Page 46 of Twisted
“How did you know about her earrings?”He stops walking and stares at me.The shock on his face is priceless.
I shrug.“I don’t know.It just felt like the right thing to say.I get feelings like that a lot.Sometimes the feeling was to do the opposite, though.This time, it turned out to be right.”
“You’re an empath,” he tells me, lips curving into a smile.“Aren’t you?”
“Honestly, maybe?”I shrug again.“The Order, uh, never really labeled any powers.And this one…with thefeelings…isn’t really scientific.”
“You could easily come to some sort of conclusion, though,” he goes on, thinking out loud.“Follow through with each feeling and see how many times you were either right about it or not.”
“Oh, I did.Only my brothers really had much faith in it, though.”
“Interesting.”
“Yeah,” I agree, feeling the dark cloud of dread start to cover my mental starry sky.It’s weird, when I think about it, how much clarity I feel around Xavier.He’s done bad things, yes, and even told me only an hour or so ago that he considers himself a bad person.
But he’s honest about it.
Unlike how the Order has been to me.
The flash drive is still at the house, burning a hole in my mind.What the hell am I going to see when I open it?The sayingignorance is blissis all too true sometimes, but that ignorance can cost you.I need to find out what happened to my parents.I swore to avenge them one way or another, and for the last twenty-some years, I thought that meant finding the monsters that tore them apart and killing them one by one.
“There is one problem with your story,” Xavier starts.I take a sip of the Champagne and set the empty glass on a table as we pass it by.
“Yeah?What part?”
“I don’t own a house in Paris.”
I shrug.“Then you better buy one.”
CHAPTER19
Isit on the edge of my bed with the USB drive in one hand with my other hand gently touching my lips, tracing over them as I think about Xavier’s kiss.My head is spinning and my heart is starting to long for him, which is wrong.I shouldn’t.
He’s a vampire.I’m a hunter…and also a witch.Now I have two strikes against me when it comes to being with him.I had no idea the Grand Coven was still so against witch-vampire relationships, though I suppose it makes sense given the tense and violent history between us.
Flopping back on the bed, I spin the USB drive around in my fingers.The whole day passed by in a whirlwind and this evening was not what I was expecting—at all.I had a nice time with Xavier.He’s surprisingly thoughtful and witty and it’s making it hard to hold onto the hatred I had for him when we first met.
Add the fact that he’s dropped a shocking amount of info about my life that I had no idea of and…well…I don’t even know.On one hand, he could be lying.There could be nothing on this USB or maybe it’s full of fake documents with made-up facts just to fuck with my head.
Or maybe not.
Either way, I have no way of looking at it because I don’t have a computer or even a phone.Telling myself that it’s atomorrow issue,I set the little USB on the dresser and pull out a pair of cotton shorts and a white tank top and then go into the bathroom to shower.
“Goodbye, professional makeup,” I tell my reflection before stepping into the water.Doing my best to remember my training, I repeat a meditation over and over in my head.Physically, I’ve grounded myself.But mentally, I can’t stop wondering what it would feel like to have Xavier’s body on top of mine, with his cool, smooth skin against me.He’s tall and muscular and looks gorgeously terrifying when he draws his fangs, reminding the world that he’s the apex predator.
My skin is red from the hot water by the time I get out.I wrap my hair in a towel, brush my teeth, get dressed and go back into my room.
“Creep,” I exclaim when I see Devon standing by the dresser.
“You know it,” he replies.He’s wearing gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt.The tattoos on his arms are visible, along with the nasty looking wound from when I accidentally burned him.
“That is starting to look infected.”I make a face.“Sorry.”
“I’ll live.”
“Unless you get sepsis.That shit spreads fast once it’s in your blood, you know.”
“Fine.I’ll call the family physician tomorrow.”
