Chapter 12
“Shit, sorry,” I say, wincing. Stepping over a pillow, I turn on the bedside lamp. The energy ball is literally a golfball sized circle of crackling raw energy that leaves a nasty burn. It hit him on the bicep, singeing the hem of his t-shirt.
“What the hell was that?”
“An energy ball.” I shrug. “Magic.”
“I would say that’s pretty damn cool if it didn’t hurt so much.”
“Uh, yeah, sorry. Come here.” I usher him inside and close the door behind him. He sits on the bed and I go into the bathroom, getting hit with the smell of burned bay leaf as soon as I open the door. Turning on the cold water, I get a washcloth from the cabinet and wet it.
“Here,” I tell him and gently press the cool rag to his skin. “I thought you were Xavier. He heals,” I add, though even if he didn’t, I still would have burned him.
“Good thing I’m not?” he questions.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“I wanted to check on you.”
“Why?”
“Your mental health is going to impact—”
“Bullshit,” I interrupt before he can go on. “I’m nowhere near ready to carry your child.”
“Fine, I just…” He trails off and shakes his head. “They all left and I thought I’d see how you’re holding up because this is a lot and there’s nothing that can be done to help you accept it.”
I nod, knowing he means since I can’t be held spellbound, there’s no skirting around how fucked up this whole situation is. I’m married to his brother and he’s going to knock me up.
“If they were here would you have come by?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think we’re really supposed to be friends.”
“I see.”
“You’re interesting,” he goes on. “And I want to know how you killed that rack-shash whatever.”
“A rakshasas,” I say with a smile. “I stabbed it through the heart with a consecrated blade. Then we burned the body and threw the bones into a river. It was so hot and we were being kind of too lazy to dig a hole.”
“You said that so casually.”
I let out a snort of laughter. “You live with vampires. Surely you’re no stranger to covering up murder.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Not me personally. I, uh, spent a lot of my life overseas or away at school.”
“Right. You’re being groomed to become one of the Elite Immortals,” I say, mocking. “You really want to be a vampire?”
“It doesn’t seem so bad, does it?” He sweeps his hand out at the room. “Not in this family, at least.”
I just nod and bite my lip, looking at him curiously. “How do you know they’ll make you one?”
He shrugs and winces from the pain it causes the burn. “I guess I don’t. But we don’t really know if anyone keeps any promises.”
“True, and I might be a little bitter right now, but I’m apt to say people in general just suck.”
His face softens. “You had no idea your family made a deal.”
“Nope.” I go into the bathroom and run another washcloth under cold water, swapping it out with the other. A bead of water runs down Devon’s arm and I gently wipe it away. He’s warm. Muscular. And…a nice guy?
No, I refuse to believe it.
“You thought you were getting Larissa.”
“I was supposed to,” he says, looking guilty. “Then I saw you. I’m…I’m sorry.”
“I feel like I should be mad at you, but I would have been given up anyway.”
“Yeah,” he agrees and silence falls over us.
“You’re totally her type,” I say and playfully nudge him. “Larissa, I mean.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Sure.”
“Yeah,” I go on. “She has horrible taste in men.”
“Thanks,” he says dryly and I laugh.
“Really, though…her last boyfriend was this textbook narcissist who took any opportunity to trash-talk his ex-wife/mother of his children.”
“Sounds like a winner,” Devon says and carefully pulls the rag away from his skin to look at the burn. It’s pretty bad.
“Right? We all told her that he was a lying piece of garbage but she believed him when he said his ex was crazy and made everything up.” I roll my eyes, remembering how frustrating it was to watch Larissa defend this asshole to the family.
“Even his kids were scared of him. And I get it—maybe, ya know? Believe him but when his own children say they don’t want to be with Dad because they’re scared he’s going to hurt them like how he used to…
it takes a special kind of stupid to stay with someone after that. ”
“What ended up happening?”
“He got mad and threw a plate at the wall. Leo happened to be on the phone when it happened so let’s just say that man, who is now bald, will never have the range to throw things like he used to.”
“Bones were broken?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“And the baldness?”
I smile. “A simple curse. And I might have made him have lustful dreams about his mother for a few weeks after that, too.”
He lets out a snort of laughter. “You are diabolical and I’m fucking here for it.”
I shrug like it’s no big deal. “What’s the point in being a witch if you can’t curse an abusive narcissist every now and then?”
“It would definitely come in useful.” He looks at me, wanting to say something more, but inhales and gets up.
“I should go and you should sleep. Maybe? You’ll probably have to get used to being up at night.
You’ll be expected to, I don’t know, hang on Xavier’s arm when he’s doing, well, whatever the hell he does. ”
“You don’t know, do you?”
