Vampire Emeritus (Part #3) ✔

Chapter 41: Successors

The phone almost dropped from my hands. I glanced up, only to find Ian leaned against my doorframe, hands crossed on his chest, muscles straining under his black shirt, and a peculiar expression on his face.

His lips were shut tight, his eyes slightly narrowed, and a loose strand of his hair fell over his face. The blue was completely gone. The healthy, toned colour of his skin returned to his face and his eyes shone light brown.

"I was going to come check on you." I let go of the bag and stood up.

"It's fine." He walked in. "I know you need to get away."

"I thought you were still sleeping." I squeezed my fingers, feeling like he caught me doing something wrong.

"I'm wide awake." He shrugged his shoulders. "And wondering what the hell happened."

Memories flashed through my mind, vivid and tangible, feeling like they'd never go away entirely. I sat on the edge of my bed and crossed my legs.

I took in a deep breath, "Vilmus is dead."

Ian sat in the armchair, keeping the safe distance between us.

"Did you kill him?"

My gaze escaped to the fluffy carpet underneath my feet. Our friends didn't know the truth, I kept it from them. But I couldn't lie to Ian, not about something this important.

"Kind of." I admitted. "He wanted me to kill him."

Ian leaned against his knees, his lips parted, "What?"

"He asked me to kill him." I grabbed the hem of my hoodie and squeezed. "So, I did it. Because he killed Sheila, and Caiden's parents, and a bunch of other people-"

"You did nothing wrong." Ian cut in. "Why would he...?"

"I wish I knew." I said. "Maybe he thought he was dead anyway. Maybe he got tired of his own existence. Either way, he's dead."

I felt Ian's gaze on me, but I couldn't bring myself to look at him.

"We won, Chloe." He said. "We can put this behind us now."

A strained, cracked laugh rumbled in my throat, "Look at the nightstand."

Ian said nothing as he slowly stood up and approached my bed. Only when I knew his back was turned to me, I glanced at him. Perhaps it was the fact we won, or that we could put everything behind us, but I was even more terrified than before.

"What's this?" Ian lifted the envelope.

"Vilmus gave it to me."

Ian's head snapped in my direction and I didn't have time to avert the gaze. I got caught in his eyes, captured by the emotions swirling inside; worry, love, fear.

"Did you open it?" He asked, his voice a whisper.

I shook my head, "Too scared."

"Do you want me to open it?"

"Yes, please." I let out a shaky breath.

Ian tore the top of the envelope and took out a few pieces of paper. His eyes glided across the pages, his forehead creased, his throat bobbed. Nervousness clawed at me as I waited for his response.

"It's a list of contacts." Ian breathed out. "European, Asian, African. These are all vampires."

I stood up, "What?"

Truthfully, I didn't know what to expect. I thought it would be a suicide note or an ominous warning.

"Phone numbers, addresses, secret codes." Ian frowned as he stared at the paper. "Fuck, there are passwords to his bank accounts all around the world."