Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
“Involved how?” I ask, sitting up straighter.
“I’m not sure yet. Two of the men who overdosed were recent recruits.”
“Holy shit. Are you positive?”
“The names match. Physical descriptions and ages match. They look ratchet in the photos, but yeah. These were guys I had lunch with not that long ago.”
“How long ago?”
“Maybe two or three days before you were taken. Three guys came to the Zodiac with Santiago. He asked me to join and tell them how great the Order is.”
“Gross,” I huff quietly. “Yeah, the Order is so great you’ll get possessed by demons and then—wait—you said three guys.”
“Abbot is the third guy,” he tells me. “I don’t know his last name. He’s not dead, or at least his body hasn’t been found and identified.”
“What does he look like?” I ask, knowing I can get Xavier’s contact at the county to pull any John Doe records. If this guy died the same way as the others, he would have been included as an overdose.
“About my height, dark buzzed hair, a little heavy, and he had a tattoo on his left wrist of a snake wrapped around a skull.”
“So basic,” I chide. “But that’s more than enough to go off of.” A chill runs through me. “Be careful, Toni. I have a really bad feeling about this.”
“I do too. Don’t go digging around where you shouldn’t. I don’t think your new husband will appreciate it.”
“You might be surprised. Xavier is curious about this and wants to put a stop to it.”
“Mm-hm,” he says dismissively. “There’s something else about these guys and I kinda feel bad saying it.”
“Spit it out.”
“They wouldn’t be my top picks for recruits.”
“What do you mean?” I put my phone on speaker and get up, going over to the pink duffle bag on the bench.
“They weren’t in good shape. Abbot—the guy unaccounted for—had a heart condition.
One of the others would not be able to chase after demons because he was probably two hundred pounds overweight, and the other was old enough to be our grandpa.
And before you ask, he didn’t have any prior experience or knowledge of monsters. ”
“They were recruited to be field-hunters?” Not everyone in the Order goes out and hunts demons.
It’s an incredibly physically demanding job and you have to be able to make a fast getaway more times than not.
Years of training is required before anyone can even tag along.
There are other factors to the Order though, from office managers to accountants.
The Order has run as an organization for centuries, and it takes a lot of people behind the scenes to keep it running smoothly.
“Yeah. That’s why I was asked to meet with them.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“None of this does. I asked around to try and see how Abbot is doing, and no one knew anything. Oh shit,” he rushes out. “I have to go. Can you meet me in three days? Same place downtown as before.”
“You’re going to make me wait three days to dive into this?”
“Yeah. I’m in Nebraska on a job right now.”
“What are you hunting?”
“Ghouls.”
“No fair,” I huff. “Those are fun to kill.”
“For you,” he laughs. “I’m going to kill this number. Take care of yourself, Wren.”
“You too.”
The call ends and my chest feels tight. Suddenly this hotel room, which was meant to be a sanctuary is feeling like a prison. There’s nothing I can do inside here and the desperation to find out what’s going on threatens to put me in a panic.
“Get it together,” I tell myself and then unzip the bag, pulling out a pair of silky black PJ pants and matching button up shirt.
“Thank you, Mabel,” I say when I see a set of workout clothes and my running shoes. I grab the bag of toiletries she packed for me and then go into the bathroom, twisting my hair into a bun on the top of my head to keep it from getting wet in the shower.
I turn on the water, order a room service, and then get into the shower, washing off all my makeup.
I stand under the water for a few minutes, eyes shut with my face turned up.
Things have gotten so complicated. Being forced to marry Xavier was my biggest problem not that long ago and now it seems small in comparison.
Probably because I see a different side of him than I did at first.
Actually, I think I see a side of him no one sees—not even his brother.
There’s softness to him, and beneath the fangs and the muscle, he’s a kind and caring man who can love and take care of me.
He holds the weight of his family on his shoulders, taking his loyalty to them seriously.
But underneath it all, he wants someone to see him and love him too.
Yawning, I get out of the shower and get dressed before my food comes.
I wheel the little table over to the bed, tuck myself in, and put on a movie as I dig into the food.
I keep telling myself to relax, that there’s nothing I can do right now.
This is my time to unwind and not worry or be responsible for anything.
There are mini bottles of wine in the mini fridge.
Normally, I never touch anything in the fridge in hotel rooms because I don’t want to have to pay for it later.
Knowing Xavier won’t care, I take two bottles out and twist off the cap of a bottle of pinto grigio.
Not bothering with a glass, I take a drink right from the bottle and make a face.
“Gross,” I say out loud, though I don’t know why I expected anything better when the bottle had a twist-off cap.
Nevertheless, I bring it back to bed and take another big drink.
Consuming alcohol to calm your nerves is a terrible thing to do, I know.
I hardly drink, not liking being incapacitated in any way.
Seeing as I’m not going anywhere tonight… why not?
I already had one drink downstairs, I pace myself.
Along with not liking losing my bearings, I don’t want to feel sick either.
At least not from wine. I set the bottle down and take the lid off my plate, eyeing the grilled cheese, fries, and tomato soup.
I would rather feel sick from gorging myself on food.
There’s a slice of chocolate cake and tiramisu to eat after this, if I can stomach it.
About an hour into the movie I turned on, Xavier texts me, letting me know he’s getting in the elevator to come up and he doesn’t want me to get startled when the door opens.
