Moonlight | Lucien Castle

Chapter 38

They didn't blame him.

"At least you didn't give it up without a fight," said Amaris, dipping down to examine the bottom of the car. "We can tow this, but you're gonna need a new car. Everything is fried."

"I figured as much," said Alaric, massaging his head. He did not accept vampire blood from Lucien. "Totally forfeited my lease. I didn't know this 'Hollow' thing was a vampire-witch hybrid."

Amaris and Lucien shared a look. "The Hollow is a spirit, not a Heretic," said Lucien. "Unless... it chose a host who is a Heretic? What did it look like?"

"Um, a woman. Brunette, gorgeous, lace top. Black jacket, glowing blue eyes."

Neither of them seemed to find that specific enough. "Short hair," added Alaric. "Intense expression. Seemed Russian."

Lucien hummed, and brought out his phone, looking through his contacts and pulling up one with a picture of a woman fitting the description. "Her?"

"Yeah," said Alaric. "You know her?"

"In passing," said Lucien. "Her name is Sofya. She despises Nik. I don't doubt she's helping The Hollow to try and kill him. Though, it only helps her if she's not from his sireline. I'm unsure what lineage she hails from."

"Sounds like Sofya is a regular vampire," said Amaris. "But if she could use magic... damn. The Hollow seems to be more powerful the more we learn about it. That doesn't make me feel good at all. She now has two, and we have one. Alaric, please tell me you either have another or know where we can find the fourth one."

He nodded. "There is a ledger that points us to where the other bone might be. I studied the records, and I got a family name... Del Robles. Bloodline ends ten years ago, and according to the Lockwood records, somebody in that family is buried with one of those mystical bones, in the Black Clay Cemetery in the Tremé."

"Hang on," said Lucien, holding a finger up. "I once made small talk with Marcel about the cemeteries in this city and he mentioned one of them was redeployed because of flooding. That name rings a bell. We ought to ask to confirm."

"Good idea," said Amaris, which led Lucien to message him. "We should start heading back to the city so he doesn't show up there alone."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," said Alaric, groaning slightly, "but on the way, can you drop me off at the E.R.? Thanks."

"You could accept vampire blood," mentioned Amaris as he climbed into the back seat of the car.

"I'd rather not be a vampire again," said Alaric, laying his head back.

Amaris was concerned he might have some sort of brain bleed, but they did as told, and left him at the hospital before heading to the St. Ailbhe Cemetery, where Marcel said the Del Robes crypt could be found. Thankfully, Marcel listened when they asked him to go somewhere safe. He opted to go and wait for Alaric, because Klaus wanted him to stop by the Compound prior to returning to Mystic Falls.

"Here we go," said Amaris as she and Lucien stepped inside. "Time to dig through bones. Which sounds awful because not only are we disturbing the dead, but Klaus makes enough cruel little comments about me being a wolf, and you know, dogs and bones..."

"I'll do the dirty work," offered Lucien, even if he didn't seem keen on sifting through remains.

"The femur is a big bone, it will stand out. The only problem is that all of these bodies have femurs. How do we know it wasn't put with a one-legged corpse so that nothing would look out of place?"

"If that is so, there will be a clue about it somewhere," said Lucien. He leaned down to examine a message on the doors leading into the main area of the crypt. "'Our hearts will always defend this land.' Written in Spanish, of course. Hmm. Perhaps the person the bone is buried with will have a name tied to that. Perhaps a name or a quote with the word 'heart' or 'land' or 'defend.'"