Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
I get dressed in workout clothes, needing to move my body in order to feel better. But before I go out of the room, I pause in front of the bathroom mirror and look at the bite on my neck. There aren’t two nice little neat puncture wounds like before. No, my flesh has been torn, like a rabid dog bite. This could have been very bad given all the veins and arteries in my neck. Devon’s fangs got me closer to the base of my neck, and he didn’t sink them in very deep before Xavier pulled him off. Still, the wound is gross and bruised. I’ve had worse, but covering this thing up is going to be a bitch.
My phone has been plugged in to charge and is on the dresser near the door, which I hadn’t noticed before. It’s almost four PM and knowing I only have a few hours of daylight left means I better hurry and–well… I don’t know. I need to come up with a plan before I can execute it.
“Wren!” Mabel says, coming out of her room as soon as I step into the hall. Fake, bright light pours down on us from the large windows in the two-story foyer. “You’re up!”
“Yeah. How are you doing?”
“Great! We’re all going out tonight. It’s our first big family outing in a while!”
“Oh,” I say and start downstairs. Mabel follows. “The summit?”
“Yes. And I think we should all dress in various shades of blue tonight.” She zooms in front of me and looks at the wound on my neck. “And I have just the thing to cover this up.”
“It’s a little warm for a turtleneck.”
She laughs. “And you have way too nice of a body to cover up like that or an event like this. I have a dress that comes with a scarf, but it’s a scarf that hangs behind your shoulders.”
“Oh, I think I know what you mean. They’re fancy.”
Her head moves up and down, excitedly. “It’s dark blue and will look stunning on you! I can do your hair and makeup.”
“I would appreciate that a lot. I’m going to get a quick workout in first.”
“Okay.” She claps her hands together. “I’m going to pick out everyone else’s dresses!”
“Are these meetings usually fancy?” I ask.
“Not really, but there’s no harm in being overdressed. And we always look nice.”
“I can see that,” I say, since Xavier and Theo are always wearing designer suits.
“I never really thanked you,” Mabel starts coming down the stairs with me. “Not just for saving my life, but for everything.”
“Of course, Mabel.”
“Really.” She puts her hand on my shoulder when we get down to the landing. “No one other than Zeke has cared that much. You fought your sister. And she said some pretty awful things.”
“You heard that?”
She makes a face. “I did and I should have told you before, but you had a lot going on.”
“I still do,” I say with a laugh. “You’re my friend.”
Mabel’s eyes fill with tears. “You’re mine too. And knowing we have each other, it’s like we can handle anything. From demons in a nightclub to evil stepsisters.”
I laugh. “That’s one way to describe her.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” I say and start my way to the kitchen to get a pre-workout snack.
“How did you not crumble from the things she said?”
“First of all, it’s nothing new. Larissa has a love-hate relationship with me, though I’m thinking it’s more hate-hate. But everyone has something that can break them. And you can either wear that like armor or like a scab that can be slowly picked away until you’re left standing there bleeding and in pain.”
“I should post that on TikTok.” She pulls out her phone and types in a note, fingers moving with vampire speed. “What scab did you turn into armor?”
“I’m a witch. I’m different. Unclean and unholy in the eyes of the Order. And I realized long ago that I could either let their words hurt me and believe them to be true or I could find it inside to believe that they are wrong. And they are.”
“They are so wrong. There ain’t no other like you. You’re my best Jane.”
Assuming that’s an old-timey way of saying best friend, I take her hand and give it a squeeze. “Ride or die, right?”
“More riding and no dying, right?”
We both laugh and keep talking while I get something small to eat. Mabel runs through outfit ideas that will cover up the bite on my neck, and I think we’ve decided on a different dress—for now. Then I go downstairs, crank up the music on my AirPods and start working out. I run three miles, do a leg workout, and have moved on to arms when Xavier appears in the threshold of the workout room.
“You are magnificent,” he tells me, tipping his head as he looks me over.