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)
“I’m not sure what the actual plan is,” I tell him. “Whatever is done will be very carefully thought out because we don’t want the media finding out who you actually are.” I glance at myself in the mirror. “We don’t want them finding out who I actually am either.”
“It was never supposed to be you,” Antonio muses out loud for the second time now. “No one would have batted an eye if Larissa had gone like she was supposed to.” He looks up, spacing out as he thinks. “Mom and Dad were really careful to keep things from us after that night, but I know they got shit from the higher-ups in the Order. And maybe this is me not wanting to deal with the truth, but I just don’t believe they would sacrifice their children for a demon after they fucked up everything saving Larissa.” He gives me a telling look. “She’s definitely not the favorite.”
I laugh, but there’s truth in what he’s saying. I think about that, remembering the desperation in Vivian’s eyes. She didn’t seem torn up at the sight of Antonio’s body. I don’t know how any mother can look at their child’s lifeless eyes and not just break.
Knowing we can’t make sense of it, we cool down, and I go upstairs to shower and get dressed so Mabel can set up some sort of photo shoot or whatever.
“Victoria will be here shortly,” Xavier tells me once I’m out of the shower. Wrapped up in just a towel, I sit on the bench at the foot of our bed. My mind wandered as I stood under the warm water, and I feel like there’s a part of me that is trying to get myself to accept the real possibility that this is it. This is where the game ends for me, and even though I lost, the rest of the world could be seen as the winner because the demon, as powerful as Vaelric, stays in his cage. I can try to rationalize it all I want, but I know in the end, the Order occasionally having a source of power to tap into is truly the lesser of two evils here.
Right?
“Okay,” I tell him and pick up my phone. I open it to the local animal shelter’s Facebook page. “Would you be really mad if I adopted a cat?” I ask, showing him a photo of a senior tabby in need of a home. “I’ve never had a pet because we were moving from job to job. And I’ve always wanted one. Cats just seem fitting since I’m a witch, you know?”
Xavier looks at the phone, and for a moment I think he’s considering it. Then he looks at me. “Stop acting like you have to check things off your bucket list, Wren. You’re not dying.”
“I mean, technically I’m dying every day. Human, remember?” I awkwardly laugh and flip the phone back around, not wanting to be serious right now. “Maybe we should get two cats. And then next summer, if I’m still here, a dog.”
“I will buy you a fucking horse if that’s what you want, but you’re not dying, Wren. And you’re not giving up.”
“I don’t want to die,” I tell him, tears springing to my eyes. All the emotion I was holding back, hidden behind sarcastic, lame jokes, breaks to the surface. “I really don’t. I don’t know how I would die either. I imagine being stripped of my soul would be horrible and painful, and I’m terrified.” My voice breaks, and Xavier sits on the bed next to me, cradling me in his arms.
“I will do whatever it takes to save you. I told you that and I meant it.”
“But how?” I ask. “An entire coven tried to kill Vaelric and couldn’t. The best they could do was trap him.”
“Maybe it takes more than witchcraft to kill a demon like that,” Xavier says, gently pushing my wet hair back. “And you know what you have? You have us—vampires. You have your brothers and that obnoxious ex-boyfriend I would love to get my hands on and sink my teeth into. And you have a werewolf pack that, for some reason, looks at you like you can do no harm. You are far from alone.”
Tears burn in my eyes and for a fleeting moment, I take solace in his words. But then the truth hits me: Xavier‘s right. I’m not alone.
Val has made sure that.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
“Now, to stay ahead of this,” Victoria says, looking up from her iPad screen before tilting it toward me, “I need to know everything. Full transparency is important, okay?”
“Okay,” I agree.
“You and Antonio,” she continues. “Where did you actually meet?”
“He is my brother,” I tell her, thinking maybe she missed something.
“So that’s the story you’re going with?”
I can feel Antonio side-eyeing me.