A Wind of Change(40)

There was a knock on the door.

River looked panicked. I wondered who it could possibly be. Leaving her in the living room, I made my way to the door and opened it.

There was no one there. I looked left and right, but the veranda was empty.

But then my eyes lowered to the floor in front of me. A backpack had been placed in front of my doorway. I bent down and picked it up, then made my way back to the living room.

River was standing waiting for me, the duvet still draped around her shoulders. Her eyes widened as she spotted the backpack in my hands.

“That’s mine,” she whispered, taking it from me. “Who brought it here?”

“There was nobody outside,” I replied.

“I left this in Michael’s apartment. I wonder why on earth he’d bother to bring it back to me after everything…”

She sat down and unzipped the bag, pulling out a vial of clear amber liquid and then a black fabric bag. Loosening the bag, she revealed that it was full of gold coins.

“In Michael’s place,” she said, looking tense, “when I woke up after being drugged, this bag of coins and this vial of liquid were waiting for me in his bedroom. There was a note left with them. It said that these were gifts for my mother and my brother. Michael said they were gifts from The Oasis. Why on earth was I given these? How do they even know about my family?”

I stared at the two objects. I was just as clueless as her.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I have no idea.”

She put the backpack down and looked at me. “When do you think the next hunt will be?”

“There was one recently. It could be a week or maybe longer until they go on one again. There doesn’t seem to be a set schedule.”

She moved closer to me, the blanket trailing behind her on the floor.

“Please, help me locate my sister. Even if we have no way of saving her yet… I just need to see her.”

I looked down into her desperate eyes and heaved a sigh.

“Okay. I’ll help you.”





Chapter 14: Ben





After promising River I would try to get us down to the basement, I now had to figure out how.

I didn’t need to examine the lock again to know that I wouldn’t be able to break through it without damaging it. It was far too complicated a lock to pick.

No. We had to find a smarter way to do this.

River took a shower while I thought, and by the time she’d finished, I’d come up with a plan.

She stepped into the room, dressed in new clothes—a crisp white blouse and cotton pants.

“Any ideas?” she asked anxiously.

“Yes. We’re going to need to pay another visit to Jeramiah.”

She looked confused, but didn’t ask questions. Perhaps by now she trusted me enough.

We left the apartment and headed to Jeramiah’s place. When I knocked on the door, an ebony-skinned half-blood girl opened it.

“You’re here for Jeramiah?”

“Yes.”

She looked over her shoulder and called back into the apartment. “Baby, it’s Joseph and his new half-blood.”

Jeramiah approached the door. He had a smirk on his face. “We’re seeing a lot of each other today.”

“I won’t take up much of your time,” I said. “I’ve come to request a visit to the basement.”

“Why?”

“I know River can help me cope with one human. I want to see how I cope surrounded by crowds of them. If I do end up accompanying you on a hunt, I’ll need to be prepared for this.”

I was surprised by how easily he agreed. “Yes, that’s not a problem. But I will send someone to accompany you. You’re permitted half an hour only.”

Half an hour. I hoped that would be enough time. It would have to be.

Jeramiah called back into the apartment. “Lucretia.”

Lucretia—his new girlfriend, apparently—walked back to the door.

“What?”

“I want you to accompany Joseph and his girl down to the prison. I’ve given them permission to walk around there for thirty minutes. You don’t need to accompany them down. You can wait in the room upstairs if you prefer—just make sure they have returned after half an hour.”

“Okay,” she said, eyeing us. “I’ll be with you in a minute. I’d like to get something to do while I’m sitting there.”

Jeramiah disappeared back into the apartment, while River and I waited for Lucretia. She only kept us waiting a minute. She arrived holding a cosmetic bag and slipped out the door.

We descended the levels of the atrium and arrived in a familiar room, where the entrance to the basement was. She pulled out a key from her pocket and opened the lock, then pushed the door open. The smell of human blood was overwhelming. I reached for River’s hand and breathed in her scent. Together we descended the steps, leaving Lucretia at the top, where she sat down in one corner and began to file her nails.