The Lady of the Valley

TLotV Chapter 26

26.

"Ugh," Ari said, sliding into the back seat of the car when she'd finally broken free of her parents' clutches. "Those people are impossible to get any information out of."

"It's almost like they're professional secret keepers or something," Derek said, deadpan.

Ari shot him a look. Then her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why are you bleeding?"

"I was bleeding. I'm not anymore."

Ari looked to Astrid. "Uh huh. Did you two go have an adventure without me?"

"Derek's sister voiced a complaint about our previous meeting," Astrid said.

"Is she still alive?" Ari asked.

"Yes," Astrid answered. "Though temporarily less likely to hunt us down now."

"Is she staying alive?" Ari asked.

Derek huffed. "For now. It's complicated."

She accepted that with a nod. He'd expected more of a fight. But honestly, as much as he felt about his family, he wasn't ready to close the door like that. Yet.

"I have information," Ari said. "Not much, but some."

They pulled into Astrid's driveway not long after. The girls had grown up together, after all. They didn't live far from each other. Derek paused when he climbed out of the car. The house seemed to have its own faint aura of gold.

"Am I imagining things, or is your house glowing?"

Ari looked at Astrid. "Oh, now he can suddenly see the wards? I wonder how that happened."

"It'll fade," Astrid said, grabbing one of Derek's bags. Derek tried not to be dazzled by the gently shifting and flexing magic bubble before him. It was as if the sunset had been wrapped around the house like a cloak.

"Most interesting, "Ari teased.

When they got to the kitchen Ari began unloading plastic containers into the fridge. "My parents sent leftovers. Lots of leftovers. They know Astrid doesn't cook much."

"I can cook," Astrid corrected. "There's just not much point in cooking for yourself."

Which only left Derek with more questions.

"What's your information?" Astrid asked, popping a tub of meatloaf and potatoes into the microwave. Derek eyed the fridge. It seemed wrong to keep his blood bags with Ari's parents' leftovers.

"Andrew Sarris, whoever he is, isn't a student at MVU. Or staff. The school email system is pretty unimaginative and I emailed a dozen versions of the name and they all bounced back as unknown. I've been trying to collect background information on the other victims, but there hasn't been much. The whole fae angle puzzles me though. I want to make sure it's okay with you if I ask Drake to look into it."

"Who's Drake?" Derek asked.

"A close friend of Ari's," Astrid answered. "He's fae. Fine. But tell him to keep it discreet."

Ari grinned. "He can do that."

She grabbed her phone and got to typing. "The other victims weren't students either, except the one we found. So I don't think school is the common denominator now,"

"So you think we should go back tomorrow?" Derek guessed.

"Probably. I mean, the only big issue is Ellie, I think, and she should take at least a few days to heal, right?" Astrid offered.