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)
I dig my fingers harder against the counter until my fingertips hurt. “I should be on the East Coast with my family. My biological family. I should’ve gone to a magical school and learned about my craft and my heritage. I never should’ve been part of the Order, and I never should’ve met any of you.” I lean back, swallowing hard. “But I did. My family was murdered, and I was kidnapped and forced into this life. I was treated like one of you while being used the entire time, raised to become the key that would unlock this demon.”
Another realization hits me. “And for all we know, that’s not the only one the Order plans to release.” A chill runs down my spine as I say it out loud. I know the Blackwoods were infamous as demon hunters in the magical world. How many demons did they seal away in supernatural prisons? And how many does the Order want to set free?
“She’s not the last Blackwood on Earth,” Mabel says, trying to be reasonable. “She was the convenient one in the Order’s grasp, but if it wasn’t her, it would’ve been someone else. It was only a matter of time. The Order has been trying to do this for years. This is not Wren’s fault.”
Leo looks at us, and I can tell he’s desperately trying to hang onto his rage. Because rage is so much easier to deal with than grief. Rage fires you up and gives you something to hold onto. It gives you a mission. A purpose.
But grief?
Grief rips you open and pulls everything out, putting it all on the table. Grief makes you feel every little last thing that you have left—and sometimes there’s hardly anything left, and that absence is more painful than anything else. And anytime the wind blows, it rips through that empty hole in your chest, reminding you again and again of what you’ve lost. For several moments, nobody moves.
Then Leo’s shoulders sag forward, and he puts his head in his hands. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I say instantly.
“No, it’s not,” Antonio counters. “That was really fucked up, Leo.”
“I think we’re beyond the point of expecting any of us not to do something a little fucked up,” I say. Mabel laughs and jumps off the counter, grabbing a plate and loading it with food for me. I sit down and pour way too much soy sauce over my fried rice, trying to force myself to eat.
If there’s one thing I’ve been good at my whole life, it’s compartmentalizing. We’ve been told that’s a normal and healthy way to deal with things, but burying shit down only causes it to come back out later.
“I don’t know what to do,” I say, my voice threatening to break as I choke back tears. “Like, I don’t know how to go to bed and wake up and live the next day, because nothing is the same.” Tears well in my eyes. I try hard to blink them back, but it only causes them to spill down my cheeks.
“I don’t know either,” Antonio confesses. “But we have to keep going. Gia needs us.”
Thinking of our younger sister, I mutter, “What the hell are we gonna tell her?”
“Nothing for now,” Mabel says, moving at vampire speed as she refills everyone’s water. “You said she’s with your aunt in Florida. Just let her enjoy that for now. Maybe send her some gift cards so they can go to Disney or something.”
“She would love that,” Leo and I say at the same time.
“Larissa?” Leo asks, looking almost guilty as he says her name.
“She’s not going anywhere,” I say seriously. Then we all laugh.
“I’m sure psychologically she’s freaking the fuck out, but technically, she’s probably safer in prison than anywhere else right now.” I continue picking at my food, trying to force myself to eat something to keep my strength up. Then Mabel suddenly stands, turning her head.
“Someone’s pulling into the driveway,” she says. “And I don’t recognize the sound of that car.”
She crosses the kitchen and taps the screen of an iPad, pulling up the security footage. A small black car parks at the end of the driveway. Then the screen gets glitchy. We all look at each other, immediately going on the defensive seconds before the doorbell rings.
“I’ll get it,” Antonio says, but we all go together.
“I think I sensed her energy before,” Mabel says as Antonio opens the door. It’s Marie, and she steps right into the house, stopping on the rug in the foyer. She looks around, a sympathetic smile on her face.
“It seems my intuition isn’t as quick as it used to be.”
Chapter
Three
Ilook at Marie and become overwhelmingly filled with shame. She’s the one who told me about my family’s legacy, the one who knew my family’s mission was to rid the world of as many demons as possible.