Chapter 21
“Wren!” I turn, smile on my face, knowing that voice belongs to Leo. Larissa is behind him, eyes narrowed, looking pissed off before she even crosses the street. Leo hurries over and throws his arms around me.
“It’s good to see you,” he tells me.
“You, too.”
“We…we had no idea what was happening,” he starts, in typical Leo fashion. “If we’d known…”
“Well, you didn’t,” I say and take a breath, looking around. No vampires are going to be spying on me, but I wouldn’t put it past Xavier to have humans stationed all over town just to keep an eye on things—including me.
But the general understanding we’ve come to seems genuine.
I can’t explain it, and it’s along the same lines as the gut feelings I have that I was trying to explain to Xavier just last night.
It’s more than a feeling…it’s almost like a memory of something that hasn’t happened yet.
Going against it feels wrong, like I’m changing what’s supposed to happen.
It doesn’t make sense, but sometimes I really don’t think you should question what feels right.
“What the hell is going on?” Antonio asks.
“She’s clearly wasted no time getting hitched,” Larissa says as she comes to a stop just a foot from me. Reaching out, she grabs my left hand and shakes her head as she looks at the huge rock on my finger.
“It’s not like I had a choice,” I snap.
“You’re actually married to that vampire?” Antonio asks.
“Duh, we saw the announcement in the paper,” Larissa hisses. “And it’s not lost on us that you had us meet here, in the same place your gross photos were taken.”
“Wait, the photos were published already?” I ask, quickly shaking my head.
I’m not surprised Xavier was able to have something run in the papers that quickly, but then again, I am.
Because it usually takes a while to get photos edited.
Or so I’ve heard from the TikTok videos I’ve seen about photographers showing all the work they put into their pictures.
“You didn’t know?” Leo asks and looks back and forth between Larissa and Antonio. “Are you okay there, Wren? Like…we should take you with us and run.”
“No,” Larissa and I say at the same time.
“I’m actually fine. Xavier isn’t as bad as I thought.”
“He’s a vampire,” Antonio reminds me.
“I know. I’m learning how that family functions,” I rush out without really thinking. It feels like an instant betrayal.
“You could get intel.”
“Yeah,” I say and the feeling of guilt grows. “Um…it’s interesting, that’s for sure.”
“We’ve been warned to stay away from the Malus family,” Leo starts, “which means they’re bad.”
“That’s not the reason we’ve stayed away.
” I swallow and cross my arms over my chest. “A long time ago, the Order and the Malus family made a deal to leave each other alone as long as the Order gives them a healthy female every twenty-five years. The Order agreed and has provided them with medical records and everything so they can pick the best one.”
“Why would they want that?” Larissa asks, face paling a bit. Right. It was supposed to be her.
“I don’t know,” I say and then start to feel bad for lying to my siblings. But who can I trust? “I do know they’ve never had a witch before. I can’t be held spellbound…and…and…I just don’t know.”
“Okay, but why marry him?”
“The world doesn’t know I’m a witch,” I start and then regret that it’s so ingrained in my head to excuse what I am.
“A vampire-human marriage looks good publicly. Xavier and Theo Malus are pretty involved in the VC.” That info is at least public knowledge and all I feel comfortable offering up right now.
It’s weird how quickly your life can be turned upside down and even weirder how fast the people you’ve considered family can feel unsafe.
Once their true colors come out and you realize they only acted in ways that are self-serving…
everything changes. I used to feel safe around my family.
I used to think they loved me—actually loved me—but now I see they only cared about what I could do for them.
And that’s not love. Parents can be just as toxic as anyone and all it will take is a few words to make all the walls come crumbling down for my siblings too.
I have to believe they had no idea what Vivian and Marco did, and I don’t know what will happen once they find out that I wasn’t saved but kidnapped so the Order could do experiments with my blood.
“You’re really okay?” Antonio presses, not believing me.
