In Vendetta House (The Vendetta Series #1)

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

I scoot back and rest my head in my hands.

"Okay. Wait. Why would Aunt Ne- I mean, Dr. White have an angelic relic?"

Sasha shrugs. "I don't know, but whatever it is, it's powerful enough that the Nephilum would try be civilized to get it back. Neither side claim to know exactly what it is."

"And you believe Dr. White when she says she doesn't have it?" Jesse asks, his eyebrows raised high. "She's not exactly known for telling the truth. Especially to get what, or who, she wants."

His bitter tone makes me glance strangely at him. I think Jesse and I were the only kids Aunt Nelly fetched personally. Anyone else could only blame her indirectly. I wonder what happened when Jesse was kidnapped.

"If she did," Sasha says, "She would have handed it back, or at least lie better. Dr. White is all for team human, remember?"

Sasha snorts, then jokes, "Maybe Dr. White secretly had a loved one murdered by Nephilum and now she hates them just as much as Cambions."

I jerk back as something whirls inside my brain at her words. In the vision, James had gone insane for vendetta towards the Nephilum for killing his parents.

Aunt Nelly was raised by her mother, Helena. When the incident that happened before I was born killed my grandmother, Katarina and Helena happened, mom lost touch with Aunt Nelly.

If I was a Cambion, mom had to have some relation to it since she knew. That would mean Katarina had relations to it as well. What if they were killed by Nephilum? What if Helena had a relation to the Cambions?

I jerk back even further. What if Aunt Nelly had a relation to Cambions? My eyes widen more and more as puzzle pieces click in.

I still don't know the true motive for this place, but it made sense. After all, how did Aunt Nelly, a human, come about Cambion affairs in the first place?

I sit back, deep in thought. That didn't make any sense though, were they - Katarina and Helena - born Cambions first hand, or simply taking the toll for someone else? If Helena had been a Cambion, Aunt Nelly should be too. Unless, Aunt Nelly became a washed-out generation?

I scratch my neck absently.

They've never had streaks in photos. I don't even think hair dye had been invented back then. But if they were killed as a result of someone else, then who? My grandfather was never in their lives. Aunt Nelly never knew her father either. Mom had never shown any signs of power, and she hadn't ever acted like she was hiding from another species before: not at the excessive point like James and Cecily in my vision anyway.

It's like every Cambion somewhat wants to fight back in the wrong way, and Dr. Hood is encouraging them with murder.

Then I stop, and a frigid ice of realization dances across my back. A new notion pops into head from my train of thought.

Could the disappearances be more people being killed by Dr. Hood in the basement?

That's when I gasp quietly out loud, and Jesse hisses in an intake of breath along with me.

My head snaps up, and the tickling of my neck ceases.

"Were you reading my thoughts the entire time?" I accuse, my voice taking on a pitched tone. I cough to get rid of it.

He brushes his hair aside, a guilty look on his face.

"Maybe."

"Jesse..." I warn, as if chiding a kid.