I was jolted from what might’ve been the deepest sleep I’ve ever experienced by the shrill sound of an alarm coming from the tablet. It vibrated against the Persian rug on the floor, making me scramble even faster. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes roughly, I tossed the blankets from my body in a rush. The tablet had fallen over while I slept, and I practically threw myself off the couch to grab it in time.
I cringed at the harsh light from the tablet but forced myself to look until the splotches cleared, and I could finally see what was happening. My stomach sank and relief flooded me all at once.
“We know someone’s there-let us in!”
Kat’s voice wasn’t full of panic and fear but aggression and determination. For a moment, it surprised me. She’d always been confident and strong, but this was the voice of a Luna.
I tapped furiously on the tablet, scrolling through the oddly in-depth security measures that encompassed the house. The boundary line within the forest that would set off an alarm if something too heavy crossed through, the cameras surrounding the house and even peering off into the trees, every single window, vent, and doorway had a sensor. Either Carlos Caddel was paranoid, or he truly had some serious enemies to worry about.
Finally finding the sensor for the main door, I turned it off and listened to the light whirr of locks sliding out of place. The front door was wrenched open, and I watched in stunned surprise as Kat, Eve, and an unconscious, half-dead Zack Billford tumbled inside.
Neither Kat nor Eve, who was pale and wobbling on two legs, could carry Zack’s weight anymore. The three of them fell to the ground in a pile of limbs and quiet groans. Eve was first to remove herself from the wreckage, sitting with her back against the wall. Her onyx hair was a wreck, knotted and matted in places. Her thick eyeliner was smeared down her face, though not from crying. Kat looked much the same, haggard and tired, but still with that fierce light in her eyes.
“The man could stand to skip a few meals,” Eve hissed, clutching at her head. “First babysitter for sleeping beauty, and now rescue party. Not only does he owe me a new phone, but he better make sure his insane father doesn’t kill my family for my involvement. The shit I get myself into.”
“Thank you, Eve. I might not know all that you risked, but I appreciate it,” Kat said firmly, her eyes unwavering as they looked towards Eve.
That seemed to smooth out some of Eve’s anger, even though she did nothing more than shrug and grumble. I made sure to set the locks for the front door and came over to help the two of them.
“I’m glad the two of you are alright, but I’m assuming you didn’t just stumble across Zack,” I said, trying to lighten things, but it was hard considering he was currently bleeding onto the floor. I offered a hand to Kat. “Let’s get him on the couch. I think I saw a first aid kit in the kitchen. You can tell me all about this while you patch him up.”
“Hope Carlos doesn’t mind some blood on his couch,” Kat murmured, grabbing a pair of scissors to cut the shirt from Zack’s body.
Her emotions were surprisingly under wraps as she focused on peeling the soaked fabric from any wounds he had. She wasn’t doing this out of love or affection but because we actually needed him. He was too great an ally to throw away, a child turned from his dictator of a father.
“I’m sure there’s at least ten other couches in this house,” I commented, earning the smallest of smiles from her.
The first aid kit was more like a first aid suitcase. I hauled it out of the walk-in pantry in the kitchen and brought it over to where Kat sat. Eve wobbled into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl of warm water and a rag before collapsing onto the couch with a bag of chips in hand.
“All of our abilities have drawbacks,” she explained with a shrug, crunching down on a chip. “I knock people out, so if I overuse mine, it can knock me out too. You’ll find out what your drawback is; we all do eventually.”
“I devour the souls of others and experience the emotions of everyone around me. That feels like one big drawback sometimes,” I chuckled lightly, though I had grown a small appreciation for my magic.
“I’m sure it’s saved your ass a time or two though,” Eve pointed out with a nod in my direction.
“It has, but this world is a lot different from the one I grew up in. It’s hard to undo that kind of thinking, that everything is black and white,” I explained with a shrug. “I’m getting there, though. Every time I use them to save a life, I can’t bring myself to regret that.”
