Page 37 of Malice

“Of course, you don’t,” Theo huffs. “You’re fucking clueless.”

“Watch your mouth,” Xavier retorts.

“You can’t keep her ignorant and by your side like she’s an equal.”

“Hey,” I interject. “I’m not ignorant. But I’m starting to feel like I don’t know what’s going on.” I bring my hands to my face and rub my eyes, not caring if I smear my mascara. “Hunters have resided in the state for years. I mean, I did.”

“From Charlotte to the coast is vampire territory.” Xavier turns on a lamp on the desk for my sake. He and Theo can see perfectly well in the dark. “Having hunters in the Appalachia area is necessary.”

I shake my head, still not following. “I’ve been assigned to Winston-Salem to hunt a Devil Monkey which turned out to be a scrapper demon,” I say. “It’s only like an hour from here.”

“That was you?” Xavier asks, lips turning into a smile. “I remember hearing the reports about that. A group of high school students supposedly caught it on camera.”

“Yes, that was it. Six years ago, I think? You saw scrapper demons at the camp.That’s all it was. Got separated from the herd. Pack? I don’t know the correct term. The other demons. It was an easy kill.”

“ Maybe our paths were always meant to cross,” Xavier says softly before his face grows serious. “When we came to an agreement with the Order to stop killing hunters in exchange for biologically desirable females, there were terms.”

I hold up my hand. “First of all, never say that again, because ewww. And second, the Order came up with the deal?”

“Yes,” Theo and Xavier say at the same time.

I blink a few times as I push myself off the desk. “I promise we’re going to circle back to what is actually going on, but please tell me the backstory.”

“The short version,” Theo starts. “We established this city. It was always run and ruled by vampires. The Order wanted more territory for themselves and tried to claim the city. They sent hunters, we killed them.”

I just nod, knowing it’s not quite that black and white. “So, they came to you with the offer?”

“Yes,” Xavier takes over. “They were aware how we kept our bloodline going. Being selective in who becomes a member of the family has always been a priority to me, as has protecting the vampire population in my city. While we had a great advantage over the hunters, not all vampires made it out alive.”

“Okay,” I say simply. “And along with that, uh, area of the deal, you also set boundaries?”

“Yes,” Theo answers. “You think one measly human every twenty-five years is enough? The hunters can pass through, occasionally hunting something that slipped through the cracks. We are in Appalachia, after all. But they are not allowed to reside here in any way. That includes buying real estate.”

All I can do is look at both Xavier and Theo in shock. Once again, another secret is revealed making me feel like I don’t actually know my husband at all. He didn’t lie, didn’t purposely keep this from me, though. Still, it’s a very strange and uncomfortable feeling, though I don’t know what to expect.

Xavier has lived so long. Of course, there are many things about him I don’t know and I’ve accepted that. He’s done things, bad things, and it would take hundreds or even thousands of hours to go over his entire life history.

But finding out about the Malus family and the Order hits me differently. The Order was my life. It robbed me of a childhood, not to mention my real family.

“Okay,” I say. “I see how important this deal was beyond getting a baby-mama.” And I do. Keeping hunters away kept the peace for more than just the Malus family.

It united everyone—because of Xavier.

“The deal with the Order didn’t just keep peace between the hunters and vampires,” Xavier calmly states. “It kept them out of the area, which was beneficial to the werewolves.”

“That’s why so many have joined the packs around here,” I say out loud, needing confirmation because this is just so fucking much to take in.

“Exactly,” Theo says. “And while a handful of wolves aren’t a threat, a whole fucking pack of them can be a pain in the ass to deal with. Keeping the Order at bay meant they were indebted to us and they knew it. They were rightly beneath us and never challenged our authority. But publicly calling out Marcus Henry and then not handling the hunters who set up in Wolf Territory—after you were made aware…” Theo trails off. “What the hell did you think was going to happen?”

“How long have they been there?” I ask. “It’s only been like a day since everything went down. Two days?” I close my eyes, realizing that everything is blending together. It’s been a shit show since Devon got shot, really. Man, I’m not going to know what to do if things settle down. Spare time? Relaxing? Hah—what’s that like?

“Almost immediately after Marcus Henry was named on live TV,” Theo says.

“Antonio would know more than me,” I start. “The Order doesn’t usually make rash decisions. Like they’re impulsive and bad, of course, but getting a bunch of hunters to move doesn’t seem like it just happened overnight.”

Xavier tips his head, considering my words. “If they were angry enough about their leader being murdered.”

“Hunters do love revenge. Still…it seems oddly fast,” I say. “Like they had it planned before.”