Chapter 45

-Chase-

Dante fell asleep almost right away after getting under the covers. I stayed next to him for a long time, just watching over him, making sure nothing could disturb his sleep. I also made sure he wasn’t injured. A fall like that… Thinking about it still sent shivers down my spine. I was glad to see he was able to heal from such massive injuries so fast. Normal werewolves wouldn’t be up and running in his shoes, but it seemed like Rassawolves were more special than that.

“He is special, all right,” Roe muttered before appearing next to the bed.

“Is it done?” I asked quietly.

“That vampire noble had an exquisite taste. Her treasure is a fine addition in my collection,” he said with a cheerful voice.

“As long as no one knows where you got it,” I muttered, looking at the lightly snoring Dante. “He doesn’t seem like he remembers what he did.”

“Trust me, if he remembered that beautiful display of internal organs splattered across the cave, we would definitely know,” Roe chuckled. “We have a true artist in our hands.”

“Very funny,” I said, but I had to admit, seeing what had happened to Gus warmed my soul. “I’m just sad he got to that weasel first.”

“I’m assuming we’re keeping this to ourselves,” Roe said.

“Truth would only make things complicated with the others,” I sighed. “I doubt anyone will miss that bastard enough to start looking for him. He left, that’s all they need to know.”

“Agreed,” Roe breathed out. “Humans with their morals…”

I chuckled at his remark. “You used to be a human too.”

“Don’t you dare call me one of them. I was fine with killing people. Just like you.”

“This is why warlocks are the villains in movies,” I noted, turning to look at Dante. “But he’s not a villain. He’s a victim, and he doesn’t need to know.”

Our grim conversation was brought to an end when we could suddenly feel a portal being opened outside, and we heard a car driving up to the house. I got up to look through the window just when Ben’s van stopped by the house, and the engine was turned off.

“Can we now focus on finding the cure?” Roe asked me.

“Yes. No more side missions,” I promised him.

“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go do something that is actually useful.”

“Thanks, Roe. Again,” I said while he vanished without giving me a reply.

I sighed and looked at Dante. He was so fast asleep I doubted he’d wake up even if the house blew up. I wanted to stay with him, but Roe was right. We had to continue with our real task. I got up and looked out the window just in time to see Frank’s car emerging out of the portal. I stood there and watched as my teacher got out of the car to close it.

“Sorry about your friend,” I whispered before turning around and walking to the door.

Once downstairs, I started making coffee for us all while waiting for them to get inside. As if a cup of coffee could make everything better after what we all had been through. I was still angry at Gus. Everything had gone extremely well until he decided to blow the place up.

“Did you find him?”

I turned around to see Frank, Zane and Ben walk through the front door, all of them looking more or less banged up.

“We did, yes,” I said with a smile. “He seems completely fine. He’s resting upstairs.”

“That’s a relief. That was one hell of a fall,” Frank muttered, shaking his head as he dropped his bag on the floor. “That son of a bastard nearly got us all killed…”

“I uh… We found traces of Gus, too,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “He found the treasure and took a hike.”

“How do you know?”

“We found Dante in the cave he blew up. There was some kind of empty altar, and footprints on the ground,” I explained – it wasn’t technically a lie either.

I peered over my shoulder to see Frank’s angry expression. He shook his head in disbelief, and I was sure he would never want to even try to look for Gus.

“That son of a bitch…” was all he said.

“Thankfully, Dante was there to save us,” I smiled and turned around.

“Yes,” Ben nodded. “I must say, I will never get used to seeing them in action…”

“He was a lot scarier than the ogres,” Zane agreed. “When he set his eyes on me, I shat my pants. Thank God Roe yanked me out of there.”

“Agreed,” I chuckled, and looked at Frank, who was making his way to the living room area.

He stopped by the desk at the back and picked up the werewolf hunter’s journal. Donovan Taylor’s book. I was surprised Gus hadn’t tried to steal it from us…

“We got the rock, but we still have work to do,” I said. “But we all need to get some rest first.”

