Chapter 462: DING
DING!
Cecilia blinked blearily at the sound. Her eyelids were made of lead. The world was a soft blur of morning light and blankets. She was exhausted after closing twin rifts last night.
The first thing she saw was Arkai’s jaw. You know, strong and sharp, softened slightly by the golden morning light filtering through the curtains and by the way his face was relaxed in sleep.
She smiled without meaning to, unconsciously curling her lips, and closed her eyes again, snuggling up to him. He was warm.
Arkai sighed in his sleep contentedly, and his hand found her waist. His fingers kneaded gently at the soft flesh there, once, twice, then stilled. He didn’t wake, just pulled her closer.
But—
DING!
For fuck’s sake. What is it?
"System..." Cecilia mumbled into Arkai’s chest, thick with sleep. "Let’s do this later..."
DING!
"Come on..."
[Cecilia, yaaaaaaawn... it’s not us... Maybe it’s your phone?]
What?
DING!
Cecilia opened her eyes.
She sat up slowly, the blankets pooling around her waist. The clock on the nightstand read half past eight, while the sun was properly up now, streaming through the curtains.
Arkai was still beside her. It was his break day, she remembered now. He had mentioned it last night, saying Damon can handle it himself this time and the Saintess is safe. She remembered his rumbling against her hair as they’d finally collapsed into bed.
She heard Eastiel say something about a half-day at work too, actually, imagining his lion ears drooping with the injustice of it as she continued sleeping.
And Oathran... Oathran was probably already awake, in the kitchen. Probably making something warm and nourishing before he had to leave for his shift.
She reached for her phone. It had fallen silent again, the notification already slipped past, leaving only a dark screen and a blinking light. She swiped it open.
{AllAssholesfor9Orifices: 1.jpg}
{AllAssholesfor9Orifices: location_address}
{AllAssholesfor9Orifices: Come here at 10 if you want them back}
{AllAssholesfor9Orifices: Just you}
"Urp—"
She clamped a hand over her mouth and staggered out of bed. Her feet hit the floor and she was already lurching toward the bathroom, her free hand reaching for the doorframe to steady herself.
Arkai shot awake. His eyes were sticky with sleep and his hair a catastrophe, but he was already moving before his brain had fully caught up.
He jumped out of bed and crossed the room in three long strides, his hands finding her waist, steadying her, holding her upright as she stumbled.
"Slow down," he said, rough with sleep but steady. "Slow down."
Cecilia dry heaved over the sink. Nothing came up. The egg, apparently, was as disgusted by the text sender as she was.
When she opened the image earlier, she saw jewelry. A collection of it, spread across what looked like a dark wooden table.
Bracelets and rings and earrings, some expensive, some costume, all of them unfamiliar. But one piece caught her eye immediately, making her breath stop.
A necklace in the shape of a cloud.
It was small and delicate. Silver, or something that looked like silver. The chain was thin, looking almost fragile, and the pendant was a simple cumulus shape with softly rounded edges.
Summer loved clouds.
Ha.
So when they threw out her things, Elara actually took her jewelry for herself, huh? A billionaire family her ass.
Pocketing a dead woman’s necklace like a common pickpocket? Cecilia would have laughed if she weren’t so busy trying not to vomit.
In this world, Cecilia had apparently gotten to keep Summer Silver’s one and only necklace.
In the real world, Dr. Silver had died from an unknown attack. Her body had been torn to pieces. There had been nothing left to give, no personal effects to inherit, no mementos to hold onto.
Even if there was anything, her relatives must’ve claimed whatever remained of her before cremating her body. Whatever had survived that attack, whatever small tokens of her existence had been salvageable, had gone to them. Not to Cecilia.
But here, in this world, the necklace also existed. And Elara had stolen it.
Interesting.
"HUUUURL—"
Cecilia’s body finally made good on its threat. She vomited into the toilet bowl, her entire frame shuddering with the force of it.
Arkai’s hand gently gathered her hair back from her face, his other hand rubbing slow circles between her shoulder blades.
The bathroom door creaked, and Oathran appeared behind them. He was dressed for the day, his hair still slightly damp from a shower, and in his hand was a glass of water.
"The nausea got better these past few days," Arkai muttered, frowning. He looked up at Oathran. "And suddenly it returns."
"She must be tired from yesterday, so it makes sense," Oathran said, his voice low and soothing. He crouched down beside them, setting the glass of water on the edge of the tub within easy reach. "Thankfully I made porridge."
"Thanks—UGH—COUGH—HURRRR—"
Cecilia heaved again, but her stomach was empty now, and there was nothing left to give.
She spat into the bowl, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and forced herself to breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth.
"I actually need to get ready. Someone wants to meet at 10..."
Oathran and Arkai blinked. Exchanged a glance.
"Who?" Arkai asked carefully.
Cecilia shook her head. She reached for the glass of water, took a sip, swished it around her mouth, and spat again. She straightened up, meeting both their eyes.
