The Eve of Darkness

Chapter 19

The hunters' cabin still carried the stench of iron, blood, and death. Aria watched as her mate's nose scrunched up the closer they got to the structure, and she figured that the same toiling feeling that turned over in her gut was probably felt at least a little bit by her counterpart. With each step they took nearer to the place of Aria's previous torment, the fauna of the forest made itself less and less apparent, as if it had been scared off by the presence of unwelcome, unnatural predators. 

That, or they were warded off by the godawful smell. 

They reached the front of the cabin, and Aria took the chance to observe the place that she had only seen from the inside. 

The building was two stories tall, with a western, logged aesthetic covering its exterior. The redwood walls and quaint dirt driveway were almost idyllic, posing almost as if it were a mountain vacation home rather than a house of murder and death. There were large windows on the front of the second floor, and the triangular top of the cabin was nearly luxurious in its appearance. 

Damn these hunters and their nice taste in cabins, Aria thought bitterly, at least a little bit angry at the fact that they kept her in a dingy fucking basement when the other parts of the place were most likely obnoxiously nice. 

"Xiomara, you're with Aria. Orion, you're with me. Let's get in and out of this quick--I don't want to be here longer than necessary." Camden's order was short but firm, making it clear that he was in more of a leadership mindset than a friendly one. Aria could understand why he was so tense. Not only were they back in a place of absolute trauma, but she could guess that her blood still stained the floors of this forsaken place. Even more so, with their mating bond so fresh and incomplete, and the sudden appearance of the council representative, there was a lot to be worried about in the field. 

"Yes, alpha," said both Xiomara and Orion, the warriors coming to stand at both Camden and Aria's flanks. They pushed open the still busted front door and stepped over wooden shards and splinters into the foyer. The walls were a similar redwood color as the exterior, but were smoothed over with some sort of glaze. The foyer was wide enough for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder, and lasted about six feet long. At the end, there were three ways to go: to the left, where stairs led to the basement, to the right, where one would then see more of the first floor, and straight, where stairs led to the second floor. As they stood at the intersection, Aria reached over and gave Camden's hand a tight squeeze, the contact spreading a comforting wave of warmth crashing over Aria's senses. Camden took in a breath and squeezed back before taking back his hand and placing it on Orion's shoulder. 

"Alright, Orion. Lead the way down stairs." 

As the two men made their trek into the bowels of the cabin, Aria and Xiomara went up. The plan (courtesy of Jude) was that both teams would investigate the top and bottom levels of the house and reconvene in the middle, where they would finish up and then leave together. It was simple and efficient, and it kept Aria far away from the chamber that often tormented her in her dreams. 

"So..." Xiomara breathed as they went into the first room they found, which turned out to be a plain bedroom with a desk, dresser, bookshelf, and nightstand. "Are we just never going to talk about the elephant in the room?" 

Aria turned her head towards Xiomara with furrowed eyebrows as she paused from where she had opened the bottom desk drawer. 

Seeing the unspoken question, Xiomara sighed with a dramatic droop of her shoulders and bend of her knees. "You know! About Jude's mate!" 

Ah, Aria thought in realization, right, that is a thing that also happened with the arrival of that representative. 

"I don't know, Xiomara," Aria started, rifling through one drawer after another. "I think that, overall, it is a good thing. It is just awful timing."