Reborn

Chapter Thirty

Closing my eyes as the blood lust dissipated, I licked my lips to get rid of any traces of blood as I tossed my victim aside. If it had been any other day, I would have buried him. If it had been any other day, I would have felt remorse to have ended someone else's life prematurely. Yet, as I stared down at the man, a middle aged man that could have been on his way to see his wife for all I knew, I felt nothing. I felt... empty.

That should have been worrying but I couldn't bring myself to care. It was better that I feel nothing. I had no idea what Benjamin was planning but I knew it wasn't good.

Today was the dreaded day where I would swap places with Ric, taking the fake grimoire with me. Vince had already given it to me, making sure it looked like the real thing, despite the differences in its appearance. We were using the fact Benjamin had never seen the grimoire to our advantage, hoping he wouldn't know we had deceived him.

I still hadn't told anybody about Benjamin's request, even though Shadow knew there was something plaguing my mind. I just couldn't tell him because he would stop me. I had to do this to get Ric back. I knew that Benjamin would honour the deal; I could feel it. I also had an idea on why he wanted me and if I was right, I knew that I'd have a chance to escape eventually. I just had to hold out, keep calm and hope that this would all be over soon.

That was a lot harder than I anticipated it would be. I had spent the past couple of days making sure everybody knew that I cared about them, while simultaneously attempting not to make it obvious what I was planning. I played the part well though. I told them I was just worried that Ric would be killed without ever knowing just how much I cared about him, valued him as a trusted friend. Thankfully, they all for it easily enough and I had even heard Rose telling the vampires in the house that she no longer hated them as she once had. It was because of that that I was in the clear and no one suspected differently.

Well, apart from Shadow, but he could read my emotions as though they were written in blood across my forehead. I couldn't keep anything from him where my emotions were concerned, but this time, I had no choice in the matter. I had to keep quiet or Ric would die. It was that simple.

"You're being overly affectionate lately." Marl observed as he walked over to me, picking up the body that I'd pushed to the ground and slinging it over his shoulder. "Why?"

"I'm just worried about Ric, that's all. It makes me emotional." Well, it was partly the truth.

"Overly affectionate and yet, at the same time, you look... different."

"Different how?" I didn't dare glance at him, just in case he could tell. Marl and I had never spoken much, purely because he rarely spoke more than one word at a time, but I knew he was intelligent. He could read people a lot better than I ever could.

"The trade." Marl ignored my question, eyes narrowing as he stepped in front of me, studying me intently. I instantly took a step back, plastering a blank look on my face so he wouldn't know what I was thinking. "You are up to something."

"I'm giving Benjamin the grimoire in exchange for Ric. We all know what I'm doing."

"Not that." He shook his head.

"I'm not up to anything else, I swear."

"I owe Shadow my life," Marl spoke up, changing the subject entirely and causing me to frown. What had that got to do with anything? "He saved my life when I got into some trouble with a group of vampires. I ended up captured, Shadow having to bargain for my life. I will spare you the details, but it is because of that that I know when there is something else going on behind the scenes, Violet."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, trying to keep my emotions in check. It was chilling, really, to know that he had once been in a similar position to Ric, Shadow being in my place. If anyone was going to figure it out, it would be him - or Shadow. That's why I had desperately tried to make up for the time I wouldn't have with Shadow. That's why I had been trying to distract him whenever I could, needing to feel close to him while I still had the opportunity.