Chapter 27
“You have blood on your face.” Theo inhales, leaning in closer to me.
Mabel and I just got home and are standing in the foyer of the family home.
Theo unnerves me a little bit. Unlike Xavier, he doesn’t seem to have the same restraint and control.
He’s just as old and powerful as his brother, and without a rational side, he’s dangerous and unpredictable. “And it’s not human.”
“It’s demon blood,” I say. “Mabel and I killed some demons tonight.”
“I mostly watched,” Mabel goes on. “Wren was amazing. She knew what type of demons we were dealing with and how to kill them right away.”
“What kind of demons were you dealing with?” Theo asks, looking us up and down. Our clothes are still damp from the sprinklers going off. He’s tall like his brother, but his eyes are more of a sky blue than stormy blue. Still, there is no mistaking the family resemblance between them.
“Succubus.”
“The female counterpart of the incubus,” he says with a little bit of question in his voice.
“Yep. Three of them to be exact.”
Theo cocks an eyebrow. “And how does one kill a succubus?”
“Fire!” Mabel exclaims. “And some sort of knife. I think it was special.”
“It was,” I start to explain. “That particular knife has wood woven into the blade, for lack of a better term. It’s soaked in holy water or a potion, making it kind of like a relic that’s infused with magic.”
“And you just brought it with you?” Theo questions and my heart skips a beat. I don’t want to talk about seeing Vivian and Marco. Not now. Maybe not ever.
“Yeah. She’s a demon hunter,” Mabel lies, not missing a beat. “And it’s a good thing she did because succubus magic works on vampires. They almost got me.”
“What?” Theo asks, even though he heard us loud and clear. “Does Ezekiel know?”
“I haven’t talked to him yet,” Mabel starts and looks around. “Actually, why are you here? No one else is?”
“There was business I had to attend to in the area.”
Now it’s my turn to give him a quizzical stare. “You’re not going to elaborate on that, are you?”
“No,” he says simply. “I am not. It is not a matter of either of your concern.” I don’t need to use magic to be able to sense how annoyed he is that I can’t be held spellbound. “Everything is under control, don’t worry.”
“That’s exactly what someone who doesn’t have things under control would say,” I counter. “I’m quite capable, you know.”
“I’m well aware of the spells you can cast without trying. My brother is growing quite fond of you.” His eyes narrow and I again can read between the lines. He doesn’t like that Xavier trusts me. “Do I even want to know why your clothes are wet?”
“The sprinkler system went off when Wren used magic to incinerate the demon,” Mabel tells him matter of factly. “It was so cool. I wish there were security footage inside the private rooms.”
Theo’s eyes narrow again. He’s lucky vampires can’t get wrinkles with how much he glares. “Are you sure nothing was caught on camera?”
“Yes. This ain't my first rodeo,” I remind him. “Like the other brides you’ve acquired, I came from the Order. But unlike them, I remember everything and I was—and still am—one of the best hunters they’ve ever seen.”
“She really is good,” Mabel goes on. “Ugh, too bad I can’t talk about this on my YouTube channel!”
“You have a channel?” I ask.
“I just started one a few months ago after everyone was begging for more. I’ve gotten brand deals already.”
“That’s so cool,” I tell her, impressed yet again. “You’ll have to show me.”
“I will. You want to redo your room, don’t you?”
“I would love to.”
“I figured that girly-girl vibe wasn’t your thing. We can do a whole redecorate-with-me video, if you’re up for it.”
“Yeah,” I tell her. “That would be fun.”
Theo looks back and forth between us. “I don’t know if I like this.”
“What, that we’re friends?” I ask pointedly. “You want us to hate each other instead?”
Theo just lets out a sigh and shakes his head. “Not my circus, not my monkeys,” he mumbles and walks away.
“Well, we should probably shower and change,” I say. Mabel agrees and we go upstairs to shower and change.
“Are you okay?” Mabel asks when we get to my doorway. “Seeing your adoptive parents had to have rattled you.”
“It did,” I confess. “I thought about what I’d say to them before. But it’s like the words just died in my throat.”
“Betrayal hurts the most when it’s done by someone we thought would love and protect us.”
“Yeah.” I bit my lip and shake my head. “And it’s also the whole identity crisis I’m having along with it. Everything I thought about myself was a lie.”
“Does the name Blackwood mean anything to you?”
