Page 25 of Before We Burn

Constantine sighs, checking her nails before looking back at me. “This is a long road, Marzana. Are you prepared for the worst? Are you prepared to feel the sting that comes with killing and betraying your own kin? Because if we start, I will not stop until Alexander's head is detached from his body and the war between humans, vampires, and witches is done.”

I know what she means. Bunny gave me a similar warning without so many words. But I feel in the fiber of my being that this is going to spiral out of our control if we don’t.

“Find this Grayce person and call me. If you can’t call, meet me wherever I am. I know you know how to find me,” I say as I stand.

Constantine watches me carefully, her eyes narrowing. “You can feel it, can’t you? The alarms going off in your mind—the warning signs blaring. I’ve felt it for a while. It’s in our nature; that’s how we’ve always survived. Alexander made it so vampires lost our ability to adapt. I'll take pleasure in killing him.”

Soft moans echo through her den—they sound like a mixture of women and men—and Constantine turns in the direction of the sound, a smirk on her face. “I do wish you would let me show you a good time just once, Marzana. You might finally stop tightening your shoulders when you walk.”

I instantly relax my shoulders at her blatant jab and roll my eyes. I turn without another word and run out of the cave. I have to get home and figure out what the humans are doing with my students.

I stand outside of my house pacing. I’m not nervous—I’m not new to this—but this feels like it could go bad very fast. I sense the human in my room, his heart rate through the roof and thoughts louder than before.

I groan. Something about his current state feels like he wants to fight, and I’m not in the mood. “Let’s get this over with.”

With a quiet swiftness, I enter the house through the hidden door in the dining room wall. It’s a way in and out without having to disturb the steel door.

I roam upstairs for a bit, the intensity of the situation making me nervous. Eventually I move to the basement door and stand there for a second before taking the metal knob in my hand and twisting it. When it doesn’t turn, agitation flares. The human locked the door.

Typical humans, laying claim to a space they did nothing to earn.

My nail lengthens into a thin, pointed tip, and I gently wiggle it in the keyhole. Once the lock is sprung, I glide down the stairs into my room. Sliding into the darkest corner, I watch as the human tosses my things, searching for his weapon.

I’m insulted that he doesn't think more of me. I would never hide his weapon in a place as easily accessible as my room. He’s mad and mumbling something about stupid vampires and stupid war. I laugh gently, the sound quiet enough so he can faintly hear it.

Humans are easy to trick. They lack all logical thinking once they’re afraid, and by the looks of it, this human has already been shaken.

He looks around frantically, his eyes searching for someone with curls pointing in every direction and an unsettling presence. As soon as Bunny’s face appears in his mind, I step into the light.

“Bunny visited you?” He lets out a scream even a small child wouldn’t let out.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Let me go.” His voice is stern, but he’s frightened. He lifts his fists in front of him as if prepared to fight me.

“Can you just answer the question. Was she hurt?” I’m worried about her.

The human let out an amused huff, a look of disgust turning his beautiful features into something taunting and prideful. I hate when humans do this; their need to prove themselves always leads them to their own demise.

“You’re worried about her? About a vampire who wouldn’t think before slaughtering an entire family? Tell me, how does it feel to kill a weeping mother? Or a child crying out for their mother? What does that feel like?” He takes a step forward like he actually possesses the power to do something to me. I roll my eyes, turning my back toward him and begin packing clothes for the mission ahead.

I feel him watching me as I move. His false bravado has begun to fade, and his thoughts move more toward curiosity than anger.

“Wh—What are you doing?” he asks, his tone completely changed from his previous spew of bullshit.

“You’re useless, so I’m going to find someone who isn’t.” I don’t turn to address him; there’s no point.

“Of course I’m useless. What could I have learned in my life that you wouldn’t have, right? I mean, it’s not like I had to figure everything out on my own. Your kind took my family away from me. Is that what Bunny is to you? Family?”

I turn toward him, my hand on my hip as I wait for more to come. But he wants an answer, and his mind has gone dark and quiet, his eyes wild and wet with tears. Whatever he’s dealing with, he needs to get it off his chest, so I entertain him.

“No, she’s not family. But I care about her. You see, despite popular belief, vampires feel no connections toward our counterparts. There is no one creator, one controller. There are just vampires with power and vampires without. Bunny is a brand new vampire with extraordinary power that, if caught by your kind, could devastate the balance of our world. One where no one comes out on top. So if you’re done with your trauma dump, I’d like the answer to my original question. Is Bunny okay?”

I don’t know what I was expecting. Conversation? Understanding? Those are all make believe when it comes to a species so selfish they can’t even see where they are going wrong.

“You know, I cared about people, too. I had a family. A mother and father who I barely remember. A brother whose screams I still hear. I loved them, too, but vampires—the same people you are in league with—came into my home in the middle of the night and tore my family apart. Leaving me alone to deal with the torture of it all.”

I see the scene play out in his mind. The fear he felt flows through me like it’s my own experience. Pity boils in my gut and I want to help, to dig through his subconscious, pull out those memories that torture him. But that isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing. I need to find out what the humans are doing with the vampires they took hostage, and I need to figure it out now.

“You can leave,” I say with my eyes down. I feel his confusion, but I don’t acknowledge it.