Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Yes,” the guy says, staring blankly. “Hand delivered.”
The last thing I want is someone’s eyes in a box, but I know better than to say something right now. Xavier lets go of the guy’s hair and smooths out his jacket. Both he and Theo take their seats and the meeting carries on as normal. I watch, somewhat entertained, as two guys scramble to pull the fork from the table.
The second course of our meals comes, and I shouldn’t feel so squishy inside when I’m brought out a big plate of veggie risotto when everyone else has meat, which means that Xavier made sure to tell the chef I am a vegetarian. It’s the little things like this that mean a lot to me, and I think women in general. And it means even more since Xavier doesn’t eat food himself.
I excuse myself to use the bathroom once I’m done with my pasta, which was absolutely delicious. The feeling of a cold finger touching the back of my neck makes me stiffen as I’m washing my hands, and I turn. I’m alone in the bathroom. I turn the water off, dry my hands, and shake my head.
I fluff my hair and try not to give in and pick at the silicone scar-patch on my neck. It only bothers me when I’m thinking about it, and really, it’s not that uncomfortable at all. Hopefully, it works as well as the people on TikTok told Mabel it does.
“Hey, vampire whore,” a male voice booms behind me. I whirl around, ready to be annoyed with some obviously small-dicked man. He has a small penis all right, and he’s compensating for it with a bomb strapped to his chest.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
“Whoa, dude,” I say and hold up my hands, recognizing the half-sun symbol on his shirt right away. It’s the Church of the New Dawn, founded by a televangelist pastor who isn’t ordained in any real denomination. They formed shortly after vampires came out of the coffin and gained a lot of followers pretty quickly, starting as a place for people to go who were scared of vampires. They say most of their members are still that way, but there are of course extremists, like this guy.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“I do,” he says, gripping the detonator in his hand. “Vampires escaped from Hell and we have to send them back, one by one.”
“You’re focusing on the wrong monster right now.” I take a small step to the side, eyeing the device he’s wearing. It’s glowing, which can only mean one thing: it’s a Sunburst, a bomb filled with UV light. I don’t know exactly how it works, and I’ve never seen one detonated. They’ve been talked about on the news, and it’s a hot button political issue with a lot of Americans divided on whether or not this is something that should be government funded.
It’s designed to act as the one thing vampires are unable to defend themselves against: sunlight. When detonated, a solar flare emanates from the core, sending a blast of energy in a twenty-foot radius. It would burn and vampires around—and would be fatal to any humans in close proximity.
Right here, this bomb isn’t going to kill Xavier or Theo. The segmented sunlight will sting or stun them at best. But as for me and the tables around us…we wouldn’t be getting out of here unscathed.
“There’s only a couple vampires here. You’re going to hurt far more humans.”
“Every one of you humans in there, offering your blood to these sinners, deserve to die too.”
There’s no reasoning with this man. He’s been brainwashed and set in his ways even before. My heart thumps in my chest and I don’t know what to do. I could use magic to shove him back and then run, saving myself but putting everyone else at risk.
Before I have time to consider it more, Xavier is there behind the guy, appearing from nowhere. He pulls the detonator from the guy’s hand and reaches around, grabbing the guy’s throat. In a swift movement, he rips out his trachea. Blood splatters across my face and people scream.
Then they notice the bomb.
“It’s a Sunburst,” I rush out, eyes meeting Xavier’s. The bomb starts beeping and Xavier looks at the detonator in his hand. We realize it at the same time: this thing had a backup, tied directly to the guy’s heartbeat.
Xavier brings his foot down, cracking the casing of the inner channel of the bomb. Bright light pours out, and an ear-piercing hum fills the air. Then everything goes still and my heartbeat echoes in my ear.
One.
Two.
Three—the bomb goes off, feeling like a blast of fire. Xavier wraps his arms around me, bringing me to the ground and shielding me from the light. We hit the ground, his hand behind my head to cushion the fall.