“No. If I’m really Florence Blackwood, there has to be a record of me somewhere. It’s just…a mindfuck.”
“If I could jazz the blues away for you, I would.”
“Thanks, Mabel.” I make myself smile. “It was fun going out tonight. Even without the demons.”
“It was fun.” She takes my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “You’re Florence Malus now. My sister-in-law and my friend. You can’t change who you used to be, but you have complete control over who you can become.”
“You’re right. I do. And I…I…I don’t even know.”
“You don’t have to decide tonight, darling.” She beams at me and then tips her head, hearing something I can’t. “The boys are home!”
“I should get in the shower then,” I tell her and hurry into my room, closing the door behind me. I get in the shower and close my eyes, tipping my head up to the warm water. I don’t know if I’m feeling some of the effects of the succubus or not, but Xavier flashes through my mind.
His face. His hands. His body.
The way he’s serious and refined. Controlled chaos wrapped in the body of a deadly killer.
And—fuck—the way he made me come so hard his hand was soaked when he was done.
I’ve only had an orgasm that intense a few times in my life, and he did it like it was nothing.
He played my body like an instrument made just for him, stroking and touching me as if he already knew exactly what I wanted and needed.
Having him pleasure me with just his hand was an appetizer and I’m suddenly starving and craving a full course.
Pulling the shower head from the hook, I turn the temperature up a bit and adjust the water pressure.
I test it against my inner thigh first and then spray the water right between my legs.
I whimper softly when the hot water rushes over my clit, sending a wave of pleasure through me.
I don’t hold back when I imagine Xavier’s face sinking between my thighs.
His tongue wouldn’t be hot like this, but I just know he would make me come so hard, riding his face like my life depends on it.
Moving my wrist back and forth, I hold the shower head closer to me, breathing faster and faster until I come, pussy spasming and suddenly too sensitive to have the water blasting me anymore.
I hook the shower head back into place and lower myself on to the ground, panting and enjoying the way little pulses of pleasure zip through me.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I slowly get up and go about washing myself.
I had an orgasm and should feel some sort of relief, but I just feel more frustrated and wound up.
Because no amount of self pleasure is going to replace the feeling of a man on top of me, rocking my whole body as he thrusts in, cock filling every single inch of me.
I get out of the shower, towel dry my hair, brush my teeth, and then get dressed in gray silk PJs. I get into bed and brush my wet hair. It’s late, though I shouldn’t be this tired.
“The fire,” I whisper to myself. I knew the spell for fire starting, but I’ve never conjured a fire like that before.
It makes sense for the Order to keep my powers in check by simply not letting me use them to their full potential.
Along with realizing my family could still very well be out there, it’s hard not to wonder what life would be like if I was not just still with my biological parents, but allowed to be raised in a coven half the year before returning to the Order.
Maybe being a hunter is just so ingrained in me that I can’t imagine life any other way. I don’t want to ever be in a position where I can’t defend myself, and knowing that demons exist gives me a leg-up on the whole live or die sort of thing.
I turn off the light and lay down, hardly able to keep my eyes open. Doing magic can be draining, and using a new type of power takes a lot out of you. That much, I know. Magic is energy, and I used mine up.
“If you’re real, Blackwood fam, send me a sign,” I whisper before I fall asleep.
I have a weird dream about being left in the forest when I was just a baby.
My parents were swept away by some sort of shadow monster, and Larissa came walking through and spotted me.
She looks just like she does now, and she calls someone over, wrinkling her nose as she points at me.
Ryder appears next to her, and she hooks her arm through his and laughs, like she’s trying to make Baby-Wren jealous that she got the guy and I didn’t.
I wake with a start, stomach icky from that dream.
I should be so over Ryder the mention of his name does nothing to me, but the hurt just runs so deep.
Not knowing how long I’ve been asleep, I go to tap the screen of my phone and hit something else instead. It’s large and covered in a black, cracked leather. Flicking on the light, I grab a piece of paper that’s folded on top of the book.
Wren-
My friend just dropped this off. She said to do the locator spell in the first quarter of the book. It’s always worked for her!
Your BFF,
Mabel
I flip through the book, missing the spell at first. Seeing it on my second go around, I know exactly what Mabel was talking about. Swinging my legs over the bed, I grip the book tight against my chest.
I’m going to find my parents.