Page 42 of Twisted
The young vampire gives me a look, flicking her eyes from me to Xavier and back again.“Y-yeah.”
“My love,” Xavier starts, letting his hand sink a little lower on my back.“There is someone I’d like you to meet.”
“Nice talking to you,” I tell the young vamp and take Xavier’s hand.
“Having fun?”he asks softly as we walk across the room.
“I’m trying to stay entertained.Are you going to tell me to stop making shit up?”
“Actually, you should tell everyone here a different story.Keep things interesting.Or maybe they’ll think you’re insane.”
“Both.”I bob my head up and down and then Xavier and I laugh.“I deal with hard things in a, uh, weird way, I guess.Dark humor.”I shrug.“Could be worse, I guess.”
“Yeah.Could be.”
“What other hard things have you dealt with?”He opens French doors leading to a balcony.I’m about to say something sassy back, assuming he’s making a dick joke by saying “hard things” but his face is serious.
“How much time do you have?”I let out a breath and walk to the railing.We’re in a high rise building and the balcony gives a pretty view of downtown Charlotte.“You summarized it earlier.I’m a witch raised by demon hunters.And up until like right now, I thought they saved me.”
“Would it change how you see yourself to learn the truth?”
“You say that like you know the truth.”
He crosses the balcony, stopping just inches from me.“I think you do too.”
Inhaling, I look away.“Do you ever think about how life didn’t turn out the way you thought, but if all those horrible things hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t be the person you are?Maybe it would be a good thing.Or maybe…maybe it wouldn’t.Maybe your heart had to get broken a few times so it could be put back together just the right way.And maybe some of those pieces were crushed beyond repair because they weren’t supposed to be in your heart to begin with.Maybe the universe did it for you because you weren’t capable of reaching down and ripping it out yourself.It had to take total devastation to get rid of the rotten parts, but we get so used to things, even things that hurt, that removing the festering wounds feels empty and like something is missing.And on some level you know it’s bad, but every time the wind blows through that emptiness, you’ll do anything to feel whole.”
Tears prick the corners of my eyes at the end of my ramble and Xavier gently reaches up and wipes one away before it has time to fall.My heart is in my throat and I want nothing more than for him to pull me close and kiss me—again.I want the world to fade and all my thoughts to be consumed with how good he can make me feel, and how I can take care of him in return.
But suddenly he turns, looking back inside, right before someone screams.
CHAPTER17
With no hesitation, I make a move to go inside.Xavier stops me, both hands landing on my forearms.
“Stay here,” he tells me.
“No way,” I shoot back, heart racing.“Someone could be in danger.”
“Exactly,” he growls, drawing his fangs.
“I’m not some princess you have to protect.”
“No, you’re not,” he agrees.“But you are my wife and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”Our eyes meet and my lips part, heart fluttering from his words.
“Fine, I’ll go in behind you,” I say, knowing I won’t win the argument but not having the time to waste trying.Xavier takes a hold of my hand and leads me in.Right away, we can see exactly what’s going on.
A vampire has grabbed a woman from behind and is threatening to sink his fangs into her neck.Only…that’s not a vampire.It’s one of the hunters.What the fuck?
“He’s—” I start but Xavier is already on it.He speeds forward, knocking the fake vampire to the ground.I’m right there next to him, pulling the woman to the side.People already have their phones out, no doubt live streaming what they’ve already decided is a vampire attack.
Which is exactly what the hunters wanted.
“You’re okay,” I tell the woman, looking at her neck.There are marks on her skin from the idiot trying to bite her with the plastic fangs.“He’s not a real…” My voice dies in my throat when I see the very real vampires all on the defense, snarling at a human who has a gun drawn.Regular bullets won’t kill a vampire.They’ll still hurt like hell, but don’t pose a threat at all.
Unless the gun has been loaded with special bullets containing fragments of wood.Humans don’t understand why it takes a piece of wood to counteract the dark magic inside a vampire, but it has something to do with the fact that the tree was once alive and is now dead, sort of like a vampire.Nature is powerful magic, much more powerful than anything manmade.
Another human, a congressman who introduced himself as Peter, gets a crossbow that had been hidden behind a table, and is holding it with shaking hands.He’s more likely to shoot and hurt a human than a vampire with that thing.
