Page 20 of Kiss the Dawn (Order of Helsing #4)

K aster had left by the time I woke. I’d gone to bed knowing he’d be leaving before dawn, but it still felt like I’d been abandoned.

He’d gone all out in stocking my apartment. Not only with food but toiletries and even some clothes and a bathrobe that was so fluffy and soft I never wanted to take it off.

We’d chatted for an hour after coming up to the apartment, about general things—safe topics. I hated that the person I’d felt the closest to the past month was slipping away from me.

I didn’t give myself time to dwell and got my ass to the office, picking up donuts on the way.

The team would be so shocked to see me back so soon, and I couldn’t wait to lose myself in working the missing persons case. We had a lead, after all.

It would be all hands on deck .

But as soon as I stepped into the office, I knew something was off. Then I saw Padma’s puffy eyes and swollen nose.

A face that had spent too long crying.

My happy buzz died. “What’s happened?” I looked from Merry to Holly to Padma to… “Where’s Edwin?”

Padma’s face crumpled, and she burst into tears.

“You should sit down,” Holly said. “I’ll make coffee.”

I closed the office for the day. The case wasn’t going anywhere, and the symbol would still be a mystery tomorrow. Besides, Crush and his friends were also on the case, so there were enough eyes on this one, and one day off wouldn’t hurt.

Edwin was gone, and so was Haiden, and all we could do was hope they’d both return, but in the meantime, Padma was in no state to work.

And honestly, after my near-death experience on the Isle, neither was I.

I’d filled the team in on that, trying to keep it light and brief, but my rapid blinking must have given me away, and then the hugs had freed my stupid tears.

So here we stood, outside the building, emotional and free for the day.

“I don’t want to go back to the chapter house just yet,” Padma said. “It feels awful without Edwin and Haiden.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t feel like home without them,” Merry said.

I was glad I didn’t have to go back there. “You can come stay at mine.”

“No,” Padma said. “It’s okay for the odd sleepover but not as a regular thing. We have to get used to the chapter house as it is now.”

But maybe they didn’t…An idea formed in my mind spawned from something someone had said once. One of the team, I couldn’t recall who.

“Orina? You want to come watch a movie with us?” Merry asked.

Dammit, I’d missed part of the conversation. “Sure. What movie?”

“The new Roman Star film?”

Roman Star was the heartthrob of the moment and easy on the eye. Rumor had it that he was seeing Tempest Storm, the lead in Ghost Charmers .

“No romance,” Padma said.

“It’s a thriller,” Merry replied.

“Perfect,” Padma said.

“Not for me,” Holly bowed out. “I have some stuff I want to do.”

We all stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate, but she simply arched her brow and stared right back.

“O-kay,” Merry said. “We’ll see you back at the house, then. ”

Holly ambled off, and Merry linked arms with me and Padma.

“Girls’ day,” she said with a beaming smile that lifted my spirits.

“Girls’ day,” Padma and I echoed.

A girls’ day was just what the doctor ordered, and by the time I let myself into my apartment, I felt lighter and more positive. I kicked my shoes off in the foyer, the smell of spaghetti sauce teasing my nose. My spirits lifted even more because someone was cooking for me.

Either Ordell or Hemlock, as both seemed to have a key.

I padded down the short hallway into the open-plan space and paused to take in the pure masculine sight of Hemlock, apron tied around his waist, stirring a pot on the stove.

The muscles across his back visibly tensed beneath the cream material of the tee he was wearing, telling me he’d sensed my presence.

“Good day?” he asked.

“Yes, actually.”

“I got Lorenzo’s message a couple of hours ago.” He set the spoon on a dish on the counter and turned to face me, all tussled and broody. “Sit down. I’ll get you a drink. ”

I perched on the island while he pulled a bottle of wine out of the fridge. “A real drink?”

“I think you deserve it after what you’ve been through.”

“He told you?”

“Yep.” His gaze was flat and dangerous.

“Then you might want to grab me a whiskey.”

He put the wine back and reached under the counter and drew out a small bottle of whiskey. “You want ice?”

I shook my head. “No. Just two fingers.”

A smile tugged at his luscious mouth.

My cheeks heated as I realized what I’d said. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do.” He poured two glasses and passed me one.

“Do Ezekiel or Ordell know?”

He snorted. “You think Ordell wouldn’t be here if he knew?” He shook his head. “He’s watching his kids for the evening, so I made the executive decision not to tell him you were back yet. Same for Ezekiel.” He sipped. “I’m surprised he doesn’t already know, though. No dream visits last night?”

The whiskey burned a satisfying path down my throat. “Nope. I slept deeply.” No need to tell him about the nightmares.

“When this is over, Ordell and I will be paying the Isle a visit.” That flat dead gaze was back. “The witches involved will pay for what they did. ”

His words made my insides warm and gooey. “As much as I would love to see them suffer, the Isle needs them to make lots of babies, and you need to steer clear of that place. I won’t risk you getting infected.”

His jaw flexed. “It’s a worthy risk. We won’t kill them, just dismember them a little. They’ll still be able to make babies, but they may no longer be able to walk, or speak…or see.”

