Chapter 13
“You were a hunter?” I echo, sinking down into the chair across from her.
“Back then, girls didn’t hunt. We cleaned the weapons. Tended the house. Made sure a big welcome dinner was ready when our hunters returned.” She blinks and looks at me as if she’s seeing me for the first time. “You’ve killed a lot of monsters.”
“I have.”
“Would you like some tea?”
“Uh, sure.”
She picks up an empty teapot and “pours” me a cup of tea, the same way Gia would when we’d play pretend. I pick up my empty cup and pretend to take a drink. Mabel beams. “Thanks,” I tell her. “This is good.”
“It’s my favorite,” she goes on and picks up her own empty teacup. “Gladys Wright brought back the leaves all the way from England! She told me she had tea with the Queen but I don’t believe her. She’s always been such a busybody and makes things up.”
“She sounds like she would. But it’s probably just to impress you. I totally can see her being jealous.” I look behind me, seeing if I can sense anyone. I can’t, and really, I just don’t give a shit. “How many others were turned?”
“Other mothers?” She laughs and puts her hands up to her eyes. “Other Mother. Have you seen that movie?”
“Actually, yeah. Coraline is one of my favorites.”
“I don’t know,” she says, answering my original question. “I don’t think very many.”
I lean in. “Did you want to become a vampire?”
Her perfectly lined lips pull into a smile. “Have you ever been in love?”
“Yeah, I have.”
Her smile turns into a frown and her brows furrow. “It’s the best worst feeling. Or the worst best feeling. Isn’t it?”
“That’s actually a really accurate way to describe being in love.”
“Zeke fell in love with me,” she starts.
“With my wit, my charm.” She looks out the fake window and the smile starts to come back to her face.
“He liked how I cared for each of my children and was devoted to the family. And he protected me. Made sure I was safe and okay and happy.” Her gaze turns to mine.
“He did everything in his power to make me happy. Even though I was just a human. He knew I had hopes and dreams outside having babies.”
She reaches out and puts her hand on mine. I’m almost startled by her cool skin since she seems so damn human right now. Maybe vampires have more humanity in them than I thought.
“You have to remember, back then, there wasn’t much more for us girls.”
“Right, you were born in the early 1900s?”
“Yes. Our love developed slowly, but they say that’s the best kind, right?
Friendship on fire or some Instagramable quote like that?
” She laughs. “When it came time to…to…retire…neither of us could bear the thought of having to live without the other. It would have been worse for Zeke. His forever without me was really forever.”
“So he turned you?”
“Xavier did,” she tells me with a shake of her head. “His blood runs through my veins, and I am his progeny.”
“I knew he was a controlling dick.”
Mabel laughs again and picks up her empty tea cup, taking a fake sip.
“They didn’t speak for nearly a decade because of it, but I told them it didn’t matter.
I was one of them, and that’s all we wanted.
True, honest love is so rare. If you’re lucky enough to find it, you better not be stupid enough to let it slip through your fingers. ”
“What happens if you do?”
“You better hope you can fix it. Because watching the person who loved you unconditionally move on without you is a fate worse than death.”
Suddenly, unwelcome tears bite at the corners of my eyes and my throat tightens with emotion. I clench my jaw and look away, trying to force the pain to go away.
“Were you taken away from someone you love?” she asks, voice barely louder than a whisper.
“Um, I, uh,” I sniff and wipe my eyes, my heart hurting so much I don’t know how much longer I can bear it. “I mean, I was given up pretty freely by my family, but, um, was thinking of my last boyfriend. I really loved him.”
“What happened?”
“He was a hunter, and hunters don’t like witches. But he told me it was okay and he knew me—the real me—and he said he loved every part of me. We wanted to get married.”
“Awww, darling.” She pats my hand. “Go on.”
“He never told his parents we were dating, but after like a year, it was time so we could, ya know, do the whole marriage and living together thing. His dad told him if you’re talking to her I won’t talk to you. He made him choose me or them. He chose them.”
