Chapter 32
I would know that voice anywhere and still I turn, needing visual confirmation that what I’m hearing is really what I’m seeing. Because, what the actual hell?
Gia comes running to me as soon as she sees me and throws her arms around me. Xavier still has his hand on mine and gives it a squeeze before I pull my hand back to hug my sister.
“What…what are you doing here?” I ask her, pulling her close to me.
“Ryder said he saw you pull into the parking lot of Maria Elena’s and we just had to come see if it was true or not.”
I look beyond her and see Leo and Antonio, standing sheepishly in the doorway. Their eyes meet mine and then they look at the man I’m sitting next to. Unlike the waitress, they know right away that Xavier is a vampire.
I lean back, taking Gia’s hands in mine. “I missed you, too,” I tell her. “I just saw your text.”
“I was wondering why you didn’t reply,” she says with the same amount of sass as usual. “You always text me back and Mom still won’t let me get a phone. It’s so lame. All my friends have phones.” She turns, noticing Xavier. “Who is this?”
“This,” I start, looking at him. “This is Xavier Malus. My husband.”
“You got married?” Gia’s eyes go wide and she looks at me blinking, waiting for me to laugh and tell her I’m joking.
“Yep. We didn’t have a wedding though, so don’t worry that you missed out on any planning.”
“Good because I would have been mad. You said I could plan the whole thing.”
I laugh, fighting back emotion that’s biting at the corners of my eyes. Gia and I would sometimes sit at night and look at my Pinterest boards. She had one too, and it was full of “normal things” she wanted in life but were too scared to tell Vivian and Marco.
It’s so fucked up.
“This is Gia,” I tell Xavier.
He holds out her hand to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Gia.”
“Your skin is cold,” Gia replies when she takes his hand. Both my brothers come over, not liking that Gia is talking to a vampire. But what did they expect? They knew my situation and it’s not like I’d come back home to Asheville just to go to my favorite restaurant on my own.
“I take it this is Leo and Antonio,” Xavier says, standing up and buttoning his suit jacket as he gets to his feet.
I didn’t even notice that he had undone the button when he sat down.
“I am Xavier Malus. Your new brother in law.” If he were still sitting, I’d kick him under the table. “Please, join us.”
“We were…we…” Antonio starts and looks at me, face pleading for me to tell him that he shouldn’t be here.
“Can we?” Gia asks, already taking a seat next to me. “I miss Wren and no one has told me what’s going on, but she will and it’s really suss no one will talk about it and come on, guys, she’s freaking married.”
Xavier laughs. “What do you want to know?”
“Are you really a vampire?” she asks him, leaving Leo and Antonio sputtering. The girl was raised in the Order and knows about monsters. It may have given her a bit of false confidence, thinking her family can beat and kill anything that comes across her path.
“I am,” Xavier answers.
“How old are you?”
“Around seven hundred years old. Well, I’ve been undead for that long, I should say.”
“Wow.” Gia blinks rapidly and shakes her head. “That’s so weird. Can I see your fangs?”
Xavier draws his fangs and opens his mouth for Gia to see. There’s something about the way he’s interacting with her that is making me feel all stupid and mushy inside. He’s not treating her like some dumb kid, but instead knows how much she means to me.
“Oh, hi,” the waitress says, coming back to the table. “Are you joining them?”
“I don’t know, are you?” I ask pointedly and cross my arms over my chest. Is it fair to be mad at my brothers? After seeing how little they tried to contact me and make things right, all I’m feeling right now is a whole lot of rage.
“Yes,” Antonio replies, trying to regain his composure. He’s the oldest of us Russo siblings, though it feels wrong to even consider myself one anymore. “As long as you don’t mind us crashing your date night.”
“Not at all,” Xavier answers for me. “I’m quite curious to know about the people who supposedly considered themselves Wren’s family.”
“Okay, I’ll get more water,” the waitress says and hurries away.
Leo pulls a chair away from a table next to us and joins in, sitting at the end of the table. Antonio takes the seat next to Xavier, and I almost want to laugh at how hard he’s trying to act like he’s not bothered.
He’s right to be cautious. Xavier is old. Powerful. And clearly becoming possessive of me.
“I’m sorry,” I start, pushing the bowl of chips into the center of the table again. “Why are you here?”
“It’s not every day a fancy-ass G-wagon comes driving down this way,” Leo starts, trying to cover up for the fact that Ryder is the one who outed me. “And you’re kind of known around here.” He looks at Xavier. “Wren is a good hunter. Can kill just about anything.”
