Page 89 of Malice

Thirty-Eight

“Hey,” Antonio says when he hears the garage door open and shut. “I just talked to Leo. He’s headed this way and—” he cuts off when I come into the kitchen. “What the fuck happened?”

“I got ambushed, but don’t worry.” I cross the room and drop my handful of short, curly brown hair on the table. “I got this.”

“What the hell?” Antonio asks and gets to his feet. “You’re bleeding.”

“Was, I think it stopped by now.”

Before I can even take my shoes off, Xavier is there, standing right before me with my face in his hands, tilting my head so he can inspect the slash on my cheek.

“Who did this to you?” he demands, his expression dark with anger. He’s not mad at me. He’s mad at whoever touched me. And I don’t need him to say it to know—he’s going to find them and kill them.

“There were hunters waiting for me at the new age store.”

“How did they know you’d be there?”

“I don’t know,” I admit, thinking back.

“Were you followed?”

“I don’t—” I start, then stop. I don’t know. Really truly, I don’t. “I don’t know,” I say again, quieter this time. “I should’ve been more careful. I should’ve paid attention. But I didn’t.” The memory replays in my head. One of the hunters was already in the back of the store. Was he there before I walked in? Or did he come in after and just drift to the back?

I had dinner with Delphi. We walked a block to her car. I wasn’t paying attention. I just wanted a few minutes of normal. There’s a reason we’re trained never to let our guard down.

“It’s okay though,” I say, trying to brush it off.

Xavier cuts me off immediately. “How the hell is this okay?” he snaps. “They cut you, Wren. You could get an infection, you could⁠—”

“I’m fine,” I insist, reaching up to touch my cheek. “It’s superficial. I don’t scar easily.”

“Someone hurt you,” he repeats, rage simmering just beneath the surface.

“How did you get away?” Antonio asks.

“They weren’t trying to kidnap me,” I say. “Not exactly.” I hold out my arm, already bruising from where they jabbed the needle into me over and over again. “They wanted blood. Fresh blood.”

“What the fuck?” Xavier snarls, his fangs flashing.

I grab his arms before he can bolt out of the room and start killing anyone in his path.

“It’s okay,” I say again. “They needed fresh blood. It won’t work to activate the key—I think my family built in some kind of safeguard. So…” I hesitate for half a second. “I let them take it.”

“Why would you do that?” Devon asks, appearing in the room along with Theo, looking at me like I’ve completely lost it.

“The hair,” Antonio says, eyes dropping to the clump on the table. “You’re going to cast a locator spell. They’re going to take the blood to Vivian.”

“Exactly.” I nod. “The guy was wearing a hagstone, but I ripped it off. He won’t replace it right away. He has maybe a half-hour head start, but I can track him.”

“And wherever he goes…” Xavier says.

“Is where Vivian is,” I finish.

We all go quiet.

Antonio grabs a bowl from the cabinet, grimacing as he picks up the clump of hair and drops it inside. “That was reckless, Wren,” he says.

“This whole thing is reckless,” I shoot back, letting out a breath.