My Most Precious Human

I was sitting on the floor by my bed, holding the note from JD in my hand. I kept staring at it, processing the situation. He must have been somewhere nearby. He must have been watching me all the time. He must have known my every move, as if there was someone silently following me around. What if he really wanted to kill Jetta? Should I warn her? But warn her against whom...?

I was helpless. I wanted to go to Patrick and tell him about the note, but what if JD or someone working for him was watching me even at that moment? I had to calm down and act reasonably. Going straight to Patrick at that moment would only mark him as the one helping me. That would make the spy working for JD act cautiously around everyone from the Royal Army, and I couldn't risk losing my best chance of finding the spy's true identity. As much as ignoring the threat aimed at Jetta sounded cruel, that was the only thing I could do: act as if I had never received that note.

I got up from the floor, grabbed the black rose, and threw it into the trash bin. I was sick of this situation. I didn't have the slightest clue about who JD might have been. Why would he even want to kill Jetta? Was he trying to "help" me? Why the hell would he do that?

I was restless. I couldn't focus on anything. It took me two hours to pack my backpack, putting only a few basic things inside. I desperately needed to talk to someone, a friend. I felt that I would suffocate if I didn't hear a friendly voice. Before I knew it, I was holding my phone, picking Martha's number. She answered after the first signal as if she expected my call.

Instead of hello, she asked, "You are worried, aren't you?"

"We are leaving at dawn, but the upcoming battle isn't the only thing I am worried about..." I paused, hesitating whether to tell her about my stalker.

"Why? Is Draven bothering you?" She sounded concerned and agitated.

"Yes... but I can handle him," I chuckled.

"If not, I will go there and kick his ass!" she exclaimed confidently.

I laughed. I missed her pugnacity. I could picture her frowning face and sparkling eyes while she said those words.

"Better tell me what is going on in the Palace. I heard about the attacks..." I thought it would be healthier to change the subject.

"We're ok, Lilith. Don't worry about us." Her nervous laughter proved something completely opposite.

"Martha, you are a bad liar. Now tell me what the hell is going on inside the Palace, and don't you dare hide anything from me," I demanded decisively.

She sighed and paused, gathering her thoughts. "The King and most of the Royal Army left this morning to fight the degenerates... I heard that King Sariel received a package with the ripped body pieces of one of his most trusted soldiers. There was a note saying, 'A gift from the New King.' It was all covered in that poor guy's blood..."

"Do you know who it was?" I asked, thinking that I had probably met or heard of most of Sariel's trusted warriors.

"I think his name was Noah Gray," she replied.

I froze. I didn't have a chance to meet him, but he was once assigned to be my bodyguard. I remember when Patrick said that he was a commoner and that he was very skilled. He used to be trained by Leo, just like Patrick was, and now he was killed horribly. Chills ran down my spine when I thought that it could have been Patrick in his place...

"Do they know who wrote the note?" I inquired, still shaken by the fact of Noah's death.

"No... but there were some initials on the note, but that is all I know," she said.

The air hysterically escaped my lungs. My head started to spin. I already knew who wrote that card and who killed Noah, but I couldn't force myself to say it out loud.

"Anyway," Martha continued, "King Sariel left, and as soon as he did, Elora took over the Palace. Prince Kanan moved me to the west building so that I would be as far as possible away from that bitch." "Jeez... Martha, are you sure you are ok?" I was once again struck by guilt for leaving her and Kanan in that awful place.

"Of course we are!" Martha swore agitatedly. "King Sariel granted me and Kanan protection before he left. We have our own bodyguards," she giggled teasingly.

I heaved a sigh of relief. Sariel must have known that Elora wouldn't waste time and use his absence to take control. I was grateful to him for giving my friends protection. At the same time, I was worried about him...

"Martha... do you think that Sariel is going to be ok? I mean... I heard that those degenerates are strong and incredibly bloodthirsty..." Anxiety was clearly audible in my voice.

"Are you kidding me?!" Martha snorted. "You are talking about King Sariel, the most powerful creature walking on this planet!"

Her faith in Sariel allowed me to take another breath into my lungs. I wished I was as convinced as she was. I had a feeling that this so-called "New King" could have matched Sariel's strength. This person challenged Sariel and mocked him, sending him his soldier's corpse. The "New King" had a vicious, terrifying army at his command, and only a fool would think that winning against someone like him would be easy. Nevertheless, talking to Martha helped me regain my composure. I had to keep my head straight, now more than ever. After she reassured me that she and Kanan were well protected, we ended our call, and I decided to go for a walk to put my thoughts in order.

I exhaled, shaking off the weight of restlessness. I was about to walk out the door, but then I saw Patrick standing in the corridor two steps away from my room.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, dumbfounded.

He pressed his finger against my mouth and pushed me back into my room. He walked right after me and closed the door behind him. Then he went to my window and scanned the view outside. After assuring himself that there were no hostile ears to hear us, he gestured at me so I could sit on my bed.

"What's going on?" I muttered. "What's with the secrecy?"

My heart began to race. A million thoughts circled in my head, giving me all kinds of terrifying reasons for why Patrick acted so cautiously. He looked nervous and greatly concerned. He took a chair to sit in front of me and looked into my eyes.

"The one behind the attacks sent a package..." he started, angrily fisting his palms.

"I know..." I placed my hands in his fists to calm him down. "Martha told me... I'm sorry about Noah."

"He was my friend," he squeezed through his teeth. "This bastard slaughtered him..."

I leaned closer to him and stroked his hands. "I'm so sorry, Patrick."

He shook his head, quickly regaining his lost composure.

"He calls himself the New King..." Patrick took a deep breath. "Right now, the war has begun. This fucker attacked one of New Argent City's districts. Degenerates murdered over three thousand innocent humans in less than one hour..."

"Why did he attack humans?! He must have known they didn't have a chance!" I called out, shaking and nearly crying.

"Lilith, this guy doesn't want to become the king of vampires... He wants to be the king of the world!" Patrick exclaimed.

"God..." I covered my mouth with my hand.

"But this isn't why I am here..." He cleared his throat. "There were initials on the note he sent with Noah's body. It was signed, 'JD.'" His words cut me like a knife.

I had known this inside my heart from the moment I'd heard about the initials from Martha, but I tried to deny it. I couldn't accept the fact that I had been receiving notes from a psychopath who couldn't care less about any living creature's life

"That's not all..." I watched Patrick slowly inhale while looking into my eyes. "After the Royal Army crushed the degenerates in New Argent City, they spared a few so they could track them, hoping to find their lair..." He paused again, observing my reaction.

"Patrick... just tell me!" I begged, unable to handle the painful uncertainty any longer.

"Army's intelligence lost their trail before they got back to their base, but... they headed south..."

His words rang inside my head. Processing them was painful. I was already terrified to hear what Patrick was about to say next.

"Lilith... the place where our spies lost the trail, was less than sixty miles from Greystoneville."

Unknowingly, my mouth opened, letting a few words escape my throat, "JD's lair is within the Southern Woods Pack territory..."