Page 55 of Missiletoe
“Really. In return, I’ll tell you anything you want to know about me.”
Vix didn’t stop looking at the fluffle, but I could tell his attention wasn’t on them. The hand he held out to them wasn’t moving anymore. Actually, none of him was moving. It was like he was a tiny statue.
He stayed that way for quite a while.
I didn’t rush him though. Sometimes people need time to think before dealing with big things.
I am an expert at this. Anyone who gets called slow as often as I do has to be.
“There are things about my family I haven’t told you.” Vix wasn’t even facing the bunny cage now. He was turned so far away from me that I couldn’t see his face. “We aren’t nice people.”
My mouth twitched, and even though I knew he couldn’t see me, I forced myself not to smile.
In my defense, the fact that Vix thought I hadn’t noticed his entire family was obviously a group of supervillains was pretty funny. I mean, Gareth’s office alone would have been enough to tip me off. It screamedI get off on global domination.Even I couldn’t miss that.
I hadn’t needed to see Gareth’s office or the underground garage full of assault vehicles and lockers full of weapons, though. Three seconds of being in Baz’s presence had been enough for me. The guy oozeddangerous beyond all reasonfrom every pore in his body.
How no one in our town noticed this nest of clearly evil people was beyond me.
:We don’t want them to know.: Trixie popped in next to me, acting like she’d been there the whole time and hadn’t ditched me to face Vix’s family alone.
I raised an eyebrow at her in question.
:They serve a useful function in our town, so my creator allows them to stay. He said the town wouldn’t have called them here if they didn’t belong. Plus, they are amusing. My creator gets bored easily.:
“The town called them here?”
Vix turned around with a start. “Town? I didn’t say anything about a town.”
“Trixie did. She said your evil family gets to stay here because the town wants you all here.”
“Evil??? Who-who said anything about evil. We aren’t evil…” Vix trailed off weakly.
“Your family is clearly evil.” I stated firmly. “You have a rail gun in your garage.”
“We haven’t used it!” Vix grabbed my arm, giving me wide, scared eyes. “Yet.”
Trixie snorted and licked Vix’s arm.
“Gareth, Vale, and Baz have all killed people.”
“How did you know? I mean… um…”
“I’m a good judge of character. I think my magic helps too. I can see shadows around people who have bad things weighing on their hearts.”
Combined with my observations of Vix’s family and the weight of the shadows surrounding them, it wasn’t hard to guess they were killers. Except Apple and the big guy with him. I could tell with one glance that neither of them were killers.
Vale, however, was the worst by far. His shadows were so heavy, I was surprised he could stand.
“What about me? Do I have shadows?” Vix wasn’t looking at me anymore. He was stroking Trixie’s ears, and she leaned into his touch.
“You too, bunny,” I said softly. I wasn’t sure if they were from deaths he’d caused or not, but I knew the possibility wasn’t zero.
Tears spilled down Vix’s cheeks, and he stepped away from me, looking like he was about to bolt. “Oh.”
I took his arm to stop him and tilted his chin to face me.
“It doesn’t matter.”