Seeing his words makes me smile. I put the cake in the fridge and take out a bottle of water, drinking half of it by the time Xavier joins me.
“You look comfy,” he says, taking off his suit jacket as he strides over.
“Is that code for I look like a bum now that I’m not in a formal dress with my hair and makeup done?”
He speeds over, kicking his shoes off and getting on the bed, moving his body over mine.
“Not at all.” He kisses me. “I prefer you without makeup. There’s nothing covering up the real you.”
“But what if I like wearing makeup?”
“Then wear it. I don’t believe there is anything you can put on yourself that would make me less attracted to you.”
“What if I wore a skin-suit?”
“Skin-suit?”
I raise my eyebrows and nod. “Mm-hm. Made from a mixture of human and rat skin.”
“Is the skin dry like leather? Fresh? Festering with decay? I need more details before I can make a judgement.”
I laugh and curl my legs around him, heart fluttering in my chest. There is no denying that Xavier Malus is a complex man, and I feel so damn lucky that I get to see this version of him.
“What didn’t Larkin want you to say?” I ask, brushing my fingers through his hair.
“Theo and I got rid of a rival pack master for her.”
“You mean killed.”
“Yes. We burned his body and disposed of the ashes in a river”
“Oh,” I say. “Very thorough. Did you shave his hair off before you burned him?”
“Didn’t have to. No one was close enough to smell and report burning hair.”
The corners of my lips turn up in a smile. “I don’t know if I should be surprised you knew what I meant or not.”
He lays next to me and pulls me onto his chest. “I’ve been disposing of bodies for centuries. Is that something they teach in the Order?”
“Yes. They say human life should be protected above all, but people die. All the time. Sometimes it’s just for a hunter’s funeral.
But I’ve helped make bodies disappear too.
” I bring my hand up and play with a button on his shit.
“I should feel bad about it. They have families looking for them that could have gotten closure by knowing they’re dead at least. I was following orders, doing what I thought was right.
” I lift my head and look into Xavier’s beautiful blue eyes. “I need to tell you something.”
He cocks one eyebrow. “After you just confessed to burying bodies, should I be scared?”
Laughing, I rest my head against him again, taking solace in his embrace. The way he makes me smile despite all the bullshit around me…I never thought I’d feel like this about anyone other than Ryder.
“Oh, you should be terrified.” I take in a steadying breath. “Antonio called me just a bit ago. I told him he should look into the drug overdoses a little bit more because the deaths are from demonic possession, not drugs. He did, and he found a possible connection to the Order.”
“What is it?”
“Not that long ago, the Order tried to recruit some people—which they do—but these guys weren’t exactly the type who would make good hunters. Toni met three of them, and two were found dead. The third is unaccounted for.”
“Okay,” Xavier says, nodding as he takes in the information. “The Order recruits unlikely candidates who end up possessed and found dead. Devon uncovered something that spooked him enough into thinking you were in more danger than I could protect you from.”
“And that’s not all.”
“Go on.” He runs his fingers up and down my arm, somehow keeping me calm.
“One of the higher-ups in the Order, this sleazeball named Marcus Henry, this morning. Yesterday? Everything is blending together in my head.”
“I’m just now hearing about this?”
I roll my eyes. “We’ve been kind of busy.
Anyway, he offered me a deal. Give info about you and your family in exchange for him helping me flee.
” Now that I’ve said it out loud, there’s no going back.
“He said I have an aunt in the UK and he would help me get there and make sure the chapter of the Order across the pond welcomed a talented hunter like myself. He took it too far.” I widen my eyes as I talk.
“If he stopped at getting me to my aunt in exchange for info, I might not have made the connection.” I laugh.
“The Order is never going to accept me because I’m a witch.
They know they can’t get to me while in with you, so they’re trying to get me out of town because they know I’m probably the one person who can figure out what is going on with the drugs and the demons. ”
“Wren,” Xavier starts.
“There’s already rumors going around that you are the one supplying these drugs. That’s why Larkin was at the hotel.”
“How do you know that?”
I sit up so I can look at him. “She told me. And I could sense that she was telling the truth.”
He narrows his eyes slightly. “She trusted you enough to tell you that?”
I shrug. “I guess.” It takes a few seconds for it to hit me just how different things are now that Xavier has a human wife.
Is it because she feels like she can trust me…
or is it because I’m expendable? “She said members of the pack have been hurt by the drugs. I don’t know the extent.
I told her it wasn’t you, and that you have no interest in bringing deadly drugs into the city. ”
“And she believed you?”
“I think she wanted to but needs proof. And to probably hear it from you.”
“She seemed to take to you.”
“Can you blame her?” I bat my lashes. “I am quite likable.”
He pulls me back down to him. “You have no idea how incredible you are, Wren.”
“Some days I’ll agree with you.”
“But today?”
“I’m tired,” I tell him and let out a sign. “I’m really, really tired.”
“Sleep. That’s why we’re here. The last time you spent the night resting in a hotel proved quite enjoyable for us both.”
“You just want to get laid.” I hook my leg over him.
“I do.”
“I do too,” I tell him, though right now, all snuggled up next to Xavier, I could fall asleep.
“Rest first,” he tells me. “I am impressed with your stamina.”
“It’s all the working out I do.” I wiggle closer and he covers both of us with the blankets. I close my eyes, thinking there’s no way I’ll easily drift off given everything that’s running through my mind. This time, I am so glad to be wrong, and I drift to sleep only moments later.