Page 52 of Malice

“Yes. That’s how I knew it was going to be at Tent City and how I knew the attack downtown was from our demon. I could hear the voice and I could see almost like what it planned to do. I thought if you were connected to it too, you might have heard it.”

Antonio‘s brow pushes together and he thinks for a few seconds before looking straight at me.

“Maybe the demon isn’t connected to me. It sounds like it’s connected to you.” He stops, considering what I just told him, and then his eyes widen. “Wren, I think it’s the lesser demons here not to fuck with you, but to follow you. If you find the sigil but they get it first…the demon is still freed and gets to keep your soul.”

Chapter

Twenty-One

“I’ve had some long days, but I think this one officially takes the cake.” Leo holds up his cupcake, chuckling at his own little joke. We are sitting in the kitchen, gathered around the rarely used table.

“You’re telling me,” Antonio agrees. “I think the day I died will always be the longest day of my life.” He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms across his chest. “Does count start over? Am I still thirty-two or am I just a couple days old?”

“Nice try,” Leo says. “I don’t think you get off that easy.”

“Since when is dying easy?” Antonio asks and we all laugh. It’s weird how normal it feels to sit down and decompress after a hunt like this. Mabel did make cupcakes, but we had Ryan taken back home before they were done. Worried his girlfriend was going to be hurt by assuming she was stood up, Mabel insisted that Ryan take one of her expensive bracelets she didn’t wear anymore. She also was able to convince Xavier to write a note saying he needed Ryan to do Top Secret Vampire Stuff with him and that is why he missed dinner. Whether any of that is believed or not is out of our hands, but at least Mabel tried.

Yawning, I rest my elbows on the table, debating if I should eat a third cupcake or not. A bit of a heavy silence hangs between Antonio and myself. He’s not going to tell anybody about the demon voice in my head, but he’s not going to let it go either. I know I can’t ignore it and hope it goes away, because it won’t. The best way to block the demon would be with a spell. I don’t know one, but I’m sure Marie would.

The only problem is I have no idea how to contact her.

“You should go back tomorrow,” Antonio tells Leo. “I expect tears and lots of speeches in my honor.”

“How many people think that he’s a vampire right now?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” Leo replies. “But if he was, Mom and Dad wouldn’t want very many people to know. To them, becoming a vampire would be an epic failure on Toni’s part and theirs as well for allowing it.”

“A little insulting,” Devon notes. He’s been sitting at the table with us and has been relatively quiet up until now.

“It’s not,” Mabel tells him, zooming into the room with several stuffed animals in her arms. She sets them up at the table across from me. “Hunters hunt. If you become the thing you’ve hunted for, you’ve obviously failed.” She puts a cupcake in front of a stuffed bunny. “You just can’t take it personally.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Devon says.

“We need to talk about Gia,” I say, hating the wave of anxiety that washes over me at the mention of her name. “Do we actually know she’s safe? If you can get me something of hers, I can track her location.”

“We need to come up with a plan once we find her,” Antonio adds. “She’s a smart kid, but she is just a kid. She has to be terrified. Who knows what the hell Mom and Dad have told her or what she saw at the warehouse.”

“Remind me again what exactly happened,” Leo asks, picking up his cupcake wrapper. “I think I was still a little drunk when you explained it all to me. Actually, how did you even find her the first time?”

“Locator spell,” I say, pushing away the knot in my chest when I think about how the one I just tried located some sort of demonic connection most likely inside of me. “Pretty damn accurate when I do it right.”

Antonio and I take turns recounting the story of how we found Gia, smiling when we get to the park where she said if the kid from Home Alone could handle a living and a hotel by himself, she could too.

“Do you think she’s really okay?” I ask. I’m fully aware my brothers have no idea, but I want to be reassured even if it’s a lie.

“Mom and Dad made sure she got out of the warehouse,” Antonio says. “I would think they would continue to make sure she’s safe.”

“I hate to be a Debbie Downer,” Leo interjects. “But you don’t know that it was them who took her out of the warehouse. They left and when Xavier checked, she wasn’t there anymore. But that doesn’t necessarily mean…” He trails off, not wanting to say it.

“Get me something of hers as soon as you can.” I decide to go for that third cupcake. “I can find her and then we have to get her away from Vivian and Marco.”

Silence falls over the table, all of us thinking what we don’t want to have to say out loud.

“Shit,” Leo suddenly says. “I was supposed to visit Liss today. Yesterday? Like I said: it’s been a long day and I’m tired.”

“I can get the other spare room ready for you,” Mabel offers as she pretends to feed her stuffed animals a spoonful of frosting. “It’s not very often that all six bedrooms are full. I like having a full house.”

“Thanks,” Leo tells her and runs his hand through his hair. “I’ll see if I can visit Liss tomorrow.”