Second Fate

30

When the ground floor had gotten eerily quiet as well, Vine turned back and grabbed a pair of sweatpants from his open bedroom. He didn't utter a single word while doing so. No Thank God we're alive, no I regret breaking up with you or some other adrenaline-backed outbursts. Just a whole lot of ... nothing.

When he was half-dressed, he stretched out a hand for me to take.

I eyed it suspiciously, making no move to take it. Instead, my eyes found one wound after the other on his bare torso.

There was a bite, where the upper arm met the shoulder, which was clearly the worst of them. The deep teeth marks were oozing fresh, red blood when he moved to quickly or too much; it looked so painful that I wanted to drag him into the bathroom and get some dressing for the wound.

But I did nothing of the sort. I didn't move at all. My head felt like cotton had been stuffed into it and there was a heaviness in my bones which wasn't quite the same as exhaustion.

The touch of Vine's fingers snaking around my wrist woke me up.

"We need to go down and see how the others are doing."

I looked up to meet his eyes. The emerald sheen was there, but it had faded so much that it was barely visible now. Worry and guilt had grown over it like poison ivy.

"Are you ... well enough to go down?"

"You don't need to worry about my wounds", he said softly, but the tense expression on his face softened a little. "They're going to be gone soon enough."

In any other situation, I might have protested against his vague answer, but I was too tired to argue. So, I nodded.

Slow and steady we descended the stairs to the living room. The air was thick with the metallic cinch of blood and the sharp smell of something I couldn't quite categorize. Under my feet, scratches ran deep through the wooden floorboards. A couple of chairs at the dining table were thrown over, the tablecloth had been ripped by claws, and there was blood dripping from a picture frame.

In the middle of this mess sat Cara, huddled on the sofa with Rune gathered into her arms. She barely noticed our entry, too busy ensuring that he hadn't received so much as a scratch.

I should've been relieved to see him here and unharmed, but nothing moved inside my chest. My eyes just moved on, scanning the dozen people who stood about the room. The pack members who had been out with the hunters must have given up on finding Rhett and his friends and had returned to the mansion just in time apparently. They were all here now, gathered and murmuring. A few led hushed conversations, heavy with the horror which could've taken place, but most of them just stood and stared like I did.

Freya perked up as soon as she saw us and separated from the group to cross the room with clanking bracelets and a worried frown on her forehead.

"We just came in and saw Neal with ... never mind, what happened up there?", she demanded to know. Although her tone was inquisitive, her eyes were full of worry. "There was this sound, like shattering glass, and then it was quiet up there. Too quiet. I was almost afraid to check."

Her eyes flew over my flushed cheeks and body as if she was looking for clues.

"Are you hurt?"

"No." I became aware of my hands shaking when I tried to brush some green strands of hair back.

"That's good, that's really good", she muttered, but her eyes mustered us again and again.

"It's good that you came back in time to deal with the others", replied Vine quietly. "I was not ... I wasn't there to support Neal."