Page 105 of Twisted
“Yes,” he answers right away.
“But that’s, like, good, right?”
He softly chuckles.“Very good.I’m not sure how to describe it in a way you can relate, but the magic adds to it.”
“Isn’t that why vampires got so mad at witches all those years ago?You can taste the magic but it does nothing to you in terms of giving you powers.”
“That was one of the reasons.”
I snuggle closer to him, knowing the back of my mind that we’re naked on the floor of a mausoleum and need to get up before someone finds us.Or at the very least before the sun comes up.As if he can read my mind, Xavier pulls me onto him and sits up so I’m in his lap.The way he can just move me around like I weigh nothing is so freaking hot.
“Let’s find somewhere to stay,” he says.
“I don’t have anything with me.”
“I’ll buy you whatever you need.”He sets me down, holding onto me so I don’t lose my balance, and wraps his suit jacket around my body.We quietly put our clothes back on and he takes my hand as we leave the mausoleum.
“Would you like a minute alone?”Xavier asks quietly as we start to make our way through the graveyard.The spell has worn off and the crystal is just an ordinary crystal again, not glowing at all.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
I keep my hand in his on the way to my family’s gravesite.A chill comes over me and I’m glad Xavier kept his jacket around my shoulders.Nodding, I pull my hand from his and take a few paces forward, stopping in front of the grave.
“Hi,” I say softly.“It’s Florence, your daughter.I didn’t die, but you know that since I’m not in heaven with you…if that’s where we actually go when we die.”I swallow back tears, knowing a therapist would have a fucking field day with me.The woman who killed my mom was like a mother to me.I loved her in that way.Cared for her.Protected and defended her.Obeyed her every order and bent over backwards for her approval.I haven’t even had time to process that guilt yet.
“I’ve killed a lot of demons,” I go on, not knowing what else to say.“I’m really good at it.I have no idea how you’d feel about that or if witches even hunt demons, but, uh, I enjoy it.”I put my hand on the top of their tombstone.“I wish I could have met you.And you too, Aunt Francine.”
I stand there for another moment and then turn, going back to Xavier.
“How are you doing?”he asks.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s fair.”He puts his arm around me and I lean on him, taking comfort in his large body sheltering mine as we walk back to the car in silence.Once in the car, he gets out his phone to find a vampire-friendly hotel for the night.By law, no public place can bar a vampire from entering the establishment, but not all hotels have light-proof rooms.
I lean back, feeling the oddest sense of relief.This wasn’t the outcome I wanted, but I don’t have to keep looking.I can deal and live my life.Xavier’s hand lands on my thigh after he puts the car in drive.I lace my fingers through his, heart swelling in my chest.
Yes, I just learned that my parents and aunt are dead, but I don’t feel alone.I have a new family now, a family who is just as committed to me as I can be to them.In that moment, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I’m not running away.Finally, I found where I belong.For the first time in a long time, I feel at peace.And if I’ve learned anything, it’s only a matter of time before something horrible happens.
CHAPTER42
“Thank god for Taco Bell.”I bite into my burrito.It’s much later than I realized and this was the only thing open.
“Even if I were human, I don’t know if I’d eat that,” Xavier replies, watching me take another huge bite after smothering my burrito with hot sauce.
“You have no idea what you’re missing.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“Am I grossing you out?”I ask, purposely talking with my mouth full.Xavier just rolls his eyes and shakes his head.We’re sitting outside Taco Bell so I can snarf down some food before going to the hotel, which is a good twenty-minute drive from where we are now.
Hamden seems like a nice, quiet town.I look around at the dark street as I eat, unable to keep myself from wondering what life would have been like if I had returned after that trip to Italy.Do I have cousins here?Grandparents?Are there other witches around?I suppose I’ll never know.You can’t go back on what’s already happened, and wonderingwhat ifis a surefire way to drive yourself mad.
I finish my burrito, wash it down with an ice tea, and throw away my wrappers in the trash.A group of teenagers pulls up and gets out of their car, talking loudly and laughing.They eye us both, and I look like someone who was just fucked beyond recognition in a graveyard, which is exactly what happened.
My hair is a mess, I have bite marks on my neck, and Xavier’s jacket is draped over my shoulders.But Xavier—of fucking course—looks effortlessly sexy.The group of kids slows, eyes going right to him.They whisper to each other and hurry inside.
