Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
“Oh my God,” I gasp, reading Marie’s text message twice to make sure I’m fully comprehending what I’m seeing.
“What is it?” Mabel asks, speeding over to me.
“Marie got information on the demon.”
I look up, waiting for the other vampires, who no doubt heard what I said, to rush into the room as well.
I’ve been sitting in the parlor with Mabel, half paying attention to the tea party she put together while trying to keep myself distracted. My brothers are in here with us, but they dipped out of the actual tea party before it even started.
“You gonna fill us in?” Antonio asks, putting his phone down beside him on the couch.
“Yeah.” I scroll back up. Marie sent a pretty long paragraph of information along with several photos.
“This type of demon is from a specific sector, and demons from sectors like this often work under a higher-level demon who gives them a little power boost. There’s nothing directly tying it to Vaelric, but it seems pretty plausible they’re working together.
” I scroll farther down. “But the best part…” I flip my phone around and show them an ingredient list. “She sent me the vanquishing potion needed to kill it.
And I have everything on the list except for a silver-pointed iron knife.
“Those are, like, standard Order issue,” Leo says, giving me a dubious look, surprised I would forget something like that.
“Yeah, but we don’t exactly have access to the Order anymore.”
“Ryder does,” Leo says. And for the first time, I don’t react when I hear his name.
“I’ll call him,” Antonio says. “He could be here in a couple hours. How long is it going to take you to make that potion?”
“Not too long.” I go back over the ingredients again.
Marie added a note saying Dennis specifically came up with this potion.
For some reason, that feels like information I want to keep to myself, and I don’t know why.
To make myself feel less guilty about it, I tell myself it’s because I don’t want to take the time to explain who Dennis is.
But deep down, I know that isn’t it. I just want to keep some of the witch stuff between witches.
I don’t think there’s any unspoken rule saying I can’t tell Xavier exactly what I saw at the Covenstead, but keeping a few things to myself makes it feel more like something that belongs to me.
Something that makes me feel like part of a family.
“I’ll help you make the potion,” Mabel tells me. We head into the kitchen. I pull out everything I need while Mabel copies the potion recipe onto one of the blank pages in the Book of Shadows she gave me.
“That’s much easier than constantly having to tap your phone screen,” she says.
Her handwriting is neat, and I stare at the tiny cursive letters sprawled across the page.
For some reason, the sight of it hits me with a wave of emotion I wasn’t expecting.
I’m not used to people coming together for me like this.
Twenty minutes later, the potion is done. We fill several small Tupperware containers with it, and I wrap a few in plastic wrap before tossing them into my purse.
“I should probably invest in some legitimate potion vials,” I say, holding up a salad-dressing-sized Tupperware full of vanquishing potion.
“I feel like this is more stable, though. And leakproof.”
“That is true.” I turn it over in my hand. “This thing isn’t going to shatter if I accidentally drop it.”
“Hey,” Antonio says, coming into the kitchen. “I just talked to Ryder. He’s going to get weapons and meet us downtown tonight. He should be able to get there right around the time the press conference starts, so we can swing by and grab them afterward.”
“Perfect,” I say, ignoring the look Mabel gives me. Having to work with my ex-boyfriend isn’t ideal, but it is what it is. And I’ve been able to put my feelings aside and approach everything rather maturely, if I do say so myself.
“There’s one thing I don’t know,” I say, pouring the remaining potion into a bowl.
“Yeah?” Mabel asks.
“Where to stab the demon. Marie didn’t specify.”
“Start with the heart,” Antonio suggests with a shrug. “If that doesn’t work, between the eyes. If that doesn’t work, just go crazy.”
“That’s kind of what I was thinking too. But if it has a thick enough sternum, that could really dull the tip of the blade.”
“Don’t worry,” Antonio tells me. “We’ll have more than one knife.”
Devon comes into the room. “If anyone else overheard these conversations, they’d think we were all certifiable.”
“Who’s to say we’re not?” I ask.
“Very true.” Devon’s eyes linger on me for just a moment too long. This time, Antonio notices.
“We’re not going to need to cast a locator today, are we?” Devon asks.
“I don’t think so. And I don’t have anything directly connected to this chaos demon to track anyway. But if we’re just looking for general demonic activity, that’s easier to locate.” I lean against the counter.
“That’s how I hunted demons with the Order. It’s how they find dark spots in the world and know where to send hunters.”
“Interesting,” Devon notes.
“Yeah,” I say slowly, shaking my head. Mabel and I clean up the kitchen. Then it’s time for us to start getting ready.
“What do you think?” Mabel steps back, one hand on her hip as she holds the curling iron out in front of her. “Should you wear your hair up or down tonight?”
“Whatever is easiest for you and takes the least amount of time,” I tell her.
I’m wearing a Cinderella-blue midi dress that perfectly matches Xavier’s tie. Mabel picked out jewelry for me, and the necklace I’m wearing is probably worth enough to feed a small village. The Valentino heels on my feet are gorgeous—not practical—but gorgeous.
“Your hair has grown quite a bit since you’ve been here,” Mabel notes as she starts curling it. “I wish mine grew that fast.”
“I haven’t been here that long.” Vampire hair and nails grow much slower than humans’.
The entire biological side of vampirism is fascinatingly confusing.
Once Mabel and I are dressed and ready, we go downstairs and join the guys.
We divide into groups and arrive at the press conference separately. Delphi calls me on the way.
“Hey,” I answer. “Everything good?”
“I guess so,” she replies. “Larkin asked me to use my friendship connection with you to get whatever details I can.” She pauses. “That seemed wrong, so I’m just flat-out telling you exactly what she said.”
“I think I’ve already told you everything I know,” I reply honestly. “But if you want to meet after the press conference, we can. I’m almost there now.”
“Okay. I can meet you there,” she says. “I’m still downtown.
A bunch of us went to grab food after the pack meeting.
” I shift my gaze toward Xavier. I know he wants to get as much information out of Delphi as Larkin wants her to get out of me.
The relationship between the wolves and vampires has been precarious at best for the last century or so, and if it weren’t for Larkin’s questionable yet seemingly blind faith in me, I think things would’ve blown up between them weeks ago.
“Citizens can watch from the hall,” I tell her. “I’ll meet you out front as soon as we’re done.”
“Okay. Sounds good,” she says and we end the call. Xavier and I are dropped off around the back of City Hall. We meet with Governor Richards, and he and Xavier exchange a few quiet words while I hang back, waiting for the rest of the family to arrive.
Everything else flows like normal.
We’re seated off to the side with Governor Richards’s family while Xavier and the governor take their places near the podium, answering questions and speaking to the public.
The nerves along my side prickle, and I sit up straighter, inhaling as a cloud of negative energy fills the air.
“Everything okay?” Antonio asks.
“You don’t feel that?”
“Feel what?”
“Demonic energy.”
We’re seated off to the side but still clearly visible to everyone in the crowd. Xavier is in the center of the stage, talking into the microphone. Governor Richards stands next to him with a practiced look of concern on his face.
I try not to be obvious, but knowing I can sense something means I can’t ignore it. I lean forward, scanning the crowd. Then I let out an audible gasp when I see it.
Chaos demon.