Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
“I’ve had some long days, but I think this one officially takes the cake.” Leo holds up his cupcake, chuckling at his own little joke. We are sitting in the kitchen, gathered around the rarely used table.
“You’re telling me,” Antonio agrees. “I think the day I died will always be the longest day of my life.” He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms across his chest. “Does count start over? Am I still thirty-two or am I just a couple days old?”
“Nice try,” Leo says. “I don’t think you get off that easy.”
“Since when is dying easy?” Antonio asks and we all laugh.
It’s weird how normal it feels to sit down and decompress after a hunt like this.
Mabel did make cupcakes, but we had Ryan taken back home before they were done.
Worried his girlfriend was going to be hurt by assuming she was stood up, Mabel insisted that Ryan take one of her expensive bracelets she didn’t wear anymore.
She also was able to convince Xavier to write a note saying he needed Ryan to do Top Secret Vampire Stuff with him and that is why he missed dinner.
Whether any of that is believed or not is out of our hands, but at least Mabel tried.
Yawning, I rest my elbows on the table, debating if I should eat a third cupcake or not.
A bit of a heavy silence hangs between Antonio and myself.
He’s not going to tell anybody about the demon voice in my head, but he’s not going to let it go either.
I know I can’t ignore it and hope it goes away, because it won’t.
The best way to block the demon would be with a spell.
I don’t know one, but I’m sure Marie would.
The only problem is I have no idea how to contact her.
“You should go back tomorrow,” Antonio tells Leo. “I expect tears and lots of speeches in my honor.”
“How many people think that he’s a vampire right now?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Leo replies. “But if he was, Mom and Dad wouldn’t want very many people to know. To them, becoming a vampire would be an epic failure on Toni’s part and theirs as well for allowing it.”
“A little insulting,” Devon notes. He’s been sitting at the table with us and has been relatively quiet up until now.
“It’s not,” Mabel tells him, zooming into the room with several stuffed animals in her arms. She sets them up at the table across from me.
“Hunters hunt. If you become the thing you’ve hunted for, you’ve obviously failed.
” She puts a cupcake in front of a stuffed bunny. “You just can’t take it personally.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Devon says.
“We need to talk about Gia,” I say, hating the wave of anxiety that washes over me at the mention of her name. “Do we actually know she’s safe? If you can get me something of hers, I can track her location.”
“We need to come up with a plan once we find her,” Antonio adds. “She’s a smart kid, but she is just a kid. She has to be terrified. Who knows what the hell Mom and Dad have told her or what she saw at the warehouse.”
“Remind me again what exactly happened,” Leo asks, picking up his cupcake wrapper. “I think I was still a little drunk when you explained it all to me. Actually, how did you even find her the first time?”
“Locator spell,” I say, pushing away the knot in my chest when I think about how the one I just tried located some sort of demonic connection most likely inside of me. “Pretty damn accurate when I do it right.”
Antonio and I take turns recounting the story of how we found Gia, smiling when we get to the park where she said if the kid from Home Alone could handle a living and a hotel by himself, she could too.
“Do you think she’s really okay?” I ask. I’m fully aware my brothers have no idea, but I want to be reassured even if it’s a lie.
“Mom and Dad made sure she got out of the warehouse,” Antonio says. “I would think they would continue to make sure she’s safe.”
“I hate to be a Debbie Downer,” Leo interjects. “But you don’t know that it was them who took her out of the warehouse. They left and when Xavier checked, she wasn’t there anymore. But that doesn’t necessarily mean…” He trails off, not wanting to say it.
“Get me something of hers as soon as you can.” I decide to go for that third cupcake. “I can find her and then we have to get her away from Vivian and Marco.”
Silence falls over the table, all of us thinking what we don’t want to have to say out loud.
“Shit,” Leo suddenly says. “I was supposed to visit Liss today. Yesterday? Like I said: it’s been a long day and I’m tired.”
“I can get the other spare room ready for you,” Mabel offers as she pretends to feed her stuffed animals a spoonful of frosting. “It’s not very often that all six bedrooms are full. I like having a full house.”
“Thanks,” Leo tells her and runs his hand through his hair. “I’ll see if I can visit Liss tomorrow.”
