Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
“Good evening, Xavier,” an older man says as we step through the employee door and into the actual restaurant. To my surprise, it’s much nicer than I expected, resembling an upscale place that would have been too out of my price range before.
“Governor,” Xavier responds with a curt nod. Governor? Is this guy—no, it can’t be. But I think it is. Governor Alan Richards, the Governor of North Carolina, built his campaign on being anti-vampire. He’s the current Governor and I’m pretty sure he’s actively trying to pass a new law that would tax vampires double what humans are taxed. He’s popular amongst the hunters, and I’ve heard young kids chanting his lame, “Keep blood in our veins, not on their table” slogan over and over again. This guy even passed out wooden stakes engraved with his name at last year’s Fourth of July parade.
Yet here he is, getting all chummy with my very dead husband.
“This must be your pretty new bride we’ve heard about,” Governor Richards coos, reaching out to greet me. The guy gave me the ick before, when I only saw him on a screen. It’s ten times worse seeing him in person. “And what a pretty bride she is.” He gives Xavier a playful nudge. “I bet she’s still recovering from the wedding night.”
“Never,” Xavier starts, words cutting through the air like a knife. Governor Richards jerks his head up and in an instant, he’s held spellbound. I’ve never seen it in real time before like this, “disrespect my wife again unless you want me to rip out your tongue and shove it so far up your ass you will cough it out.”
Richards’s eyes are wide and his face mostly void of emotion, but I can see the terror behind his glossy stare, taking in every word that Xavier says.
“I…I’m sorry, Mr. Malus.”
“We just walked in. You have no memory of the last sixty seconds.” He breaks his gaze and extends his hand—the same one he was just pleasuring me with. “Ah, Governor Richards. Let me introduce you to my wife, Florence.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Malus,” Governor Richards says, giving me a curt nod. “Congrats to the both of you. I have to admit the news took us all quite by surprise.”
“We kept our relationship private,” I say without missing a beat. “Our focus was on each other.”
“As it should be!” He claps Xavier on the back and then motions to a table. “Shall we?”
Xavier’s hand lands on the small of my back, gently ushering me to a large round table. There’s no specific or obvious “head spot” at this table, since it’s round, but it becomes clear to me the moment we sit down that Xavier is very much in charge.
“Good evening,” he begins, getting everyone’s attention. I look around, taking it all in as he speaks. Right away, I can spot the humans. Along with the Governor, there’s a police chief—in uniform—two other men in suits, a few vampires who can only be a decade or so old by the energy coming off of them, and three werewolves.
What the fuck?
I feel like this is the butt of a joke somehow, or at least the start to a very bad one. Humans, vampires, and werewolves walk into a bar…
“Let me introduce my wife,” Xavier says, hand landing on mine. A smile automatically comes to my face and I quickly put on the hat of Mrs. Malus, wife to Xavier who is clearly the leader of some sort of powerful—whatever this is. “Florence. She is to have the same respect you give me.”
“Please, call me Wren,” I say and make eye contact with the female werewolf. She narrows her eyes slightly and tips her head up, inhaling.
“You married a witch,” she says, trying to keep the surprise from her voice. Whispers break out amongst the table.
“Now what do you mean by witch?” Governor Richards asks. I can tell already he thinks he’s something special and is going to annoy me more than he already does.
“Go on,” Xavier says, fingers curling around mine. “Show them how magnificent you are.” He’s staring at me like he wants to devour me right here, like he wouldn’t think twice about jumping up, pushing everything off the table and fucking me.
And, holy fuck, I want him to.
Instead, I meet his gaze, hold it for a second and then nod. Lifting my left hand, I pull in energy from the air, creating a little blue energy ball. The humans gasp. Right…witches aren’t “out of the broom closet” yet. Two of the younger vampires look curious while the other is wary.
“I take it there won’t be any problems,” Xavier continues. “If there are, you can talk to me privately after our meeting, though I’m quite certain my wife is more than capable of handling anything that comes her way.”