Shadeland (The Ethereal Crossings, 1)

by D.L. Miles

  Chapter 30

  Officer Harley sat down next to me on the steps of the police station with a very obvious sigh. He rubbed the stubble coming in on his chin, neither of us saying anything. I played with my hands in my lap, never making eye contact with him, too worried to think straight.

  “Could you just tell us what happened?” he finally asked, not looking at me. “You aren’t in any trouble but we need to know what happened.”

  So what had happened exactly? Should I mention how Dr. Wineman had left us in the woods, leaving Jared and Luke to take the blame? Was I supposed to say how Cindy was a wreck and unable to speak after what she had seen, her state nearly catatonic? Or maybe I should just tell them how we had hunted down a Manananggal and killed her? The sun was beginning to rise over the trees and the Manananggal was officially dead, the cops having found her body cut in half and almost in ashes in the cellar. Her body looked human, and nothing I could say would make this look like anything other than a grisly murder.

  “I want to talk to them,” I said, still staring down at my hands.

  “You know that can’t happen,” Harley said with another sigh. This wasn’t the first time he had tried talking to me; when I had been placed in the back of his cruiser he had tried getting information from me. I didn’t say anything, not knowing what I was supposed to do. I wanted to ask Jared what I was supposed to do…

  Hugging my arms to my chest I shifted away from the officer. I was told how lucky I was to not be dead, since they had mistaken me for a victim. As of right now they believed Luke and Jared to be the killers, well, along with the two slaves. Most of the cops seemed to think that anyway. After I had been “saved” and taken to the hospital Det. Young had come to talk to me, and tell me everything would be all right. Somehow, I doubted it would be. His kind manner disturbed me then.

  “They found the woman’s body,” Harley told me, “and they have a witness saying your friends killed her. If you don’t tell them what happened, they’ll go to jail.” Interesting, I thought, he wasn’t saying “we”.

  “You know they didn’t do it,” I said, the sun coming over the rooftops just enough to blind me. I took my cell phone out and dialled for the doctor; it was my thirteenth time that night. It went right to voice mail and I immediately hung up. How could he leave us, just like that?

  “Liv,” came a voice in front of me. I looked up to find Richard standing there, four men in black overcoats behind him. “Please come with me.”

  “Doctor,” Officer Harley said as he stood, a strange respect in his voice, “it’s good to see you again.” Dr. Wineman gave us both a sympathetic smile. He held his hand out to me but I remained motionless, watching as three of the mysterious men walk into the police station.

  “Who are they?” I asked, trying to make sense of everything.

  “They are here to retrieve Luke and Jared,” Richard stepped towards me, hand still outstretched. I pushed myself up from the stairs, ignoring his offer.

  “What do you mean?” Harley asked before I could. My eyes kept on the fourth man behind the doctor. With the rising sun behind him I couldn’t see his features, he wore a hat low over his eyes but I felt like he was looking back at me. Something about him seemed rather…menacing.

  “Leave,” he said, his voice deep with...something. Something otherworldly, something…old. Without another word the officer left.

  “Was that necessary?” Richard asked him, concerned.

  “This has gotten too far out of hand,” the man said, “you and Azazel should not have gotten involved.” He came forward and it took most of what little strength I had left to remain where I was. He didn’t seem to like that I didn’t back down. “You are a pest.”

  I furrowed my brow, unable to respond. What had I done to make him so upset? What had I done to deserve such attitude?

  “Please,” the doctor said, trying to calm the situation down, “it is not her fault.”

  “What isn’t my fault?”

  “Nothing,” the man said, his tone dark. “Now leave.” I didn’t move, but I felt the urge to as the cloaked person walked by. He was shrouded in…something. Something that made me think he was an Eidolon. Once he was out of earshot the doctor’s eyes met with mine.

  “I’m very sorry,” he said, “members of the council do not like humans very much. Especially when they get involved with purebloods. Could you come with me?”

  “Why? Who was that?” I didn’t want to go anywhere with him, not now. I wanted to see Luke. I wanted to see Jared.

  “Please, I understand that you’re upset with me,” Dr. Wineman pleaded, “but it was necessary if you wanted them to be released. And they will be, but it will take some time for the council to free them.”

  “Then I’ll be right here when they get out,” I sat myself back down on the concrete steps, determined to win. I couldn’t leave now; I wasn’t even going to think about how high my fever was, or how thirsty I was. The only thing I would think about now was Luke and Jared. The doctor sat down next to me with a sigh, just as Officer Harley had. I asked, “What’s the council?”

  “Those were some of the junior members of the Shadeland Council,” Richard said without much prodding, “they’re here to get Luke out of jail and are including Jared in that, as a favour to me.” He didn’t sound happy that they were doing him a favour; maybe because it was something similar to Yamuna and her “deals”?

  But those were members of the council? The very same council members that went to the world leaders to expose themselves? No wonder there were riots. Seeing them now, feeling their presence…was that how the other humans felt around all Eidolon’s?

  “Why? What do they care about Luke?” I thought I knew the answer but wanted to make sure.

  “He’s a pureblood,” the doctor rested his arms on his knees, “and purebloods protect their own kind.”

  So that was it, then? After everything that had happened in the past two weeks, they were just going to swoop in and save the day? No, that wasn’t right. That wasn’t fair.

  “Why didn’t they help sooner?” I laughed bitterly, thinking about how simple everything would have been if they had. Jared wouldn’t have turned to stone, Luke would have never been reported as the killer and Violet never would have made a deal with Yamuna. It wasn’t right, how they were only just coming into the picture. A lot of lives could have been saved, or at least salvaged if they had come sooner.

  “Because they don’t care about humans,” Richard said, “until now the only victims were human. Now with Luke about to be convicted for murder they decided to step in. An Eidolon pureblood on trial for such publicized murders wouldn’t reflect well on them.”

  “So that’s it then?” I asked. “The Manananggal is dead now and Luke will walk free because it might make the council look bad?”

  “Yes.” We sat there, thinking and watched as the sun continued to rise. People began to come out of their houses, walking their dogs and heading to work. Nobody paid any attention to us, not even the cops walking in and out of the station.

  “What are you?” I asked, breaking down. That was something else I couldn’t figure out; I didn’t even have an inkling as to what kind of Eidolon he was.

  “I’m a pureblood,” Richard answered, avoiding the true answer.

  “I know, but what are you?” He turned to me.

  “Does it matter?” I considered it.

  “I suppose not.”

  An hour passed by before the four council members walked back out of the police station, Luke and Jared behind them. I jumped to my feet and grabbed hold of Luke, wrapping my arms around his slender frame.

  “Are you okay?” I asked and he said he was fine. When I finally let him go I turned to Jared, busy glaring at the men who had just released him. “Jared?”

  “I’m fine,” he answered. Dried blood covered him head to toe, a black eye freshly formed. Some bandages were vis
ible beneath his torn shirt and he quickly zipped up his jacket to cover them; it just barely did the job, being torn as well. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get paid.”

  As he walked off down the street I opened my mouth to say something, anything. But my voice was gone, no words coming to me. I wanted to ask if I would ever see him again but I knew I didn’t want the answer. Luke and Richard watched me struggle but never said anything themselves. I stared down the street until Jared was out of view, just like that. No goodbye, nothing. Violet was right; I was just another girl in another town that he would forget about. Why did I care so much?

  My head began to throb and my bones ached, the night finally catching up with me. The edges of my vision began to darken and I heard someone calling my name, faintly, as if it echoing through a cave. Everything went black.