“Yeah.”
The door opens, and Chaz steps in. His eye is bruised, but barely. He’s gone a lot these days, but Zee says it’s common for him to disappear for hours at a time. I’m assuming that has to do with his feeding.
“What happened to you?” Zee asks, motioning toward the eye.
Chaz touches it then shrugs. “Cheap shot. No worries. We’ve got a problem right now though.”
“Don’t we always?” Zee asks dryly, sitting up better in the bed so that the sheet falls to his waist.
I really want my mouth on his body, damn it.
“This is bad, Zee. The anointed group with bullets just massacred everyone in your club. Humans too.”
Zee shoots out of bed and grabs a pair of jeans, stabbing his legs into them.”
“And someone is just now telling me?” he growls, pulling a shirt on with the same jerky motions.
“Roslyn just found out. She and Thad were out and she smelled the blood in the air. Her nose is so much fucking better than any of ours. Immortal blood calls to her, anyway. But it’s a damn slaughter house. They left you a note. They even wrote it in blood.”
Chaz holds up his phone, but I can’t see the screen. Zee pales when he sees it, then curses before grabbing a leather jacket from the closet.
“Stay here,” he tells me, pointing at me like that makes it more of a command.
“No. I’m coming—”
“He’s serious,” Chaz says as Zee disappears from the room. “Stay. Trust us. Unless you want your long lost family finding you and turning you into our enemy for good, then you need to stay.”
I pull the sheet up, feeling confused. I don’t know what’s going on, but I stay put like I’ve been commanded to freaking do. Ella walks in as Chaz leaves, and she hands me a bottle of water.
“I’m going with them. Seriously, Leah, please stay put. The last thing we need right now is for them to get their hands on you.”
With that, she disappears, and I’m left alone and feeling out of the loop. My loyalty has somehow gone to Zee, so I’m not sure why they think I’d ever betray that. He’s the only person who has ever made me feel safe in my entire life.
Here, I’m not the outcast.
Here, I’m not the weird girl.
Here, I’m not the girl with the crazy mother.
Here, I’m precious…
What did that message say?
Chapter 19
ZEE
“Look at all the pretty bodies, puppet,” Sylvia—her chosen name for now—says as she skips through the quiet street.
At least fifteen bodies are piled up on the sides of the alleys. “So pretty,” she sings.
My stomach lurches, and the smell of blood is disgusting instead of smelling good for once. Everything is revolting, and all I can do is hope the bonds are easier for me to break than they were for Silan. Maybe he’ll break all of his bonds soon and come back for her.
To kill her.
To free me.
“It’s your turn, puppet. Make it art.”