Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
“What?” I say, though I heard Ryder clearly. I’m looking at Antonio with a what the fuck look on my face that’s he’s mirroring right back.
“We’re at a bar in Hickory and I already got him out of one bar, but with everything going on, he’s not thinking straight.”
“Right,” I say, not sure what “everything” is. We have no idea what they’ve been told or not told. “I’m in Charlotte,” I go on, not sure how I can help.
“I know. We’re east of Hickory.”
Antonio nudges me with his elbow and mouths the word location. I nod.
“Okay, um, send me the address and I’ll meet you.”
“I’ll send now,” Ryder says and I put my phone on mute so I can talk to Antonio.
“We wanted to find a way to talk to Leo,” I say, shaking my head.
“Right,” Antonio goes on. “We have to get him.”
“Should I ask what they think happened?” I hold the phone in front of me, going back to the door to get my shoes. “I would like to know what I’m walking into but I also don’t want to give away too much until we have Leo alone.”
“We can trust Ryder.”
“No we can’t,” I snap, staring at Antonio incredulously. “I did that once and you know how things went.”
“This is different. What he did was really shitty, but you haven’t been around him lately.”
“Oh, don’t tell me he’s changed and I should give him a second chance.”
Antonio’s nose wrinkles. “No, I’m definitely not saying that because your husband would drain me in my sleep if I did.”
“That’s the only reason why?”
“I don’t think he deserves another chance with you, but Wren,” he says pointedly, getting me back to what matters. “There are several hunters now questioning the Order. Ryder is one of them.”
I unmute the phone and check my texts. “Got it. Thanks. I’m like half an hour away. Can you manage him for a while longer?”
“Yeah. I was able to convince him to come to this bar just a few minutes ago and he hasn’t had the chance to piss anyone off yet.”
I grab the keys to the G-Wagon and give them to Antonio. Not bothering to tell Devon that we’re leaving because I know he’s been able to hear this entire conversation, we get into the car.
“Why are you guys in Hickory?” I ask once the call connects to Bluetooth.
“We’re trying to find Toni,” Ryder tells us and my stomach flip flops. Shit. “After Gia went missing, everyone was kinda freaking out but then Toni said you used a spell and found her.”
“I did.”
“That’s the last we heard from him. Leo tried calling you, too. We tracked Toni’s last location and were on our way but then Vivian called.”
Antonio and I exchange a glance again.
“What did she say?” I ask, feeling my pulse quicken.
“She said Gia is with her but Xavier turned Antonio into a vampire and now she has to kill him.”
My mouth falls open in disbelief at the over-the-top ridiculousness of the lie.
“Whoa,” I finally croak out, at a loss for words because I want to say what a lying piece of shit Vivian Russo is but I also don’t want to say too much. “Okay. I can see why Leo freaked out, but tell me about Gia. Are you sure she’s safe?”
“Vivian said so.”
“Where are they?”
“Wren…” Ryder starts and I can hear the sounds of the bar getting louder behind him. “You don’t seem concerned about Toni.”
“He’s not a vampire,” I rush out and then close my eyes, wincing at my words but not regretting it at the same time.
“Is he dead?”
I hit mute again and twist in my seat, looking at Antonio. He’s staring straight ahead, eyes on the road as he drives.
“What the fuck,” he mumbles. “Tell him the last you know, I’m alive and well.”
I nod and unmute the call. “I don’t think he is. The last time I saw him, he was alive and well. We took Gia out to eat and then we parted ways. I’m sure he’s fine. And Xavier wouldn’t hurt my brother.”
“Yeah, that might have been believable until like half an hour ago when he blamed what seems like demonic activity on Marcus fucking Henry.”
The thumping base from the music of the bar gets louder, drowning out whatever Ryder said after that.
“Can’t hear you,” I shout. “See you soon!” Then I end the call and flop back against the passenger seat. “I seriously need Post-Its to keep track of all these lies.”
“Gia is safe,” Antonio echoes. “You believe that, right?”
“I do. If not, they’d blame it on me, too.”
“Right.”
“They think I died in the fire,” Antonio says slowly. “Burned up with no body to be recovered.” He glances away from the road for a quick second to look at me. “That’s why they said I’m a vampire.”
“Dead vampires can’t be identified.”
“Exactly.”
We both sit in silence for a while, heads spinning as we try to comprehend just how big this is getting. My phone vibrates and I look down, expecting to see a text from Xavier. It’s Delphi and I remember just now that I promised to fill her in.
