“And what would a demon want?”
“Death and destruction,” I tell her.
“How do we stop it?” Theo asks and it just then hits me that everyone is looking at me, waiting formeto tell them what to do. Maybe I am part of this family after all.
“Lower-level demons like the ones burning through bodies work for someone more powerful. I need to figure out who that is and then kill them.” I pick up my fork again. “And how you kill a higher-level demon depends on how higher-level they are.”
“And once the demon is gone, we’ll go after those shrimp-dick losers in the Order,” Theo states and this time, I agree.Mabel asks me about other powerful demons I’ve come up against, and I spend the rest of dinner telling her about them.
After dinner, Xavier, Theo, Zeke and even Devon leave the house, doing something for work. The way Theo and Xavier were talking to each other in a language I couldn’t follow, I think this is anotherput someone in their placenight.
I hang out with Mabel and we come up with a new series idea for her social media called “vampires attempting to cook human food” and we spend the next hour or so laughing as she uses modern kitchen gadgets for the first time.
We clean up and go for a walk around the property, which would be totally normal if it wasn’t 1AM.
“Have you ever thought about moving somewhere with less sunlight?” I ask her.
“Places with less light are cold. The weather doesn’t really affect us. I don’t feel the discomfort of being cold or sweaty when I’m hot. I don’t even get hot. But I still don’t like the cold.”
“I don’t either. I used to hate when we’d get sent up north in the winter.”
“Are yetis real?”
“I’ve heard from other hunters to say yes. But not in the USA.”
“Weird, isn’t it? Monsters are like animals and only live in certain places.”
“Yeah, some definitely.”
We walk a few more paces, heading toward the woods. I’ve never ventured this far and there’s something calming about being under a canopy of trees. Mabel confesses she’s been planning a wedding since Xavier and I didn’t have one. I go along with it, knowing it will never happen.
Once we’re back inside, Mabel suggests going into the basement theatre room to watch a movie. There’s a popcorn machine in there that hasn’t been used in ages, and aftercleaning it out, I make the most delicious extra butter popcorn. I’m snuggled under thick blankets, reclined in a cozy chair whileMean Girlsplays. I fall asleep and have the weirdest dream.
I’m at the cape cod house again, but this time it’s like I’m watching everything unfold as I float above. A woman with dark hair stands in a kitchen, hands on her pregnant belly.
Mom.
“I don’t, David, it just doesn’t feel right to sit back and do nothing,” she says.
“You’re due any day,” David replies.
“Exactly. That’s why we have to stop—” She says a name but her voice fades, and then she looks up. “You have to stop him.”
I jerk awake, heart racing,
“You okay?” Mabel asks.
“Yeah. Bad dream, that’s all.” I stretch my legs out and pull the blanket tighter around myself. Was that just a bad dream? Or a warning?
I sipmy iced coffee and lean back, book in hand. I’m downtown, at a coffee shop near the same place I met my brothers the last time they were here. It’s not far-fetched to feel paranoid, and I don’t know how freely we can talk. So far, I haven’t seen anything to make me too suspicious here. Then again, I don’t look like a supernatural assassin.
It’s been radio silent since I talked to Antonio three days ago. I’m here, at the right time and the right place. If it wasn’t raining, I’d be sitting outside, watching for him. I’m by the window and look up every now and then. The rain has let up, but the outside tables are wet.
Trying to actually read a chapter of the dark faery romance I brought with me, I make it two pages before I look up again. This time, I see Antonio, Leo, and—you’ve got to be fucking kidding me—Ryder. My heart skips a beat when I see him, but it’s out of habit, not because the sight of him does something to me.
Leo raises his hand in a wave, letting me know he sees me. They cross the street and come in, joining me at the table.
“Hey,” I say and give Antonio a hug. “Did you get all the ghouls?”
