17
ADDIE
Ishouldn’t have been thinking about the wolfman’s mouth while my friend was in danger, but I couldn’t get that kiss out of my head. The taste of his tongue haunted me like a pleasant fragrance in another room. I leaned into it in search of the source even though I knew I wasn’t going to find it.
Cerri needs me.
She must have caught the killer in the act. From the glass on the floor, I guessed that she must have had time to run for her potion stash. There weren’t many left, though, and when she missed, nothing would happen. In her panic, she must have misjudged her throw and missed him.
Maddox stalked around the room. He flipped over everything. When he paused, staring at a slip of paper, his head tilted to the side.
“What? What is it?” I leapt in excitement at the thought of a clue.
Finally! Something we could go on.
Was it another message? Could we get Cerri back?
“It’s a piece of paper from the notepads at the precinct.” Maddox’s lips twisted to the side. “I must have dropped it the night this apartment got swarmed with zombies.”
I gave a shrug. “Where else could it have come from?”
Already, my anxiety festered again. My arcana swirled around me in search of corpses. I didn’t want to find my friend’s corpse. That was the last thing I needed today. I had to believe that Cerri was okay, or else I would lose control again. We might be in Lakesedge, but I doubted the neighbors wanted their cremated pets crawling out of their urns.
My arcana found something odd, though. That cold smoke slithered along the floor and traced the outline of Cerri’s spilled potion. I sucked in a sharp breath and pulled the power back, but not before it revived the herbal component.
Maddox grumbled and rolled his shoulders as I pulled a bit of lifeforce from. I opened my mouth to sheepishly apologize, but tiny green sprouts caught my attention and dragged me away from him. The herbs in Cerri’s potion grew new tendrils. They reached upward, unfurling into a wave of green life that led towards the door.
“Maddox! It’s a trail!” I ran for the door and skidded into the hallway.
My arcana rolled down the hallway. The blanket of green life spawned in a wave leading away from the apartment. Maddox caught up to me. He gave a nod and pushed past me to take lead.
“Wait,” I said softly. “If we do this, I’m going to need a battery. Are…are you okay with that?”
He paused and looked back. His eyes were shadowed from the way he bent his head. It made his expression hard to read. I doubted anyone wanted me to feed on their life force. This was too much. I had no right to ask this of him, and I knew it.
“I’m more than I used to be. Take whatever you need. You’re not going to kill me.”
My heart thumped double-time. There was no way that he was right. I knew, deep down, that if I pulled too much energy from him that I would be the end of him. However, there was no time to waste right now. We had a hot trail and a surefire way to follow it.
I had to be careful and show some constraint.
As we thundered down the stairs, tiny blue and white flowers blossomed and died in our wake. We were preceded by these tiny heralds that led us towards the lake. The beauty of Cerri’s potion trail made me marvel at my own arcana.
Why was it that I could only see this miracle in the direst of moments? It didn’t seem fair. My power proved beautiful in its own way, but I didn’t have the time to stop and take it in. My friend’s life was in danger, and if we didn’t run, then she would get hurt.
And it would be all my fault.
Maybe I should just give in. This killer wasn’t going to stop until they got what they wanted from me. In that time, they would do everything in their power to make sure those around me suffered. So long as I was alive and safe, others would be in danger.
It had to end, but there was only one way out that I could see.
Two forms stood near the edge of the lake. One stood tall, the silhouette of that rabbit mask still obscuring the man’s face. The other was on their knees. He had his hand in Cerri’s voluminous curls, yet she still found a way to glare up at him.
All around her, flowers bloomed. They didn’t blossom and die like they had at the touch of my arcana. These flowers unfurled, growing larger and larger with every rise and fall of Cerri’s chest.
Beyond her, the lake took on a glow deep with its waters. Something strange was at play here.
“Hand over the Reaper,” the man said, a voice modulator under his mask distorting his voice.