Page 16 of Twisted
“I didn’t know my parents either,” he says.I didn’t expect the conversation to take that turn.“I’m sorry you lost your family when you were young.”
“Me, too.”I take another bite of the pancake and get up, trading the plate for the coffee.It’s cooled off by now, so I hold my hand over it and use magic to warm it up until it’s steaming again.
“Whoa,” Devon exclaims and takes a few steps closer, eyes wide.“Did you just use magic?”
“Yeah, that was pretty simple magic too,” I say with a shrug.
“What else can you do?”
“I don’t have a magic wand I can wave around and do party tricks,” I deadpan.I’ve lost count how many cocky Order members have tried to downplay my abilities, coming up and demanding I “show them” some sort of trick.
“I didn’t think you—” He cuts off when, without warning, the metal blinds on the bedroom window start to unroll, and the metal-on-metal screeching startles me.The light above us turns on, and an automatizedclickcomes from the door.
Holy shit.
This isn’t just some modern-day smart home.It’s customized to vampires, especially ones who keep prisoners and can use an app to lock and unlock the freaking doors.
I don’t need to look at Devon to know what this means: Xavier is coming.
CHAPTER8
As soon as the sunlight is blocked out, the door opens and the vampire I assume is Xavier appears in the doorway.Wearing all black with dark hair, he’s tall and intimidating as he zeros his gaze on me, a deep guttural growl coming from his chest.
He advances with inhuman speed and I take a quick step back, pressing myself against the wall.My breath hitches as his gaze sears into mine, eyes deep blue and gray, like a summer night’s sky right before it storms.Power emanates from him, dark and oppressive.It should scare me, terrify me right down to my bones.But it doesn’t.Instead, it awakens something deep inside of me, stirring up emotions I’d long ago silenced.Because for the first time, I see my soul reflected right back at me in those midnight eyes.This is a man who knows the pain of feeling the void of emptiness deep inside.A man who has loved and lost and had everything he wanted right in his grasp before it was taken away.
Only…he isn’t a man at all.He’s a vampire, an old and powerful one.
“She’s a witch,” he says, deep voice rattling right through me.“And not on the list.”His eyes sweep over me, inspecting every inch of my body.
“S-she was prettier than the other one,” Devon rushes out.“And in the house as a family member.”
“But she is a witch,” Xavier snarls, fangs coming down.I suck in a breath, eyes going wide.It’s taking everything inside of me not to react and to keep my decades of training deep and buried.I wouldn’t be able to take out a vampire like this alone, but I could make a getaway.So I do what comes naturally instead and open my smart mouth.
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.I’m also a Libra sunandrising.Taurus moon, if you want to know.I’d ask for your sign but I’m not really sure if you’d use your human birthdate or your vampire birth—death—whatever date.”
“Great, she’s annoying, too,” Xavier huffs.“I should just kill her.”
“You said I could choose,” Devon interjects.
“I said to pick someone you will enjoy.”
“Gross,” I sneer and summon energy in my right hand, pressing my fingers against Xavier’s chest.It hits him like a taser and he tenses, mostly startled that I was able to do that more than anything.It gives me just enough time to duck under his arm and move toward the door.
I’m fast, but of course, Xavier is faster.
“Look, this whole thing seems like a mistake.Let me go and you can pick someone from the catalogue or whatever.”
“Letting you go would be admitting I can’t handle a witch.”He grabs my arm and ushers me back into the room.“We’ll just have to do this the old fashioned way.”His eyes narrow ever so slightly and he leans in, inhaling.Vampires can sense the magic coming off witches the same exact way we can sense it from them.
“How did a witch end up in the Order?I know their stance on witches.”He eyes me, more curious than anything else.I clamp my mouth shut, refusing to say anything.Xavier raises an eyebrow, amused.“You’ll learn your place, and, if you’re smart, you’ll learn to listen.”
He steps back, retracts his fangs, and lets his eyes linger on my body before turning to Devon.“My office.Now.”
“H-he had no way of knowing who I was,” I blurt and both Xavier and Devon look at me incredulously, wondering why I’m defending him.Hell, I don’t even know why I’m defending him.
“I’ll deal with you later,” Xavier tells me.“I suggest you rest.”
With that, they both leave the room and the door slams shut behind them.I can hear the locks sliding into place and a few seconds later, I'm left alone and mentally shaken.That was a lot of info to digest all at once and I think I’m going to be sick.