Delphi: I just saw the recap of Xavier’s interview. OMG
Me: I know...
Delphi: Are you still there or can I call?
Me: I’m not there but I’m going to get one of my brothers. Can we have lunch tomorrow?
Delphi: Yes! My last patient is at 1PM. Want to meet at Blackbird at 2? Just in case I’m running behind.
Me: Doctors are always running behind LOL
Delphi: I won’t argue against that…
Delphi: Are you okay, though? I’m worried. I’ve never felt tension this high in the pack before.
Me: I’m okay. Don’t worry.
I lower my phone, feeling like I’m lying to my only non-vampire friend. Biting my lip, I watch the remaining time on the GPS lower minute by minute.
“I’ll hang back,” Antonio says when we’re only a few minutes from the bar. “We need to stick with our story to everyone else.”
“Yeah. Do you think he’s going to flip when he sees you?”
Antonio shrugs. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.” He pulls into a gas station. “Ryder, either. I don’t know why he didn’t just clock Leo on the face and take him to a motel to sleep it off.”
“I thought the same,” I confess. Monsters and demons are no problem but his drunk friend is where he calls for backup? It doesn’t really make sense. Antonio gets out of the SUV and I go around, getting in the driver’s side. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“You better.”
I let out a snort of laughter and then reach for my purse. “Here,” I tell Antonio, giving him cash since he doesn’t have his phone or wallet. “Last thing we need is you getting in trouble for loitering or something.”
“Hah. Right. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” I say and close the door. It only takes me a few minutes to get to the bar, and I park in the back of the parking lot.
I slip my bag over my shoulder as I get out, locking the G-Wagon and hurrying inside.
The bar is crowded, and it just then hits me that I don’t even know what day of the week it is.
I show the bouncer my ID and go inside, thinking it might take me a minute to find Leo. I’m wrong, and it’s because he’s trying to pick a fight with two guys dressed in all black. They dressed in what has been dubbed “vampire fashion”, appearing like old-timey vampires from black and white movies.
“Oh, Leo,” I sigh under my breath. Ryder spots me and waves. I lift my hand and press a smile, and then notice a girl standing behind them. I recognize her but can’t recall her name. She’s a hunter as well, and she and Ryder dated briefly before we did.
And now I know why Ryder called me to rush to my brother’s aid. It wasn’t really about me helping Leo because he was drunk and it was unmanageable. Nope. It was so I could see him with a girl. So fucking mature.
“Leo,” I shout, talking over the music. I step in between him and the wanna-be vampires. “Hey. Time to get you out of here.”
“You should listen to your girlfriend,” one of the wanna-be vamps says. “Pretty little thing she is.”
“Shut up,” I say, turning and giving him the side eye. “Unless you want there to be trouble.”
“I’d like to see what kind of trouble we can get into,” he replies and wiggles his eyebrows at me.
“Don’t fucking hit on my sister,” Leo slurs and tries to push past me.
Ryder comes over and puts his hand on Leo’s shoulder, which only makes Leo angry.
It takes a bit of pushing and shoving, but Ryder and I manage to get Leo away from the two guys.
We head toward the back of the bar, thinking it’ll be quicker and easier to go out the employee door and not have to try and weave a very drunk and angry Leo through the crowd of people, who are mostly here to watch a live band, apparently.
There’s a long hall behind the bar, leading into the kitchen, an employee area, and the parking lot. Of course, the door for that is at the very end of the hall, and Leo is becoming combative again.
“Don’t make me cast a sleeping spell on you,” I grunt as I grab Leo’s wrist, wincing from the pain it causes my injured left hand.
Leo mumbles something unintelligible to me, that might be asking about Toni, but I’m not sure. We’re almost to the door when the wanna-be vamps come bursting into the hall. They’re drunk too, and they have no idea how fucking annoyed they’re making me right now.
“You gonna leave before you settle our tab?” one of the guys asks and Leo turns, bringing his hands up.
If my hand wasn’t wrapped in a bandage and hurting like a motherfucker, I wouldn’t have lost my hold.
But I do, and Leo makes an impressively quick getaway considering how drunk he is.
But then he stumbles at the last minute, stopping short to avoid hitting a yellow mop bucket.
He catches himself against the wall and one of the guys goes to punch him square in the jaw.
Neither Ryder nor I are close enough to physically intervene.
