Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
More people live in this world, not even knowing demons exist, than people who fight them, and they are very much okay. Most people live very normal and full lives, never crossing paths with a demon. Maybe this is a situation like when you have six cats. Is getting cat number seven even going to be noticeable?
We drive home in silence, and I get out before the G-Wagon is even off. Tears burn in my eyes, and everything I’ve been holding back the last few weeks threatens to bubble to the surface. I should let it out. I should cry, scream—anything to process.
Instead, I stomp angrily into the house like a dramatic teenager, not stopping until I’m in the front foyer.
“Wren!” Xavier says, voice desperate more than angry.
“You said I can hate you,” I spit, whirling around and staring right at him. I blink once, twice, tearing my eyes away from the vein in his neck to look back into his storm-blue eye.
“I did,” he says calmly, but I can tell he didn’t think I’d actually be upset with him. “You forced me to release the demon.”
“I forced you to save yourself,” he counters.
“You took that choice away from me.”
“Your choice was the wrong choice.”
“It doesn’t matter!” The light above us flicker, and I can hear Mabel, who’s been listening upstairs next to the banister, scuttle away. “It was mine, and you took that from me.”
“Should I be sorry?” Xavier’s eyes flash and a vein in his neck pops out despite his lack of heartbeat. I look at it, brain disconnecting from reality by thinking about how odd that is instead of what’s actually happening.
Because what’s happening is the man I love, who loves me, forced me to release a dangerous demon into the world, possessing Vivian Russo, gaining all the knowledge Vivian has. Which is a lot about me, about my siblings, and about how the Order works. And she knows what other demons the Order has been using—well, attempting to use—and knows where the keys are.
Which means Vaelric does now too.
I look back into Xavier’s eyes and blink. “Yes,” I say like it’s obvious. “Yes, you should be sorry. I didn’t want to release Vaelric.”
Xavier slowly shakes his head back and forth, unable to understand why I would do that. “You would have died, Wren.”
“Maybe,” I say, shaking my head again as tears roll down my cheeks. Xavier makes a move to wipe them away but stops himself, remembering how I pulled away at the last time he touched me.
Theo appears in the hall, stopping for just a moment, looking from me to Xavier. “We have a problem with the coalition.”
“You deal with it,” Xavier tells him.
“Don’t you think I would if I could?” Theo replies back in his usually sassy tone.
“Go,” I tell Xavier and blink, sending more tears cascading down my face. “Just go.”
Without another word, I turn and go upstairs, but not into our shared room. I step into the room I had when I first arrived and sink onto the bed, telekinetically slamming the door behind me.
Chapter
Two
Asoft knock comes at the door, and I know it’s Mabel before she even says anything. I wipe my eyes, surprised there’s not even a single tear left on my lashes, and inhale.
“Wren?” she asks, voice slightly muffled through the closed door. “Are you okay?” Her hand lands on the doorknob, jiggling it slightly. “Sorry. That was a dumb question. I know you’re not.”
“You can come in,” I say quietly, knowing she can hear me. I flop back down on the bed, getting an eerie flashback to when I first arrived at this house. Things have changed so much, but yet they’ve stayed the same. I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place; I was supposed to be used to unlock the demon.
How different would things be if I hadn’t been sold off to Xavier instead of Larissa?
The door opens and closes quietly as Mabel comes into the room. She gently sits down on the bed next to me and puts a hand on my shoulder.
“I didn’t want to let the demon out,” I say, voice void of emotion.
“But he would’ve taken your soul,” Mabel replies.
“We don’t know that,” I counter. “My time wasn’t up. I could’ve found another option. There are always more options.”
“You’re right,” she agrees, and I’m surprised she’s not arguing with me. “There are always endless options. But what were they?”
“I don’t know,” I admit slowly, inhaling. “But I would’ve figured something out.”
“Maybe now you can kill the demon instead of keeping him locked up,” Mabel suggests. “I mean, isn’t that better? If they’re locked up, they can get out. But if they’re dead, they can’t come back from the dead.” She tips her head. “Well, when you’re talking about demons, sometimes they can.”