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5. SYDNEY

Sydney watched the door and anxiously waited for her sister to walk through it. Aidan and Beau had snuck out of the house the night before and didn't come home. She didn't tell Sydney that she was leaving, no word, no note, nothing. She couldn't get the conversation with Beau out of her head. He was so casual about hunting even with the curfew and the moratorium in place. If he convinced Aidan to break Underground law, they were in for a world of hurt. Sydney would have to come up with a good cover story to tell Celine, who was standing right in front of her in their living room. 

The guardian of their nest wasn't more than an inch taller than Sydney, yet Sydney couldn't shake the sensation that she towered over everyone else. She had dark hair, blue eyes, a straight brow, and freckles sprinkled over a fair complexion. She wore her usual business attire, a black turtleneck, black slacks, and black heels. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled behind her ears and fell down her back. She stood in front of the fireplace with her arms crossed, eager to hear what Sydney had to say.

Dusk had fallen an hour before, and there was still no word of Aidan and Beau. With every passing moment, Sydney grew more and more afraid. She assumed the worst, imagining that Aidan had been caught by hunters or burned alive in the daylight. Sydney imagined how she would feel if they never found her sister's remains and what eternal life would be like without her. If something did happen to her, then she would have no one.

Sydney sat on the couch with Ruby on the other end. Celine stood in front of the fireplace facing them, and behind them, Max paced back and forth as he kept an eye on the door.

"Where are they?" Celine asked, glaring at Sydney. The truth was that Sydney didn't know where they were, but she suspected Aidan and Beau were out hunting. The right thing to do would be to tell Celine, but Sydney and Aidan never trusted her. She never wanted the sisters in her nest in the first place, and she might find any excuse to kick them out and leave them to fend for themselves. "Where are they?" She asked again.

With her head bent and her hands clasped in her lap, Sydney shrugged.

"She didn't say where she was going?"

Sydney shook her head. Celine muttered something in French.

"This isn't like them," Ruby said. "Sydney and Aidan usually hunt together, and Beau," she paused, "I guess I don't know where he hunts. Babe, where does Beau usually hunt?"

"I know where Beau hunts," Celine snapped. "They shouldn't be out hunting in the first place."

"The hunters are here, aren't they?" Max asked, chewing a thumbnail.

Celine sighed. "I'm afraid so."

"How many?"

"We don't know yet."

We. Sydney had heard Celine use that word plenty of times. For the longest time, she thought that the word referred to The Seven, the council that ruled the Underground, but she learned the hard way that we comprised countless others whose identities remained in the dark.

Max gripped the back of the couch until the wood frame cracked and the springs crunched, and he leaned into Sydney's ear. "Do you have any idea what happens to us if those shitbags catch them? They don't kill our kind. They torture us. They will squeeze your little friends until they give up the location of the nest."

Sydney felt as if her chest was going to cave in. "Aidan would never do that."

"They all say that until they're being burned alive with daylight and poisoned with silver."

"Assez!" Celine said. "Enough!"

Just then the door creaked open, and Aidan cautiously stepped inside with Beau following behind her. Their hair and clothes were disheveled and reeked of sex and booze. Sydney's heart sank in her chest. A wave of relief and anger rushed through her. Aidan froze when she saw Celine and the others gathered in the living room.

"Please, join us," Celine said.

Aidan sat in the middle of the couch in between Sydney and Ruby. Beau remained standing and leaned against the frame of the threshold between the living room and front hall.

"Where have you been?" Celine asked, her anger smooth and steady. The room was tense as everyone waited to hear their answer.

"We - um - " Aidan said rubbing the back of her head. Sydney raised her head, and the sisters locked eyes. Don't lie, thought Sydney. Celine will know.

When Sydney left home the previous winter, they had accused her of defecting, which wasn't true. It had been her intention all along to return to the nest. One night, she came upon a picture on social media of a family - father, mother, and daughter. The image of the girl, perhaps five-years-old with curly red hair and purple eyeglasses, fractured her world. She left in search of closure while squatting in that house. She went to Tulsa, and even though she found the closure she sought, it did not bring her the peace she hoped for. Celine found her in a foreclosed house in a subdivision with bodies rotting in the basement. Sydney was camped out on the living room floor one night, when Celine busted down the door, marched inside, and said, "You were very tricky to find."

They found Sydney in that house in Tulsa just like they found the twin sisters living on the streets of Portland. That's when it became clear to Sydney. The Underground had informants, sources, and spies. If Aidan was doing something she wasn't supposed to do, then The Seven and their web of assets would find out.

"I didn't know about a ban on hunting," Beau said in his Southern drawl.

"You all received the letter that I sent out."

"I didn't see any letter."

"All the same - " Celine said through clenched teeth.

"Do you have any idea what kind of danger you put us in? What the hunters will do to us if they find our nest?" Max said.

"We're sorry," Aidan blurted out. "We're sorry. It won't happen again."

"It can't happen again, or else we're all dead."

The room was gravely still.

"As I was telling the others before you two showed up, the hunters are in the city. It's only a matter of time until they discover our nest. I've arranged for transportation to take us out of here. We leave tomorrow night. Until then, no one leaves this house.

"Where are we going?" asked Beau.

