DUCHAS (The Drive Within, Book 2 in Baile series)

Chapter 25 Psychopath Unmasked

April

I woke lying on a divan, a blanked draped over me and a pillow propped under my head. I sat up at the sound of a door closing, my eyes finding Alick's.

"Hey." He gave me a small smile before gingerly handing me a mug filled with blood.

"Hi." Memories of the previous night flooded my mind and I reached for my neck, finding no discomfort whatsoever. "What happened?" I asked.

"Oh, I-uh. Well, us Werewolves-we have-healing properties."

I raised my eyebrows as he sat at the end of the divan. "Where?" I actually wasn't sure whether I wanted to know.

"Saliva."

"Oh my God." I grimaced.

"I'm sorry, but it was badly infected and your blood wasn't clotting." He reasoned, running his hands through his hair anxiously. "I would've asked but you were already out of it."

I sighed. "I suppose I can over look it for now."

"That's not all that happened last night." Alick's tone grew somber. "Isla disappeared last night."

I rushed to my feet. "What?" This was bad. "We need to be out there looking for her right now!" I gestured out the window wildly.

"Riley's been out since last night." Alick rose to his feet, his hands out in an attempt to settle me.

"Alick." I tried to convince him. "The person who killed Charlotte has Isla now."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I have a brain! This isn't some random kidnapping, Isla could be dead." I hated to say it.

"Sure we should look for her, but you're in no state to do so." He gestured to my bedraggled outfit and birds nest of a hairdo.

"I couldn't care less. We're finding her." I took him by the hand, dragging him with me until we broke out into a run. Together we left the mansion, racing into the boarding woods in search of our best friend.

Isla

My head tipped forward, causing my eyes to spring open. I went to move and found my wrists were tied behind me, stretched around the thick trunk of a tree. My eyes darted around the forest surrounding me, my mind spinning and disorientated.

"You recovered faster than I thought you would."

I turned my head to gaze upon the back of my captor, the person shrouded in a green coat, the hood flipped up.

"A credit to Faeries everywhere really." She turned to face me and the blood fell from my face.

"It was you." I breathed.

"Surprise." Constance removed her hood, her fiery hair catching the sun filtering through the canopy above. "Shocker right?" She smiled, her voice calm despite the knife she played with in her hands. "It's not like your best friend told you, right?" She chuckled.

"You killed Charlotte." I couldn't believe Constance would do such a thing, she looked so innocent and normal. Not some homicidal, axe-wielding maniac with a lust for chaos and destruction.

"Regrettable." She said without a care. "Anybody would have served the purpose. All it takes is a few rocky waves to turn over the ship, emptying the treasures into the abyss."

"How could you kill someone, someone so innocent?" I still didn't fully believe her.

"It's quite easy actually." She approached, twirling the knife between her fingers. Staring at the knife I came to the sudden realisation that it was the knife from my crazed hallucination before I had fully shifted, another thing that I had prophesised.