“You can have the chef make you something.”
“He’s here?” I ask.
“No, but he’s on-call all the time.”
“You mean to tell me I could be calling someone at three AM to make me an egg salad sandwich?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“Wow. But I couldn’t, I would feel bad. But you’re right, it’s his job. And he only cooks for one person and I’ve had dinner outside the house several times lately. Man, he has an easy job.” Yawning, I flop back against the pillows. “I’m too tired to wait for an egg salad sandwich. Unless there are freshly boiled eggs in the fridge, it will take a while. I’ll have an omelets in the morning.” I put my phone down and roll over, hooking one leg over Xavier. He wraps me in his embrace and I snuggle as closeas I can. My feet are cold, and he has no body heat to offer. Maybe I can convince him to let me get a dog.
“Goodnight,” I tell him, feeling sleepy already.
“Goodnight, Wren,” he says back and kisses my forehead. My eyes fall shut and my mind goes back to thinking about how different things could have been if different choices had been made. Things are a mess, but I wouldn’t be here, feeling this loved and protected, if anything else had happened.
My life changed so quickly…it makes me terrified that it can change again. And not for good.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
“There’s only one person to cook for now,” I tell Alan when I come into the kitchen the next morning. He looks at me as if I just stated the most obvious thing in the world. Ah, of course. Xavier must have already held him spellbound so he wouldn’t realize anything was amiss. “Like always.”
“Right,” he says, keeping his gaze down. “How would you like your omelet today, miss?”
“With spinach and asiago cheese.”
“Coming right up.”
I get a cup of coffee and go outside while I wait, enjoying the sun. Xavier’s words echo through my head.I haven’t felt the sun in seven hundred years, but being next to you, I remember what it feels like.My heart swells inside my chest and I don’t know if I should let myself enjoy the feeling or quickly squash it away.
I’m not scared that he’s a killer or has no hesitation to resort to the most unorthodox ways of doing things to get what he wants. What scares me is the risk of getting my heart broken again because last time I barely survived it.
The landscapers are here today, and I lean back in my chair watching them work. It looks peaceful, and creating something as beautiful as this garden has to feel so rewarding. If I wasn’t a hunter, what would I have done with my life? The choice was never presented. The Order tells all kids who are born into it that if they want to leave, they can. Leo and I equated it to being as difficult to leave the Amish community. Sure, you can go out on your own, but with no money or friends or really any knowledge on how to pretend to be normal after being raised knowing the monster under your bed is, indeed, real.
I go back inside once my coffee is done, bringing the Book of Shadows in with me after having left it outside all night. Ending the night with Xavier might have been a little distracting. I eat my omelet with a side of sourdough toast, and then get dressed and come back downstairs with my laptop and a notebook. I spread the files from the coroner’s office out on the floor in the parlor, keeping Mabel company while she sets up for another tea party.
“Hi.” Devon appears in the threshold of the parlor. He looks more like his old self today, yet the memory of him in here last night, saying things just to hurt my feelings haunts me. I don’t want to have to admit to myself that I might have to grieve for him after all. Being turned was a way to make it so he wasn’t really gone, but the man standing before me…isn’t a man anymore.
He’s a vampire.
“Hmph,” I grunt in response and go back to organizing the files.
“Still working on the demon-case?” Devon asks and I can feel Mabel looking at me. She knows Devon’s a loose cannon. She’s older and stronger and would step in if necessary. Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that.
“Yeah. I’m trying to make sense of it.”
“I can help,” Devon offers. “I might not remember whatever it was I found out that night, but I do remember working on this.”
“Maybe your new, sharper mind will see things my feeble female human brain can’t,” I snap.
“Wren,” he starts but then lets out a heavy sigh. “Do you want my help or not?”
“Gee, when you put it that way…” I look up and shake my head. “I’m fine, thanks.”
He stares at me for another few seconds and then walks away.
“Ellen doesn’t like that you guys aren’t friends anymore,” Mabel says.