Now why was that so sexy? There was something seriously wrong with me. But I knew Hemlock well enough to believe that he would do what he promised, and as much as I hated what had happened, as much as it would haunt me, I couldn’t live with myself if Eliza lost the men she loved.

She’d tried to stop them. She hadn’t been in on the plan.

“I don’t want them hurt.”

He smiled, mirthless. “I don’t care what you want.”

“Yes, you do.”

The words hung between us heavy with truth, and Hemlock was the first to break eye contact and drain his glass.

“Go get washed up,” he said. “Dinner will be on the table in ten minutes, and after that we’ll play chess, and after that you’ll go to bed.”

“Alone?” Why had I said that?

Longing twisted his features briefly before he regained composure. “I can take the sofa.”

I didn’t argue this time because something had changed between us since our chat on the balcony, and it didn’t feel right to push him into increased proximity right now.

I finished my whiskey. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

I headed to the bedroom to wash up and change into my comfy PJs.

I was so going to kick his ass at chess.

Hemlock beat me at chess, which wouldn’t have been too bad if he hadn’t been so smug about it.

By the time we finished, it was almost one in the morning, and my eyes were gritty.

Hemlock stretched and yawned. “Time for bed.”

“Yeah, I’m wiped, but thanks for keeping me company. The food, drink and?—”

“Beating you at chess?”

I bit back a smile. “That too.”

“Oh, before I forget, the investigation into how you ended up with the Order highlighted your parents’ deaths…They’re not sure it was accidental. Some of the details are off.”

All traces of sleep evaporated. “What? How could they have missed that?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. But I’ve made it clear that we need answers and fast.”

“Do you think my parents were…murdered? ”

His expression was grave. “Bearing in mind what we know about you now, the possibility isn’t off the table.” He exhaled. “They would have known you weren’t their biological child and lied about it.”

“You think they knew where I’d come from and how…” My eyes widened because I’d just assumed someone had switched their real baby for me or something. “You think they were in on it?”

“At this stage, anything is possible.”

“Then who murdered them? No. I don’t believe they were involved. Took me in and lied that I was theirs, maybe, but there’s more going on here.”

“Agreed. We will get to the bottom of it.”

It felt like all we had was questions. Who had smuggled me off the Isle? Who set fire to the boat house and killed a bunch of vampires? Who messed with Merry’s mind? What happened to the missing people? And was Edwin okay, and probably a dozen more that I was forgetting right now.

I went to bed with a heavy heart, a tired mind, and the hope that Ezekiel would be waiting for me in my dreams.

“Little Silver. Back so soon?” Ezekiel said. “Good news, I hope.”

He was here. Waiting. And that filled my heart with light. I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around his waist.

He chuckled, hugging me back. “Good to know that I was missed.”

It had only been three days, and yet it felt like forever, and God, I’d missed him, and I was so fucking grateful I’d survived to see him again.

For a moment I was back on that table, strapped and helpless, with the acute sense that I was about to die. That I’d never see him or anyone that I loved again.

He tensed. “What is this?” He pushed me away and strode to the balcony, where an image had formed of three faces. The witches, and then my voice…

“I have people I love waiting for me. I have a life. Please, don’t take it away from me.”

“I’m sorry. I truly am,” a male voice replied .

Oh shit. I was doing this. My mind. My memory. It had encroached on our vista, and I had no idea how to get rid of it.

I shook my head and squeezed my eyes closed, willing it to dissipate.

“Fucking let me go, you bastards!” the Orina in my memory said.

I rushed over to the balcony. “Stop it. Go away.”

But the memory persisted, bright and sharp, here in a place I couldn’t escape it. Zarin materialized holding up the syringe filled with poison.

“What is that?” memory me asked .

“Yes, what is it?” Ezekiel echoed through clenched teeth.

“I call it rest in peace. You’ll fall asleep and not wake up. I would have given it to you while you were unconscious, but it wasn’t quite ready.”

A sob swelled in my throat, and I grabbed at Ezekiel’s arm. “Ezekiel, don’t look. It’s over. I’m fine.”

He continued to watch, chest heaving as Zarin brought the needle closer. I turned away, my chest to his torso, head down because I didn’t want to see this, I didn’t want to relive it.

Dream me’s pleas rose above the thunder of blood in my head.

“Please don’t do this…”

“Stop! Don’t!”

“Please, don’t…”

Then silence.

“Look at me,” Ezekiel demanded.

I raised my head and looked at him through my tears.

His golden eyes were fractured with rivers of crimson, his face a terrifying mask of wrath.

“They tried to kill you.”

“Lorenzo saved me. I’m okay. I’m home and?—”

He misted into nothing, leaving me standing in our vista alone.

“Ezekiel?” I ran back into the main room. “Ezekiel? ”

The room around me fractured and fell away, and I woke in my bed. In the darkness, the drapes billowing.

The shadows moved, and a shape stepped into the moonlight.

Ezekiel?

He moved fast, enveloping me in a hug so tight I could barely breathe. “I had to see you. Feel you. Alive. You’re alive.”

I wanted to hug him back. To inhale his scent, to?—

Rage burned up my throat and choked the joy burgeoning in my chest, and then there was nothing but red.