“I’m well aware,” he replies, looking back at me with a half-smirk. “She’s quite skilled in many areas and the fact that she has the ability and know-how to stake me in my sleep is not lost on me. Rather, I find it quite exhilarating to have finally met my match.”
He’s trying to provoke my brothers, but his words land as a compliment for me somehow.
“When someone said they thought they saw you, we, uh, wanted to come see for ourselves,” Leo finishes.
“I’m glad you did,” I say automatically. “Because there’s been some weird demon activity in Charlotte and I need to know if you’ve heard about it.”
Leo blinks and looks from me to Antonio, surprised I’m just getting right to business. Really, what other choice do I have? Nothing they say is going to change how I feel and undo the betrayal.
“In Charlotte? No.”
“What kind of demon activity?” Antonio asks.
“Possession. Bodies being used and dumped. All homeless people.”
Gia lets out a sigh. “Can we not talk about business? I want to know why Wren got married.”
“I do, too,” Antonio quips, leaning back and crossing his arms.
Xavier reaches out and takes my hand, bringing it to his lips. “When you know you know.”
I roll my eyes but laugh, fully aware everyone at the table—including Xavier—knows that there is some truth to us having feelings for each other. Or at least there is on my end.
“Where the Order sees danger in what they don’t understand,” Xavier starts.
“I see power. You just said how strong Wren is. With her on my side, we can be unstoppable. Make sure you tell Mom and Dad thanks for backing out of the original deal at the last minute.” He kisses the back of my hand and looks at me when he talks.
“Anyone who has met Wren and doesn’t see how exquisite she is in every way is a fool. ”
“Awww, okay, that’s kind of sweet,” Gia says, thankfully not picking up on everything that’s not said.
My heart starts to beat a little faster and tension is filling the air.
The waitress comes back with waters and gives Leo, Antonio, and Gia a menu to look over.
She remembers Leo, of course, and has always been a little flirty with him, not realizing he bats for the other team.
“Anyway, have you heard anything?” I ask, picking another chip and dipping it in salsa.
“No,” Antonio replies. “You’re sure?”
“Yep. I have the M.E. reports and everything. There were thirteen demon deaths ruled as overdoses in the last week.”
“That many would have gotten noticed by the Order,” Leo starts, brows furrowing.
“Yeah, for sure.” I curl my teeth over my lips, debating on bringing up that I saw Vivian and Marco at the nightclub. Were they in the city because of the succubus? Or were they there to look into the demon deaths and catch wind of the other demons too?
Only Mabel knows what really happened in the club, and she kept it from Theo for a reason. Maybe I should keep it quiet too…for now.
“Hang on.” He pulls out his phone and fires off a text. “I’ll let you know if I hear back.”
“Thanks,” I tell him and he puts his phone down, face up so he can wait for a text. Awkward silence fills the table, and if it weren’t for the music and the chatter of people around us, you could hear a pin drop.
“So, kill anything interesting lately?” I ask.
“Who are you asking, me or him?” Antonio deadpans and Xavier laughs.
“I like him,” he tells me. “I believe she was asking you.”
“We handled a few scrapper demons in Houston not too long ago,” Antonio tells me. “You would have enjoyed it.”
“They are fun to kill,” I agree. “They’re called scrapper demons because they often follow along behind a bigger, more powerful demon and eat the leftovers,” I explain, not sure if Xavier knew.
The waitress comes back and takes the rest of the orders and we go back to sitting in silence again.
A few rapid-fire texts from Larissa pop up on Leo’s phone.
When he ignores them, she calls. And when he silences her call, she calls Antonio.
“You should answer,” I say. “She’ll keep calling until you do.”
Antonio gives me a look and then gets up to answer the phone, going toward the front of the restaurant so he can go outside and talk in peace.
“Let me see your ring.” Gia holds out her hand. “Holy shit.”
“Don’t swear,” Leo and I tell her at the same time.
Gia eyes Xavier. “You have good taste. What’s the clarity on this thing?”
“I would only put a flawless diamond on my wife’s hand,” he replies.
“Do you, like, bite her?”
“That’s enough questions,” Leo tells Gia.
She rolls her eyes at him. “I’ve never seen a vampire before in real life! Only on TV.”
“Am I living up to your expectations?” Xavier asks her and I find myself smiling at him.
“I guess. You just seem normal,” she replies with a shrug. “Like a person almost.”
“I’m not a person,” he tells her, echoing what he has just told me. “Not anymore. I was killed a long time ago.”
“Killed?” She wrinkles her nose and looks at me, confused.