“Physically, I’m fine,” I start. “Mentally, hah…that’s another issue.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying for years,” Larissa quips, and her snotty comeback makes me smile.
“You know, I almost missed you,” I say, tipping my head to the side a bit to look at my sister. On some level, I used to think she cared about me. But after seeing how quickly she traded places, I’m not sure. The worst part is how she knows I would never do that to her. “How’s Gia? She’s not here?”
“No, she’s at home.” Leo frowns and shakes his head. “She’s really upset. Doesn’t understand what’s going on and we don’t know what to tell her.”
“I would start with the truth,” I say. “All these lies…they’re tangled and confusing and—”
“What lies?” Larissa asks.
“Well, for starters, the one where our parents knew there was a really good chance you were going to be taken by vampires,” I say pointedly. “I wasn’t part of the plan.”
Larissa just shakes her head and looks away. “Mom already talked to me about it.”
“What did she say?”
“Hardly anything,” Leo says for her. “It was a similar line to what you were told, but with this being the only way the vampires would leave the Order and the public alone.”
I cock an eyebrow. “So the Order is trying to spin this as a peace offering? Since when do they negotiate with terrorists?”
“That’s what I said!” Antonio exclaims. “Something is off.”
“Something is.” I bite my lip and inhale.
“I think there’s a lot more than we know about.
But I don’t know what we can do about it.
” I have to tread lightly here. I’m only recently starting to see the truth and it’s still a tough pill to swallow—and that’s considering the fact that I’ve always been an outsider to the Order.
Antonio, Leo, and Larissa are Order golden children and have Stockholm-syndrome-like loyalty to them.
“What the hell happened last night?” Leo asks. “We saw the video clips online.”
“Am I in them?” I ask, unable to help myself.
Leo narrows his eyes, confused. “How are you living under a rock?”
“I don’t have a phone or internet.”
“Fuck,” he swears. “You’re a prisoner.”
There’s no logical way to disagree with him because I am a prisoner. Shit, maybe I’m getting Stockholm syndrome, too. “I just need to remind Xavier to give mine back. It’s only been a few days. Right?” I close my eyes as I move my head back and forth. “I don’t even know.”
“Here,” Antonio says and gives me his phone. I open up TikTok and do a quick search. The incident is trending, along with several hashtags alluding to wanting to be bitten by Xavier. He does look good in a suit.
The first video I watch was recorded from someone across the room.
It was one of the young vamps and a human of the same “living age” recording a trending dance together.
They stopped dancing and flipped the camera around when the hunter grabs the woman from behind.
In just seconds, Xavier and I are inside and he pulls the hunter off.
There are a few more videos from people who started filming from there, and the comments are mostly full of thirsty women—and a few men—talking about how they want Xavier’s hands around them the same way.
A small thrill goes through me when I see a handful of comments saying how lucky the new Mrs. Malus is to get to “hit that” every night.
Little do they know my brother-in-law is also supposed to hit that as well.
“So fess up,” Larissa says.
“Fess up to what?” Antonio asks her as I hand him back the phone.
“To what happened last night,” she goes on.
“You want to know what they did in the bedroom?” Leo makes a face. “Fuck, Liss.”
“No,” she scoffs. “The last thing I want to know is what the little vamp-tramp was up to with her monster husband.”
“Hey,” I interject. “You don’t have to be such a bitch.”
“Oh, I’m a bitch?” She raises her hands and looks at our brothers as if expecting them to defend her.
“You are being a bitch,” Leo says almost apologetically. “And that’s crossing a line, sis.”
“I meant,” Larissa starts again, saying each word slowly.
“Fess up to that stunt last night. Those hunters, who are missing, are good hunters. They wouldn’t have pulled something like that if they weren’t ordered to.
And there are no official orders telling them to pose as vampires and attack a human. ”
“Why in the world would I tell hunters who have never liked me, I might add, to try and start a bloodbath at an event I was at?” My eyes widen as I stare at her. “That makes no sense.”
“Exactly, it makes no sense,” she insists.