“I thought he had more to tell us…” Frank muttered, and looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry… I thought I was helping, but I made things only worse…”

“We now know about Donovan,” I said sternly. “And if you still want to help, I’d love to know where Arthyzn got it, and why he gave it to me.”

Frank let out a deep sigh, shaking his head again. “My master and I… we’re not exactly on speaking terms…”

I hesitated for a moment because I could see how difficult the subject was to him, but if there was something that could help Dante… “What happened between you and him? I thought your master was dead.”

“I suppose we were too different…” Frank said, and went to sit down. “We fought a lot, and… Eventually, there was no return. No going back to how things used to be.”

“I see…” I said quietly.

“I doubt he’ll even answer me anymore…” Frank said.

The way he spoke those words… The link between Roe and I was eternal, and no matter how often we clashed, I really couldn’t imagine a life without him.

“Aww, you do love me!”

“Shut up,” I murmured, hearing Roe’s laugh somewhere in my head. Then, I turned my attention back to Frank. “Maybe it’s not too late to try again?” I offered carefully.

“Hmmh…” Frank uttered, keeping his eyes on the book.

“I think I’ll pay the old nhran a visit if Frank won’t,” Roe muttered in my head. “I have this weird feeling Arthyzn knows more about this.”

I expected Roe to elaborate, which he did.

“He let me know he had the spell book in a party we both attended. He let me know about it loud and clear. Almost as if he knew we needed it,” Roe said, and I could feel his excitement rising.

“That can’t be a coincidence,” I agreed, and our friends turned to look at me in curiosity. “It might be that Arthyzn knew we needed that book. Roe is going to confront him about it,” I explained.

“Maybe it’s better if he does it,” Frank nodded. “Though those two never did get along…”

“Not my fault,” Roe snorted.

It was definitely his fault.

“If that’s all you need me for, I think I’ll go get some sleep,” Zane said. “I’ll go see the pixies tomorrow to check everything is fine.”

“Thanks,” I smiled. “Tell them we’re sorry about what happened.”

“They’re just happy to have their stone back,” Zane smiled.

I opened a portal for him and told him goodbye before he left. After he was gone, I closed the portal again and spotted Frank making his leave as well, so I frowned.

“You’re going too?”

“Yeah – I’ll drop by tomorrow. I have a big wound on my calf that needs taking care of,” he explained, and I peered down at his leg. He had a torn shirt wrapped around his leg, but the wound couldn’t be threatening since there wasn’t much blood.

“But I made coffee?”

“Sorry, kid. I’m an old man, and I’m not used to adventures,” he chuckled while walking to the front door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Fine,” I sighed, and told him goodbye, too.

“I could use a cup of coffee,” Ben said, peering at the stairs. “He’s… asleep?”

“Like a baby,” I nodded as we made our way to the kitchen.

“Good… Good…” Ben mumbled.

I peered at him while I grabbed cups for us and sat down. He seemed to be deep in his thoughts, and I couldn’t help but notice the way he glanced at the stairs a few times.

“So…?” I said once he sat down too.

“So?” he repeated in an avoiding manner.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked sternly to let him know I knew something was up.

He stared at me for a moment, and then breathed out quietly, rubbing his neck. He seemed… uncomfortable. “What a day, huh?”

“Ben.”

He sighed again and took a long look at me. “I suppose… There is something I’ve wanted to talk about, but… It’s not an easy subject, but what happened today…”

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

“I do, yes, but…” he nodded. “If I’m honest with you, would you be honest with me?”

“Sure,” I said without giving it a second thought.

“Good,” he said, and looked down at his mug. “I think I know how far you’d go to protect Dante. And I know these beasts pretty well…”

“What are you trying to say?” I asked, keeping my voice light even though I could see where this was going.

“You didn’t actually find traces of Gus, did you?” he said, looking up at me.

Smart man.

“I told you we did,” I answered.

“No…” he breathed out. “You found Gus.”

“No, we didn’t,” I denied, but he raised his eyebrows at me.

