Free Web NovelChapter 157: Crumbled Partnership II
"A vampire killed him, Blaise. They drained him of his blood and slit his throat, before posing him on his favorite armchair for us to find," Damon elaborated.
Blaise’s mouth fell open as if he wanted to speak, but no sound emerged. He gripped my hand so tightly that it was almost painful, but I would never dream of pulling away now, not when it seemed like I was the only anchor stopping him from floating away into the ocean.
Tears started to form in his eyes, and his throat bobbed soundlessly.
"I... no... but..." Blaise eventually managed to choke out, frantically rubbing his eyes with his other free hand. Grief welled up within me, its waves threatening to pull me under. It wasn’t even my own grief that I was feeling, but Blaise’s.
"I didn’t even get to say goodbye," Blaise finally croaked out weakly, sinking back into his pillows. "I should have visited him more often. I had plenty of time. I could have called. I could have done something... anything...Why did I waste it all... all these chances..." Blaise finished helplessly, and I felt my own eyes fill with tears at his despair.
"And he wouldn’t even be dead if not for me," Blaise added, his tone more anguished than before.
"They targeted him on purpose," Damon agreed, his voice gravelly and somber. He had no love lost for Doctor Thomas, but I knew he was upset on Blaise’s behalf. "In fact, the vampires and hunters might have already known of your connection in those past few years. They were only waiting for the right time to strike."
Needless to say, they must have assumed that since Blaise was going to kick the bucket soon enough, they might as well get rid of his father figure, the one person who would be willing to speak up for Fangborne’s interest in dealings with the townspeople. I found myself incredibly furious at the machinations of these hunters.
Truly, they were vile in their schemes to take down Fangborne from within and from outside. But now, Blaise didn’t need my anger, my outrage. He needed comfort, and I tried my best to deliver it.
"If it’s any consolation, he loved you like a son," I said quietly, recalling the way Doctor Thomas spoke of Blaise. It was parental devotion paired with quiet pride.
"He spoke a lot about you to me, you know, about how he adopted you. How you were as a kid, how smart you were, and all the things you got up to. He was very proud of you. I think... he was always proud of you, even though you didn’t go to Harvard and decided to run naked in the woods. His words, not mine," I added, and Blaise let out a small watery chuckle.
"Stupid. He should never have been involved with me," Blaise choked out a sob, his tears now falling thick and fast.
"He chose to keep you, despite all the trouble he knew it would bring in the future," Damon said firmly, placing a hand on Blaise’s head as a solid show of support. "Do not disrespect his decisions and his sacrifice by blaming yourself for them."
"I know... I know..." Blaise scrubbed at his face frantically, but he left his hands covering his eyes. No doubt, he was crying, but he didn’t want others to see.
Damon, Elijah, and I discreetly turned away to give him some privacy. Eventually, Blaise raised his head, revealing swollen, red-rimmed eyes.
"Do you know what happened to his body? Did you bring it back to Fangborne?" He asked, his nose so obviously blocked.
"The good doctor is still in his armchair. We didn’t do a thing to him," Damon said with a shrug. "The humans will take care of their own. Blaise, you know that right?"
It wasn’t as though we could have dragged Doctor Thomas’s body and stuffed him in the car. He didn’t deserve to be treated with such disrespect after dying in such a horrifying manner. Not to mention that while I wouldn’t consider myself a coward, sharing a car ride with the corpse of someone I used to know would still scare the living daylights out of me.
Blaise nodded, but there was a frown on his face. He gripped his blankets tightly. "I hope those hunters don’t desecrate his body."
"We’ll make them pay after we solve this issue of the food shortage," Damon promised sincerely, stroking his brother’s head.
"Alpha, what are your orders?" Elijah asked.
"Since Everhaven is so intent on cutting ties with us, I see no reason I must grovel on my knees for their approval. They’ve killed the one human I actually bothered to tolerate, and allied with enemies that want us dead," Damon scoffed. "Fangborne will not starve, I will make sure of it."
"Elijah, make a list of all our current available food stock. We’ll have to ration meals in the meantime, but we will be able to find new supplies soon enough," Damon declared.
"Yes, Alpha," Elijah quickly sprang into a salute, "I’ll get right on it and have the report for you in two hours." freewebnøvel.coɱ
Elijah then ran off without looking back.
"But where do you plan to get food from?" I asked. "Are you going to ask other human towns for help, like the one you went to to get the parts for the machine?"
It seemed very risky, especially since we couldn’t tell if hunters had infiltrated the town or not, but I could not see another way out. Food that came slowly was better than food that did not come at all. freewebnøvel.com
Of course, this was assuming that the food was not poisoned.
"I’d rather not be at the whims of humans," Damon said with a heavy scowl on his face. "This time, I’m getting help from our own kind, as we should have done a long time ago."
"Our kind... you mean... other werewolf packs?"
"Yes," Damon said, his blue eyes glowing brightly with determination. "Blaise, Harper, by this time tomorrow, we’ll be riding for Thunderstrike."
