Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
NOW…
Ibring my hands to my face, fingers still trembling, and close my eyes.
I’m sitting in the ER waiting room, not sure what’s going on.
They just took Devon through a set of double doors and I wasn’t allowed to follow them.
In the back of my mind, I’m sure they’re taking him straight to the OR to get the arrow out of his chest and to stop the bleeding.
But I’m just here. Alone. And vaguely aware that people are staring at me. I am covered in blood, after all.
Something familiar pulls on my heart and I look up as Xavier speeds through the lobby, coming to my side in an instant. A few people in the waiting room gasp, and a mother pulls her crying toddler closer into her lap.
“Wren,” Xavier breathes, and drops to his knees in front of me. He takes my hands in his and looks me over.
“It’s not my blood,” I tell him.
“I know,” he says, able to smell the difference. “Are you hurt at all?”
“No, I’m not,” I assure him, knowing he needs to hear it from my lips in order to believe it. “Mabel?”
“She’s okay. Ezekiel is with her.”
“Good.” I let out a shaky breath, eyes fluttering shut. So much has happened in the last day. Has it only been a day? Was it really just last night I was in Connecticut, finding my family’s graves? It feels like ages ago.
Xavier gently cups my chin and kisses the top of my head. “I need you to tell me what happened.”
I slowly inhale and open my eyes. “With who? Mabel or Devon?”
“I have a feeling they’re connected.”
A wave of anxiety flows through me. “Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t,” he says and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, he means it.
I look into his blue eyes, remembering how things changed between us, too.
It wasn’t just sex—it was a connection on another level.
Xavier opened up and took me in, showed me that he really will choose me over anyone else.
I am his wife and we are family. It didn’t happen in a conventional way at all, but he takes his word seriously.
I know he feels the same things I do.
“I got back to the house,” I start, feeling panic begin to rise in my chest. Xavier moves into the seat next to me, keeping a hold of my hands.
“Wait, before that. On the way, I looked at Mabel’s Instagram and traced back where that photo was taken because the girl was holding a cup that said “We Proudly Serve Starbucks” which means it came from a location that wasn’t a Starbucks but served it, which narrowed it down.
The cup was full, so I made the assumption they were nearby wherever she got the iced coffee.
Then I reverse imaged searched areas around locations that serve Starbucks and found the street they were on. ”
“That’s…that’s really impressive.”
I shrug. “PI work is like half of being a hunter. A good one, at least. And that’s when it hit me that if I could find her location that easily, other hunters could.
And other hunters kinda have it out for me—and my new family.
” Saying those last three words feels natural.
“I had Larissa’s sweater in my box of stuff we took from the compound.
I did a locator spell on her and took the chance that she might be the one who took Mabel. I just…I just had a feeling.”
“You are very intuitive.”
I nod. “I guess. But, um, I was right.”
“Was it only Larissa?” Xavier asks in a level tone.
I swallow hard and look into his eyes. My lips part but before I can get any words out, it hits me that what I say next can influence who lives and dies.
It’s a lot to process in such a short amount of time.
Do I want Larissa to suffer? She’s been nothing but cruel to me my entire life.
I’ve never done anything to her to make me deserve such treatment.
And Mabel? Mabel was innocent. Larissa took the easiest vampire to capture, drugged and tortured her.
And I know as soon as I say the other two names, I’m sentencing them to death. There won’t be stopping Xavier and Theo this time. That’s assuming Ezekiel doesn’t get to them first.
“No. Dale and Randall were there, too. I don’t know who orchestrated the whole thing, but if I had to guess…” I drop my gaze before looking back at Xavier. “It was Larissa. She’s always hated me.”
Xavier just nods, and his ability to control himself is almost haunting at this moment. “And then what happened?”
“Larissa was wearing a hagstone so I had to get it off her. I did and I, um, I…” I shake my head. “I don’t really remember which is weird because it just happened.”
“It’s okay,” Xavier says gently. “Are they still alive?”
I look at him for a few seconds before answering, realizing my words hold their fate.
“They walked out. All three of them.” I take in a ragged breath.
“I promised you wouldn’t kill them. You.
Wouldn’t. Kill. Them,” I repeat each word slowly and the corners of Xavier’s mouth pull up into a smile.
He knows exactly what that means. He’s a man of his word, and by that he will keep mine.
But I never promised Theo or Zeke would abide by it as well.
“I told Devon to stay at home,” I go on.
“As I told you,” Xavier adds and suddenly I’m choked by a sob. If I hadn’t left, would Devon be okay? If I’d stayed home, he would have, too. “It’s not your fault, Wren.”
