Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
Iwatch a bead of condensation roll down the outside of the plastic cup. It’s freezing inside this Starbucks; I don’t know why I ordered an iced coffee. I’ve yet to take a drink either and I think if I did, I might throw up.
“Are you all right?” the lady at the table next to me asks and I reach up, thinking I still have blood on my face.
“Yeah,” I reply and force a smile, pushing my shoulders back. “Long night. I’m a travel nurse and had my first shift.”
“My niece does that.” She smiles back. “It’s tough work. God bless you, honey.”
“Thanks.” I inhale, reminding myself to keep my expression neutral.
It’s what I’ve been trained to do. But can you blame a girl?
In the last few days, I found out my parents were murdered, I was kidnapped, who I thought was my found-family betrayed me, and my sister tried to kill me after she tortured my best friend.
And that’s on top of watching Devon get shot.
Now I’m sitting here with the letter from the Order in front of me, counting down the minutes until I need to go home. I don’t know why I don’t want to be there for the transformation. The process won’t take long at all, but it’s not me totally avoiding it.
I know what a letter like this from the Order means.
Sliding the coffee to the middle of the table, I pick up the envelope and open it.
All that’s written on it is an address followed by the words one hour.
It’s been nearly an hour already since I was given this.
Pulling my phone from my bag, I plug in the address.
It’s for a cafe, and it’s a six-minute walk from here. I bite my lip, thinking.
This could be a trap. I could be punished somehow for what the vampires did. The Order is a big blood for blood rule follower, though giving me an invitation like this is hardly the way they’d go about it.
Still, I know the risks. Yet something inside of me is telling me to go. I take a picture of the invite so it’s saved in the Cloud—just in case. Then I take a big drink of my coffee, use the bathroom, and head out.
The sun is just now starting to creep up, shining down on what should be a beautiful day. It’s the last week of May, and the weather is ideal for spring. Birds chirp and runners pass me by as I hurry toward the cafe.
There aren’t many people here, despite it being open twenty-four hours a day.
I look around, not seeing anyone out of the ordinary until I get to the last table when I spot him: Marcus Henry.
I almost don’t recognize him. He’s aged a lot since I saw him a few years ago, but he has the same smug arrogance about him that he did back then.
God, I want to fucking punch that smug look right off his face.
His face is turned down, reading a paper. He’s sitting alone, but the higher-ups in the Order are never truly alone.
“Guessing you’re here for me,” I say as I come over to the table.
Marcus looks up, gray eyes widening as I approach.
“Florence Russo.”
“Malus. It’s Florence Malus now. But before that, I was Florence Blackwood.” I take a seat in the booth across from him, watching just the slightest bit of panic flicker across his face. Was I not supposed to know my past? Oops. Too bad, motherfucker. I know everything. “What do you want?”
“Hello to you too, Mrs. Malus.” He holds out his hand and I cross my arms, raising my eyebrows. I’m not shaking his hand. “Fine,” he says with a heavy sigh. “I’ll cut to the chase.”
“I’m on the edge of my seat.” I stare Marcus right in the eyes and take in a slow breath. Sitting here, staring at Marcus fucking Henry, reminds me who I am: a hunter. I fight the bad guys, but in this case, they’re not demons. “What do you want?”
“I want to talk to you, Florence.”
“Then this could have been an email.”
Marcus laughs. “I heard you were quite the spitfire, and I like that, kid.”
“Great. That makes two of us.”
The waitress brings Marcus a piece of pie and a coffee. “Want anything, honey?” she asks.
“I do,” I start, looking sad. “But Grandpa says I’m chubby.”
The waitress gasps and looks at Marcus, who awkwardly laughs. “What a jokester, this one. Have whatever you like.”
“Hot water with lemon then,” I say and look down. “I don’t want to spend another night in the basement if the scale goes up.”
“Shame on you,” the waitress hisses at Marcus as she walks away.
“Happy with yourself?” Marcus chides.
“Yeah. I am.” I let out a sigh. “Now I’m getting bored. Pray tell, what was so important to talk about?”
He takes a bite of pie and leans back. “I want to talk about you.”
