Page 68 of Malice

“They’re going to go to watch some fancy jumping horses tomorrow or something.”

“The World Equestrian Center is there,” Devon tells us with a shrug. “It’s kinda cool. I’ve been there.”

“Gia will love that,” I say. “All little girls love horses.”

“How is she?” Antonio asks. “That a pretty fucked up night for a kid.”

“It was a fucked up night for an adult,” I mutter quietly.

“Yeah,” Leo agrees. “She’s going to need years of therapy to unpack this one. She believes that Toni is a vampire and now she wants to be one, so that lie didn’t work like they thought it would. Mom told her Toni was already a vampire when he kidnapped her⁠—”

“Seriously?” Antonio rushes out, and I can see the anger and hurt on his face.

“She didn’t buy it,” Leo goes on. “You ate food. She saw you. The kid isn’t dumb.”

“Not at all,” I say, feeling proud of my little sister. “Then what?”

“Honestly, it seems like they know they’re backed into a corner. Gia said Mom and Dad are fighting a lot, which is why they left her with Aunt Darcy and they flew to Florida right away.”

Antonio and I look at each other. Hunters rarely fly anywhere because you can’t take weapons on a plane. That means Darcy needed to get Gia away fast.

“How long is Gia staying in Florida?” I ask.

“She doesn’t know, but she said she heard Grandma telling Danielle about a waitressing job in town and Danielle seemed interested.”

“It seems they’re going to stay for a while,” Antonio finishes. “At least that keeps Gia safe.”

“For now,” I add ruefully. “Do you have any idea where Vivian or Marco are?”

“No, and I was able to talk to Ryder just briefly and news of Marcus Henry’s death is spreading. Vivian is telling everyone she saw Xavier Malus kill him.”

“Zeke won’t mind you taking the credit, will he?” I ask, unable to help myself from using inappropriate humor.

“What does that mean for the hunters?” Xavier asks. “Surely, they want revenge.”

“They do,” Leo goes on. “Ryder and a few others are doing a decent job reminding everyone that there was an unspoken agreement between the vamps and the Order to leave each other alone and Marcus Henry put every hunter in danger by going after the vamps first. Most are blindly loyal to the Order but a good amount of hunters see that Marcus was reckless and they know starting a war with, uh, your family, is a terrible idea.”

“Yeah,” I say and let out a breath. “Well, we know Gia is safe. That alone makes me feel like ten times better.”

“Same,” Antonio says. “Good job and keep me up to date.”

“Will do,” Leo says and ends the call. I didn’t expect him to email me a file with Vivian’s exact plans, but I was hoping for a bit more, I’ll admit. Really though, I am so fucking thankful Gia is in Florida with her grandmother, who is retired from hunting but still knows what to watch out for.

Wide awake now, I go back to bed with Xavier and spend the next hour or so wearing myself out. Multiple orgasms are definitely my preferred sleeping pill. I sleep soundly for a good seven hours, waking up from pain in my right hand. I sit up, inhaling and wanting to go back to sleep but the center of my right hand fucking burns. The blinds are still drawn, making the room pitch black. I grab my phone, using it for light.

“Fuck,” I grumble, opening up my palm. Holy shit. The little pin-prick is bright red, and there’s a red line extending from it, making its way up my arm, reminding me that I don’t have much time left.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

The bathroom door leading into the bedroom opens. Xavier comes out, wearing only a towel. Light spills into the room, giving me a better look at my hand. The line pulses along with my heart beat and then fades. I blink a few times, staring at my hand.

“You okay?” Xavier asks.

“Yeah, I, um, I…” I hold my hand up. “Do you see a line?”

He speeds over. “No.” He puts his finger on the center of my palm, right over the little red dot. “Did you see one?”