“I’ll be honest with you if you’ll be honest with me.”

It was now my turn to stare at him when I realized he, too, had secrets to spill. “What did you do?”

“You found Gus, didn’t you?” he repeated without answering my question.

I was getting annoyed. “Fine… Yes, we did find him.”

Ben nodded. “And he’s dead now.”

That was not a question.

“Why does it matter?” I asked.

“Did he do it?” the old man asked quietly, once again not giving me an answer.

I let out a deep breath. “Dante is not a villain. He’s a victim. The beast did it.”

Ben nodded slowly, looking at the stairs again. “Does he know about it?”

“No. He doesn’t remember.”

“Good.”

I raised my eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue. He was taking it surprisingly well. Almost as if he didn’t really care what happened to Gus. As if any of us would…

“I was honest with you,” I reminded him, and his expression dropped.

He wrapped his hands around his mug and stared at the black liquid for a moment. I wanted to tell him to just spill it out, but for once, I held my tongue.

“I haven’t been honest with you,” he finally admitted. “This entire time you’ve lived here, I… I haven’t been honest with you.”

A burst of anger splashed through me, but again, I held my tongue. “Explain.”

Ben nodded, looking like he was gathering his thoughts. I leaned closer, the curiosity taking over my anger.

“What is it?” I finally asked when it looked like he was chickening out after all.

“I had a seventh patient,” he blurted – not something I expected to hear.

“You said you had six,” I said, recalling our conversation back when we first met.

He shook his head slowly. “Caleb… He was my last patient. The seventh patient.”

“And the reason you didn’t tell us about him?” I asked, feeling a little bit annoyed. What did it matter how many patients he had?

“It’s because… I made a mistake,” he practically whispered. “A horrible mistake…”

Okay, maybe it did matter. Now I was curious.

“Caleb is the reason why I retired. After what happened… I couldn’t continue. It was all my fault…”

“Ben…” I spoke his name quietly when the old man looked like he was about to panic or something.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he looked at me again, I could see regret in his eyes. Regret and self-hate.

“He died by suicide,” he said quietly.

“He killed himself?” I spoke, and Ben nodded, looking emotional and distressed.

“He was in phase two – around the same place Dante is now. We still had plenty of time to find the cure, but… I made a mistake…”

I sat in silence while the old man gathered his composure so he could continue talking. I didn’t really need to hear what happened. I had a feeling I already knew what happened.

“He escaped,” he finally said. “I didn’t lift the protections in time, and he escaped through the window. I assumed he would come back to get me because I was the only human around, and my scent should’ve brought him back, so I stayed inside, in the lab, ready to lock him up when he returned. But he didn’t return…”

“He found another smell to follow,” I guessed quietly, and he nodded.

“There was a hiker in the woods close by. By the time I reached him, it was too late. He… He had already killed her… That poor woman….”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Caleb was unconscious and back in his human form. I took him back here and left the woman in the woods. I… I tried to act like nothing was wrong. I didn’t tell him what had happened. He was not supposed to find out, but he did. He saw an article. People believe to this day the hiker was killed by a bear. But Caleb knew. He knew right away.”

I looked up at the stairs, my heart suddenly heavy.

“He took poison that same day and died during the night. He couldn’t live with himself a second longer. He couldn’t take the chance of hurting someone else,” Ben spoke. “And their blood is on my hands. That one mistake cost two lives.”

“So, you gave up on your research because of that,” I muttered, and he nodded.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. The truth is that I gave up on my research long before the trolls invaded my home. I had abandoned this place almost a year before they came. I just couldn’t… I couldn’t continue… I couldn’t even live with myself, but I was too much of a coward to end my life, like Caleb did.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t,” I told him. “Besides, what could you have done? We all know how dangerous they are, and what they can do. Trying to help them has its risks, but we can’t just watch them die either. They need someone to help them. They need to be cured.”

“You are right, but that doesn’t erase the fact that I could’ve stopped him if I had lifted the protections faster… I was so sure I didn’t need them… I thought he’d come after me.”

