Chapter 304: The Name
A name! Or at least a hint at one. That was more than I expected. Still, I had to prod her for more information.
"What else do you know, other than his possible name? Has Dahlia let anything else slip about him?"
"...No," Gertrude said slowly as she thought about it. "When I think about it now, that is even stranger. Young Miss― I mean, Dahlia was never so tight-lipped about the people she liked. Back when she first saw Alpha Damon Valentine, she didn’t stop talking about him for months!"
Coughs racked Gertrude’s figure, and I quickly handed her more water. She gulped it down, breathing deeply, as I contemplated her words. Since Dahlia was keeping mum, it must have been something she knew wasn’t right or socially acceptable, even by her ridiculously whacked standards.
The suspicion that she might be liaising with a hunter or a vampire grew. How desperate must she have been to dethrone Darach, or to get rid of me? My eyes lit up as I chanced upon another avenue of questioning.
"Gertrude, did Dahlia’s strange late-night visits happen recently? Or did they only happen... after I arrived? Was there anything strange in her behavior after she went out for those visits?"
I had only arrived very recently.
Gertrude paused, squinting her eyes as she tried to recall. "I... I’m not too sure, but I think she did sneak out before. Around once a week, before you arrived. But in the past few days, she made another surprise trip, even when the week wasn’t up yet."
"I see," Dahlia must have been getting desperate or hasty if she had to suddenly change her schedule. "And was there any change in her behavior?"
"... Not really," Gertrude said, squirming from her spot on the floor. "It... it’s kind of embarrassing to say this, but Dahlia... Dahlia spent a lot of time cursing you after she returned from that night."
"But that’s nothing new, is it?"
"It’s not," Gertrude confirmed. "But she did say something that interested me. She said that you... weren’t going to stay long, that she would get you killed."
"And what else? Please, Gertrude, try to recall," I prodded insistently.
"She seemed more... gleeful and expectant. Like she knew something was going to happen. It didn’t sound like she was just cursing you for the sake of cursing you," Gertrude recalled thoughtfully.
Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought hard, her lips pressed into a thin line as she shook her head.
"The name... what was the name of the man?" she thought out loud, rubbing her forehead as she stared at the ground as though it wrote the answers she sought for. "I have it right at the tip of my tongue."
"You don’t need to tell me now," I said. "When you remember, let the guards know to call me over, or let either Milo or Darach know immediately."
"I..." Gertrude sighed, shaking her head. She looked up, and surprisingly, wore an apologetic expression. She nodded once, then looked at the ground in defeat.
"Thank you for your cooperation," I said as I handed Gertrude the plate of spaghetti.
Seeing food set down right in front of her, she lunged for it ravenously, neglecting to use the cutlery provided to inhale the strands with her own hands as sauce splattered all over her mouth. It was a tad bit disgusting, but I supposed hunger made beasts of everyone.
I took a step back, watching as Gertrude finished the plate of food in the matter of seconds. She left not even a drop of sauce on the plate to be wasted, licking it until the chinaware practically gleamed.
"Alright then..." I muttered, surprised that she would finish up even before I could leave the cell. I bent down and picked up the plate before I turned around, prepared to leave, when all of a sudden, Gertrude stopped me in my tracks.
"Wait!" she called out. "I’ve got it!"
I looked over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow in question. She looked nearly as excited as a kid in a candy store, her eyes practically gleaming with relief.
"Augustus!" she all but screamed out. "That was his name! Augustus!"
***
"Are you sure that’s what she said?" Darach asked, tapping a pen against his chin as he swiveled in his chair.
After leaving Gertrude’s cell, I marched straight for Darach’s office. I had received a text from him stating that everyone was gathered there and that they were pouring over the information collected from their investigations. It was a perfect time to relay what I had just learned.
"Pretty sure," I said, resting my weight against the edge of the desk. "Gertrude mentioned that she saw the name written in Dahlia’s personal diary. Apparently, Dahlia even mentioned the name a few times while whispering to herself, thinking that Gertrude wasn’t there."
"Have you heard of anyone with that name?" Darach asked, turning to Milo. Unfortunately, the latter shook his head.
"No," Milo said. His finger slowly left his temple. "I’ve double-checked with my dad as well. We have not come across a vampire with that name. Maybe he isn’t high up enough and is a mere foot soldier."
"As if Dahlia Elrod would make deals with foot soldiers," Darach said with a snort. "I know my sister well enough. If he wasn’t anyone practically near the top of the food chain, he wouldn’t even enter her line of sight. She isn’t about to give just about anyone the time of their life."
"Or maybe," Milo said, "Augustus might not even be a vampire at all. He could be a hunter."
"But would Dahlia speak to one as an equal?"
Milo shrugged. "Fair point."
My skin started to crawl as a shiver went down my spine. Ever since Gertrude had dropped the name, my stomach had been coiling with discomfort. There was something off about this entire situation and paired with the events back in Fangborne and Everhaven, it became more than clear― the vampires and hunters were working together and they had somehow tracked me down to Thunderstrike.
Kyle was right. This wasn’t just a matter of feud between packs or within Thunderstrike any longer.
"What if..." I trailed off, drawing the attention of Darach and Milo immediately. "What if we’re not looking for a man named Augustus?"
I looked up, meeting the confused gazes of both men.
"What if he goes by the name ’Gus’?"