“I am on a need to know basis as a human. Though I do know tonight, he and Theo are meeting with another family who runs a company if you know what I mean.”
“Humans or vampires?”
“Humans. I think they’re eager to spread the news that by marrying a pretty human girl, Xavier Malus is suddenly trustworthy or something.” He shrugs. “Things have changed since vampires have assimilated. I hear them talk,” he adds.
“Right. Because now…now…there are other options than sneaking around, killing people in the middle of the night.”
“Yeah,” he chuckles. “More options to make more money.”
He gets up and starts to walk toward the door. “What else exists?”
“What do you mean?”
“Monsters. You’ve…you’ve seen a lot.”
My head slowly bobs up and down. “Anything and everything. Besides unicorns.”
“That’s a shame.”
“I know. I’ve always wanted one.”
“Xavier will get you a horse if you want one.”
“Really?” I reply a little too quickly.
“Yeah.” He looks at the door, almost as if he’s worried his vampire family is back. “He needs the world to see him as the doting husband. Take advantage of it while you can.”
“Okay,” I say as he slips out into the hall. His words weren’t advice, but instead are a warning.
* * *
“You look lovely, Miss,” Nina tells me when I come into the kitchen. I’m wearing another dress and it’s so impractical but truth be told, I love it.
“Thank you,” I tell her and sit at the large, island counter. I slept surprisingly well, though I was overly tired. The room was the perfect temperature and the bed is so freaking comfy. Not having natural light is weird, and I had no idea what time it was until I saw the microwave clock.
Living without sunlight is going to slowly drive me insane.
“We have a busy day,” she tells me and opens the fridge. “You have a doctor’s appointment in an hour, then we’ll be stopping by the jewelry store to get your ring. Then we’ll come back here for hair and makeup—”
“Hair and makeup?” I interrupt. “For what?”
“Your wedding announcement photoshoot. It’ll be here, in the garden. A reporter from the paper will be coming. Then you’ll be escorting your husband to a VC event so you can be introduced to the council.”
She slides the smoothie in front of me and I take it. “Why do I have to go to the doctor? I’m not sick.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know the details, but I assume it’s to make sure you’re healthy. Your husband takes good care of you.”
She sounds like she’s in a fucking cult, and I feel like I’m a dog going to the vet for my yearly checkup and vaccinations.
There are no medical records to look at from the Order.
I am healthy, thanks to a lifestyle of dedicating myself to training and staying in shape.
I told Devon I have an IUD, which is true, but I was supposed to get it changed for a new one over six months ago.
It might not be effective at all anymore and it’s just a foreign piece of plastic inside my body.
Nina leaves and I sit in the kitchen in silence as I drink my smoothie. Not having a phone is weird. I have nothing to mindlessly scroll through while I sit here and eat. Deciding to explore the house, I down half the smoothie and leave it on the counter.
Mabel is in a formal living room toward the front of the house, sitting at a little round table. There are weird fake lights in the windows here as well. A pretty floral tea set is on the table in front of her, as if she’s having that tea party she spoke of yesterday.
“Florence,” she says with a smile, lighting up her pretty face.
“I had a friend named Florence. Such a pretty name. We were inseparable, the two of us. We always said we’d make it to Hollywood and become actresses.
” She looks like she came right out of a photoshoot, she’s so pretty and poised.
“She did make it to California, but then she married a nasty man with nasty habits. Zeke told me he smelled and tasted quite foul.” Sadness takes over her face.
“I watched from afar as she grew old and died. She never knew what happened to me. I couldn’t even go to her funeral because it was during the day. ”
“I’m…I’m sorry,” I say, realizing she was turned into a vampire against her will. “That had to be really hard.”
She stares off into space for a few seconds and then looks at me, eyes wide.
There’s something missing in her gaze, like her mind has been wiped clean so many times it left a permanent hole in her brain.
“Thank you. Not many people realize how difficult it is to watch everyone you love wither away like wilted flowers left in the windowsill too long. It’s not right, you know, to outlive your children.
” Tears fill her blue eyes and I start to feel sick.
“How many children did you have?” I say each word slowly and carefully.
“Nine.” She gets a faraway look on her face and smiles. “Nine beautiful babies. My three boys were chosen, you know.”
“To become vampires?”
“Yes. Such an honor.” The way she says it is all I need to know that “such an honor” was something magically drilled into her head before she herself was turned. “Two were killed by hunters. Hunters like my daddy.”
I pull my lips around my teeth and fight off the chill that’s threatening to run down my back. If her father was a hunter then that means she was given to the Malus family just like I was. “Were you in the Order?”
“Of course, silly. How else would I have gotten here?”