Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
I stand next to Xavier. My wet hair has been pulled into a loose braid and my makeup touched up. Most of the blood has been cleaned from my face and hands, but Victoria, the VC rep who is eating this up, thought it would paint a better picture to leave some of the evidence of tonight’s terror on my body.
Reporters swarm around us, and bright lights make it hard to see into the crowd. We’re at City Hall, and I had no idea standing in front of this many people would be so exhilarating.
Xavier steps up to a podium, adjusting the microphone. “Tonight, my wife and I were brutally attacked while enjoying dinner in the city. We had human and vampire companions with us and while we made it out alive, not everybody did.”
He pauses, letting the weight of what he just said settle on everyone listening.
“What happened tonight was not a random act of violence. It was not a misunderstanding. It was not a tragic mistake. What happened tonight was an execution attempt carried out by extremists from The Church of the Rising Sun.” He stops and inhales slowly, not because he needs to, but because he wants to appear more human. The crowd is silent, hanging on Xavier’s every word. Both his name and his face are well known. Even I knew the rumors before I met him. Yet having him give a speech like this is a rare event.
Xavier’s jaw tenses and just the right amount of consternation clouds his face.
“Those people do not know us. They did not care to see who was around them nor did they ask who was human or who was vampire.”
He turns, looking at me. My hands are clasped together, shoulders back with my chin up. I can keep my composure under pressure, and while I used to dread being the center of attention, right now I’m just so angry.
“My wife is human,” Xavier says as he locks eyes, holding my gaze for a couple seconds before he purposely blinks and turns back to the crowd. “Many of the people at the restaurant were human. And their lives didn’t matter if it meant a chance at killing those the members of the Church or the Rising Sun fear. They can no longer claim to be protecting humanity and I am calling on every one of Charlotte’s vampires to stand united with me and do not let yourself become a weapon in someone else’s war.”
He takes my hand and turns, leading me away from the spotlight.
“Wow,” Victoria says, shaking her head. “If I’d known you were that good on camera, I would have put you in front of it years ago. Why you prefer to stay out of the limelight is beyond me. He was a natural up there, wasn’t he?” She elbows me playfully.
“You were amazing,” I tell him.
“So were you,” Victoria says.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Exactly. You looked concerned. A little scared and banged up. Human. It was perfect.”
“Oh, uh, good,” I say, not feeling like that’s quite the compliment she thinks it is. A couple more vampires from the VC are here, and they speak with Xavier for a bit longer before we’re free to go.
“Well, brother,” Theo says once we’re al
in the car. “Are you going to say it or should I?”
“Say what?” I ask, pulling my seatbelt on. I cannot wait to get home and change out of these wet clothes and wash the blood from my hair.
“That restaurant had a human-vampire ratio of one-to-ten. The Church of the Rising Shitheads didn’t go there by chance to blow up vampires. They knew we were there.” He leans forward between the two front seats. “Which means we have a rat in the coalition.”
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
“One of these days, we’re going to have a really boring night and then we’ll be saying, hey, remember that night we almost got blown up? That was a wild time.” I pull the towel from my head and shake out my hair.
“Things have been rather exciting since you joined the family.” Xavier stands behind me, hands landing on my hips. I just got out of the shower and am in the bathroom, dressed in only a robe. It’s nearly four in the morning and I’m exhausted. I have pulled many all-nighters, but I don’t know if I’ll ever fully adjust to vampire hours.
I hang up my towel and spin around in his arms.
“Are you all right?” he asks gently.
“I’m fine, really. You took the brunt of everything when that bomb went off.” I shake my head and put a hand on his chest. “It could have killed you.”
“I knew what I was doing.”
“Did you?” I question. “It was risky.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “Says the woman who never takes chances.”
“Hah. Okay, fair. But…man, what a night.”
“I’m going to ask again, Wren. Are you okay? What you saw tonight…the carnage…that sort of thing can haunt humans.” He almost has a question in his voice, not sure if it’s true because it doesn’t haunt him. He has maimed and murdered thousands over the course of his seven-hundred-year-long afterlife. He’s lived through wars and attacks and has seen the worst humanity has to offer.