Page 82 of Malice

“Not if they do during the day,” Ryder says, words landing a little too harshly as he tries to get a reaction out of Xavier. Instead of taking the bait, Xavier leans back.

“You know them better than I do. Come up with something.” He raises his eyebrows and waits.

“They don’t know how to use the key,” Mabel says, filling the awkward silence. “What if Antonio really was turned because Wren selfishly wanted to build her own vampire army and he has the missing piece to complete the ritual?”

“That’s…uh…that’s…” I look at Mabel and then at Xavier, making sure he’s thinking it, too. “That’s actually a really good idea.”

“It is,” Antonio agrees. “We have to be really careful in how we deliver it, but that could work.”

I keep a steady hold of Xavier’s hand while everyone talks, ironing out the details of the plan, not telling anyone that I have my own plan, too…which is to put the key in a safe place after we get it.

And not let Vaelric out.

“We should all try and get some sleep,” Antonio says, standing up and stretching his arms out in front of him. For the last few hours, we’ve been going over plan after plan, running through every scenario we could until we came up with the best one to lure the Russos out of hiding. The two hunters—Jay and Ramon—left a bit ago, leaving Ryder and Christine to awkwardly hang back with us.

“I’m too wired to sleep,” Leo replies.

“You drank like an entire pot of coffee,” I tell him, knowing I’ll fall asleep right away the second I lay down next to Xavier. Or at least I hope so. There’s a good chance I’ll lay down and be haunted by anxious thoughts of impending doom and not be able to sleep at all. And then knowing I’ll be tired if I don’t fall asleep right now will put me into a spiral and I’ll lay awake for hours.

Xavier’s phone rings for the third time in a row and he silences the call again. It’s Victoria from the VC and nothing she has to say can be that urgent right now.

“Bloody hell,” Theo huffs when his phone rings. “Now she’s pestering me.” He picks his phone up from the table and lets out a snort of amused laughter when he reads the text. “Victoria wants to know why two goth guys on Tiktok are insisting you are a Jedi with—and I quote—Jedi mind powers.”

I look at Leo and shake my head. “Man, I wish you could remember.”

“If this has something to do with that night I got piss-ass drunk and started fights…yeah. I got nothing. I don’t remember a thing.”

“I telekinetically stopped a drunk guy from punching my even drunker brother in the face and then said I was a Jedi when he asked how I did it.”

Theo leans forward. “You told a drunk man you were a Jedi?”

“I mean, it seemed more plausible than saying I’m a witch.” I shrug. “Oh come on, like it’s not a little believable I could be a Jedi?”

“You’d be a Sith Lord,” Theo shoots back, slowly shaking his head.

“Take that back!” I exclaim, exaggerating my offense. “I do what is right for the good of the people, like a Jedi.”

“Do you?” Theo sits back, amused. “You know, the Siths think they’re right and I’m doubting if you’re even a real fan. I saw all three original movies on release day, by the way. I’m as OG as they get.”

Ryder watches our exchange, not saying a word but the judgement is there, written all over his face.

“You guys should just stay,” Antonio tells Ryder and Christine as he heads out of the room. “It’s late. Or early, depending on how you look at it.”

“Good idea,” Ryder says and gets up. Christine moves slowly, looking half asleep. Same, girl. Xavier helps me to my feet and then we go into my old bedroom. It’s been completely transformed, and there are two twin beds in here now instead of my old double. Not a single one of my left behind possessions can be found, and the photographs I had printed and framed are off the walls. They were just photos of nature—the same ones I had posted on Instagram—yet I suppose seeing them reminded everyone of me.

I change into PJs and crawl into bed, eyes heavy. We draped blankets and curtains over most of the windows, but the house isn’t fully accessible to vampires during the day. Xavier had to walk through a few streams of muted light just to get here with me.

“I love you,” I tell him as I settle into his arms.

“And I love you,” he whispers back, kissing the top of my head. My eyes fall shut and exhaustion takes over, lulling me to sleep. I only make it a few minutes before I wake up, sucking in a breath and wincing from pain radiating up my right arm.

Xavier sits up and I extend my hand. By the look on his face, there’s no denying it or telling myself that maybe I’m dreaming, because he sees it too: a red line going from the center of my palm right up my arm. It burns as it travels up, not stopping until it hits me in the chest.

Chapter

Thirty-Five

Ilook at my right arm, running a finger up the inside of my forearm. The red line is gone, and right now, there’s not even a little red dot on my palm.