Instead, I throw my hand out, telekinetically stopping the guy’s fist from smacking Leo’s face. This time, using power like this comes easily to me. I push the guy’s fist back, and his whole body scoots a few inches. His eyes widen in shock and his buddy stands there, looking confused.
Ryder grabs Leo, pulling him back. Thankfully, Leo doesn’t resist this time.
The guy lowers his hand, looking at his fingers for a moment and then at me.“How the hell did you do that?”
“I’m a Jedi,” I say confidently. “The Rebellion needs me to, uh, bye.”
Summoning more energy, I shove the guy into his friend and they both stumble to the ground. Ryder and I get Leo outside and thankfully right in time for him to bend over and puke into the gravel.
“You deal with that,” I tell Ryder. “I’m going to make sure Leo doesn’t actually have a tab.” I turn on my heel and go around the front, getting a confused look from the bouncer. I’m not dressed for this kind of place, not having had a chance to change out of the dress I wore at the news station.
I close out Leo’s tab, get a trash bag from the bartender, and then go out the front. I’m on my way to the back when someone grabs my shoulder. I whirl around, fingers already curled into fists.
“Tonight is not the night,” I tell one of the guys who were trying to pick a fight with Leo. Whatever he started, I’m going to finish.
“Wait a second, bitch,” the guy who I stopped from punching Leo says, words slurring a bit. His breath reeks like tequila.
“Bitch?” I echo, raising my eyebrows.
“Dude,” his friend says, trying to get him to back off. “She’s a chick.”
“I don’t fucking care,” the guys says and reaches for me, grabbing the neckline of my dress.
He’s quite a bit taller than me, even in my heels, and an untrained woman could easily panic, which is why I’m such an advocate for all women to take a self defense course at least once in their life.
How to break out of a hold like this is a move I’ve practiced a thousand times, and I don’t even blink an eye as I bring one hand up and step in, bringing my elbow down hard on the guy’s arm.
It forces him to break contact immediately, and I whirl around, raising my other arm and using that elbow to bring a blow to his face.
He stumbles back and I drop down, sweeping one leg out and causing him to fall.
I turn to his friend, who just holds his hands up defensively, letting me know he doesn’t want to go up against me.
“Smart,” I tell him, raising my eyebrows. “I'm not in the mood for misogynistic bullshit today. Actually, no one is ever in the mood for it. Get your friend, call an Uber, and go home.”
I hike my purse back up on my arm and turn, hurrying through the uneven pavement to get to Ryder and Leo. We get him in the car and buckle him into the back. I open the trash bag, praying Leo doesn’t puke all over Xavier’s expensive SUV.
“Thanks,” I tell Ryder, closing the door and stepping to the side so I can get into the driver’s seat.
“I’m glad you could get him,” he tells me and looks at the back door. He’s waiting for that girl to join us, I can feel it. And she does, coming out the back. I open the driver’s door.
“Is everything okay?” Ryder asks, and I can’t tell if he’s stalling to buy enough time for me to see him put his arm around that girl or if he’s genuinely concerned. “Something isn’t adding up.”
“There’s a lot going in. If, uh, it’s necessary, we’ll reach out.”
“Hey,” the female hunter says. “Wren, right?”
“Yeah,” I reply, telling myself I’m being stupid for instantly not liking her. I don’t know this woman at all. “Thanks for helping my brother.”
“Of course. Us hunters have to stick together.”
I hold her gaze for a second, trying to decipher if she's referring to just the guys or if she's including me as a hunter as well.
“Yeah,” I say. “I need to get him home.”
“Wren,” Ryder says, catching the door before I get in. “Here’s his phone. I disabled the location settings, but we both know that’s probably not enough.”
“You’re right. Thanks.”
Ryder’s brows push together and the concern on his face is real. “If you get a hold of Toni, let me know. Like I said, something isn’t adding up. Even my parents are questioning things and you know how they are.”
“Yeah. I do. Thank you again, Ryder.” I close the door and look back at Leo before taking off. He's slumped against the window, eyes shut, and is passed out cold by the time I get back to the gas station to get Antonio.
“I’ll drive,” I tell him, wanting the distraction.
“Fuck, he reeks,” Antonio quips, pulling his seatbelt into place. “He better not puke.”
“I thought the same thing.” I plug in the home address into the GPS and let out a sigh. “Ryder is suspicious something is going on,” I tell Antonio.
“See? Told you he’s questioning things. And I know you’re going to hate to hear it, Wren, but when it comes to getting info on your demon…I think we’re going to need his help.”