xavier came rushing in. Finally. He shoved me aside. “What are you doing?” he asked me sharply.
“Trying to help,” I said.
“Please don’t,” Xavier replied. He turned his attention to the prone figure on the bed. “C’mon, Connor, hang in there,” he said. Blood was pouring from the wound on Connor’s chest, and I couldn’t look away.
When Xavier got a good look at Connor, he swore under his breath but rolled up his sleeves and got to work.
Connor’s whole body contorted from the pain, and he let out a ragged whimper.
Xavier didn’t look at me when he ordered, “Get that sucker out of here.”
I yanked Travis by the arm and led him out of the room into the hallway.
“It wasn’t me,” he said.
“Just in the wrong place at the wrong time again?” I took a deep, shaky breath. “I’m finding it very hard not to stake you right now.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Tell me the truth.” I used my most compelling tone.
“I smelled the blood,” he said. “Someone ran by me as I went into the room. It was dark.”
“You didn’t see who it was?”
“They wore a hoodie. Small frame. Taller than you, but not by much.” He shook his head. “The werewolf was already cut open.” He thought about it for a moment longer. “I think whoever it was had been to The Last Stop recently.”
“How do you know that?” I was hoping for an obvious clue, like a cocktail napkin from the bar or something.
“They smelled like it,” he said. Vampires did have a highly developed sense of smell, but unless I was prepared to have Travis sniff half of Orange County, I wasn’t sure it was a useful clue.
Whoever it was hadn’t managed to take Connor’s heart or he’d already be dead. Travis might have inadvertently saved Connor’s life.
If I didn’t get Travis out of here, though, he would be toast. The pack would not be happy that Travis had been at the site of not one, but two werewolf attacks.
“Travis Grando, you are hereby banned from the California realm,” I said.
“What? No,” he said. “We have a gig tomorrow night.”
“Travis, I know you’re using your music to compel angry men,” I said. “That was enough to warrant banishment. But you have been seen standing over not one, but two werewolf victims. Do you think the werewolves will let that go?”
Understanding finally dawned in his eyes. “I’m outta here.”
“Take the band and leave town,” I told him. “Or I promise you, you’ll regret it.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, Travis,” I said. “Because if I catch you compelling anyone again, I’ll stake you. Are we clear?”
He gulped then turned and ran down the stairs.
I was still pacing in the hallway when Skyler appeared. “Did you find Connor?” Oh, god. She didn’t know. My throat worked, but I couldn’t speak.
Lucas was right behind her. Vaughn came out of the bedroom and into the hallway.
“Connor, you have to shift,” I heard Xavier say. “Now.”
Vaughn took my hand. I could still smell the blood, but the urge to drink it was receding. “He’ll be okay,” he soothed me. “Xavier is trying to get him to shift to speed up the healing.”
Skyler gasped. “I’m lost. Someone fill me in. Now.”
“A sucker attacked Connor, that’s what happened,” Lucas said.
“We don’t know it was a vampire,” I argued.
They all looked at me with varying degrees of disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re still saying that after what happened tonight,” Vaughn said.
“It was Travis again, wasn’t it? Where is he?” Lucas was furious. “I’m going to rip that sucker apart.” His body started to shake.
High emotions during a full moon. Bad combo.
I’d made my decision. I was Travis’s queen. I squared my shoulders. “I banned him. He’s gone.”
“You let him go?” Lucas growled, low and deadly. His body started to shake, and his face contorted as his jaw lengthened into a wolf’s snout.
“Lucas, control yourself,” Beckett said sharply. I wanted to explain that I’d compelled Travis to tell me the truth, that there was no way he’d been lying, but I didn’t trust the werewolves not to use it against me somehow.
Skyler sobbed, but when I tried to hug her, she jerked away. Skyler would never forgive me if Connor died.
“This is your fault,” Lucas hissed to me.
“My fault?” I was stunned.
“You blame me?”
Skyler nodded. My best friend had turned against me. I bit my lip, hard, to keep the tears from falling.
“You told us Travis wasn’t the murderer,” she said. “You protected him. And now Connor m-m-might die.”
“You really think that?” I asked. “All of you?” Not even my boyfriend met my eyes. “Anyone want to tell me how the pack punishes rogues?”
“Connor’s not a rogue,” Lucas said.
“So it’s true, then?” I asked. “They rip their hearts out?”
“It wasn’t a werewolf,” Beckett said stubbornly.
“It wasn’t a vampire, either,” I said. “At least, it wasn’t Travis. Unlike you, I’m willing to consider it might be one of my subjects.”
“Vaughn, what do you think?”
“I think it’s pointless to argue,” he finally said. “The pack has to take care of Connor now.”
“But I want to help,” I said.
Vaughn just shook his head before he went back into the bedroom and carefully shut the door behind him.
He blamed me, too. He wouldn’t let me near Connor, not even to try to help. I just hoped that the little bit of healing magic I’d done before Xavier arrived had helped.
Nobody wanted me there, so I took off. I walked home in the middle of the night, in high heels and a pretty dress. I had my drumstick, though. That’s all I needed.
That’s all I had left.