Page 84 of Malice

“Hey,” Leo says quickly, sensing the tension. “I’m starving and we don’t have anything good here. Want to run out and grab something?”

“Sure,” Ryder says, more than happy to leave.

Xavier finishes wrapping my hand, and we head back into the dark living room. We sit together, trying to enjoy a few quiet moments before everything goes to shit.

I don’t realize I’ve dozed off until Xavier gently wakes me, telling me Leo is back with food. I check my phone and realize they’ve been gone much longer than it takes to pick up takeout. Antonio carries in several bags of Chinese food, and Leo follows behind him holding an ancient-looking book.

“Is that a demon encyclopedia?” I ask, eyes widening. I’ve heard of them but never seen one. Rumor has it they’re closely guarded by witches, locked away in enchanted cabinets by the Grand Coven.

“Yes,” Ryder says, looking a little smug as he steps into the room. “I was able to pull some strings. We only have it for a few hours.”

“And it’s not in English,” Leo adds.

Xavier holds out his hand, and Antonio gives him the book.

“It’s a mix of Spanish, Old English, and Aramaic,” Xavier says, flipping through the pages. The handwriting changes constantly, clearly written by different people over time. “I can read this.”

“Really?” Antonio asks, surprised.

“Yes,” Xavier replies, like it’s obvious.

“Val is mentioned,” Leo says. “Somewhere in the middle.”

Forgetting about the food, I scoot closer to Xavier, my hand resting on his side as he carefully flips through the pages. Eventually, he stops. There isn’t much written. If not for the sigil drawn in the center of the page, I wouldn’t even know it was about Val.

We all watch as Xavier scans the text.

“This says Vaelric is a powerful demon in command of twelve legions of lesser demons.” He points to a line. “The direct translation is… too powerful to kill, but has been imprisoned.” He pauses, and the look on his face tells me he knows exactly what comes next. “His specialty is necromancy.”

The room goes still.

“If he’s freed,” Xavier continues quietly, “he’ll be able to control the dead.”

I swallow hard. The dead… means the undead.

And vampires are undead.

Chapter

Thirty-Six

The biggest sense of relief washes over me the second I walk through the garage door and step into the mudroom. Xavier and Theo have to go downtown for some sort of council meeting. Mabel wants to order food again, and I text Delphi just a few minutes ago, inviting her over.

It very much feels like the calm before the storm.

Because it is.

But we can’t sit around waiting for the wind to pick up. We have to keep moving, keep pretending life is normal. That’s the not-so-funny thing about life—no matter what happens, the world keeps going. And right now, we need it to look like I’m not actively searching for a demon or quietly panicking because I have days left to unleash hell on earth.

Devon suggests he and Antonio go out to a vampire bar. Once they’re inside, everything should be fine, but if they’re seen walking in together, it’ll only cement the narrative that Antonio has become a Malus vampire.

It’s not the worst idea he’s had.

Surprisingly, Antonio seems eager to get out and do something. It’s hard being a prisoner in your own home—and this isn’t even technically his. Since Devon’s only been a vampire for a hot minute, Mabel and I decide it’s best that Zeke goes with them.

“What do you want me to order tonight?” Mabel asks. “I just discovered Uber Eats. Do you think they’ll ever add a vampire option?”

“Probably not on that app,” I tell her. There are services where you can order blood by type—and by type, I mean blood type—as well as pick the human you’re getting it from. There’s a lot of debate over it, but since the donors are consenting adults and get paid well, it hasn’t been outlawed.