There it was. The confession that he had feelings for me. “I am so, so sorry,” I said. More than anything, I was sorry that there was such a thing as unrequited love. Because from the cold sweat breaking out along Caleb’s skin, and the smell of cortisol—a.k.a., stress—what he was feeling had to be unbearable. Meanwhile, my heartbeat was as steady as ever, and other than guilt, Caleb’s presence did nothing to me.
“Why him?” Caleb asked. “And why now?”
Because he’s my soulmate and because we’re investigating the murders together. But Caleb didn’t know either of those two things. He never overheard Theodore’s confession, and he wasn’t in the room when the chief constable all but told me to renew my relationship with the coven.
I toed the dewy grass beneath my feet. Behind me staff entered and exited Castle Rushen’s main entrance. “Chief Constable Morgan told me these murders have threatened the truce between vampires and the Politia. And if the truce is broken, then the Politia will hunt down all vampires. Including me.”
Caleb’s face paled. “They wouldn’t really do that . . .”
I gave him a look. “Then what would the Politia do with monsters they couldn’t control?”
He said nothing, which was answer enough.
“The chief constable encouraged me to mend my ties with the coven, so now I’m also working on the investigation with Andre. That’s why we were together.”
“You’re working on the investigation together?” The hurt was back in his voice. “That’s why you met up yesterday? To work together?”
The guilt sat heavy in my gut. “Caleb, I had to. This is bigger than you and me. The lives of hundreds of vampires—as well as any future victims the killer chooses—are at stake.” Oops, bad pun.
“Whatever Gabrielle,” he said, his voice defeated. He threaded is hands over his head and walked a few steps away from me. “I just don’t care anymore.”
I reached out for him. “Caleb?” He turned. “I want you to care,” I said, “just not about me.”
His eyebrows were raised and the skin of his forehead was wrinkled.
“I’m a mess, and my life is a mess,” I said. “You should want more for yourself than something as destructive as a relationship with me.” I hadn’t realized the words were true until I spoke them.
“I just want to date you.”
The town was awakening. The sun had risen above the buildings and slowly scared off the chill of the morning.
“Nearly every girl at school would take you up on that offer. And you choose to go after the only one who wouldn’t.”
He winced at my words. “I can change your mind.”
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. “You won’t. I’m never going to be with you.”
His brows pinched together. “I will change your mind,” he said defiantly.
I came so, so close to telling him Andre and I were soulmates, but I bit back my response at the last minute. That information seemed like it could be dangerous in the wrong hands, and as much as I believed Caleb could keep a secret, I wasn’t a trusting person by nature.
I gazed up at Castle Rushen, wanting to be anyone else for a day. In one of the towers a shadow moved. Someone had been watching us.
Something about this situation reminded me of those stories of ancient Rome and Egypt. The ones where friends betrayed each other and family members plotted against one another.
I wasn’t safe. Not by a long shot.
***
We met Maggie in her office, although office was perhaps an overstatement. Broom closet was a more accurate description for the tiny room the three of us crammed in.
“What do you guys have for me?” she asked, folding her hands in front of her. I took in the scattered papers littering her desk. Most were bits and pieces of cases she was working on. Amongst them was today’s paper. The headline still focused on the attacks.
“Judging by what the victims had on them at the time of their death and their supernatural ability, they were likely attacked on their home turf,” Caleb said, “This means that they probably were there by chance, rather than lured there or killed somewhere else and placed there.”
I tore my gaze away from the newspaper to stare at the boy next to me. He was a natural at this. He wouldn’t need my help solving this case with an inquisitive eye like his.
Maggie nodded. “That’s an important detail you caught there. It does seem as though the individuals were not picked out beforehand. This tells us that this isn’t personal—the killer never knew the victims. It also indicates that the killer was probably waiting at these locations, though we haven’t been able to find any footprints to corroborate this.”