When we got to the house, we halted, exchanging looks. The building was similar to the prisons back home. Whoever erected the structure might either be a psycho or missing home. But Kendera didn’t fall under any of them. He was just a bitter werewolf, fuelled by his desire to seek revenge for his father’s death.
Fred took the lead, and I followed close behind him, looking back, as we walked deeper into the house. The hall was dimly lit, but we could still make our way through it as if there were a bulb overhead.
We followed the pungent smell of Durian and got to the room. Fred kicked the door open, and I stepped in, my gaze landing on the motionless body on the floor.
Instead of hurrying over to the corpse, my eyes took in the squared room, noting how empty and depressing it looked. It was just like the prison rooms.
“What’s this?” Fred muttered as he lifted a syringe, knitting his eyebrows.
I hurried over to him and grabbed the syringe containing the strange red liquid. I raised it, scrutinizing the object before I inhaled. “It smells like -”
“Blood and dark matter,” he provided, getting to his feet.
“Dark matter?” I sniffed once more, frowning when my nose picked it up. “Impossible. Father banned it years ago. It can’t -”
“He deals with black magic,” Fred muttered as he kicked the lifeless body on the ground, turning him over. The minute his face lifted, we knew it was another doppelganger. Kandera has always been good at this.
“Do you think….” I trailed off when my eyes landed on another syringe. This one was empty. I strode over to the window and picked it up, raising it before I sniffed it. “This one is just dark matter and oak wood. And it’s empty.”
“Do you think….” He looked towards me, his eyes widening when we both thought of the same thing. “Shit!” He cursed before he took off, leaving me alone.
I pocketed the syringes before I hurried after him. We didn’t need to say anything between us to know where we needed to go.
The ride back home was filled with apprehension. The air was thick with tension as Fred zoomed past cars. I didn’t have to yell at him to drive faster because he was already doing that.
I jumped out of the car the moment we drove into our property, without waiting for him to stop the car. Back home, we had no reason to give in to the normal tendency of acting human, to remove any suspicion.
I raced for her room, almost knocking into Scarlett, who was just leaving her room.
“My king, are you -”
“Return to your station,” I said as I zoomed past her and into the chamber. Our Bunny was still sleeping when I rushed over to her to check her pulse.
“Should we wake her up?” Fred asked, standing on the other side as he peered down at her.
“She looks so peaceful,” I whispered, afraid of waking her up. I reached over to her and ran my fingers over her face. “I don’t want to wake her from her slumber. It will seem cruel of us. Let’s allow her to rest a while.”
“What of the drug? Do you think it’s in her system?” He sounded as if he didn’t want to believe that, but we all knew what was going on. The empty syringe we found could only mean one thing. Either the deceased used the syringe on himself or herself. The chances of him using it on himself were slim, which left the other part. He used it on her.
“Blue?”
We swerved our heads towards her when we heard the muttered call.
Fred reached over to her and helped her sit up, while I propped a pillow behind her. “How are you feeling? Refreshed?”
I was careful not to let my emotions show, so she wouldn’t pick up on it.
“Yeah. I feel like I can scale the highest mountain,” she yawned, stretching her muscles. “What are you guys up?” She frowned, looking towards Fred.
“Nothing, we just -”
“What happened while they kidnapped you? Did he inje-”
“Fred!” I growled at him, hitting my fist on the bed as I got up. “Why the fuck would you ask her about that when she just woke up? Don’t you fucking recognize how to read the room?!” I stormed towards him, intent on punching his face, so he would know when to speak up.
“Yes, I was injected,” she whispered, causing me to stop dead in my tracks.
I turned just as Fred sat on the bed and took her hand in his. “Tell us what took place, Bunny.” His tone was urgent. He sounded like he was coaxing her, trying to make her realise he wasn’t forcing her to spill the beans.
She drew in a long breath and puffed it out before she started. She told us how everything happened, from the time they met Kendera to the death of his puppet. The only confusing thing about what she said was how he died. She didn’t know what happened after he tried to forcefully inject her.
“You don’t know what happened after that?” Fred and I shared looks.
She shook her head. “Nothin’ at all.”
“Strange.” I got up from the bed and paced the floor. “Did someone else step into the room?”
“I doubt that. I just….” She sighed, tucking down strands of hair behind her left ear. “I can’t recall what took place after I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found him dead, with the syringe next to him. There was no sign of another person in the room. I would have noticed that.”
I heaved a sigh, not knowing what to say to that. It was as confusing as it was complex. We couldn’t tell what went on in that room because we weren’t there.
“Are you feeling any discomfort?” Fred asked, coming to the rescue. He took her hand in his and made her look towards him. “When he injected you, did you feel anything strange?”
“Yes, I did, but it was just fleeting.”