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)
“Are we sure it’s dead?”
“Keep stabbing him,” I suggest with a shrug. “For good measure.” Xavier drives the knife into the back of the demon’s skull. When he pulls it free, thick black blood splatters across his face.
“Fuck” I breathe. I lift a hand to rub my forehead, forgetting I’m wearing a ridiculous amount of makeup. At this point, I don’t care if I smear it across my entire face.
At least for once, I’m not the one covered in blood.
We gather around the demon, and Xavier uses his foot to roll him onto his back. At first glance, he looks almost human. But there’s something undeniably otherworldly about him.
“What are we gonna do with the body?” Devon asks.
“Normally,” Leo begins, “we burn whatever’s left.”
“That seems like a really good way to get caught,” Devon points out.
“No body, no crime,” I say, making a face. “Technically, if they tested these remains, they wouldn’t come back as human anyway. The best a lab could probably determine is that it’s some sort of bizarre animal hybrid.”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess that makes sense.”
“Leave this to me,” Xavier says with a sigh, wiping the knife on his pants. He looks at me.
“You all right?”
“I’m fine. I mean, talk about the blind leading the blind, right?” I glance down at the dead demon. “Okay. One down. Possibly, like, eleven to go.”
“Hey,” Leo says. “Let’s just celebrate this little win tonight. I think we could all use it.”
“Yeah.”
He’s right. Leo texts the others to let them know we killed the demon while Xavier and Devon wrap the body in plastic they find among the construction supplies. We shove it into a closet and head back the way we came. For one brief second, I’m naive enough to let myself believe the danger is over.
The second we step outside, that illusion disappears.
Sirens cut through the night. Two police cars are waiting for us. Several officers stand with their guns drawn. Governor Richards is behind one of them, practically using the officer’s body armor as a shield. He points straight at Xavier.
“Arrest him!”
Chapter
Thirteen
Ifreeze. For the first time tonight, genuine terror roots me to the spot. I have no idea how we’re getting out of this. There’s a body inside the building behind us that looks human enough to create some serious questions.
And Xavier held someone spellbound on live television. That’s illegal. His entire campaign was built around the idea that he was a vampire the public could trust. And tonight, he demonstrated the exact thing everyone feared he was capable of doing. Worse, it exposed his age.
The documentation he filled out had been deliberately vague, exactly like that reporter accused him of not long ago. If anyone realizes he lied, it could cost him everything.
“I’ll handle this,” Xavier says. He steps forward, slowly raising his hands.
“Don’t look at him!” Governor Richards shouts. “He’ll hold you spellbound like he did to me!”
“I might not be as well-versed in the politics of your life as you are,” Leo starts, “but this is not good.”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Devon grumbles.
“What do we do?” I ask, my heart hammering against my ribs.
“Let Xavier handle it,” Devon says. “If anyone can get us out of something, it’s him.”
“Man,” Leo mutters under his breath. “I almost made it a full month without getting arrested.” Xavier keeps walking forward. I watch the officers carefully. One of them looks particularly apprehensive. He’s attended coalition meetings before, and I can tell he’s torn. He looks terrified of Xavier. And somewhere deep down, he probably understands the truth. At the end of the day, the rules don’t apply to a vampire like him in quite the same way.
The officer slowly lowers his weapon and turns toward Governor Richards.
“There has to be some kind of misunderstanding here.”
“There’s not!” the governor exclaims. “You saw what he did! He made me go crazy. He made me want to hurt myself.”
His wording catches my attention. That tells me exactly what the demon did. It didn’t specifically command him to hit himself with the microphone. It told him to hurt himself. The actual method had been left up to Governor Richards.
“I stopped you from hurting yourself and making a fool of yourself,” Xavier says calmly. “You should be thanking me.” I watch as he subtly turns his head, catching the gaze of every officer standing in front of him. “Now everyone calms down and lower your weapons.” They all obey. My stomach drops.
“What we witnessed tonight was another hate crime carried out by the deranged group known as the Church of the New Dawn,” Xavier says. “My own wife was targeted, but fortunately, we were able to get away and subdue one of her attackers.” He speaks clearly and deliberately because he knows everything, he’s saying is being recorded on body-camera footage. Footage that can—and almost certainly will—be reviewed.