Why did Lowe and Koen not consider the possibility that I was a child of the cult the second they learned about my existence? the answer is, they did. They investigated it, but they were sure that every child was accounted for. Anyway, this is where the shittiness of Koen’s life starts paralleling our own, because the whole showdown that led to him becoming Alpha- “
“Actually, stop. Don’t tell me.”
“You don’t want to know?”
“No. Yes.” I swallow. “I think I should hear this from Koen.”
“Aw. Are you guys sleeping together yet?”
“What? No!”
“Well, since it’s probably going to happen, would you like a heads- up on the biology?”
“The what?”
“His dick. It- “
“It’s not going to happen, Misery. It’d be against the law. He took an oath of celibacy.”
“I mean, sure.” She doesn’t sound sure. “But you should know that because you’re his mate, at the base of- “
“Stop.” At the what of what? “I liked you better when you were a virgin.”
“Yeah, well, Lowe didn’t. So.”
I hang up and massage my eyes till the mental image is scrubbed from my brain, trying to ignore the way my stomach weighs a thousand pounds. Then something occurs to me: this could be my last conversation with Misery. The last time I hear her voice. The last time she hears mine.
I start texting.
Serena:
Now that I think about it . . . Our shitty lives? I wouldn’t have them any other way.
Misery:
Seriously? No other way? You wouldn’t, idk, skip over the part where the anti-Vampyre coalition mixed up our rooms and pumped you full of carbon monoxide?
Serena:
What I’m trying to say is that I am grateful that our misfortunes brought us together.
Misery:
Oh my god. Are you dying?
Shit.
Serena:
Is that the only reason for me to tell you nice things?
Misery:
It’s the only reason for me to listen to them.
I roll my eyes and throw the phone onto the bed. When I walk into the living room, the seconds are still there. I wave at them, listening in as I start the electric kettle.
“. . .all of their known hideouts. No sign of recent activity,” Saul is saying.
“That we know of,” Elle points out. “But our trackers extended their search and still couldn’t find any trace. And the cult didn’t create problems just for the Northwest- they’re despised by everyone in the area. We asked Human neighboring towns if they’d heard anything about them being back, and they were horrified.”
“Did you follow the kid’s trail from Dr. Silas’s home?”
“As much as we could,” Brenna says. “He knew what he was doing. Covered his scent in the ocean.”
“Any match between his and Serena’s DNA?”
“Unrelated. He was a full Were. According to the forensic expert, he spent most of his life in wolf form.”
I exhale. Continue puttering around the kitchen.
“Any Northwest markers in his DNA?”
“None.”
Koen nods slowly. “The good thing is, there can’t be many of them, or we’d have found them by now.”
“Maybe we could lure them out,” I muse, setting mugs, hot water, and tea bags for everyone on the coffee table.
The room goes so silent, the clicking of the porcelain feels louder than a chain saw.
I don’t let it bother me. “They think I’m their miracle Frankenstein baby, and they’re willing to go to some lengths to get me. If I were one of them, I’d think that I need me to recruit more followers.”
I plop down between Koen and the armrest, disregarding the way my thigh brushes against his. Tension swells in the room, heavy with discomfort, but I ignore it and gently press my knee against Koen’s thick quad to get him to stop manspreading.
He doesn’t budge, so I push harder.
He ignores me.
Until Saul tells me, “We’re not sure you were really a cult child, babe. And just to be clear, we would never think any less of you because of the circumstances of your- “
“I know.” I smile. Reassuring, hopefully. “But the sooner we eliminate the threat, the better for the pack. And since we can’t find the cult, using me as bait might be the most . . .”
All the seconds stand at once, like they all received a simultaneous message from an alien mothership. I watch them do those weird, drawn-out nods in Koen’s direction, then quickly file out of the cabin. When I glance at Koen, I notice that he’s glowering and realize what dismissed them.
“Well.” I glance at the mugs. “That was a lot of work for nothing.”
“You’ll survive.”
“Not according to multiple physicians.”
His expression darkens further.
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