Nocticadia: A Dark Academia Gothic Romance
Nocticadia: Chapter 59

Two hours earlier …

Addicts stumbled about as I prowled slowly through the streets of downtown Thresher Bay, along a strip known as Meth Mile. Makeshift tents lined the sidewalk, where the homeless shot up drugs and prostitution was rampant. Eyes scanning, I searched for my next test subject.

Back at the lab, I’d administered the black tea to both Patroclus and Achilles, and watched as both moths, who’d previously returned to their paralyzed state, took flight again. Now that I had a method of sustaining the toxin’s effects, it was time for a new test subject. To harvest fresh toxin with my most recent larvae, and attempt to produce a synthetic version, bypassing the need for human harvesting. I just needed a bit more of it.

A brunette stood at the corner of Gratis and Vine Road, wearing a short black mini dress with high heels and a coat. It wasn’t her choice of attire that told me she was a prostitute, but the way she immediately sauntered over and leaned into the passenger window of my car, when I pulled up to the curb.

“Hello, handsome. Please tell me you’re looking for some company.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at her and kept my gaze locked forward, staring through the windshield at the hundreds of others I could’ve chosen. It wasn’t personal. I’d only opted for her over a drug addict because I didn’t care to drag around a half-conscious body. “I am,” I lied.

“Well, all right, then.” The door swung open, and she slid into the passenger seat smelling like rose perfume. Fuck, I hated that scent.

“Are you willing to go outside of the city?”

“Depends on how much cash you got, honey.”

I lifted a folded stack of bills. Three thousand dollars that she’d never get the opportunity to spend if she said yes.

“I’m willing to go wherever you want, baby. For that much? You can do whatever the fuck you want.”

Surely, that wouldn’t have included infecting her with parasites.

As she buckled herself in, I stowed away the cash in my pocket and took off down the road. On a bold move, she reached over, brushing her fingers across my groin, and I lifted her arm to set it back in her lap.

“Not while I’m driving.”

“You don’t like road head?”

I did. But only when a certain redheaded pain in my ass was giving it to me. “Not particularly,” I answered. I planned to get her on Dracadia Island, then once we reached the cadaver entrance, I’d anesthetize her and infect her with the larvae.

“Fine with me. You let me know what you want, handsome.”

I wanted to laugh at that, but an uncharacteristic guilt tore at my conscience. To some extent, killing had become natural to me. Biological. Maybe even genetic and, dared I say, fascinating to observe. Except for the fact that, unlike the others, she hadn’t done anything to deserve my cruelty. She was innocent, and because of that, I took no joy in the thought of killing her.

I didn’t have time to shop around for my next subject, though. There was a small window of opportunity before the new batch of eggs would hatch, and with the information I’d received about Angelo DeLuca, I might’ve never tracked the asshole down.

When we reached the ferry launch, she sat up in the seat, looking around. It somehow reminded me of the day I’d taken Lilia to the old mansion. The innocence and curiosity.

“We goin’ on a boat ride?”

“Yes. You said you’re willing to go out of the city, correct?”

Her brows winged up, and she looked back toward the dark sea. “You talkin’ about the island?”

“Yes. I’m a professor there.”

“Are you now?” Whatever small bit of apprehension she might’ve had a moment ago faded for a wily grin. “Well, hot damn, tonight is my lucky night!”

Hardly.

In the distance, the ferry boat approached, and I ran my hand through my hair and down my face. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t fucking do it, because all I could think about, all that mattered to me, was the girl. The beautiful girl with her autumn hair, and eyes that reminded me of both the sea and the sky. And she was everything. The earth, the sun, the moon. The air I breathed, and the tenacious beat that kept my eroded heart pumping.

What I felt for Lilia wasn’t healthy. Beyond simple obsession, it was a sickening possession. Savage and rapacious, bordering on violence.

Just as I was about to order the woman out of my car, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Langmore’s number flashing across the screen. The only time I received personal calls was when the asshole was about to do something I didn’t approve of.

“Excuse me,” I said, stepping out of the vehicle. Once the door was closed, I answered, “Hello.”

“Devryck, it’s Lang–”

“Yeah. I know.”

“I’m calling because …. Well, I tried to call you in your offices, but there was no answer.”

The passing seconds chipped away at my patience. “I’m busy.”

“Right. I suspect you’re going to be quite angry, and … I want you to know I had nothing to do with this.” The shaky quality of his voice immediately put me on alert.

“Nothing to do with what?”

“Lilia Vespertine was expelled. I don’t entirely know the reason behind it, but I received an order from Lippincott to have her leave the premises immediately. And seeing as you were quite adamant about her remaining enrolled in your class, I thought I should make you aware.”

I gnashed my molars, doing my best to reel in the urge to pound my fist through something. To hell with trying to keep the thing I had with Lilia under wraps. I couldn’t give a fuck at that point. “And she was sent where?”

“Back to her home in Covington.”

“I want the address.”

He let out a huff. “I replace that highly inappropriate, Dev–”

The anger exploded out of me. “Address! Now!”

“Very well. I’ll text you her address. Again, please know I had nothing to do with this.”

Through deep breaths, I clutched a small bit of control and tempered my voice. “I appreciate your call. I’ll consider this kindness when I return,” I said through clenched teeth. “Tell no one that we spoke, or by God, I will make you regret it.”

“You have my word.”

I hung up the call, and as the rage tore through me, I pounded my fist into the hood of the car. Exhaling a breath, I slid back into the driver’s seat. “Change of plans.” I reached into my coat pocket and pulled the stack of bills, handing off five hundred. “For your trouble.”

“You’re canceling? Why?”

“Please just get out.”

“I said I’m fine going–”

“Get the fuck out!” I barked, and snapped my attention away from her. “Please.”

“Fine. I’ll get the fuck out. Asshole.” She tucked the hundreds away in her shirt. “You change your mind, you know where to replace me.”

The moment she exited the car, I fired up the engine. My phone buzzed with a text–Lilia’s address. When I punched it into the car’s GPS, it showed some theater on Prather Street. “If you gave me the wrong fucking address, you’re a dead man,” I muttered, and I threw the car in drive.

Hands shaking with rage, I dialed Lilia’s phone number.

Straight to voicemail.

“Fuck!” I growled and dialed again.

Still, the call failed to connect.

I tried three more times, each unsuccessful attempt only raising my blood pressure. After tossing the phone onto the passenger seat beside me, I flexed my hand to a tight fist and breathed on counts of four, a half-assed attempt to calm the rage brewing in my gut. The last thing Lilia needed, after the shit day she’d undoubtedly had, was for me to show up ready to kill something.