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)
“Was it only Larissa?” Xavier asks in a level tone.
I swallow hard and look into his eyes. My lips part but before I can get any words out, it hits me that what I say next can influence who lives and dies. It’s a lot to process in such a short amount of time. Do I want Larissa to suffer? She’s been nothing but cruel to me my entire life. I’ve never done anything to her to make me deserve such treatment. And Mabel? Mabel was innocent. Larissa took the easiest vampire to capture, drugged and tortured her.
And I know as soon as I say the other two names, I’m sentencing them to death. There won’t be stopping Xavier and Theo this time. That’s assuming Ezekiel doesn’t get to them first.
“No. Dale and Randall were there, too. I don’t know who orchestrated the whole thing, but if I had to guess…” I drop my gaze before looking back at Xavier. “It was Larissa. She’s always hated me.”
Xavier just nods, and his ability to control himself is almost haunting at this moment. “And then what happened?”
“Larissa was wearing a hagstone so I had to get it off her. I did and I, um, I…” I shake my head. “I don’t really remember which is weird because it just happened.”
“It’s okay,” Xavier says gently. “Are they still alive?”
I look at him for a few seconds before answering, realizing my words hold their fate. “They walked out. All three of them.” I take in a ragged breath. “I promised you wouldn’t kill them. You. Wouldn’t. Kill. Them,” I repeat each word slowly and the corners of Xavier’s mouth pull up into a smile. He knows exactly what that means. He’s a man of his word, and by that he will keep mine.
But I never promised Theo or Zeke would abide by it as well.
“I told Devon to stay at home,” I go on.
“As I told you,” Xavier adds and suddenly I’m choked by a sob. If I hadn’t left, would Devon be okay? If I’d stayed home, he would have, too. “It’s not your fault, Wren.”
“How did you—”
“I know you.” He kisses my forehead again. “You put yourself at risk and didn’t listen to me, but you saved Mabel. We went to the wrong location and looked for her among the wrong people.”
“But Devon—”
“Made his own choice,” he presses. “Why was he there?”
“I don’t know.” I sniffle and lean back, realizing I’m thirsty but also nauseous at the same time. “He…he looked terrified. He told me I couldn’t trust them and we needed to leave, like get-out-of-town leave.”
“Trust who?”
My eyes fall shut as it flashes before me. “The Russos. He said he had found something out and whatever it was scared him. But then…then they shot him.”
“Who shot him?”
I clamp my mouth shut knowing I’m about to give another death sentence. Suddenly, I’m torn as my own morality is questioned. Ryder has hurt me more than anyone ever has. He lied to me, wasted a year of my life with his empty promises. Deep down, he always knew if it came down to picking me or his family, he would have picked them. Which is his choice to make, sure, but I had asked him from the start to be honest with me. I brought up the exact situation on our first date and said I didn’t want to go on a second if me being a witch was an issue. He looked me in the eyes and promised he would never let it be an issue.
But it was.
And then he just walked away like it was nothing, telling me you’ll be fine, as if my broken heart was just a stubbed toe and I could walk off the pain.
Does that mean he deserves to die?
No, it doesn’t. It can’t. For so long, I waited for him to man up and choose me. And he didn’t. Then I wanted him to hurt as much as I did…but not physically.
I think.
Maybe?
“Who, Wren?” Xavier presses.
“If I tell you, can you promise you won’t hurt them?”
“No,” he replies honestly. “I can promise I won’t leave you right now, but you already know: no one hurts my family and gets away with it.” He gently tucks my blood-crusted hair back. “By your lack of eagerness, I can guess it was your brothers.”
“And another hunter,” I say with a nod. “The night Devon came to the house, he pretended to be a vampire. I was the only one who could sense that he wasn’t really one, of course.”
“That explains the wooden arrow.” Xavier continues looking at me, gaze unwavering. “Your brothers knew you were standing next to Devon. You were talking to him when he was shot.”
All I can do is nod and my heart starts racing. I love my brothers and I know they love me, too. I want to believe, on some level, that Larissa cares about me as well, but I don’t think that’s actually true. Not after what she did in that abandoned warehouse.