THE UNDYING | TWILIGHT

23. Loose Ends

With a deep sigh of relief, Dahlia sank into her chair and then threw her head onto the desk with a thud. The dull headache which soon followed was just another delightful reminder of her liberation. Somehow, she'd been spared from certain death. Somehow, she'd been given a second chance, and she wasn't about to squander it.

When she heard people approaching, Dahlia leapt to her feet and stretched her lips into a broad, welcoming smile while her glassy, doll-like eyes panned the area. She spotted them right away: Demetri, Felix, and Santiago. Together, they strode down the hall with somber expressions on their chiseled faces. As they passed her desk, they said not a word to the doe-eyed secretary. She expected as much from Santiago, but it was rare for Demetri and Felix to pass by without so much as a glance, especially Demetri.

"Still alive, little vulture?" she'd expected him to say. "You won't be for long."

She found his sudden silence more upsetting than a thousand of his insults, so before he escaped her view entirely, Dahlia spoke up. "Demetri, I – I forgot your jacket." 

He barely missed a stride. "Keep it," he murmured. "It looks better on you."

Mouth agape, Dahlia slowly lowered herself back into her chair. "Something's wrong." She felt it as soon as she stepped off the elevator. Carved into the faces of all the guards was the same apprehensive expression, and their eyes seemed forever lost in a deep, foreboding stare. Everybody was on edge today, even Aro, and Dahlia knew the hotel incident had something do with it.

While Dahlia pondered the situation, Demetri, Felix, and Santiago were summoned to the great hall, where the three leaders, Aro, Caius, and Marcus, sat upon their ornate thrones. With callous eyes, they watched the men enter the hall and present themselves for questioning. Eager to begin, Caius was the first to speak.

"Last night, three of our guards went missing during their city patrol. Hours later, they reappeared in the hotel courtyard, their heads dismembered and their bodies chained to the fountain, where they were promptly burned. On the fountain was a message. What did it say, Santiago?"

Santiago cleared his itchy throat. "It said, 'You have sinned.'"

"You have sinned. A very ominous message, wouldn't you say? Tell us, Santiago, who wrote the message?"

"I don't know," he answered, while his colleagues stood silently at his sides.

"Oh, I think you do," said Caius as his fingers tightly gripped the wooden armrest. If he'd squeezed any harder, he would have smashed it to pieces. "I think you three have been keeping secrets from us, and I can't help but wonder why you would do such a thing. Maybe you have something to hide. A miscalculation, perhaps. Or maybe it's a matter of incompetence."

Hearing that accusation, Demetri could stay silent no longer. "I did my job," he declared with a clenched fist. "It would be naïve to assume we destroyed them all. There were too many. Some could have easily slipped through the cracks, but that's not our fault. We followed your exact orders."

"Are you calling me naïve, Demetri?" asked Caius with venom in his voice. "Unlike you, I know what these beasts are capable of, so don't you ever question my judgment again!"

Calmly seated to Caius's right, Aro carefully assumed control of the discussion before it escalated. "How long have you known of their presence?" he asked the three men.

"... Since the last full moon," Felix cautiously answered, dropping his gaze to the floor, but he could still hear Caius seething from his throne like a hissing snake ready to attack.

"And yet you said nothing," Aro pressed as he slowly leaned forward in his chair. "Why is that?"

"I wanted to be certain."