If I snuck out of the room, would any of them have noticed? I had considered it a few times since we arrived. They'd purposely trapped me in a cage around their bodies, on our way back to the pack house, so that I couldn't escape. I cursed Vincent for paying attention so damn much. He knew me a little too well. Both a curse and a blessing in disguise.
Speaking of the devil, Vincent snapped his fingers in front of my face before I could finish planning my second escape attempt. The urgency in them warned me to focus. But all the staring from the rest of the group didn't motivate me to heed his warning. In fact, I was about ready to go through with my second escape attempt as soon as I measured out the closest exit.
"So, let me get this straight," he said, all-too calmly, "You've had a location all this time?"
"Well, not exactly—" I murmured.
He went on, ignoring my comment, "And you didn't tell me?"
"Haha . . . well, I mean, you didn't ask?" My nervous laughter bled into the silence. Vincent shot me a glare. "Okay okay, it kind of slipped my mind for a while. And, well um, Amaury and I talked about it a long time ago, in my defense."
"I'm sorry, you and Amaury . . . talked?" Bennett inquired.
Just then, I realized my mistake. Shit, Vincent and I had just talked about telling them. This was horrible timing for my blabber mouth to fuck it all up. I looked to Vincent for help. A look Mariah certainly didn't miss by a long shot. He pinched the bridge of his nose and I grimaced.
"So, to our understanding, Amaury didn't just give you his wolf. You've also been in contact with him, is what you're saying," Mariah stated, matter-of-factly. "And you knew, didn't you?" Mariah narrowed her eyes at Vincent whose face remained passive.
"I did," he confirmed.
She frowned. "And you've known this for how long?"
"Not as long as you're thinking. I only found out recently. Quite the shocker, you could probably imagine," he responded, sarcasm fusing into his words.
"When the hell were you going to tell us then?"
"Soon," he said.
Mariah's right eyebrow twitched. More than likely annoyed by Vincent's nonchalant attitude. She opened her mouth to argue but Claudia butted in, quietly, "Wait, I don't understand. So, Amaury's not dead?" Her eyes shifted around the room, awaiting an explanation.
"No, no, he is"—I wrung my hands together and sighed—"it's a little complicated to explain. But he's not alive. That's for certain. He's alive in there though. Has been for a while now." I pointed to my head and poked the side of it.
"Oh," Claudia mouthed, her eyes lowering to the floor.
"Your eyes," Mariah said, turning to me, "they glowed. And you were talking to yourself. Was that him?" My gaze dropped to my feet as I nodded.
"Well shit, this has been an interesting afternoon. . . I mean, if Amaury's not completely dead, then that changes a lot of things," Dimitri folded his arms, muttering. He then grunted when Dylan elbowed him in his ribcage. I guess Dimitri wasn't wrong. That did change a lot.
Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing for Amaury's presence to be aired out in the open. It might even gauge the true suspect's interest. After all, if they knew the job wasn't done (even though Amaury died that night) they'd be on high alert. Possibly worried that they'd already been found out. Or that's what I hoped. The only thing I had to worry about was becoming a target. Amaury was a direct connection to me, so I'd need to be taken out of the picture.
Then again, after some thinking, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea.
"Do your parent's know?" asked Dylan.
Vincent sighed. "Not yet. I plan to inform them when we return. For now though, I'd like this to stay between us, please. I mean it." A small chorus of understanding echoed through the room.
"Hey Genesis, has Amaury"—Bennett paused, scratching the stubble along his jaw as if trying to phrase his words—"has he told you anything about what happened that night?"
"Yeah, actually," Dimitri agreed, "it'd be really helpful."
I shook my head. "Unfortunately, he can't remember much."
Bennett's response was a slow and subtle nod. Before the awkward silence could progress any further, Vincent clapped his hands and stepped towards the middle of the room. "Okay, that's all for today. We'll talk more about this when we're back on our own pack grounds, alright?"
Another small chorus of understanding could be heard amongst us. Vincent sighed and turned, his eyes landing on me first. "Everyone's dismissed for now . . . but Genesis, a word please?"
I nodded slowly and hung back as everyone scattered out of the room. Vincent approached me, slow and cautious, with his arms out. He pressed his hands to my shoulders, his eyes piercing into mine as he whispered, "Genesis, if there's anything else I don't know that I should know, I need you to tell me now."
"There's nothing else," I assured him.
Nothing else that I remembered, at least.
"You swear?"
"I swear." I nodded and held my pinky to his face. A spark of recognition lit up his face as he twisted our pinkies together. He then let out a long sigh. The kind of sigh I was familiar with him making when he was stressed.
"Hey"—I checked the door for any possible stragglers passing through before gently nudging his arm—"it's okay. It'll be okay, okay?"
He chewed his bottom lip. "For the love of the Moon Goddess, I hope you're right. . ."
"I can't say I am, but a little hope goes a long way. Right?" I shot him a brief smile to which he matched with his own. As much as I'd have liked for my pep talk to boost his spirits (even just the slightest bit), it was clear he was still unconvinced.