“Ben,” I said sternly to gain his attention. “I’m happy you told me about him. You didn’t have to tell me, so I’m glad you did. Keeping a secret like that must’ve felt awful.”

“I didn’t tell about Caleb to clear my conscience or anything like that,” he said. “I… have a theory. I never got the chance to get any evidence, not until now.”

“What do you mean?” I asked with a frown.

“Was he… missing a heart?”

“Who?”

“Gus.”

“You don’t want me to describe the condition we found him in. I suppose he didn’t have a heart – among other things,” I said. “Why?”

“The hiker was missing a heart,” Ben said. “I read about it on the paper, and apparently, the beast had ripped through her chest and ate her heart. Then, he returned to his human form. I arrived only ten or twenty minutes later, and he was there, sleeping soundly next to her body.”

I stared at him for a long moment. “Dante was sleeping next to Gus in his human form.”

“That might not mean anything, but Caleb’s transformations lasted closer to four hours during that time, but he had been in the beast form only for thirty minutes.”

I was about to get excited of this new information, but then the reality hit me.

“Dante would never eat a human heart,” I sighed, slouching back in my seat. “And he’d never forgive us if we let him eat one behind his back.”

“No, he would not, and I’m not sure if I could live with myself if we even tried to suggest it,” Ben said quietly.

“Well, once we find Killian…” I trailed off with a smirk.

Ben squinted his eyes at me, but nodded. “That I could live with.”

Human heart… There were ways to find out if Ben’s theory was right without killing anyone, but I was afraid it was all just a big coincidence, and we’d end up wasting our time on another failed attempt to find the cure.

“I think we should focus on finding Killian,” I eventually said. “Nothing else has worked.”

“Don’t forget the blood spell. We are almost done with the containers. We need just a couple of more days, and we can go harvest as many glands from Njizrski as we can. That spell turned him back, and I can’t wait to study what else the ingredients can do.”

“You focus on that. In the meantime, I’ll find Killian,” I told him.

“Do you have any idea how?” Ben asked.

“I’ll figure it out,” I said. “I wish I had something of his… I could use a tracking spell if I had his DNA.”

“Could Roe find him?”

“Oh, he has tried, but even he can’t do much without DNA. I’m also assuming Killian knows how to stay out of the magical radar too because neither of us has had any luck finding him.”

“Right, right,” Ben muttered and sighed. “There’s something else I’d like to ask…”

“Ask away.”

“Did you… really kill Lena Gray? Roe mentioned a while back, but I didn’t dare to bring it up…”

I peered at him. “I did, yes.”

“I saw her on the news the other day. Well, not her, but they talked about her disappearance,” Ben spoke with a frown. “Could we use her DNA?”

“To find what?” I asked. “She’s dead, finding her body won’t help us.”

“I don’t know… Is there a spell to locate the places she visited before her death? They moved out of the facility so fast they had to have another location ready. Maybe she’s been there?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe? I don’t know – I need to ask Roe. But where would we get her DNA? I can’t go back to her house since everyone is watching it after she went missing.”

“Don’t you know where her body is?” Ben asked.

“I just left it in her house,” I shrugged.

“Oh… I thought you hid it. How peculiar…”

“Someone else must’ve… taken it…” I trailed off, a new idea stirring inside my head. “Killian must have her body, and if he does, we can track her if we get her DNA.”

“You can track dead bodies?” Ben looked surprised.

“Yeah, it should be possible,” I said. “That could lead us to Killian!”

“You must be right. If the cops found her body, it would be all over the news. Our enemy must have her body,” Ben agreed, looking just as excited as I felt.

Of course, our excitement came crashing down when we heard the floorboards creaking right on top of the stairs. We both turned to look towards the sound. For a brief second, I could see a shadow on the wall.

Dante’s shadow.

I closed my eyes, feeling something heavy in my stomach.

“Do you… think he heard us?” Ben whispered.

“Oh, he definitely did,” I said with a dark voice.

He heard us because that was just my goddamn luck.