There was no time to lick our wounds, she got away and was no doubt looking for her next victim. I turned to face Darren, but he started speaking before I could say anything.
"I think I'm going to head home." Something about his tone of voice made me worry, he sounded haunted.
"Darren, I know you're upset but please don't –" he cut me off abruptly.
"I'm not in the mood for a lecture from you, you don't know me so please don't pretend to understand what I'm going through!" He replied, storming off. He was a completely different Darren, the vulnerable man who embraced me was gone.
"Okay then." I said to myself and started heading into the apartment building.
"Alex Da Silva" I've been looking for you." I heard a familiar voice say. I turned around.
"Whyte?" I was not sure if my eyes were deceiving me.
"Miss me?" He asked, embracing me, I took in a whiff of cigarettes. Some bad habits never die.
It took me a second to respond and hug him back. He had a tall lean built; he wasn't skinny though he was quite muscular because of years of training.
His dark blonde hair was kept in its usually messy hairstyle paired with emerald green eyes. He still had his cute boyish look. That same boyish look I was attracted to in the first place. He wore a black shirt with a leather jacket and jeans, so many bittersweet memories were tied to that leather jacket.
He leaned casually against the wall
"Look at you detective, now obeying the law things have changed." He said, smiling at me, his eyes scanning every inch of my body.
"See something you like?" I asked, placing my hand on my hip.
"Absolutely. What's not to like?" Always the sweet talker, he took out a cigarette and started to light it.
"Ah-huh." Was all I had to say for him to remember I absolutely hated smoking.
"Oh yeah, forgot you hate this stuff."
"Yes, I do," I replied smiling.
"Not that I'm not enjoying this reunion because trust me I am, but what do you want, Whyte? I'm guessing you didn't come all this way just to say hi," his smile faded, replaced by sorrow. He stood up straight.
"Tracking a Siren, one came after me about a month or so ago, she failed and got away, tracked her down all the way from New York to Chicago. And I thought, what are the odds that she'd come here of all places?"
"Yeah, you're a few days too late, she came after me already. You know why she's doing this right?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but I think it has something to do with Will?" The sadness in his voice pierced my heart.
"She's seeking revenge for the Siren Will killed, apparently, they were sisters or something because I thought all Sirens were sisters but these two are different."
"Yeah, I was afraid of something like that. I need the stake Will gave you, so I can stop this once and for all."
I frowned.
"You're crazy if you think you're going to do this alone." I could see him growing impatient.
"I don't need your help!" He shouted outraged.
"When's the last time you went on a hunt? Better yet when's the last time you had a drink, Whyte?" He looked at me shocked, when he knew me, I was still a teenager overcoming the death of her grandfather, I rarely ever stood up for myself back then but I wasn't that scared little girl anymore and there was no way in hell I was trusting him with the only weapon we had against the Siren.
"No offense but there's absolutely no way in hell I'm giving you the stake."
"He was MY brother! Not yours! That stake belongs to me!" He shouted.
Same old Whyte, there was a time where I was hopeful that he would change.
"That's not fair! You know I loved Will. He entrusted me with the stake, so it stays with me and that's the end of this discussion."
I turned around and started walking to my car, he yanked me back, I turned around and straight up, sucker punched him.
This only made him angrier; he lunged forward giving me a punch on the side of my face; my foothold faltered a bit, but I quickly regained my stance.
Before he could land another blow I maneuvered around him and got him into chokehold; he struggled against my hold.
He's been out of the business for six years making him weak. I held it until I felt him fading; he tapped my arm in a sign of surrender.
We now had a small crowd of onlookers watching us.
He eyed me.
"Don't," I warned.
"Show's over people thank you for watching come again later," I shouted towards the crowd. They turned around looking rather disappointed that it wasn't a more exciting fight.
"What do you want me to do? Nothing?" His features, filled with regret.
"I don't want you to make a scene in public unless you want to spend a night in jail because a girl kicked your ass. Listen, let's just go get some coffee and talk like civilized people. Besides, you will need my help facing the Siren."
He nodded and we started walking. I caught wind of another scent mixed with the cigarettes; there was a light stench of alcohol coming from Whyte.
"Have you been drinking? It's like twelve in the afternoon." I looked at him judgingly.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, besides it's five o'clock, somewhere right?" He said smiling. Whyte has always been the irresponsible party boy; some things never change. Back when I started hunting with them, Will and I did most of the work. Will was the opposite of his younger brother; he taught me most of what I knew today. He was my mentor and we made a great team, for almost a year everything was perfect.
They'd helped me overcome the loss of Jay and taught me how to turn that sorrow and rage into something proactive.
Without Will, I would've probably been dead a long time ago. Whyte also had a role in changing my life; he taught me how to have fun and love he helped me move on from the heartache Darren had left me with. Despite all his wrong doings, I still cared for Whyte and didn't want to see him dead because of some half-cocked plan he didn't think through. We sat down at Le Morsel and ordered coffee, really strong coffee.
"I'm sorry I attacked you, I was just so. . ." He paused and I filled in the gap.
"Angry? Outraged? Psycho?"
He smiled at that. "All of the above."
"Look, Whyte, I want to find this Siren and stop her as much as you do, but I won't go into this half-cocked. And you getting drunk in the morning; is as half-cocked and stupid as you get." He looked down, avoiding eye contact, ashamed.
When he didn't reply I continued.
"I understand it's a difficult time of the year with the anniversary of Will's death coming up and everything, but you need to be sharp and ready for anything."
It looked like a light bulb went off in his mind. "She never planned on killing either one of us; she was luring us into a trap, she knew I'd follow her here and find you."
"You're right she must have something bigger planned and I bet it's happening on his anniversary because it's also the anniversary of the day we killed her sister."
We both sat in silence thinking about possible scenarios and ways this could play out. I was fairly sure she was betting on us figuring out her plan, but why? And what was she planning?
"All I know is that something will happen, and we have two days to prepare for it," I said while drinking my coffee.
"Al? I've been trying to reach you for the past few hours." I heard the all too familiar voice of Darren.
I turned around; he was approaching our table. He froze in one place for a few seconds when he saw Whyte but then turned his focus towards me.
"I have some information regarding the case I was consulting on." He said, trying to sound vague.