“Sophia, could you come hold this while I stitch him up?” Kat asked, gesturing to the blood-coated towel in her hands.
I was as gentle as possible, but every quiet hiss from Zack had me stilling. There were gashes along his torso, across his chest, and up to the hollow of his throat. He had clearly been punched or kicked in the face and was sporting two black eyes. On a positive note, the damage to his face would heal within a day or two. The slices along his body, they would take a bit longer.
“Silver fucking knife,” Kat spat, threading the needle through one of the larger cuts on his body. “It’s going to take nearly two weeks for him to fully heal.”
“You mind explaining this mess without me?” Eve grunted from the other side of the couch. She was lying on her back with a pillow over the top half of her face. “I think I’m going to check out for a few hours.”
“Yeah, I got it,” Kat murmured, not turning her eyes from the task at hand.
Nearly ten whole seconds later, Eve’s light snoring filled the living room. Kat glanced at me before returning her eyes to Zack. “I didn’t exactly mean to leave them, y’know. Things kind of changed last minute.”
“I know you wouldn’t have split if it weren’t important,” I told her with a small smile, though it was difficult to feel happy while I waited for the twins to arrive. “The kid Carlos sent gave us the address. I’m lucky I managed to memorize it or we would have been shit out of luck.”
She laughed, but the sound was brittle. Zack groaned under his breath, which made Kat flinch softly. She ignored the reaction and continued stitching him up. “We were running down the hall, and I caught his scent. It was so strong; I knew he was close. I split off down another hall and could hear him as I walked further down. Turns out, I wasn’t the only one lurking. I found Eve snooping from just a few doors down.”
“What was she doing over there?” I asked, guilty that my tone was just a tad suspicious.
Kat didn’t seem to mind and replied without skipping a beat, “I don’t know all of what he does in his father’s pack, but some of these white wolves are actually loyal to him. Eve acts tough, but she was there to try and help him. She’s actually the one who knocked the guards out.”
“And what about his wounds?” I questioned with a frown, not willing to believe his own father’s guards were torturing him.
“The men were acting under his father’s orders,” Kat replied darkly, her emerald eyes turning a deep shade of moss.
I’m not sure why this surprised and revolted me so much, but it did. I suppose I wanted to believe there was some kind of limit to how cruel another person could be.
Kat finished patching up Zack and washed the remaining blood from his face and torso. His skin was angry and red, puckered around the slashes on his chest. The stitches would seal the wounds and help them heal just a bit faster and neater. I paid close attention to how Kat moved, with sure hands that lacked even the slightest tremble.
Something about watching Kat close up the wounds on Zack made a question form in my mind, a theory that I wasn’t sure I’d ever actually test. I wondered if since I could steal the life force from someone, I could give it as well. That train of thought was derailed when Kat flicked on the television and thumbed through the channels at random.
“Without some noise, I’m going to fall right asleep,” she sighed, brushing some crimson curls away from her forehead.
“You don’t have to stay up with me,” I urged, more than understanding considering the three of them had quite literally fallen through the doorway.
“Nah, I’m not leaving you to stay up alone.” She shook her head, her lips set in a way that I knew meant she wasn’t changing her mind. “I know you won’t sleep until they get here.”
I settled into the couch beside her, snorting when Zack began to snore softly. Some family television show was on, one where that cheesy background laughter sounded every time someone said something mildly funny. Halfway through an episode, Kat’s quiet words caught my attention.
“You do understand why I went back for him, right?” she asked, her eyes still locked on the TV screen. “Regardless of what Eve says, I didn’t save him because of the damn bond. I did it because it was stupid not to.”
“Believe me, I understand,” I replied, letting her tell me what she wanted.
Things between Zack and Kat were beyond complicated. Kat knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go for it. Zack had to live in the shadows, splitting who he was and who he needed to be into two different people. There was a wall inside of him, one constructed by his father’s cruelty and hate. It barred his emotions, forcing them away from me and himself. The glimpse I had allowed me to understand how she felt, and I knew that pressing for information was the last thing she needed.