Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Theo holds up his phone, showing a picture of me standing next to Antonio at last night’s event. We’re in the back of the hall, and my hand is on Antonio’s arm. He scrolls down and shows a video of us sneaking out onto the patio. I’m holding an overflowing plate of food and two drinks.
“This is ridiculous,” I say, shaking my head. “That’s my brother.”
“Nobody knows you have a brother,” Theo throws back.
“Well, nobody knows I don’t,” I say, as if it’s obvious. “So we’ll just tell them.”
“You’re missing the point.” Theo looks at Xavier, expecting backup. “What were you two doing sneaking away like that anyway?”
“Eating food,” I say simply. “Vampires don’t eat, and I wanted to feed Antonio.”
“The goal wasn’t to bring media attention to an Order member,” Theo says.
“Then he should’ve stayed home,” I counter. “I’m sorry, I’m just stuck on the fact that people think I’m sleeping with my brother. No one’s going to take this seriously.” I glance at Xavier. A rumor that his wife is having an affair won’t look good for him, but it’s not out of the question. He’s a highly desirable celebrity in some ways, and now that he’s received an endorsement for mayor, of course people are going to try to dig up dirt on him.
“This blows the Order’s lies right out of the water,” Xavier says, calm as ever. “Clips of Antonio show him alive and well.” He tips his head. “Or undead and well.”
“There goes using his death to our advantage,” Theo says, and I agree. Though I’m not entirely sure what advantage that really gave us beyond surprise. I imagine seeing their “dead” son dressed in a Gucci suit, parading around an event where seats cost five thousand dollars, is the last thing Vivian and Marco would have ever expected.
“Call Dimitri,” Xavier tells Theo. “Have him make the appropriate documents we need for Antonio. The public loves a family affair.” He grins and cups my chin. “Having the support of my wife’s older brother just cements my position.”
“You know this is going to piss the Order off so much,” I say, smiling.
“After your run,” Xavier tells me, “have Mabel take some photos of you with Antonio. I’ll have Victoria run PR on it. Get this taken care of.” He looks at Theo. “This is part of the game, brother. Accusing my wife of having an affair with her own brother is weak. I expected more of my opponents, so we need to be prepared. It would only take moderate work to connect Antonio to Larissa, who is currently sitting behind bars for attempted murder.”
“What’s going to happen when they find out she’s a witch?” Theo asks.
“They won’t,” Xavier says. “There’s no evidence of magic, so let them accuse her and sound crazy.”
His eyes meet mine briefly, acknowledging that he remembers me telling him the cops have body cam footage of me fighting demons with magic. He doesn’t bring it up, and I know he won’t unless it’s absolutely necessary.
I eat breakfast, and then head upstairs. Antonio is still asleep in his room.
“Rise and shine, buttercup,” I say, flicking on the light. He groans and pulls the blanket over his head. “How late were you and Devon playing video games?”
“I don’t know,” he grumbles. “Not having any sunlight really messes with my head.”
“Same,” I say. “I’m still not used to it. But get up. Come workout with me, and then we need to prove to the world we’re not sleeping together.”
Antonio pulls the blanket down just enough to look at me. “Sometimes I think there’s something seriously wrong with you.”
I laugh. “Someone took photos of us together at the event last night and tried to insinuate that we were sneaking around having an affair behind Xavier’s back.” I roll my eyes. “Which makes zero sense, because we came and left as a family.”
“Do I at least look good in these photos?” Antonio asks.
“You’re in a designer suit. Anybody would look good.”
“Speaking of looking good looking…” he starts.
I hold up my hand, stopping him. “You are not hitting on my friends.”
“How did you know I was going to ask about Delphi?”
“Witchcraft,” I say as I leave his room.
Not wanting to wait for him, I go downstairs to the workout room and start lifting weights. For the next hour or so, I lift weights, pushing myself more than I probably should. I’m worried that if I stop moving, if I get too still, my thoughts will take over and I’ll be unable to deny the truth. And the truth is that I am running out of time. Yes, I know how to destroy the key, but we’re no closer to finding it than we were before.
“So how do we prove you’re my sibling and not into some Jamie and Cersei Lannister stuff?” Antonio asks, putting the last weight back and wiping his brow. He finally joined about half an hour ago.