Page 28 of Malice

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Antonio starts. “Right now, the Order thinks I’m dead and it’s smart to keep it that way. We need you to play double-agent.” He pauses and looks at Leo. “And I need you to be really honest with me: are you up for that?”

Chapter

Eleven

“Hey,” I say to Delphi. “Sorry I’m a tad late. It’s…it’s been crazy.”

“You’re like five minutes late,” she replies, waving her hand in the air. “It’s not a big deal. Is everything okay?”

“Eh, I’ll answer after I get a drink.” I pull out the chair and look down at the menu.

“That bad?”

“I’d say I’ve dealt with worse but I would officially be lying.”

“Damn. I’m sorry.”

I shrug. “It is what it is, right?”

“What can you tell me?” she asks, knowing I can’t talk openly in public.

Remembering what Xavier and I talked about right before I left, I pick up the menu and glance at Delphi. I want to tell her the truth. I want to trust her and just vent.

Because I’m fucking scared.

“The Order is messing with black magic,” I say. It’s not a lie, but it’s not the truth. “They’re behind these fires and weird earthquakes. And they used me to do it.”

“Holy crap. But, uh, what exactly does that mean?”

“It means,” I go on, Xavier’s voice echoing in my head. “They’re doing the very thing they promised to protect the world from. Making deals with demons and putting everyone at risk.”

“What did they need you for?”

“My blood,” I say quietly. “I’m not sure why, but maybe because I’m a witch.”

“Oh my god,” she says slowly. “Okay, that’s terrifying.”

“Yeah. But, um, this is what I do and I actually got my brothers helping.”

“Right. I forget that you used to hunt demons for a living.”

I laugh. “I never really got paid.”

“Given that I’m who I am,” she starts, raising her eyebrows. “It shouldn’t surprise me to find out about so many other things out there. We have our own legends and with so many members of our community choosing to live out in the mountains, we hear things.”

“Oh, there’s never a shortage of work when it comes to Appalachia,” I laugh. “It kept us busy and, honestly, staying out of vampire business made sense. We had enough to worry about without getting involved.”

“So that guy Xavier named, Marcus-something. He was in the Order?”

I nod. “Yep. Think of him like upper management. The Order is actually run like a company. The hunters on the ground risking their lives are the lowly delivery drivers. Then there are the people who pack the orders for delivery and the people who, well, I don’t really know how else things work, but you get what I mean.”

“I do. People like that Marcus guy aren’t out there with boots on the ground but instead live a life safely in an office, so to speak.”

“Exactly. And he really is dead,” I tell her, voice low. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the waitress coming over. I quickly switch the subject and we glance down at the menu so we can put in our orders. “Have you had a chance to talk to Larkin?” I ask her once the waitress walks away.

“Yeah, and everyone is freaked out by this. Xavier has kept peace between everyone in the alliance but he’s also made the city a lot safer. Crime has gone down drastically since he’s stepped into power.”

“No one wants to piss off a Malus vampire.”