Celine's eyes were severe. "That's confidential for the time being."

"You don't trust us?"

"We can't risk any of you letting this information out."

"Who would we tell?"

"You tell me, Beau." Celine marched across the hall to the dining room and slid the wooden doors shut. They heard her making fervent phone calls in French, Korean, and Russian.

"I can't believe we have to leave all of this behind," said Ruby. She reached for Max, and they held hands. "We had a good life here, and now we have to start over."

"Who's room is Celine staying in?" Beau asked.

"It'll be alright, babe. We'll figure it out. We always do."

"Should we draw straws?"

"Is that all you can think about right now?" Sydney asked.

Beau rolled his eyes. "Why do you have to be so serious all the time?"

"Stop, both of you," Aidan said. "Celine can stay in my room. I'll sleep on the couch."

"Stay in my room," Sydney said. "We'll sleep in the same bed just like when we were kids."

Aidan grinned. "Does that mean you're going to hog all the covers?"

"I didn't hog the covers. You did!"

"Syd, I can't tell you how many times I woke up in the middle of the night freezing my ass off."

"Um, hello, me too."

Aidan laughed. "I can't help but feel like Rowena is going to walk in here and tell us to stop bickering."

A chill ripped through Sydney. "Yeah."

Sydney instantly regretted inviting Aidan to sleep in her bed. The secret she kept from her sister weighed on her more heavily at the mention of their mother's name. Dawn broke, and Sydney pulled the shutters down on the windows. The sisters didn't say anything as they got into bed and turned their backs on each other. Sydney felt that the slightest movement would spark the air between them. It ignited when Aidan asked, "Where did you go, Syd?"

"What?"

"Where did you go earlier, when we were sitting on the couch?" She felt Aidan turn and lay on her back. "One minute we were kidding around, joking about when we were kids, and at the sound of Rowena's name, you were all quiet, like you were on another planet or something."

Sydney was exposed. Aidan wasn't wrong. The sound of Rowena's name transported Sydney to the previous winter in Tulsa. Aidan's question carried so much weight, like a gargoyle perched on Sydney's shoulders. Where did you go last winter? Where did you go for three weeks? Where did you go without leaving a single fucking note or bothering to call and tell me you were okay?  "It's just, you know, I haven't thought of her in ages," she lied.

"You haven't? Lucky you. I think about her every goddamn day."

Sydney snickered. "No wonder you're such a bitch all the time."

"Shut up."

"Where were you and Beau?"

"Hunting.

"Where did you go hunting?"

"Some club."

"A club in some hotel?" Sydney sat up straight in bed. "What the hell, Aidan, are you out of your mind?"

"Jesus, Syd, keep your voice down."

In a harsh whisper, she said, "There are like a thousand fucking witnesses at clubs. Those are the worst places to hunt."

"So?"

"So they have video cameras and bartenders, and fuck Aidan, was there security there?"

"Maybe."

"Who was your prey?"

"Just some girl."

"Just some girl? For fuck's sake, it is never just some girl. Just some girls end up on serial killer documentaries and true crime podcasts. Was she with anybody?"

Aidan didn't answer.

"Aidan, was she with anybody?"

"I don't know. I don't think so."

Sydney groaned. "What did you guys do with the body?"

"It's okay. Rosa took care of it."

"Who the fuck is Rosa?"

"She's a friend."

"What do you mean she's a friend?"

"She's a familiar."

"Who's familiar?"

Again, Aidan didn't answer.

Sydney took a deep breath. "We were the only nest in the city until those scavengers came along, so whoever this Rosa is, she must belong to one of them."

"Beau said they're friends."

"Who are 'they?' Did you meet them?"

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

Aidan sat straight up in bed. "You ran away and didn't tell anyone where you were going. Did you consider that you were putting us in danger?"

This time, Sydney didn't answer.

"I didn't know whether you were dead or captured by hunters or in some Underground prison in Europe. Celine didn't tell us anything, not even when she brought you home. I was on edge. After Cillian turned us - " Aidan's voice choked up. "We should be dead, Syd."

"I know."

"They wanted to kill us."

"I know."

"Where did you go?"

For months Sydney was dreading that question, and she still wasn't prepared to answer it.

"I heard Celine picked you up in Tulsa. What were you doing there?"

"It's personal.

"It's personal? We shared a womb together. We ran away from home together. Now, we share an immortal life together, and you can't tell me something that's fucking personal?"

"A day will come when I will tell you about Tulsa, but that day is not today."

"Fine," Aidan said. She lay down and turned on her side. "But don't get pissy at me for going to that club."

"Aidan, please, we have to stick together."

"We can't do that if you're keeping secrets."

Sydney woke that evening to the sound of Celine's sharp voice. "Get up." She tore the covers off of Sydney's bed, and with her fist, she punched the button to open the window shutters. "Where's your sister?"

Sydney sat up straight in bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She turned to wake up Aidan, but she was gone. "Shit."

"Where's Aidan?"

"A club, I think."

Celine flooded the room with angry French. "What club?"

Sydney shrugged. "In a hotel."

"Did she say anything else?"

"Just a name, Rosa."

"And who the hell is Rosa?"

"A friend."

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