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)
“Why are we here?” I ask.
“Vampire business,” Theo replies, looking smug, as he’s trying to annoy me right now.
“I’ll find out one way or another.”
He shrugs. “I’m sure you will. My brother seems to be blurring the lines with you even more and sometimes you just have to step back, watch someone make a mess, and then say I told you so before helping clean it up.”
“You sound like you need to get laid.” I pat his arm. “I’m sure there are a few fangers in there who would jump at the chance to get railed by a vampire as old as you.”
He just snarls at me and I chuckle. “Well, if you’re not going to tell me what’s going on, I have some of my own questions to ask,” I tell Theo and take a step toward the doors leading out of the little hall.
Theo grabs my arm. “Questions about what?”
“That’s for me to know,” I say, repeating his own words back to him.
“Real mature,” he huffs.
“Thank you. And since I have nothing to hide, I’ll tell you. There’s been a lot of weird deaths amongst the homeless. The official cause of death is written as an overdose, but they didn’t die from drugs. They died from demonic possession, where their bodies rapidly aged and essentially rotted from the inside out.”
“What do vampires have to do with that?”
“Probably nothing, but come on, we know that homeless or otherwise forgotten people are easy to feed on. I just want to know if anyone has seen anything off.”
Theo cocks an eyebrow. “You raise a valid point, but no vampire is going to willingly talk to a witch about that.”
“Well, I can try. Or you can tell me what’s going on here.”
He lets out an annoyed sigh. “There’s a group of new vampires wanting to protest against assimilation.”
“And that’s bad?”
“For business.”
“Oh,” I say as it dawns on me that Xavier keeps the peace in this area and vampires going against the VC also go against him. “They’re here?”
“Their leader manages this place.”
“Good to know.”
Theo’s eyes narrow as he looks at me. “You have been privy to some very sensitive information.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I say, trying to downplay it. He doesn’t have to say it for me to get the subtle threat.
“I trust you’ll keep this to yourself.”
“Of course,” I say, looking right into his eyes. And I do know…but I also know that if there’s any chance of getting accepted back into the Order, it would be by offering up something they need. Like insider information on how the Malus family operates.
CHAPTER 36
“What the hell?” Devon looks up from the couch, taking in the sight of us. Xavier and I are splattered with blood. Theo looks properly annoyed, and is being a tad overdramatic if you ask me.
“It’s not my blood,” I tell him. “I don’t know if that makes it better or worse.”
“Come, brother,” Theo tells Xavier, eyes flitting to me for a moment. He says something in another language and I catch Devon’s gaze. He shrugs, letting me know he has no idea what is being said either. They go through the house and I hear the office door slam.
“What the hell?” Devon repeats. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I learned you can kill a vampire by ripping out its heart.”
“Oh. You didn’t know that?”
I shake my head and take my heels off. “No. I’m well versed in all other monsters but the Order kept us away from vamps, remember?”
“Yeah. Makes sense. And I probably know more than I should, having grown up with them.” Devon puts his phone down and gets up. “You have a chunk of something in your hair.”
“Ew.” I wrinkle my nose and go to reach for it then stop myself. I’ll be getting in the shower soon.
“This isn’t normal, you know,” Devon goes on. “Coming home covered in blood.”
I shrug. “It kinda is for me. Former hunter, remember?”
“Oh, right. Well, I don’t want to come home covered in blood.”
“Eventually, I think it’ll come with the territory,” I add, ruefully. Devon holds my gaze and I can feel what he wants to say. Just say it. Tell me being turned isn’t what you want.
But he doesn’t, so I go upstairs to shower. Ryder’s face flashes before my eyes when I turn on the water. Seeing him again gave me the initial shock as it always does, but now…now I don’t really feel much at all. I do think he loved me in his own way, but he lied to me from day one when I very specifically asked him if me being a witch was going to be an issue for us to have a relationship.
Maybe he didn’t think it would matter as much. Maybe he really did believe his parents would be okay with it. Not happy, but okay. And maybe he thought he’d be able to have more courage than he was able to muster up.