Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
“Devon,” I try again, this time summoning a bigger ball of energy.
The lights flicker and Devon squeezes me tighter, making it hard to breathe.
Then, suddenly, he’s pulled back and his fingernails scrape against my arms, tearing my skin.
Xavier pushes him back with one arm and Devon comes back at me, like a hungry dog desperate for the last slab of meat.
Xavier turns, puts both hands on Devon’s head, and snaps his neck.
Horrified, I watch Devon’s eyes roll back and his body collapses to the floor.
“Wren.” Xavier rushes back to me, putting his fingers over the bite wounds on my neck. I wince from the pain, realizing that my skin is torn and tender. Xavier has drunk from me and of course it hurt to have his fangs puncture my flesh, but it wasn’t like this.
“I’m okay,” I rush out and let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t…I forgot…”
“It’s okay,” Xavier says and cradles me against him. I inhale and let myself melt against him, feeling safe wrapped in his one-armed embrace. “Is Devon okay?”
“He’s isn’t dead,” Xavier explains. “It’ll take a few minutes for him to heal.”
“What the hell is going on?” Theo appears at the top of the stairs, eyes narrowing as he looks at me.
“He, um, he bit me,” I say, thinking it’s fucking obvious.
“You provoked him?”
“Excuse me?” My brows go up and I pull away from Xavier. “I knew you were an asshole but I didn’t take you for a what-was-she-wearing kind of asshole.”
“Get her under control,” Theo tells Xavier through gritted teeth.
“Tread carefully, brother,” Xavier warns.
“Or what? You’ll snap my neck too?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Xavier says back and turns to me, carefully pulling his fingers off the bite. He brings them to his mouth and licks the blood off. “You shouldn’t be around him. Not yet,” Xavier tells me. “The scent of magic can be intoxicating even to more disciplined vampires.”
“I didn’t think about it.”
“Clearly,” Theo huffs.
“It will take Devon a while to learn the restraint we all have,” Xavier goes on, ignoring his brother.
“He’ll be fun at the summit tonight.” Theo leans against the wall, crossing his arms and looking bored on purpose.
“Summit?” I ask.
Theo raises his eyebrows. “May I suggest you don’t bring the human,” he tells Xavier.
Xavier draws his fangs. “The human is my wife.”
“I fear, brother, you may have forgotten where your loyalties lie.”
“Enough.”
Theo pushes off the wall. “What can she contribute to this family? The arrangement is off now that Devon is a vampire. She’s nothing more than a magical risk and—”
In the blink of an eye, Xavier is in front of Theo. He snaps his neck and lets out an irritated sigh as Theo’s body thuds to the ground. I take a step back, eyes wide.
Holy shit.
“What’s the summit?” I repeat, unable to tear my eyes away from Theo and Devon on the ground. Xavier is back to me, fingers going to my chin. He gently tips my head to the side, looking at the bite with a frown on his face.
“The VC has called a summit for all the vampires in the area, as there’s been resistance to assimilation.”
“Those younger vampires,” I say simply and Xavier nods. “What happened when you guys went there last night?”
“I’ll just say we weren’t greeted with the warmest welcome, which is a problem I will address.”
My head bobs up and down and I look at Xavier.
He’s wearing a three-piece suit, looking like a 1940s gangster.
There’s a smear of my blood on his white button up shirt, making him appear all the more dangerous.
Now that I know he can force anyone he’s turned to do anything—even just temporarily—he should scare me.
He’s even more powerful than I ever imagined, and yet, here I am, bleeding in front of him, not worried at all that he would hurt me.
“Does it hurt?” He pushes my hair back and looks at the wound on my neck.
“Yes,” I reply honestly.
He steps in, hips brushing against mine and puts his mouth to my neck, licking the fresh blood that’s on my neck. My eyes flutter closed and despite the pain around my torn skin, his tongue against me feels good. My hands go to his waist, fingers pressing into him.
“Let me take care of you,” he whispers, pulling his mouth back. His lips brush against my ear as he talks, sending a wave of desire through me. On some level, I know it’s wrong. Theo and Devon are on the floor, necks snapped but slowly healing.
My brothers and ex-boyfriend shot and in some way killed Devon.
Larissa and company kidnapped and drugged Mabel.
Yet here I am, putty in Xavier’s hands, wanting to relent to his expert touch and feel nothing but pleasure while the outside world slips out of memory.
In a graceful movement, he scoops me up and steps over Devon, who’s starting to slowly move and groan by now.
Xavier carries me down the hall and into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
He sets me on the edge of the bed and goes into the bathroom, returning a minute later with a warm, damp washcloth.
I tip my head to the side and let him carefully clean the blood from my neck.
It dripped down to my collarbone and onto the neck of my shirt.
He slowly pulls my shirt up and over my head.
I raise my arms, helping him strip me from my clothes.
His eyes linger as he looks me over, and I can sense the growing hunger coming from deep within him.
Moving with vampire speed, he gets up and rinses the washcloth, zooming back over to continue wiping the blood off.
He’s so careful, so gentle. So patient. The version of Xavier I see is different from how the rest of the world sees him.
A smile plays on my lips as the thought crosses my mind that I’m like the main character in a horse movie and Xavier is the wild and dangerous horse everyone warns her to stay away from.
Yet for some reason, I know I can trust him and he’ll let me ride him, and in this case riding means something different.
It doesn’t change the fact that Xavier is dangerous. Physically, he can overpower just about anyone and anything. He can command humans to do his bidding and force anyone he’s turned to obey him as well. The police are in his pocket, along with more humans than I’m aware of, I’m sure.
And he made Devon disappear on paper in hours—all while turning him into a vampire.
“Thank you,” I tell him when he wipes the last bit of blood off.
“Of course, mi reina. You should rest.” He takes my shoes off, unlacing them one by one and setting them on the floor next to the bed. I scoot back, moving into the center of his large bed, eyes locked on his.
“Rest,” he repeats, almost as if he’s reminding himself that I need to rest but he moves over top of me, body hovering over mine.
My lips part and I bring my hand up, fingers playing with a button on his vest. He lowers his forehead, resting it against mine, and closes his eyes.
I bring my legs up, curling them around his waist. He relaxes against me, and feeling the weight of his body on mine is so fucking comforting.
My eyes flutter closed, and I am actually exhausted.
I need to sleep and then get up and process everything that’s happened since we landed in Connecticut.
As good as I am at suppressing emotions and bad memories, I know they can come back to haunt you later, and that’s not something I can afford.
Being a hunter—a good one at least—means being in control of yourself at all times.
And leaving trauma buried is a surefire way to find yourself in trouble later.
Xavier kisses my forehead and then moves down, taking my pants off. He takes a folded blanket from the foot of the bed and covers me up with it.
“Stay with me,” I whisper, extending my hand. He takes off his vest and untucks his shirt and lays down, getting under the covers with me. His large body spoon around mine, making me feel safe. No one would dare touch me with my vampire guard dog next to me.
Xavier brings one hand up, sweeping his fingers up and down my arm. “Mmmmhhh,” I softly moan. “That feels so good.”
I let out a breath, further relaxing against Xavier.
My husband.
It’s still so fucking weird to say, even quietly in my head to myself.
Right as I’m about to drift to sleep, a thought enters my mind that causes my eyes to fly open.
Marcus Henry didn’t offer me a deal to help me out or even to get insider info on the Malus Family.
The Order would have tried to take them down years ago if they were able to.
No…Marcus wants me out of the way because whatever Devon found out is bad enough to bring down the Order.