Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Hours later, we leave the store with dozens of shopping bags. I’ve gotten good at compartmentalizing, and I tried to allow myself to enjoy the fact that I spent thousands of dollars of someone else’s money. But the reality has been hanging above me and the pain of betrayal hurts too bad to ignore.
“What’s it like working for the Malus family?” I ask Nina when we get into the car, smoothies in hand.
“They’re very nice to work for,” she says in a monotone voice,
“Like really,” I push. “They’re all vampires. Aren’t you scared?”
“No, ma’am,” she tells me. “They treat their employees with much respect.” Her southern accent is muted when she talks and I know she’s repeated what someone has put into her head. I don’t know much about what happens when someone is held spellbound. I don’t know that much about vampires either, to be honest. Now I can see through the obviousness of it all.
The Order kept us from killing vampires because of this deal. It had nothing to do with the Vampire Inclusion Act or how it was more difficult to cover up missing vampire reports.
“Have you worked for them long?” I go on.
“For seven years.”
“Do you remember the woman who stayed in my room before me?”
“That room has always been empty,” she says and I know there’s no point in prodding anymore. Everything has been wiped from her mind. “Xavier is really good looking.”
She smiles. “He is a handsome man, er, vampire.”
“He was a man at some point.”
“I suppose they all were.” She pulls out her phone. “I’m to schedule a hair appointment for you. Is that your natural color?”
“Yeah. Never have dyed my hair, and I never will.” It’s the only thing I have that ties me to my family—my real family. Vivian, Larissa, and Gia all have thick, dark blonde hair. Both my brothers do, too. But my mother, who I only have that one photograph of, has dark brown hair like me.
“Mr. Xavier prefers it long,” she informs me.
“Wouldn’t Devon’s opinion matter more?” I ask curiously, watching her face closely. Her eyes widen and I see her tense, but she doesn’t outwardly react.
“I’ve been tasked in doing what Mr. Xavier requests.”
“Of course, you have.” I take a drink of my smoothie and lean back, watching the city pass by as we drive back to the house, taking mental note of any and all street signs. I need to know exactly where I am so I can leave.
The fact I have no one to call for help—even if I did have my phone—is like a slap to the face. I don’t think Leo or Antonio knew what was going to happen. They’re good actors in the way they can fake a role as a hunter, but they’re not Emmy winners by any means. No…it was my parents, if I can even call them that anymore.
Emotion bites at me and I press the nails of my left hand into my thigh, concentrating on the pain to distract me from the heartache. People don’t abandon people they love. They just don’t. Did Vivian and Marco ever love me like I was their own? They told me they did. They said I was family, that I was no different to them than their own biological children. Was it always a lie? Did they take me in as a baby knowing I’d be the replacement when the day came for the Malus Vampires to take one of their children? They just gave me up as if it was nothing.
I don’t talk the rest of the way home, and the driver lets me know he will bring my things to my room later on. The sun has set, and there is a chef in the kitchen, doing a damn good job ignoring the yelling that is going on.
Loud voices fill the house, arguing in Spanish. I can only pick up bits and pieces of what is being said, and I recognize one of the voices to be Xavier. I took a few years of Spanish while in school, and the entire Russo family knows just enough Italian to get by as a local when we go back to Florence…the city where Vivian found me.
And named me after.
Xavier says something about the Vampire Council. I get the gist that he’s not a fan. Something else is said about a deal falling through and lost…money maybe? I slow to a stop, listening. The chef looks up at me, surprised. Oh right, they’re used to seeing all the soon to be mommies spellbound and obedient.
Nina ushers me forward just as I hear something being said about needing a human.
“It’s not your business,” Nina says in a hushed voice. “Not if you know what’s good for you.”
“I hardly ever know what’s good for me,” I confess and go back up to my prison cell bedroom. All my clothes are brought up and Nina insists I change into one of my new dresses before I join “the family” for dinner.