The Phoenix Witch

Chapter 26

Christine's P.O.V

It had been approximately 4 hours since Eli had inserted the pen drive, I was sitting on the only chair since both the chivalrous men insisted on standing. Will had come two hours in and even though being a vampire who couldn't feel tired, he took to the floor and had been stuck to the computer screen since then.

Typical Will, I thought as I ignored the screams, pleas, and whimpers that sounded the same to my ears as Gallimore tortured and used Emily. So, not for the first time, I thanked the person responsible for his brutal death.

'How much longer are we going to see this for?' Eli asked, wincing as another deafening scream echoed through the room. Those are some nice speakers, I thought and cursed at Gallimore who probably liked to watch these in full volume after he was done inflicting it.

'Until we find something useful' was the dry response from Matthew.

'But all this guy does is torment poor Emily, eat Thai food, order his lackeys around, and sleep. It's quite exhausting to watch' he said and flinched as a particularly disturbing part came on.

'I am going to check on Emily' I said and practically ran out of the room. I couldn't take it anymore, seeing her being used so cruelly was heartbreaking and it only resolved my will to keep my promise to her.

'Aderyn' I whispered as I got out of the house and walked towards the car. 'Hello?' I called out again and slid my dagger out from under my sleeve,
'No need for daggers, princess, we are all alive' came a snarky response from inside the car.

'If you were alive then why didn't you- ' t I started but the words died in my mouth as I opened the door. Emily was curled in herself with her head resting on Aderyn's lap. 'Don't stare, princess, It is impolite' she said and stroked Emily's hair with the gentleness of a caressing a flower.

I broke out of my shocked trance and asked 'Is she okay?' trying to process whatever was going on here, if Emily found her touch comforting then who was I to say anything?

Aderyn stared at me for a moment as if contemplating whether to tell me or not, she glanced down at a peaceful Emily and sighed as she started,

'She is exhausted and sleep-deprived. She needed to talk about the nightmares plaguing her and that's precisely what she did. She will be fine, in time ' Aderyn said the last part quietly but I still heard it.

'I hope so' I whispered and we stared at each other, acknowledging that we agreed on at least one thing.
'Christine!' Will called out as he ran out of the house, we both shushed him and
he smiled apologetically, 

'Yes? Did you find something? I asked as I walked closer to him and an excited expression came over his face, 'Yes we did! Come on, quickly. Don't worry, my sister is quite adamant about keeping sweet Emily safe' he said and pulled me inside before I could think about the meaning of his words.

'What did you find?' I asked as we entered the room, 'We found a reflection of a woman, it's not the clearest picture but my contacts will be able to find who she is' Matthew said and walked out of the room with his phone in hand.

I sat on the chair and took a closer look at her face, she was a blonde with an hourglass figure and quite a beautiful face. 'What could she be to him? Eli asked, Charlie scoffed and said 'His hookup, of course, look at her'

'Don't be rude, Charlie, for all we know she could be a friend" Eli said,
"Do your friends roam around naked in your home, Eli?" Charlie asked, smirking. Eli looked away with a blush and I rolled my eyes at their childish behaviour.
'They will be back with an answer in about 2 hours' Matthew said as he came back into the room.

'Just who are these contacts of yours? And, you must have been in the human world for a long time to develop such connections, so tell me, how long was it?' I asked as I peered curiously at him.

A smirk graced his lips and he said ' It is still not time, Christine', was this vampire teasing me, again?! How dare he keep me in such suspense? I thought and glared at him, 'When will this time come exactly? Because if that thousand-year-old brain of yours doesn't remember, we might all die in this mission, so it's best if you just answer my questions now' I said and turned back to the computer screen.

After a few seconds, I realized that the room was silent, just as I was about to tell them to get through the rest of the footage as per Matthew's command, my chair was turned abruptly and I froze when I saw a stoic Matthew with his face right in front of mine and his hands resting on the hand rests.

'You will never, ever be under threat of any kind while in my protection, Christine, I hope you believe that. It is my duty to protect you and I will see it through, no matter the consequences' he said, his tone confident and authoritative, as if he was commanding death away and not reassuring me.

'Okay, I believe you' I breathed out and leaned away from him needing space from his overwhelming pine scent. Will cleared his throat, and Matthew moved away, straightening his coat, 'Comb through all the footage, we must know if there were any other people here' he said, his voice blank and walked out of the room.

'Man, are you vampires always so intense?' Charlie scoffed and asked Will.
Will looked at Matthew's retreating figure and sighed, 'Yeah, I guess so' he muttered and followed him out.

Charlie looked at me and Eli, his eyebrows raised and his expression unbelieving. I shrugged at his silent question about what was going on with the vampires, it was better if I didn't think about whatever that little scene he made was, I thought and got back to work.

After hours of searching, we concluded that the hookup as Charlie so eloquently put it was the only one that the bastard saw, 'Okay, so Matthew's contacts should have come up with her location, right?' I asked in frustration as I slumped on my chair.

'Yes, we do have her location, Christine' Matthew's voice said startling me.
'God! You're like a cat. Please make some noise when you come inside a room' I said as I looked up at him, a smirk graced his face and I muttered 'Damn vampires' and got out of that stupid chair.

'Okay, can we go now?' Charlie asked as he and Eli got up, his voice lined with a hint of irritation. What was he so irritated about? I thought and figured that his wolf was feeling uncomfortable around the vampires.

'Yes, please' Eli said in the same brusque tone and walked out of the room, followed by Charlie. I sighed at my brother's anger towards me and smiled a thanks at Matthew as he held the door open for me to walk through.