Children of the Fallen: In Cold Blood (BOOK #2)

Chapter 28: The Diner

Victoria Brooks

This car ride back with Grayson is painfully quiet. I don't know exactly what to say and he's just staring out the window contemplatively. How Morgan didn't rip him to shreds after he followed her there- I don't know.

I knew she was in my territory 10 years ago with Scarlett, I had gotten word of her presence and went to see the aftermath of her visit. That scene- calling it barbaric would be a severe understatement. Body parts and organs scattered, head on one end of the room and spine on the other. I don't know what this woman did to make Morgan feel the need to remove her spine and tear apart her body like an uncontrolled newbie lycan but fuck, it made me nauseous to look at.

I found her at some bleeder den a few blocks away, catching her right as she was stumbling out of it and getting into a car. Getting back into mine, I followed her until she got dropped off at her childhood home. I watched her sit on top of that hill staring down at them the rest of the night. She said nothing, did nothing, her face gave no indication to what she was thinking or feeling. She just sat there, then kept doing it every year on her birthday since and I didn't know what to make of it. I want it to be proof that there's still some part of her in there but the lack of a reaction, the clinical stare makes me hesitant. I genuinely didn't think she'd do it now at Ascension.

I take a turn getting off of the highway and Grayson sits up, "What are you doing?"

"We're going somewhere."

"Where?"

"Don't know." I took the exit and for the next 2 minutes I drove until I found this small diner open at 7am.

Getting out of the car I hurry inside. The suns not completely up yet but I'd like to not take my time. I'll have to sprint out of here later. The woman behind the counter tells us to take any seat so I find a booth far from any windows. He sits down across from me hesitating to meet my eyes. The woman comes over with menus for the both of us, "Can I get ya'll any drinks to start?"

"Coffee, black please." I say.

"I'll have the same." Grayson says with a smile. The woman walks away and the smile drops back down to match his anxious demeanor. I'm probably glaring at him, that's been my default look when it comes to him- I'm not going to change it. He still bothers me, his power hungry selfishness cost me Danes life and Morgans soul so I don't think I'll ever not be bothered by him. "What is this?" He finally asks.

"You followed Morgan last night."

He swallows. "I did."

"And how did that go?" Clearly well since she was sleeping in his arms but how the fuck did that happen?

"She was plastered. Drunk, high probably, absolutely gone." He says, the woman comes back with the two coffees for us asking if we want anything else. Grayson orders chocolate chip pancakes and I stay with my coffee. After she walks away I motion with my hand for him to carry on with what he was saying.

"Right, she was out of her mind trashed. She just started saying..." He trails off.

"What did she start saying?" I demand.

"She was talking about her family." He pauses staring at the table. "She say she feels nothing when she looks at them." He says in a questioning tone.

My eyebrows knitted together. "Then why is she there?"

"She said, why not?" He shakes his head while I rub my eyes. "I don't know how to help her."

"Do you honestly think you can?" I ask. "What could you possibly do for her?"

"I don't know." He says at a loss. "This is all my fault, I have to do something to even slightly rectify it." A flood of profanities I wish to yell at him enter my mind but the fact that we're the only people in this diner right now makes me keep my mouth shut. "Those 4 years terrify me. How she is now and what made her become like that. Whatever horrors she endured is on me."