"You're right. Now let's try and enjoy the rest of our time here," was the last thing he said before guiding me towards the room door.
* * *
The mood for the remainder of our time at Grimfur was a bit of a bummer. It sucked that I played a part in that, but there was nothing that I could do to salvage the peace. Honestly, Grimfur was starting to feel like a fever dream. Our trip back to Calamitous was hardly memorable. The heavy glumness in the car. The irritable wolves (more irritable than usual) I'd been forced to ride with—Vincent and the rest of our crew. I couldn't take much more.
All I remembered was the look on Lady Teresa's face when Vincent told her of Amaury and I's connection. She knew all along and I figured having her suspicions confirmed brought her nothing short of relief. She wasn't angry. She wasn't concerned. Simply curious and ecstatic to have a piece of her son back. I honestly thought she'd cry. Amaruq, on the other hand, hadn't quite registered the news too well. Disbelief was probably the best word to describe his reaction.
I couldn't say how it ended since I hadn't stuck around for very long. I snuck back into my designated room the minute we were back on Calamitous soil, and I was back within the walls of the alpha house. That was as safe as I felt for the time being.
Well, at least until Vincent knocked on the door.
"Genesis," he called. I threw my legs over the bed, my feet touching the floor before I could process his voice. When I approached the door, I cracked it open an inch, peeking my head out to look at him. "Come with me," he said, then added, "and bring that sketch with you." I did as told, following him back to his office.
My feet were hot on his trail and I nearly bumped into him when he stopped at the door. It took him a second to unlock his office. Then, we walked in. I closed the door behind me. When I turned back, he was already situated on the edge of his desk.
"I want to have another look at it," he said, gesturing for me to come closer.
I nodded and handed him the sketch. "Do you recognize this place?"
"I don't know, maybe? I guess a little bit. It's hard to tell. The woods often look so similar. But if I could just pinpoint some kind of prominent detail, that'd make our lives a little easier."
"Boy, would it." Sarcasm oozed from my words.
"If Amaury wasn't able to recognize it, there's no way in hell I can." Vincent paused and looked up. "He has seen this, right?"
"He has," I confirmed.
Vincent tapped his chin, a concentrated expression mapping his face. "Hmm okay, look, give me one second. I need to check something with my parents. Don't go anywhere. Please," he said.
"Roger that." I saluted him off as he walked out of the office. Five minutes passed before my boredom set its course. I tried to keep myself busy with my hands. That didn't work. So finally, I leaned against his desk, kicking my feet back and forth across the floor.
When the floor became too boring to stare at, I stared at the door. When Vincent didn't walk back in fast enough, I stared at the ceiling. The ceiling would have soon switched to the shelves if it hadn't been for the strange misplacement of one of the ceiling boards.
What the hell was that?
I frowned and stood straight. My neck had fallen all the way back to get a better look at the board. It should have been aligned with the other boards. However, there was an opening in the lining. It was as if someone hadn't properly fit it back into place. A hidden compartment? In the ceiling? Sure, because that wasn't suspicious at all. I'd have missed it if I wasn't staring.
After blinking out of my state of surprise, I grabbed the chair behind Vincent's desk, and pushed it under the ceiling. The spot was directly above my head. Right in the middle of the damn room. It was both obvious and genius. I just hoped I wouldn't fall and bust my ass.
Shit, what if Vincent hadn't wanted me to snoop through this? It could have been a personal hiding place. Or maybe it was nothing and the ceiling just needed to be fixed. Whatever the case, it was too late for me to stop. Oh gosh, this felt like such a breach of privacy.
"Oh, it is dark as shit up here." I was met with a pitch-black interior upon sticking my head in the ceiling. Not that I expected anything more. I couldn't see shit in here. Prepared to step down, I clasped onto the inside of the ceiling. An object, however, wasn't what I thought I'd feel.
"What the—" A short gasp reached my ears. I hadn't registered it as mine until I froze, the laptop in my hands (pulled from the ceiling), vaguely familiar to me. My heart lurched in my throat, threatening to climb out of my mouth.
No way. This was my laptop. The missing laptop that no one seemed to be able to find since the attack. What the hell was it doing hiding in Vincent's office? Vincent's office. No, it couldn't be. Surely, Vincent couldn't have hid this up here. He wouldn't do that, would he? That meant he lied. That meant he accused me knowing he lied. That meant I was starting to trust in a man who had been against me, even after I'd proven myself innocent. No, I couldn't stomach the thought.
"Come on, Genesis. Think of who you're accusing. . ." I laughed dryly. This was the same guy who I pinky swore with. The same guy who fought hell and back to figure out what happened to his brother. The same guy who could've been playing the part.
But no, Vincent wouldn't do that. He just wouldn't. But there was a teensy-tiny thought in the back of my head screaming, maybe he would. And as I caught onto his scent in the air, I rushed to place the evidence back into position, hoping I hadn't given myself away.