I just roll my eyes and shrug. “Okay. I mean, I am awesome.”
“You’ve been through a lot, Wren, in the last few weeks. We’ve been informed of everything along the way.”
“Great. I should start a vlog and save you the leg work.”
Ignoring me, he goes on. “And I’m aware you are one of the best hunters we’ve seen in a very long time.”
“Because I’m a witch.”
“Because you are good.” He pauses and looks at me, as if he’s waiting for me to thank him. “You are skilled. Talented. And yes, having magic gives you an advantage we mere humans don’t have.”
I continue to stare, aware of the tricks he’s trying. Insult himself, compliment me. He can keep trying. It’s not going to work.
“We’ve watched you, Wren,” he goes on. “You should have risen through the ranks, not been held back in fear. A promotion to a higher position inside the Order would have made the others think twice before they chastised you for being who you were born to be.”
“Well, I’m not in the Order anymore, so it doesn’t matter.”
“But you could be again. That’s why I’m here, Florence.”
I raise an eyebrow, arms crossed over my chest. “What do you mean?”
“We can get you out of this whole mess,” he says and takes another slow bite of his pie. “Get you away from the Malus vampires and send you home.”
“Home?” My heart picks up speed, and if Xavier were here, he would notice. Marcus, thankfully, can only see what I want him to see.
He picks up his phone from the table and shows me a photo of a woman who, for a half second, I think is me.
“This is your biological second-cousin. She married a British man and currently lives in Manchester. The Order has a chapter in the area. We can help you fake your death here, a death so convincing even the vampires will believe it, and then offer protection after you get settled in the UK.”
The Order has the resources to make anyone disappear, and I’ve heard of them slowly taking blood until there’s enough to dump around a fake crime scene to make it look like someone lost too much blood to survive. If it’s my blood, vampires would be able to smell it.
But I don’t believe Marcus, not for a fucking second. Besides, he’s not offering this out of the kindness of his heart.
“What do you want in return?” I lean forward, putting my hands on the table as energy crackles between my fingers. Marcus tenses and then looks around, afraid someone is going to see.
“I want to know everything there is to know about the Malus vampires. You’ve been on the inside. If we work together, we can stop them, once and for all.”
“Stop them from what?” My brows furrow and I shake my head.
“Don’t play dumb with me here, Florence. The Malus family is very connected and has a lot of control over not just this city but many others.”
“Right, the whole mafia thing.” I wave my hand in the air, intentionally sending a spark of energy out from my fingers. “All I know are the same rumors you’ve heard.”
Marcus’s eyes narrow and the fake charm disappears from his face. “I’m offering you a chance to get out of a burning building, Florence. If the flames don’t get you, the smoke will.”
“I guess that’s a chance I’m going to take. I’m not accepting your deal.”
“Think about this. Think about who’s side you’re on.”
“Oh, I am thinking and I know exactly where I stand. My side. I’m looking out for my own best interest from now on because you certainly aren’t.”
Marcus’s face darkens, letting me know he really thought it would be that easy. He could waltz in here and offer me some bullshit arrangement, making me betray the only people who have been honest with me.
“If you do this, everyone will hail you the hero you and I both know you are.”
“And if I don’t?” I shrug and shake my head. “I don’t care.”
“You do, and you and I both know how much you’ve wanted to be anything other than the villain in the eyes of the Order.
Get out of the burning building, Florence.
Before you go down with it. We can smooth this all over.
Say you had no choice in rescuing the vampires.
You hurt humans. You stood back and allowed your vampire husband to murder innocent people.
This kind of stuff gets around. What will your little sister, Gia, think when she knows you attacked Larissa in order to save a killer-vampire? You’ll always be the villain.”
I take in a slow breath, staring down Marcus.
“Maybe I am the villain. But you’re the coward who started the fire and left me to burn.
I did what was necessary to escape and if that makes me the bad guy, then so be it.
” Shaking my head, I get up. “Now, if you excuse me, I have to go tell my husband how one of the Order council members just tried to bribe me into betraying him.”
The stunned look on Marcus’s face is worth it as I march out of there, but I know if I share this information with Xavier, there’s no way I can stop him from going to war.