37 | BAD NEWS

Another week later, and I feel drained again. Not as much as before, of course, because after the sleep deprivation and talking to Mom last week, she spilled the beans to Hale - who promptly gave me couple of helpers. Zoe and a vampire I’d met last year, Elliot. His stuffy-librarian attitude and hyper-focus on the reports has been cutting the tie I normally take to go through the reports in half. It wouldn’t be so bad if he and Zoe actually got along though.

The two vampires spend half their time bickering like siblings or taking cheap shots at each other. It’s gotten annoying enough that I’ve been sending Elliot to the library to get through his part of the reports so Zoe and I can have some peace.

“You should take a break, Princess.” Zoe tells me a few hours into the reading of the reports. We’d divided todays reports into three and I’m still going through mine. I don’t bother glancing up at the vampire as I reply.

“I’m only a few reports in, Zoe. I’ll stop for a dinner break at seven.” I mutter, knowing she can hear me as my mind stays buried in the information about a shifter group in the mountains. Something about this particular group makes the reporting vamp think they’re not Wolven, but something larger. Something large and terrifying I’ll have to do some research on. I’d first seen the hints of dragon shifters, *draki*, from the Darklight Community - being that one of the supernaturals involved in the event there is the adopted daughter - ie. the *draki*. But she was one. Now I’m seeing reports from a few vamps that there are Clans - groups of at least five or more of the L-Class shifters in the mountains on the West coast.

And something’s been happening in at least three of those normally quiet Clans. The weirdness of the Soul Count disruption seems to be at the center of their unusually frequent hunts and unrest. It’s something that may end up snowballing into an event if things don’t change soon. I make a few notes before my reading is interrupted again.

This time, no one attempts to verbally get my attention, but the feeling of time shuddering to a stop around me is what alerts me. The scent of death and decay slithering over me next. A primal shiver rolls along my bones as my whole body tenses.

I glance up to see Zoe poised over a report at her desk, completely frozen in time and unaware of our visitor a few feet away.

“Long time, no see.” I comment to the Ancient when I see her, barely bothering to look up as the now-familiar feel of her energy tries to smother me. It’s not the smartest move on my part, but I can’t help the little petty verbal jab as my annoyance at her absence has begun to rub at me.

“Yes, well, as the saying goes: break time is over.” Nikki surprises me with a dry and slightly icy tone. My head snaps up and I stare at the Ancient and her solemn face. Her eyes are different today, a cross between a pale yellow and chilling grey.

“Break time?” I repeat, unable to keep the edge from my voice as I repeat her words. I drop the report I’d been reading and let the small stack scatter across the surface of my desk. “You think I’ve been taking a break this whole time? We dealt with the Cai’s and only just managed to prevent the event. Or is that why you’re here?” I all but hiss at her, narrowing my eyes at the Ancient as my anger simmers into a boil.

“The event was averted.” Nikki confirms in her usual calm and airy tone, but the slight chill of her clipped words lead me to believe she’s still a little mad at me too. “However, the other four are still in progress.”

“You haven’t given me much to go on for the other four. And the timeline’s apparently different now we stopped the first event.” I tell her, rubbing my temples as the hints of spiking pain begin up in my skull at the reminder and mountain of reports I’ve been going through.

“You did not completely stop the first event.” Nikki freezes me in place with her words. My arms fall to my sides and I have to grip the desk to stop myself from falling over from the sheer shock of what the Ancient’s saying.

“The hell we didn’t-” I sputter, my hands turning to fists on the edge of the desk. Nikki holds up a hand, and my mouth snaps shut. Her power rolls over me as a sphere of light blooms in the space between us, a few images of the event flashing over the rounded thing before branching off to show scenes I hadn’t been aware of. Scenes of Port Greene where dozens of people - mostly elderly - lay with vacant expressions of their faces. Blood streaked down from their noses and ears. My breath freezes in my chest as I stare at them, the emptiness of death in their eyes.

“Only twelve died, most were elderly who could not take the mental pressure, and lived in a nursing home near the Cai estate. But humans still died.” Nikki lowers her hand and the sphere dims out of existence. But still, the faces of the dead continue to flickers through my mind, accusing me of not doing enough. “I have been dealing with the stress these deaths have placed on the Soul Count.” Nikki adds, and again her voice is calm, but not completely relaxed. “From now on I will have reports from a specialized team and my people to give you the most up-to-date information on the effects of further deaths.” She informs me and takes a step closer.

“I have been in seclusion in order to better see the events as they will unfold. More avenues of possibility have opened up because of the aversion of the last event. However, the apocalypse is still on a strict schedule. Slightly pushed back, but the end is still appearing in the next few months.” Nikki continues, taking a seat in the chair in front of my desk. I feel my own body mimic hers, though my mind’s still reeling from her admission that we didn’t save everyone like we’d thought. “When you’re ready, I can give you the updated information for the next three events.”

“People still died.” I hear myself say, the ragged sorrow in my tone giving away just how much her news has effected me.

“Scarlett, I do not mean to be insensitive, but,” Nikki draws my attention back to her face. “Surly you of all people know by now that you can’t save everyone.” Her words sting, less than I thought they would, but the festering smart of them against my skin snaps me out of the funk I’d been slipping into.

People died. I couldn’t save them all, and maybe it was stupid of me to assume I had without any real proof. I should have looked into Port Greene after the event. I should have checked up on the town to see if Eyre’s power had hurt anyone else before we got her under control. I didn’t. And maybe I was a little scared to for this exact reason. I didn’t want to know. My own ignorance had wrapped around me like a freaking bubble. One I know I need to pop. No one can live long in this world with their head buried in the sand.

“I’m ready.” I tell the Ancient after a moment as I take a deep, steadying breath.