Child of the Outcast by Elizabeth Dunlap

Author:Elizabeth Dunlap [Dunlap, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pronoun
Published: 2017-11-06T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

THE CASTLE HAD A BLANKET of quiet the next few days. It wasn’t a calm quiet, or a lull in life where we had nothing to talk about. It was a silence full of unspoken emotion.

I joined Olivier, Renard, and Cameron on the back patio for lunch. Our table was overcast by the shadow of the castle to protect the turned, but it still had a large umbrella over it just in case. I sat down with my tray and unrolled my silverware. I could see each of them had a million things rolling around in their heads but weren’t ready to talk about any of it.

From the look on Renard’s face, though, I knew what he was thinking. Arabella had been so young and pure, and now she was gone. He’d been very close to her, keeping in touch and visiting ever since she was born. Every time he had gotten a new photo of her, he made everyone look at it at least once. She had been a beauty, with brains and a gentleness about her I rarely saw in others. Olivier knew what the money from a companion contract would do for her future, so Renard convinced Arabella to come here.

We failed her. We didn’t protect her like we promised we would. That was me, the vampire who never kept a promise. Not a promise to protect someone, or a promise to be true to the man I loved for the rest of my days. I sighed heavily as I mentally hated myself for a few moments. Yes, I was going to milk my sadness for as long as I wanted to. Being immortal, I had that right. Cameron nudged me with his elbow and broke the silence.

“Hey,” he said, his mouth full of noodles. He slurped them up and chewed quickly. “Did you reach out to the packs yet?”

My stomach plummeted and I felt the baby kick in response. “Umm, no not really.”

Cameron gave me a disapproving look. “You chickened out, didn’t you.”

I stuck my tongue out at him in protest. “I did not. I haven’t made my plan yet. I need to be careful. You know how the packs are about us in their territory.”

“Wouldn’t want one of them to get in trouble for sparing you, now would we?” Arthur said ironically, approaching the table. I raised an eyebrow at him that warned I might hit him if he kept talking. “If you need to go to the pack territory, I can take you. Hunters are allowed in certain circumstances, which is a good thing since you don’t have that bracelet full of vampire teeth to protect you.”

“You knew about that?” But I’d been so careful!

He rolled his eyes. “Please. I could smell it on you.” Let’s hope that’s all he smelled on me.

We left the castle together, on foot, to the Mohawk reservation. It was about ten miles away, which for humans would take several hours to trek on foot. For us, a quick sprint would reduce the time to about ten minutes.

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