"I need to tell Thalia and Gregor first about it too."
Both men widened their eyes.
Calling them before going meant only one thing.
This was about him.
Cecilia’s ex-husband, Arzhen Vasiliev.
***
Last night, after the rifts had closed and the barricade had let them through, the Hunter Association’s medics had descended upon them.
Cecilia had been poked and prodded, scanned with devices she didn’t recognize. She also had been asked a series of increasingly detailed questions about whether she had been bitten, scratched, breathed on, sneezed on, or looked at funny by any of the undead.
A very serious woman with werewolf ears and a clipboard had taken her blood pressure three times, apparently unsatisfied with the results, until Cecilia had gently pointed out that she was pregnant and her blood pressure was probably elevated because someone kept taking her blood pressure.
The woman had hummed and moved on to Eastiel, who had submitted to the examination wearily. He clearly had done this many times before.
Bunny and Momo had been checked too, though their examinations were notably shorter. The medics couldn’t find anything wrong with them just as much as they couldn’t find anything particularly right with them.
Their vitals were normal and strange. Their readings were within range but off. The scanners flickered and reset when pointed at them too long.
After the third malfunction, the medics had given up and simply marked them as "unaffected" in the system, which was technically true and also inadequate.
Then Lilyca’s purification beam had arrived.
It came from the sky without warning, a column of pure, white-gold light that descended upon the entire quarantine zone.
Cecilia had felt it pass through her body like warm water, or like sunlight. It didn’t hurt or burn, just like the first time she felt it at the dam. It simply erased everything that didn’t belong.
The lingering traces of corruption in the air evaporated. The black ichor staining the asphalt around them dried and crumbled to dust. The faint wrongness that had been clinging to the back of Cecilia’s mind since she’d first seen the purple glow simply... dissolved.
When the light faded, the night felt clean again.
After that, Cecilia had followed Bunny and Momo back to their Hijet. The tiny truck had been purified along with everything else.
"We still have more graves to rob in the next few days," Momo said, settling into the driver’s seat. She turned to look at Cecilia through the open window, and then she winked.
Just a wink and every single person within line of sight, hunters, medics, evacuees, the wereowl still perched on the barricade, felt their heart skip a beat. Several people dropped things or made a small, involuntary sound.
Momo didn’t seem to notice. Her blue eyes were fixed on Cecilia, and her expression was warm. "Go home and rest, baby girl."
Cecilia didn’t say what was on her mind.
Will I see you again? How do I reach you? I have so many questions left. I... don’t want you to go.
She knew they already knew. They could read minds, after all. And the fact that they didn’t say anything about it told her that they didn’t feel like answering. It might not be important to answer. Or it might be something she needed to figure out herself.
Grasp—
Cecilia flinched.
Bunny’s big hand had come down on top of her head. His palm was warm and rough, completely engulfing her skull like a basketball. He squeezed, once, with just enough pressure to make her feel like a child being affectionately manhandled by a large uncle. Sitting in the truck bed, he scoffed.
"That’s a long face."
"I-I—" Cecilia’s cheeks flushed red. She hadn’t realized her expression had been so obvious.
"Pray," Bunny said. "We hear you."
Cecilia’s eyes widened.
She looked up at him. His face was still tired, smudged with dirt and ordinary in a way that was somehow not ordinary at all. She looked at Momo, who was watching them from the driver’s seat with that patient smile.
Of course they heard everything.
"Okay," she said, nodding.
Bunny’s hand released her head, ruffling her hair once before withdrawing.
The Hijet had pulled away, its taillights shrinking to two red dots in the darkness, and Cecilia had stood there watching until even the dots were gone.
Then she had gone home. Slept. Woken up to Arzhen’s text. Vomited. Prepared herself to face her ex-husband.
That was all until—
DING!
The elevator doors slid open.
Cecilia stepped forward, her phone in one hand, her purse in the other. She was dressed in smart casual, a soft cream blouse and comfortable trousers, the outfit Eastiel had bought for her, on her way to meet her ex-husband when she... saw them again.
On the elevator.
With new shovels.
"Oho~" Momo chirped, her blue eyes sparkling with delight. "Good late morning, neighbor!"
"Hmm." Bunny looked Cecilia up and down. "Looks fancy. Going somewhere?"
Cecilia was speechless.
The elevator doors, sensing no movement, began to slide shut. Bunny stuck his shovel between them and they bounced back open with a cheerful ding.
"You—" Cecilia finally managed, her voice coming out in a strangled squeak. "What are you doing he—"
"The apartment above you has been listed for a while, girlie." Momo examined her fingernails casually.
"It’s a nice view," Bunny added. He gestured vaguely upward with his shovel. "We can see the whole city. Also your window. Don’t worry, we won’t peek. Much."
Momo elbowed him.
"What? I need to make sure they’re treating our daughter well."
"They’re your best sons too."
"Hmph."
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