“I’ll go with,” I say, and everybody stares at me dubiously. “I mean it. I wanna pay her a visit.”
“That might not be the smartest thing to do right now,” Antonio says, eyes meeting mine just quick enough for me to know he means it’s not a good idea because there’s a demon voice in my head but also because I’m the last person Larissa wants to see.
“We all know that Larissa runs her mouth when she’s angry and seeing me is going to piss her off.
She was really close with those idiot hunters who tried to attack us during dinner.
Dumb and blindly loyal was Marcus Henry’s type.
If they knew something, they might have spilled it to Liss and if she’s angry enough, she might say something she’s not supposed to to try to bait me. ”
“I don’t know,” Leo says, as he thinks out loud. “I think if she knew something, she would have tried to use it to stay out of jail. Throw anyone else under the bus to try and save herself.”
“I suppose you’re right.” I tear the bottom off my cupcake and put it on top of the frosting, making a little sandwich. Taking a big bite, I allow my eyes to fall shut for a few seconds as I chew. I’m physically and mentally tired.
“I’m beat,” Antonio says, as if he can read my mind. “I’m going to go to bed.”
Mabel puts the spoon down. “I’ll show you to the other room,” she tells Leo.
“You don’t have to,” he says, being polite. “I can figure it out, I’m sure.”
“I don’t mind at all. It used to be Wren’s room, but she didn’t pick out all the pink. It was like that before she got here and I haven’t had time to do any redecorating.” Her lips pull up into a smile. “It’s been exciting since Wren got here.”
“Exciting is one way to put it,” Devon notes and I can’t help but chuckle.
“One of these days things are going to be so boring,” I begin, “you’re going to wish I was getting into some sort of trouble just so we have something to do.”
“I’ll believe that day when I see it,” Leo laughs. “When you go looking for monsters, you find them. And when you’ve gone looking for monsters but aren’t currently looking, they find you.”
“Seriously,” I agree. “A few days break would be nice. We could find a beach and do nothing but sit in the sun and drink.” I catch Mabel’s expression and quickly add, “and enjoy the moon over the ocean. It’s magical looking at night.”
“You know, you never had a wedding,” Mabel says and then eyes my brothers. “They just signed the papers here in the house. I’ve always wanted to plan a beach wedding! What about in Mexico? Tulum or Cancun are very predictable but for a reason.”
“Nah, Vegas with an Elvis impersonator is more Wren’s style,” Antonio teases.
“Hah,” I retort. “Italy would be my top choice. But nowhere touristy. In some little village no one but the locals know about. And it would be small. Nothing crazy. No drone-shots.”
“But those make such good reels,” Mabel presses. “It would go viral!”
“You could have a wedding,” I say to her. “Actually, did you?”
Mabel nods. “I’ll show you the photos tomorrow. We’ve been married for over a century now.”
“That’s a long time,” I say with a yawn. Finishing my cupcake, I take a second to be grateful for my training. Being able to have horrible shit happening all around without freaking out is definitely a learned behavior.
I go upstairs, quickly shower, brush my teeth, and get into bed. Xavier comes into the room right as I turn the light off, stripping out of his clothes and getting into bed with me.
“How are you doing?” he asks as he pulls me into his arms.
“I’m okay.”
“Be honest.” His lips brush against my cheek as he talks.
“I’m stressed. Scared I’m going to run out of time, and Toni made a really point that the demon isn’t sending lesser demons here to speed up the process but to try and watch me, figure out my game plan and then be one step ahead.”
“That is a good point,” Xavier says after a moment of consideration. “I won’t let that happen.”
I’m too tired to ask him how. Right now, I just want to believe him. He runs his fingers up and down my arm, relaxing me.
“It’s funny you mentioned historians earlier or I might not have thought to ask him,” Xavier says softly.
“Ask who?”
“David Fuller. A North Carolina historian. He was able to find records about Abigail.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. I didn’t know the name, but the specific cross symbol did belong to the church that used to be that exact location. Abigail Williams was a member of that church and died suspiciously in 1938.”
“What happened to her?”
“They think poison, but back then, they couldn’t be sure. And the only reason they think it was foul play was because in the weeks leading up to her death, several members of the church spoke against her, accusing her of being a witch.”