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“What?” Riley set down the notepad and scratched the back of her head. She’d made notes about some of the other things Noah said, not just the answer to her question. “Why did you go that long? No. You know what? Give me that.” She snatched the phone from Charlotte’s hand and pressed the button to start a FaceTime call.
When the call connected, Noah’s face, covered in a dark layer of scruff, came into view. His curls looked disheveled, and dark circles stained the skin beneath his eyes.
“Jesus, Noah. You look terrible.”
“Good to see you too, beautiful.”
Riley grumbled. “Listen, bud. That’s my brother’s Korrena, so off limits.” She nodded, satisfied when he lowered his gaze in response to her reprimand. “Now.” She took a breath, then unleashed, yelling, “What the flying fuck?” She tempered her voice, but the sharpness remained. “What were you thinking coming to a crowded nightclub like Haven if you were suffering from sanguis manie? Why didn’t you get blood from a clinic?”
She looked at Charlotte. “To prevent this very thing, and to uphold the law of not feeding from live sources, the Blackthorn Clan has granted us permission to go to any blood donation center to get blood whenever we need it. Humans donate more than you realize.”
“Really?” She hadn’t thought it was so common.
“Oh yeah. Millions of units a year. Not only does it help us, but it’s used all the time in medicine. Mera told me all about it.”
Riley focused back on the screen where Noah was looking between the two of them in silence. “Your story isn’t adding up.” At least she wasn’t yelling at him anymore.
He ran a hand over his forehead, pushing his curls off his face. “I wasn’t alone at the club.”
“We know. The asshole attacked Charlotte.”
“Brent isn’t—wasn’t—the only one you need to be worried about.” He sighed as if what he needed to say brought him discomfort. “The man who ordered us to watch you kept me locked in a room without blood for the day prior to coming there. That’s why I couldn’t get blood when I needed it most, and why I couldn’t avoid going to the club. He’d have killed me, or made Brent kill me.”
“My stalker did that to you?”
Noah ran his tongue over his front teeth. “No. The guy in charge of the local group isn’t the one stalking you. That was Brent.”
“What? He’s dead. She’s still getting stupid notes and roses.”
“She is?”
“That’s what I said.”
He looked at Charlotte with concern. “What did the note say?”
“I can’t remember everything,” she said. She wasn’t sure if she should show her hand, but she also didn’t remember. “He signed it with a J, though.”
“James.”
“James? I thought you said her stalker was Brent,” Riley said, looking at Charlotte. “Do you know a James?”
“No, I don’t think so.” She looked at Noah. “Is he a classmate?”
“Not that I’m aware. I haven’t actually met him. When he kept me locked up, he had other guys check on me. I’ve only talked to him on the phone, so I don’t even know what he looks like. I don’t know anything about him, but I knew Brent. And yeah, Brent was her stalker. He lost his Korrena in an accident a few years back. He’s never been the same. You kinda look like her. She had curly red hair and a lot of freckles, not the few you have.”
“So he became obsessed with Charlotte, redirecting his longing for his Korrena at her,” Riley surmised.
“Yeah.”
Charlotte had done a little reading about the Korrena bond. For sealed bonds, losing a Korrena often drove the other to follow soon behind them because of their inability to cope in the world without their pair. Physical pain, mental anguish… it made her feel so terrible for those who’d suffered that loss.
To not only lose their soulmate, but then have to suffer the swift deterioration of their mind afterward? How could fate be so cruel? What did that mean for Aiden when time took her away from him? Were all Vasirian who lose their mated pair destined for such a terrible future, if they saw one at all?
It still didn’t excuse her stalker—Brent—but it made her understand the madness behind his actions.
Did she forgive him? No. She didn’t know if she could.
He tried to kill her Korrena. Tried to force her to endure the same loss. Maybe if he hadn’t tried to kill Aiden when he came to her defense, she could, but she only had it in her to dredge up a morsel of sympathy.
