Page 79 of Twisted
But then the elevator stops and the doors open.Clearing my throat, I step out first and we get back to the car.I look through the files on the way to Asheville, and there’s no denying that these homeless people were possessed and the demons used their bodies until they burned up.
But why?
Granted, I’ve been out of the loop when it comes to hunting, but usually if demons are using bodies, they’re doing more than just possessing the homeless.I’ll have to do some digging to try and find something to give me a clue to exactly what the demons are up to.
Lower-level demons are capable of possession and they often work for a more powerful demon.And this many deaths have to mean something big is coming.I’m not a hunter anymore, but I can’t just leave this alone.A pending apocalypse kinda affects everyone—vampires and humans alike.
“This place is…quaint,” Xavier says as we get closer to the restaurant.It really is a nostalgic place for me, and the food is good.But there might be one other small reason I wanted to come here.
You have to drive past the Zodiac to get here.
From the outside, Zodiac looks like any other bar and tavern.I’ve heard people say it’s some sort of exclusive biker bar and that’s why most people get turned away.It’s a rumor the Order happily leans into, keeping the general public from our safe place where we can hang out and talk about our latest monster killing without worry about sounding insane or having the cops called on us.
I close the files and sit up straighter, knowing we’re about to go past the parking lot.Xavier can hear my heartbeat, and right now it’s starting to speed up.
“It’s a nice place to live,” I reply, voice void of emotion.I’m struggling to keep calm on the inside, which usually isn’t an issue.I can freak the fuck out mentally and no one knows, but my vampirehusbandcan sense every little thing about me and it’s an unwelcome invasion of privacy, that’s for sure.“And it’s weird to be back,” I blurt, hoping that’s a good enough reason to offer for why I’m suddenly jittery.
Inhaling, I count to three and let my breath out.The lights of Zodiac are ahead of us, and I turn, looking for any cars or trucks in the parking lot that might belong to anyone I know.Truthfully, I’m hoping to see my family, though I don’t know what seeing them would do.It’s not like I could ask Xavier to pull over so I can have a few choice words with them.
A black Ford F150 parked in its usual spot makes my heart skip a beat.Because I know who that truck belongs to: Ryder.I lean up a little closer to the window and see him.He’s standing next to the truck, talking to another hunter.He looks up and our eyes lock.
I saw him…and he most definitely saw me, too.
CHAPTER31
Driving past the Zodiac was a stupid idea, and if there’s anything I can fairly criticize about myself, it’s that I don’t think things like this through.I hoped to see my family, but if I did, then what?I hadn’t played that tape all the way, and now I’m sitting here, across from myhusband, thinking about a man who broke my heart into a million little pieces and just walked away, telling me that I’d be fine.
Yet seeing him in the parking lot hit me in a different way that it had before.I didn’t feel the same longing for Ryder, didn’t feel the abandonment wound triggered as much as it had been before.This time, I felt a deep sadness inside me, but it was for me.
For what I put up with.
I hate that I thought all I deserved was a love where I was kept a secret.It never felt good knowing that he lied to his parents anytime they asked where he was.He couldn’t tell them he was with me.We always ran the risk of being seen together, and even though he told me he would proudly hold my hand and confess the truth, there was part of me that wondered if he’d duck away.
And that fucking hurt.No one wants to be kept a secret like that.It made me feel like the other woman in some ways, though he told me I was the only one.It’s embarrassing in some ways to think back on it now.I was fully in love with a man who was too scared to stand up for true love.He had my heart in his hands and he didn’t have the balls to hold onto it.The second things got hard, he dropped it, shattering my heart into tiny pieces.With blood still fresh on his hands, he shrunk to the shadows, desperately seeking approval from his father.The truth is, no matter what he did, his father wouldn’t have approved anyway.
“Are you all right?”Xavier asks.We’re seated at our table and a bowl of fresh chips has been put in front of me yet I haven’t eaten a single one.
“Yeah.Being here brings up memories.”
“Good and bad?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” I tell him honestly.“It’s a mind fuck to look back at my life knowing what I know now.”
“I’ve dealt with the Order for several centuries now,” he starts.“They’re quick to label anyone they fear as sub-human, but they’re lacking in humanity themselves.”
“Yeah.”I pick up a chip and dip it in salsa.“I’ve always questioned them, and my brother, Leo, has too.We were met with much resistance.It’s like a sin to challenge the Order.They’ve made us depend on them.”
“Of course.You don’t need them to kill demons.”He looks at me thoughtfully.“Would it make you happy to go hunt demons?”
“Yeah,” I say without having to put much thought into it.“It, uh, gives me purpose.”
He just nods and I eat a couple chips.“So, you don’t own a house in Paris, but you do have property all over the place, right?”
“I do.Real estate is a good business to be in when you can buy a property and sell it a century later.”
I laugh and get another chip, trying so freaking hard to look casual.“Yeah, that’s one way to make a huge profit.Mabel brought up a house in Long Island.”
“The Windermere House.”
