Chapter 16

"Hey, Lance. What do you have so far?" He gave me a pensive look.

"Honestly, not much so far, but come check this out." I followed him through the barrier that cut off humans from seeing the portal. I saw ashes that were left over from Hector's body.

"So I take it a witch was involved?" He just hummed at this.

"They are very powerful. I can tell you that, but we know they weren't acting alone." He said, bending down to be closer to where Hector still lied. I know it's killing him inside; they were so close. I bend down slightly to put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He just reached his hand back to squeeze mine, taking a deep breath before he stood up. I tried my best to calm his emotions, but there was only so much I could do.

"I know it hurts, Lance. I'm sorry. We are going to find his murders." He looked back at me, with his vampire side taking over. He rarely loses control, but I understand where he is coming from. If I had lost Chloe, I would be in the same position, feeling pure hatred and sorrow at the same time.

"They will die accordingly, too." His voice was just as dark as his eyes, the specks in his eyes glowing a very bright red. I tried harder to tap into his emotions and calm him. It worked just enough for his vampire side to subside. He took another deep breath while closing his eyes.

"Thank you. I needed that. Anyways, we know that the witch wasn't working alone. Some of our best trackers picked up more than one scent." Hmm…

"How many?" This keeps getting worse.

"Right now, just three, but they still have more ground to cover. We aren't going to be able to get anything from the autopsy, either considering he is completely incinerated." I could feel his anger start to spike again, but I did better at keeping it more at bay this time.

"Yeah, no shit. We're going to get them, I promise." I said, sternly staring at Hector's ashes, mainly addressing him. I know he's here with us somewhere.

"Okay, well, Carol said she would get back to us once she gets more information from the witches end, and Alpha Monroe said he'll let us know what else his trackers get. Everyone else on the council across the world here and Alium have been notified." I nodded, acknowledging his statements.

"Okay. We all need to stop by and see Carol, Chloe, and the rest of the Delvauxs as soon as possible. I'll see you later, Lance, I don't know about you, but this just makes me want to hold my mate closer." He nodded, agreeing with me.

"Couldn't agree more. I'll let you know what I hear, and you do the same." I gave a slight nod and got in my car. Mila, here I come.

Mila's POV:

I had a very peaceful sleep, but waking up without Emma was really bumming. I hope everything is okay. I could tell she was holding back the severity of the situation, but I'm not going to push it; I've just got to trust her. Speaking of holding back the severity of situations, I need to call Julian. He picked up almost immediately.

"Mila, thank god. Are you and your mom okay?" I could hear him panicking. This started to raise my anxiety.

"We're fine. There's been no sign of him so far. I hope it stays that way. We have nowhere else to run too." I could feel my emotions starting to spill over as I was fighting off tears.

"Where are you anyways, Mila? I'm going to come out there as soon as I graduate in December." I didn't know he was graduating early.

"I'm in La Jolla. You don't need to come out here; also, I didn't know you were graduating early." I wonder what prompted this decision.

"You're in California. Why are you out there? Yes, I do, actually. You're more than my best friend; you're family. I didn't want to walk without, and I already have all the credits I need; why go through another semester of torture?" I lightly chuckled. I can tell that there's no talking him out of coming here; once he has something in mind, he does it.

"I felt that in my soul. Apparently, my mom has an identical twin out there. She's loaded and honestly super cool. Why don't you just transfer out here, then we can still walk together? You know, since you're so hell-bent on coming here." I heard him huff in a playful manner. Even though this conversation started anxiety-inducing, it's not as bad now. Julian has always been able to keep me level, not like Emma, but still close.

"That sounds like a perfect idea to me. I'll talk to my parents tomorrow. I love you, Mila. I'll see you soon." With that, we got off the phone. Right at that moment, Emma walked through my door.

"Perfect timing. I have much to tell you." I looked at her and smiled. She walked towards me and gave me a sweet kiss.

"Do tell." She chuckled and brought me closer to her on the bed to cuddle.

"Well, bad news, more like terrifying news, is that my dad may have found out where my mom and I are at." She held me tighter in this moment, and I knew no matter what, she would keep me safe.

"Don't ever worry about him or anything for that matter. I'll always protect you, and It's not just me too. You practically have a supernatural army at your fingertips." I just snuggled closer, feeling her warmth grow just a bit more.

"I know, and I'm so thankful. Anyways, my best friend Julian is going to transfer out here soon. He'll most likely be staying here, but we'll see. The logistics haven't fully been planned out." I felt her tense up.

"And you're sure he cares for you only as a friend?" I burst out laughing. I looked at her, seeing she was dead serious. I stopped laughing but kept a small smile/smirk on my face.

"You're jealous." She immediately cut me off.

"No, I am not jealous." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Sure, sure, sure. Yes, absolutely positive that he has no feelings for me in that way. We've basically been brother and sister since we were born." She hummed at this and just brought me in close to her again.

"Okay, I trust you. One wrong move on his part, though." I started laughing again, and she chuckled a little bit too.

"So, How was everything at the portal?" I felt her tense a little bit, and I looked up to find her facial expression pensive. Like she was calculating how to word what was going on.

"It was a little more complicated than expected, but again nothing you should worry about. Just some individuals trying to break down the barrier between our world and Alium." I gasped.

"That's not good at all. Do you know who it was?" She hummed.

"Kind of. We are still looking into it. Like I said, no big deal. Don't worry. I love you." She gave me a loving kiss, then went up and kissed my forehead.

"I love you too, Em. You can always tell me anything. I'm not going to be pushy, but I just want you to know that I'm always here."

"I know, love. Thank you." With that, she brought me in closer, and we just put something on TV. We didn't really pay any attention, though; we just cuddled and got to know each other more. I kept myself in this moment fully and put all the what-ifs on the back burner. I can feel it in my gut that things aren't going to be as peaceful as they are now, so I need to enjoy these blissful little moments.