“Why?” I ask, breath hitching in my chest. Nerves prickle along my body and my stomach immediately flip flops.
“Through a connection from the Order, Julia was able to get the identity of the body before it was released to the public. It’s…It’s your friend, Leslie.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“No.” Blinking, visions of the Pricolici flash before me. Why would they go after Leslie? They’re supposed to be looking for me. “Why…why would they go after her?”
“I don’t know.” Ethan cradles me to his chest. “Pricolici go after their targets. Killing anyone else goes against what we thought we knew about them.”
My breath leaves in a ragged huff. Their targets. She wasn’t their target. Are the demons trying to draw me out? Picking off my friends…my family…
“Oh my god.” Tears fill my eyes and guilt cripples me. I look up at Ethan. “I gave her my jacket.”
“What?”
“My jacket.” I blink and tears stream down my face. “I took it off and gave it to her right before I left.”
“Anora, that doesn’t mean…” Ethan trails off, confirming my fears. The Pricolici smelled me on her. They thought they had located me and when they realized they hadn’t…they got mad. Very fucking mad. Mad enough to drag her into the woods and tear her apart.
“Oh my God,” I say again and start crying. How could I be so stupid? I wasn’t thinking at all. Ethan tightens his hold on me.
“Anora?” Mom’s voice comes from the kitchen. “Honey…what’s wrong?”
“Leslie,” I start and then lose it. Ethan holds me as I break down in tears.
“Her friend Leslie was attacked,” he answers for me. “And killed.”
“Oh, honey!” Mom gasps, hand flying to her chest. “I am so sorry.” Mom’s hand lands on my shoulder, and she and Ethan usher me into the living room. Ethan sinks onto the couch, pulling me down with him.
“What’s going on?” Dad asks, coming into the room after hearing me cry.
“Anora’s friend died,” Mom says in a hushed voice.
“Laney?” Harrison asks, appearing behind Dad, blue eyes wide with fear.
“Leslie,” Ethan answers.
“What happened?” Dad asks, and I see Mom shake her head. Then I start crying again, grief and guilt hitting me all at once.
“It was a wild animal attack,” Ethan says. “Her body was found in the woods not long ago by hikers.”
“How terrible.” Mom rubs my arm, trying to comfort me.
I squeeze my eyes shut, imagining her running away from the Pricolici. She must have been terrified.
“I was just there,” I say, voice shaking. “And I left her. I shouldn’t have left her.”
“Honey, you can’t blame yourself.”
But I can, and I will. Because it is my fault. The Pricolici want me, and me alone. Leslie got in the literal way, and she paid the price for it with her life.
“It was still light out when I left, but if…if I’d stayed…if I made sure she got in her car before I left, she would still be alive, wouldn’t she?”
No one says anything, and another tear rolls down my cheek. Leslie should be okay right now. Those fucking demons were after me, and it should have been me they attacked.
Squeezing my eyes shut tighter, I welcome the rage that’s filling my heart. The vase sitting on the center of the coffee table starts to vibrate. Mom gasps and Hunter barks, jumping onto the couch and wedging himself in between myself and Ethan. The vase tips over and Ethan catches it the second before it falls.
“Trains.” Ethan uprights the vase and forces a small smile. “They vibrate everything in our house too.”
Mom tips her head. “I didn’t hear a whistle.”
“I’m really sorry, sis,” Harrison says, sitting on the couch next to me. Blinking, I look up and see his face, blurry through my tears. He knows it wasn’t a wild animal attack, and he looks fucking terrified, as he should be. I promised both him and Laney the demons were after me and they were in no danger.
Now they know I’m wrong—and I’m wrong to be here now.
“I need to go,” I say, confusing everyone.
“Where do you need to go?” Mom asks, keeping a level tone.
“Home.” Though my home isn’t far enough. I need to leave town. Go somewhere far away and get a house in the middle of nowhere, away from everyone, where I can keep my demon-magnet ass isolated until the bounty hunters are called off…or until I die. I can’t risk anyone else, and if I had a place like that to escape to, I would.