Mabel leans away with a gasp. “What a weak, pathetic man!”
“Right?” I let out another breath and nod. “I agree with you. He is weak and pathetic. You know, he always called himself a wildcard. Said he did what he wanted and wasn’t tied down by rules.” I roll my eyes. “I said something kinda mean when he folded.”
“Ohhh, tell me.”
My lips curve into a smile. “I looked him right in the eyes and said you’re not a wildcard, you’re an Uno Reverse card because you go back on everything you promise.”
Mabel laughs. “I love that!”
“It felt good. But so did he. I really thought I’d found the right one. I loved him so much.”
“He wasn’t the right partner. He felt right because you loved hard, not because he loved you well.”
“Damn,” I say, eyes widening. “That’s…that’s true. I was an amazing girlfriend and he…he kept me a secret and kept telling me not to worry and that someday we’ll be able to be seen together in public after he tells his family.”
“Again: pathetic. A real man would never let anyone stand in the way of true love. I haven’t even met this man—no, this boy—and I pity him. Because only someone deeply wounded would confuse approval with love.”
“I said the same thing!”
She picks up my hand, putting it between both of hers. “We’re alike, you and I. You really are the cat’s pajamas, Wren.”
“You’re pretty cool, too.”
Her smile grows. “I’ve always wanted a girlfriend. The others, they…they didn’t remember much. I like that Devon picked a witch.”
A witch.
It’s the second time now a member of the Malus family has called me a witch in a way that’s a compliment. I’m not used to it. At all.
Gasping, she lets go of my hands and gets up. “You know what we’re going to do tonight?”
“What are we going to do?”
“Post thirst traps!”
My brows go up. Mable is such a curious mix of century-old charm, a dash of delusion, and modern times. “Okay. Where are we posting them?”
“Instagram. I’ll tag you.” She leans against the wall and poses.
“Then your loser ex will see it. I can just feel it in the air. He misses you. He knows you’re a catch and maybe we should just move on and leave him in the crusty-musty-dust, but we’re only girls.
It’s fun to poke the bear and get revenge every now and then, isn’t it? ”
She zooms over to me using vampire speed and pushes my hair back. I should be alarmed, or at the very least, aware that she could rip my throat out in just seconds. Yet for some reason, I trust Mabel more than I trust most human men.
Which isn’t saying much, I know.
“I can just see it,” she goes on. “You’ll be in a dress, looking all bearcat and we’ll caption it: Sad day to be my ex.”
“Think you could help me film a ‘get ready with me’ video?”
“Uhh, yeah. I can def can do that.”
The floor creaks behind me and I turn, seeing Zeke standing in the threshold of the parlor. He’s holding a steaming mug of blood. Gross.
“Darling, it’s time to eat,” he says and holds up the mug.
“I’m not hungry,” Mabel tells him and sits back at her spot at the table. “I’m full from my tea.”
“You need something with more substance, doll.” There’s concern on his face, and now that I think about it, Mabel only took one or two sips of blood from her teacup last night.
Fuck, this is so weird.
“Well,” I start and take another pretend drink of tea. “I have a busy day, so I should get going. Thank you for the tea, it was delicious. And I’m excited for tonight.”
“We’re going to have so much fun!” Mabel pretends to pour herself more tea, though I don’t know if she actually knows there’s no tea in the pot. Something scrambled her brain, and I’m sure it had everything to do with being held spellbound so many times and then being turned into a vampire.
“We are!” I look from her to Zeke and smile sweetly.
He’s shocked, not surprisingly, of course.
If he loves Mabel the way she said he does, then he wouldn’t let anything come between her and the friend she finally made after longing for one.
I walk out of the room telling myself that it’s smart to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
But deep down, I get this unsettling feeling that I’m going to have a really hard time treating Mabel as an enemy.