Era of Greed [✔ COMPLETE] (Chrim Chronicles #1)

CHAPTER FIVE

Cyril

I bit my wrist for the fifth time and watched the drops seep onto her tongue, her open mouth drooling, her body collapsed on the chair. The gap in her skull was no longer there, and I guessed the girls were hoping Loreen would be her old self again as they watched her in silence with red swollen eyes. But not even vampires could interfere with the laws of death, and not even my blood could undo the damage inflicted within.

"I think this is enough," I said as I pulled back my arm.

Penny grabbed my arm and pushed it back in its old spot. "Keep trying. It's working," she said in a raspy voice. "See, her eyes are opening sometimes."

Her eyes did open occasionally, which only confirmed what I had suspected the moment they had brought her in. Penny's sobs grew louder, and before I knew she had her arms clenched around my waist. I patted her on the back of her head with my free hand, slowly. From the corner of my eye I saw Torill gazing at me, I swallowed and tried not to meet her eyes.

"You didn't see anyone?" I asked with my eyes locked on Loreen. Penny's tears soaked my sweater vest, then my shirt, and then I felt the wetness on my chest.

"No," Farren said with a sigh, "Just the stones – countless stones – but not the coward who threw them."

My wound healed, and as I bit fresh holes I accidentally glanced at Torill. She was barely standing, leaning against the wall and taking heavy breaths, and I wished she would just go home and get some rest. Farren's magic was stronger, she was only fatigued, but Torill needed sleep to restore her energy.

"We'll find out who did it," I said, realizing it might be a false promise. "And Loreen will be fine."

And that was a lie. The ticking of the clock was a reminder I couldn't keep doing this forever. They were waiting for a miracle to present itself and Loreen to jump up, while I was waiting to gain enough courage to tell them Loreen would never jump again. "Are you girls hungry, or thirsty?"

"No," Penny snapped as she stepped back. "Just focus on Loreen."

Torill clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes at Penny. "Don't take it out on him, Penny. He's doing everything he can."

"It's all right," I said with a faint smile.

Of course they weren't hungry and thirsty, grief had a way of destroying one's appetite, and I was a fool for asking it. Loreen and Penny had always been inseparable, just as Torill and Farren were, and Jasmin and Lily. As Penny stroked Loreen's blonde locks, I was having an inner battle with myself. You can't keep this up forever. Tell them, Cyril, it's not that hard. Just say the words: Loreen Fortier will never wake up again. Say it.

"Eh..." I scraped my throat and hung my arm. "Why don't you girls go home and get some rest?" Of course it was hard. If telling the truth was that easy, nobody would ever lie.

Penny shook her head and pursed her lips. "I'm not leaving. And you're not stopping."

And you're not in any position to order me around, I thought, but swallowed my words. This was a sad situation, and I had to push my friendly switch. I nodded with a slight smile and bit my wrist. As my blood dripped into her mouth, I asked myself how much longer I should keep stalling. Twenty. Twenty more times, and then it would be time to man up.

"Have any of you informed Henry or Demetra?" I asked with the eighth count.

"No," Penny said with a sniff. "There's no need for that, because Loreen will be home with them in a bit."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." I gave her a broken smile. "She'll be home."

In my defence, that wasn't really a lie. Eventually Loreen would be home, spending her days drooling, opening her eyes occasionally. I buried my fangs in my wrist for the sixteenth time. Eighteenth time. Twenty had come so soon.