“Whatever those hunters were up to is between them,” I say. “It was a dumb idea because, no matter what, people would have figured out they weren’t vampires.”
“Unless the purpose was just to get the bad press,” Leo says, thinking aloud. “One vampire attacking a human at an event that’s supposed to promote how well humans and vamps can coexist kinda proves that we can’t coexist.”
“We shouldn’t have to,” Larissa spits. “They’re monsters.”
“Look,” Antonio says, using his oldest-brother voice. “Arguing over what should and shouldn’t be acceptable in the world isn’t going to get us anywhere. Those hunters will answer to the Order for doing something stupid. The issue here is making sure Wren is okay and trying to figure something out.”
“I could run away,” I say, making a big effort not to mess with the GPS tracking bracelet I’m wearing so my siblings don’t notice.
“I could use magic to get out of the house. But then what?” The words tumble out of my mouth.
“The Order will be pissed, and I can’t imagine Xavier will just let it go.
Where would I go? The Order has hunters everywhere. ”
Silence falls over us and Antonio just shakes his head. “I-I don’t know, Wren. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “It will be okay.”
“Your workout clothes cost more than all three of our outfits combined,” Larissa presses. “I think you’re fine.”
“Yeah, I’m married to a vampire millionaire. Or maybe even a billionaire. I don’t know.”
“Do you get half if you file for divorce?” Leo tries to joke and I half-smile. Suddenly, I get hit with emotion. I love my brothers and Gia so much. And I even care about Larissa, as much of a bitch as she can be.
The Order didn’t make an arrangement for the Russos to give up the witch they’ve been running experiments on. They deviated from the plan, and violating anything the Order says has consequences. It always does. It’s only a matter of time before this catches up to them.
“I should go,” I say. “Before anyone notices us talking.”
“We’re heading out on a job soon,” Antonio tells me. “Keep in touch any way you can.”
“I’m glad this worked.”
“Me, too.” Antonio’s hand lands on my shoulder. “Be careful, Wren.”
“Hey, can I ask you something?” I rush out before everyone takes off.
“Sure.”
“You were like, what, five, when your parents brought me home?”
“Yeah,” he replies. “Why?”
“You don’t remember anything…weird, do you? Like there was no chance they knew I’d have powers?”
He shrugs. “I can’t recall anyone saying anything. You were a baby and until you, we thought witches had to pledge to Satan or something.”
I just nod, as another revelation hits me: the Order is one hundred percent aware that witches are born with their powers. They know we’re not evil people who sold our souls. Because if that were the case, they wouldn’t have taken a baby.
No…they took me as a baby so they could raise me exactly how they wanted.
“And it was a shock to everyone when it was revealed I had powers?”
“Yeah,” he goes on. “But Mom was happy. She was proud.” He smiles. “What’s this all about?”
I shake my head. “Just thinking about the past, I guess, with everything that’s going on.”
“Makes sense.”
We give each other hugs goodbye and Larissa and Leo cross the street first. Antonio goes a few feet and then stops and hurries back.
“I shouldn’t share this, because it’s classified and I wasn’t even supposed to know,” he begins.
“Now you have to tell me.”
“I overheard Mom and Dad talking to some of the higher-ups about the drug problem here in Charlotte.”
“Oh, yeah. I remember seeing something about fentanyl on the rise. I’m not going to do drugs, if you’re worried.”
“Hah. No. It’s just that there’s a new supplier and they’re bringing in twice as much and it’s some strong shit. People are dropping dead.”
I look at him, still not sure how any of this is relevant.
“There’s also been a weird increase of deaths among the homeless, but not all drug-related.” He takes a breath and looks across the street at the twins, who are waiting for him to come over. “The cops are worried about a new drug war starting.”
“Oh,” I repeat. “I’m sorry, I’m not following. It’s sad, but what are we supposed to do about it?”
“Just be careful. These new suppliers…rumor on the streets is that they’re vampires.”