“Kids died and they want justice,” I start, looking up at him. “But I think I’ve convinced them not to take it out on you. We know they’ll lose,” I whisper and Xavier’s grip on my hand tightens. He doesn’t look at me or respond. A familiar knot forms in my chest and I get a flash of terror through me that he’s mad. I try to quickly shove it away.
I’m not worried I made a mistake. I’m worried he won’t want me the same way and I fucking hate how easy it is to rip the scab off this abandonment wound. God, a therapist would love me.
“Wren!” Mabel zooms over and gives me a hug. “Are you okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine,” I assure her, pulling my hand from Xavier’s so I can hug her back. “They didn’t hurt me.”
“That’s disappointing,” Theo grumbles and Xavier growls at him. Mabel and I break apart. He and Zeke both have little splatters of blood on their collars, probably from duking it out after I sped away.
“This isn’t the way we do things,” Xavier says calmly. Too calmly.
“Maybe the way you do things isn’t always the answer. When I got here, the wolves were out for blood. Now they’re not.” I shake my head. “I know I don’t have the political experience you all have, but they trust me. I’m not a vampire and I’m not a werewolf either, but I am alive. And I know if a member of the coalition accuses you of dealing drugs, it won’t sit well with the others.”
“You didn’t listen,” Xavier says through gritted teeth. “You could have gotten hurt or made the situation much worse.”
“But I didn’t.” I swallow hard and push my shoulders back. “Their alpha believes me, and by the end of the night, the rest of the pack will too. We can go our separate ways and I can get back to figuring out what’s actually going on.”
“It’s not your fucking job,” Theo snarls.
“It is now,” I fire back. “I’m a hunter, and you can’t change that. These demons are up to something, and it’s not going to be good—for anyone.”
“Demons have never been our concern,” Theo keeps going.
“If demons are interfering with business, then they fucking are,” Xavier tells him.
“Hey,” Zeke starts, holding up both hands in a gesture of goodwill. “We have rules in place on who can bring what in and out of the city. If the Morris family gets wind of this, it’ll be a shit show. They don’t like vampires as is and remember how much of a pain in the ass they were fifty-some years ago?”
“Somehow, the Order is involved,” I press, looking at Xavier, gaze pleading. “Think about it; if someone is trying to pin this on vampires, it would make sense for it to be them. Marcus Henry slipped up when he was trying to bribe me. He wants info on the whole mafia thing, remember?”
Xavier nods. “I see where you’re going.”
“I don’t,” Mabel says, wrinkling her nose. “Who is Marcus Henry?”
“Someone from the Order, honey,” Zeke tells her. “An important man.”
“Oh, yuck. I don’t like corporate types.”
“No one does,” he agrees.
Xavier keeps his eyes locked with mine and then nods, letting me know he agrees. The Order wants info on the Malus family’s business operation because they want to take over. And since they can’t do that, the second best thing is to break it apart. What better way to do that than to make the coalition mistrust each other?
“I will talk to Larkin,” Xavier says and then leans in. “Delphi doesn’t remember, but she’s invited Zeke in before. If anything happens, he will get you out.”
“I’ll—”
“Be fine,” he says over me. “I know.” He kisses me and walks me back up to the house. Larkin comes out as soon as I enter, and one of the wolves shuts the door behind me immediately.
“Chill, guys,” Delphi says. “She’s here as my guest.”
I go into the living room with her and take a seat on the couch. “Does anyone want to play cards?” I ask, picking up adeck on the coffee table. “I know gin rummy.” Everyone looks at me like I’m crazy. Shrugging, I put the cards back down and lean back, awkwardly drumming my fingers on my thigh as the time slowly passes.
“That’s a cool fish tank,” I tell Delphi.
“Thanks. It was a bitch to get set up.”
“I’ve heard that about saltwater tanks.”
“Wanna look at my fish while I tell you about them?” she asks with a laugh, knowing how lame that sounded.