“How did you—”
“I know you.” He kisses my forehead again. “You put yourself at risk and didn’t listen to me, but you saved Mabel. We went to the wrong location and looked for her among the wrong people.”
“But Devon—”
“Made his own choice,” he presses. “Why was he there?”
“I don’t know.” I sniffle and lean back, realizing I’m thirsty but also nauseous at the same time. “He…he looked terrified. He told me I couldn’t trust them and we needed to leave, like get-out-of-town leave.”
“Trust who?”
My eyes fall shut as it flashes before me. “The Russos. He said he had found something out and whatever it was scared him. But then…then they shot him.”
“Who shot him?”
I clamp my mouth shut knowing I’m about to give another death sentence.
Suddenly, I’m torn as my own morality is questioned.
Ryder has hurt me more than anyone ever has.
He lied to me, wasted a year of my life with his empty promises.
Deep down, he always knew if it came down to picking me or his family, he would have picked them.
Which is his choice to make, sure, but I had asked him from the start to be honest with me.
I brought up the exact situation on our first date and said I didn’t want to go on a second if me being a witch was an issue.
He looked me in the eyes and promised he would never let it be an issue.
But it was.
And then he just walked away like it was nothing, telling me you’ll be fine, as if my broken heart was just a stubbed toe and I could walk off the pain.
Does that mean he deserves to die?
No, it doesn’t. It can’t. For so long, I waited for him to man up and choose me. And he didn’t. Then I wanted him to hurt as much as I did…but not physically.
I think.
Maybe?
“Who, Wren?” Xavier presses.
“If I tell you, can you promise you won’t hurt them?”
“No,” he replies honestly. “I can promise I won’t leave you right now, but you already know: no one hurts my family and gets away with it.” He gently tucks my blood-crusted hair back. “By your lack of eagerness, I can guess it was your brothers.”
“And another hunter,” I say with a nod. “The night Devon came to the house, he pretended to be a vampire. I was the only one who could sense that he wasn’t really one, of course.”
“That explains the wooden arrow.” Xavier continues looking at me, gaze unwavering. “Your brothers knew you were standing next to Devon. You were talking to him when he was shot.”
All I can do is nod and my heart starts racing. I love my brothers and I know they love me, too. I want to believe, on some level, that Larissa cares about me as well, but I don’t think that’s actually true. Not after what she did in that abandoned warehouse.
She would have killed me if I let her.
So, should I let Xavier kill her? She never took being beaten by me lightly. Even losing to me in Uno sent her into a tizzy. My mind flashes to what life would be like without her. Would I miss her? Feel guilty I gave my husband the say-so to kill her? It kind of scares me to think I wouldn’t.
But Leo would be devastated. They’re twins. And Gia—she doesn’t understand how cruel her oldest sister is. She would be heartbroken.
“They thought he was a vampire,” I say with certainty, but then question what I’m about to say next. “And they wanted to save me from, uh, I guess you guys.”
Xavier raises an eyebrow. “Save you?”
“I don’t know. At first, of course, I didn’t want to be here,” I say, meaning here as in the next breeding stock for the Malus family. “But they could see I was happy at dinner that night.”
Xavier’s eyes cloud over. “They kidnapped Mabel. Devon finds out something, and then they shoot him, with the intention of taking you.” Darkness starts to take over and my god, he’s terrifying. “How did you get away?”
I shake my head. “They didn’t try to kidnap me. Antonio helped keep Devon stable and Leo called 911.”
“How helpful after they shot him.”
“It wasn’t them.” My chest tightens and I suddenly can’t take in any air. I’ve lost so much in such a short time, starting with my identity.
“Wren,” Xavier says gently and unzips my jacket so he can put his hand on my chest. “Breathe.”
Feeling his cool skin against me brings instant comfort. He wants to keep pressing me for details but knows I’m about to come undone.
He runs a finger across my collarbone. “I wish I could tell you everything is going to be okay and let you believe it for a little while.”
“Me too,” I agree. Right as my heart starts to settle back into my chest, Theo comes rushing in.
“Where is he?” Theo demands, stopping just inches from us.
“I don’t know,” I reply and start to cry again, tears rolling down my face.
With a dramatic huff, Theo speeds away. Xavier just holds me, and I swear, if his arms weren’t around me, I would be a puddle of tears on the floor.
I have no idea how much time passes before Theo comes back into the waiting room, getting us to follow him through the doors.
Xavier keeps a steady hold of my hand as we move through the hospital, walking past obviously spellbound workers who would have normally stopped us from going into restricted areas.
We come to a stop right outside an operating room. Theo squares his shoulders.
“Well, brother,” he starts. “We don’t have much time.” His eyes meet mine for a half second, glaring at me as if I’m an annoyance. “And we have a decision to make.”