Valek said nothing.
“You know,” the Elf started again, “we are cleaning your kind out for good.”
Upon hearing their footsteps from the freezer, Charlotte shut her eyes tight. She remembered the drawers of clothes she left open in her room. The kitchen was a mess. She brought her hand to her chest to feel for the whistle that normally hung there, remembering the last time she saw it was just outside the Occult border.
If she and Valek were going to make it through this, if they were able to escape, she vowed to mend the falter in the relationship that divided them. She vowed it to herself and to him. She didn’t care what kind of creature he was, or what instincts he struggled with. He was the most important thing in her entire world, and nothing was worth doubting that.
Charlotte heard voices draw nearer and pressed her ear hard up against the icy door.
“What do you mean?” Valek asked through his gritted teeth.
“You…people, for lack of a better word, have been contaminating our air for too long. It’s Vladislov’s orders.” The officer leaned in close to Valek’s face. “Don’t you think it’s time you crawled back into your crypt and stayed there?”
Valek wanted so badly to rip out the Elf's jugular with his fangs but he quickly concealed them under his lips. He tried to cool the stolen blood that was now a river of fire under the ice in his face.
Charlotte heard the heavy footsteps getting closer to the freezer door and quickly scurried to the back corner again, trying to find the very deepest shadow to hide in. This was it. This was the end. She wrapped her arms tight around her knees in an effort to disappear completely.
A thin stream of sickly sterile office light filtered in as the door slid slowly open.
Chapter Ten
A Smoking Gun
The fire Elf's beady eyes sifted through the clandestine corners of the freezer. “Vampire!” he called.
Valek nervously moved to the guard’s side, his eyes also scanning in the room for something human. “Yes?”
“What do you use this refrigerator for?”
Valek cleared his throat, relieved to not see any sign of Charlotte. He glanced at Evangeline, who now lingered in the office doorway watching.
“Medicinal purposes,” he answered quickly.
The guard stepped inside and squinted further at the black bags. He even kicked one so hard it skidded against the cement wall. Valek hadn’t experienced the illustrious attributes of nausea for years, but he was beginning to remember what that felt like.
The silhouette of one frozen female corpse, crumpled in the corner, caught the eyes of the guard. “What happened to this one?”
“Lack of vacancy,” Valek explained. “I'm sure my life habits fascinate you to no end, and I am thoroughly enjoying the interview, but you will be wasting your time here, gentlemen, if you continue to pursue my household because of some misguided goose-chase. Frankly, you are interrupting my evening, and I am requesting kindly that you leave this private property.” As he spoke, he smoothly began to back the guards out of the house. “If a human child did in fact reside here, she would probably be long gone by now, for you seem to be so educated in the habitual life of a ‘parasite’.” He narrowed his eyes. “I mean, how could I ever contain myself in that sort of a situation?”
The officer regarded Valek and Evangeline one last time before Valek grabbed hold of the doorknob.
“I do, however, invasive your behavior, bid you a very pleasant evening, gentlemen.” Valek slammed the door in the guard’s face.
Evangeline opened her mouth to say something, but Valek hushed her immediately. He squinted at the floor and listened for any kind of faint thought or voice lingering on the other side of the door. Once he could tell the small platoon was a safe distance away, he went back into the office to find Charlotte climbing out of one of the used body bags, lips a sickly shade of blue, her breath forming in white clouds of mist in front of her face.
He shoved past Evangeline who had started to go in for help. “She’s hypothermic.” He grabbed the frail human in his arms and carried her quickly out of the office, down the hallway, into the library.
“Lottie?” he whispered. It was impossible for him to imagine the way things were changing between them. He had always been so in control and now all of that was slipping through his deathly fingers. Sand in an hourglass. Life was expendable.
Evangeline followed meekly after, knotting her fingers together behind her back guiltily.
“Can you light the fire?” Valek asked the Witch as he pulled a wool blanket off the armchair and swiftly wrapped it around his Lottie’s shoulders.
“Hatu! ” The Witched chanted with a hand toward the fireplace. An orange flame washed over the thick hunks of wood in the hearth. Valek hurriedly rubbed at the tops of Lottie’s arms, still careful of her healing wounds there. Evangeline frowned.
“Thank you,” Valek said over his shoulder.
“If it weren’t for Edwin coming to warn me, I would never have known. It’s because of him.”
“Well, thank Edwin then.”
Evangeline took one step toward him.
“Thank you, I said,” he snapped, stopping her from coming any nearer. Valek could see Evangeline’s ache for redemption from him, but that wasn’t something he was about to easily give. He hugged the girl in his arms closer.
Evangeline sighed. “I apologize for what happened to Charlotte’s bedroom.”
Valek lowered his gaze, mentally assessing what she was alluding to. “I understand.” He continued to caress Lottie’s back, not looking at Evangeline at all.
“Goodnight, Valek. Charlotte. If you need me, you know where I am,” the Witch muttered sadly, then turned to leave.
“Evangeline, wait.” Valek finally stood from his place next to Charlotte. He glanced once back at the girl, fighting with himself. It needed to be done, he decided. “I do need another favor.”
He felt a mental grimace emerge from Charlotte’s area of the room.
“Charlotte and I have to take leave of the Occult, but it’s almost morning. I have suspicion that those imbeciles are going to come back during the day while I’m—”
“I get it,” Evangeline chirped. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything when the sun comes up. And then you and Charlotte can escape the city borders tomorrow night.” Her eyes twinkled toward the girl one last time before she bounced out of the library.
Valek looked back at his Lottie, thawing by the fire. She sat, eyes insensate at the orange flames licking across the wood. He watched them then, as well. It created a strange sensation in his nose, as if when he inhaled the burning wood, he could actually feel the embers crackling inside him. It did not burn as the thirst did, but felt rather warm and pleasant. He glanced at Charlotte again, thinking her face looked a little green. He began to approach her.
“Valek,” she murmured.
He stopped.
“I have to tell you something—”
“I know,” he interjected. “I heard.” He sat back down on the floor next to her.
“You heard?” Her large eyes darted to his face.
“My apologies, but I had to know what was going on before I answered the door.” He snorted. “Aiden. Who would have guessed?”
Charlotte’s eyes shifted around the floor, like she was struggling with something. “What did you want to talk to me about? You know…earlier…in the kitchen?” She swallowed and averted her eyes back to the crackling fire.