Shimmer |✓|

//Always// Part 1

In retaliation to the new alliance, the Vampires left it to us to clean their mess–the Rabid. Over the next few days, the Leadership worked tirelessly, responding to random, nightly sightings and attacks. No one knew where the rabid came from, and no one cared to ask. The only goal was to eliminate them. Still, it didn't escape my notice that the Witches failed to lend a single red hand in the effort.

A few nights after my encounter with Claudia, I stood in the marble foyer–as always, in my grandfather's shadow. One by one, the Leadership filed through the door, each member as bloody as the last. The Alpha was foremost, a large burlap sack in his hands. He dropped the bag at the Elder's feet, bowing his head in deference.

I perused the sack from a distance, twisting my mouth at the coppery stench of dead meat.

"How many?" The Elder looked coldly upon his Alpha.

"Three this time. We think they're nesting. Probably close by."

"Good. Continue the work. Deliver the hearts to Lucas." Charles strode curtly past him, disappearing up the stairs.

"Food's in the dining room." I pointed across the foyer, towards the hall. "Fair warning, Mrs. T will silver anyone who sets foot in her kitchen."

Crazy butler or not, killing always worked up an appetite. As the Beta, Delta, and Omega followed their noses to the kitchen, the Alpha stayed behind. He still had a job to finish.

I folded my arms, studying Ethan with barefaced hostility. "Ew, what's Luke doing with Vampire hearts?"

"He's giving them to the Witches. They're studying the hearts for the virus, trying to find a cure."

"Right." I mixed my sigh with a shake of the head. "Does no one else see the danger in this? Taking down the rabid is one thing, but murdering them? Mutilating the bodies? What if the Vampires decide to retaliate?"

Ethan's smirk was countered by a light furrowing of the brows, as if my question was not only ridiculous, but insulting. "Then we'll handle them, the same way we handle their friends."

How can he be so callous? Every day he sounded more like my grandfather. "What if that were us, Ethan? What if it was our people the Vampires were killing and cutting the hearts out of?"

"But it's not. Will you relax? We're just cleaning up their mess. If they were in our shoes, they'd do the same thing and you know it." Ethan stooped, grabbing the sack by its opening and throwing it over his shoulder. "What's your deal? Are you really that mad at the situation, or are you still pissed about Claudia?"

"Hmm, lemme think about that--all of the above. You had no right telling her about me!"

"Wah-wah-wah. Crybaby. You need help and you refuse to ask Charles--what did you expect me to do?" Ethan advanced, lowering his voice. "Why are you mad? You should be amped. You put out Witch-fire. Claudia says that's something only a person with magic can do."

Jesus, not this again. "I'm not a Witch--"

"That could be disputed." Ethan's wryness slipped into something a little more serious. He glanced up the stairs. "Look, you're the only person I'll break Leadership rules for. But keeping a secret like this from Charles--a secret about you... I'm on a limb here. The least you can do is join me."

I straightened my shoulders. "No."

"Fine. Then I guess your little reporter-friend can solve his case on his own, like a big boy--"