Page 36 of Malice

“Then don’t help. I didn’t ask you to! I can figure it out on my own.”

Xavier turns, balling his fingers into fists. “It’s not about helping, Wren. It’s about the danger of losing to this demon.” He comes back to me, jaw tense as he fights back his emotions. “Looking through books is a waste of time. Tell me where the Order keeps their relics and I will burn every fucking building to the ground.”

“We can’t do that.”

“Why not?” he asks seriously. “You said it before. Fire kills most demons. If there’s a chance it’ll destroy whatever sigil this demon is tethered to, I’ll take it.”

“And if not? We’ll have burned a bunch of buildings.”

He shrugs. “Those fuckers deserve to have their lives burn.”

“But human firefighters will respond. It’s dangerous.”

Xavier looks at me for a moment and I see in his eyes that he doesn’t care who he puts in danger if it means saving me.

“You can’t literally burn the world for me,” I say, voice tight as my heart swells in my chest.

“I can. And I will.”

“Xavier,” I breathe and reach up, putting my hand on his cheek.

“I am not losing you, Wren! I told you, I will do whatever it takes and I warned you that if you didn’t like it⁠—”

“What?” I interrupt, throwing out my hands. “I could leave?”

“No,” he says, in a gentle tone. “You could turn a blind eye.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

“Nothing about this is okay,” he counters. “

“You can’t just beat a demon up.”

“I can try!”

“Xavier,” I say, breath hitching in my chest. “We barely made it out unscathed last time. That demon was nothing compared to this demon.”

“I know,” he snaps, but I can hear the desperation in his voice. He steps in, closing the distance between us. We stare into each other’s eyes for a fleeting moment before passion takes over. Xavier’s hands clasp around my waist and he picks me up, setting me on the desk. I widen my legs, welcoming him in between.

His lips touch mine and then the door behind us flies open, pushed so hard it slams into the wall. “What have you done?” Theo demands, bursting into the room. Light from the hallway illuminates his face, highlighting the rage—and the blood splattered across his face. He slams something onto the desk and my eyes widen in terror. Are those—no, no way. Those aren’t wolf fangs…because that could only mean one thing.

Chapter

Fourteen

“Are those werewolf fangs?” I rush out, shaking my head back and forth. They can’t be. Or at least if they aren’t, they’re not here on the desk because Theo pulled them out. If he did, that means the werewolves and the vampires are officially at war. With everything else going on, it’s the absolute last thing we need.

“Glad you asked,” Theo replies. “They are in fact, fangs from two young adult wolves who showed up uninvited to the meeting I was at. Who was at this meeting? Glad you asked. It was with members of the VC and two human correspondents,” he goes on and Xavier’s large hands slide down my waist, settling on my thighs. He lets his brother rant, definitely having been through this before. Even though I'm getting used to Theo’s theatrics, if werewolves attacked vampires during a business meeting, it’s not dramatic to be acting like this.

“What happened?” Xavier asks calmly and I know his lack of urgency makes Theo all the more enraged.

“They fucking attacked us.”

“I’ve gathered that.” Xavier takes his hands off me and turns, facing Theo. “Did they give a reason before?”

“Yes.” He widens his eyes. “A caravan of hunters has set up shop in Winston-Salem.”

“I don’t see what’s wrong with that,” I say, watching Xavier’s face. He’s not showing any emotion to clue me in.