Blue ▹ The Originals [2]

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
ROSE PETALS

"You can hear rumors, but you can't know them."

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

     The apartment was open and airy as Henrik walked through it, the marble beneath his bare feet cold to the touch. He pulled the large white cardigan he was wearing tighter around himself and fought off a shiver as he continued his search. Every single window he had come across had the curtains pulled back, letting sunlight in, but it did nothing to fight off the cold despite the heat pumping through the apartment vents. It was what had woken him up in the first place, and it wasn't long until he found the source. There were two sets of windows in the living room, leading out onto a balcony, and both of them were wide open now, letting cold autumn air in. Henrik scowled as he walked over, a shiver finally making his body tremble as he got closer to the cold. They had to climb through large casement windows to get out to the balcony. They were like mini double doors to Henrik, but he had to make a conscious effort not to trip over the strip raised above the ground whenever he went out.

Francis was far more used to the design than Henrik was, so it wasn't a surprise to find him out on the balcony now, both of his elbows resting on the railing. Henrik opened his mouth to ask him why he wanted Henrik to freeze to death, but stopped when he noticed a trail of smoke filtering up past his shoulder. Pressing his lips together, he paused only long enough to close both sets of windows before he approached Francis and wrapped his arms around his waist from behind. The balcony was made of stone, but it was still cold, and from the feel of Francis, he had been out there a while. Sighing, Henrik dropped a kiss against Francis's shoulder before setting his chin on top of it. Francis only smoked when he was upset or stressed. Fortunately, Henrik knew why he was resorting to cigarettes this time.

"You haven't gotten any closer to figuring out who's been slaughtering vampires all over Paris, I take it," Henrik said dryly, watching Francis's side profile for a reaction. He got one in a clenched jaw, then got an even bigger one when Francis brought the cigarette to his lips and took another drag. Smiling, Henrik released his hold around Francis's waist just to stand directly beside him, reaching over to take the cigarette from his fingers. Francis handed it over easily enough, and Henrik took a drag of his own as Francis gathered his thoughts.

Francis helped run the vampire community in Paris with Haewon and Abella, so it was his responsibility to find whoever was slaughtering vampires and put a stop to it. The only problem was that Paris was huge, the vampire community larger than most, and the killings had started months ago. Paris had twenty districts—of which they resided in the eighth—so it meant the entirety of Paris was split up between three vampires, six to Haewon, six to Abella and seven to Francis. It was a lot of territory to cover, and even more places for a killer to hide. Henrik had, wisely, stayed out of it. Tensions were so high between the witches and vampires that he didn't want to seem like he was picking a side, even though he was firmly on both. He was a witch, but practically all of his loved ones were vampires. No one but Francis seemed to understand that.

"Do you have any theories?" Francis asked after a while, which was the only confirmation Henrik would get. Henrik could understand his frustration. The violence behind the murders made it clear it wasn't any ordinary human, and the victims were so random that no pattern had emerged despite Francis's digging. It was driving him insane that his skills in espionage were practically useless. "Did werewolves do this? Witches? Some supernatural creature we don't know about?"