NOVGO.NET Chapter 181
Chapter 181: Chapter 181
Heather
Donovan’s words hit me hard. I didn’t like covering this up. It made me feel like I’d done something wrong, when that was the farthest thing from the truth.
"Destroying Luciana’s house is smart. Burning those floorboards is the only way to make sure she can’t do anymore of her evil magic in there. But the rest of it..." Suddenly I was more than exhausted, and when Claudia got back tomorrow, it was only going to get worse. "Just do me a favor and tell Mom before you set everything on fire."
"Okay, kiddo," Dad said. "Probably a good idea."
"We’ll leave it to you," Brent said. "Unless you need us for anything else...?"
"I can handle it from here." Mr. Langdon nodded to Donovan. "You want to take the students back?"
"Aye." Donovan put his arm around Serena’s shoulders. "That’ll be for the best. It’s been a long night for all of us."
In that moment, I was glad to be considered a student. I wanted no part of this. Going back and getting some sleep sounded like a much better option.
"I’m off too," Cosette said. "We’re running out of time to wipe memories."
"Xander," Mr. Langdon said. "Go with her. I’ll tell my contact at the corner’s office you’re heading that way. Cazadores to me. Let’s get this clean up done."
I gave Dad a quick hug and headed for the closest SUV. Serena and Donovan piled in back while Brent tossed the bag of books in the trunk.
"Well that was a hell of a night," Serena said as she buckled her seatbelt.
I leaned into the soft leather. "For real." I closed my eyes. "Did we really fight a demon?"
"You’re damned right we did," Serena said, and Donovan laughed over her words.
I reached back and high-fived her "We’re seriously badass." Laughing right then was probably asking for something worse to happen, but at this point—I needed the laugh. So, I took it.
Back at Brent’s cabin, I showered and then threw on some pajamas. He set a plate with a heated up burrito and some chips on my lap, but I put it on the nightstand.
"You have to eat."
"I’m way too tired." I flopped down on the bed, pulling the covers up around me.
He moved in front of me. One of his dark brown curls fell in front of his face as he bent over. "Please eat."
I took in the sight of him in his gym shorts. His chest still glistened from his shower. He was gorgeous. His body was perfection. Each ab muscle well defined. And his arms...
Thank you, God.
"Cherie." He had a knowing smile on his face as he leaned down, trapping me between his arms. "You’re somewhere else..."
I licked my lips. "You could say that."
He ran his nose along mine, before finally leaning in for a kiss. "Maybe you’re hungry for something other than food?"
"If you’re going to prance around in that outfit, then yeah. I’d say so."
His deep laugh ran through me, warming me from the inside. "Prance? Outfit? I’m feeling a little objectified."
I sighed, dreamily. "You should be. I’m definitely objectifying you right now." I ran my hands down his stomach, and he leaned forward, biting my lip.
His kisses were addictive. They drowned out all the bad. All the scary. And I had a lot of that going on in my head. But one touch, and I was gone.
I moaned as his tongue touched mine, and then I melted into the bed.
Yeah. I could get used to this. As he reached under my tank top, all coherent thought fled. All I wanted was more.
I let myself get lost in the sensation of his body against mine.
More. I needed more.
I never did get around to eating that burrito, but after our heavy make-out session, I slept like a baby. When I woke up, I reached over for him.
The sheets were cold.
Brent.
"I’m here," he said.
The tone of his voice was off. Too quiet, with a hint of annoyance. Something was wrong. I sat up. He had the TV on silent, and the news was on. It played helicopter footage looking over a street of burned houses in the middle of the woods.
My heart stopped. "No." I slid from the bed, and moved to his side. Brent’s hand found mine as he un-muted the TV.
"...dashboard camera footage led the police to this compound. The suspects in question—"
I sank onto the couch and muted the TV again, unable to listen to more. "How did this happen?"
"The video auto-uploaded to the police servers. Someone leaked it to the media." Brent rubbed a hand against his head.
"How much did they see?" And please don’t say everything...
"From the moment the cars rolled onto the compound, until your dad turned off the cameras. It’s all on there. Three cop cars. Three angles."
My heart pounded in my ears as the realization hit me. "The whole world knows about us."
"It gets worse."
I swallowed. "What do you mean it gets worse? How could it possibly get any fucking worse?"
He put his arm around me. "You have to calm down."
I wiggled free of him and stood. "Don’t. Don’t tell me to calm down. Just tell me what’s worse."
He cleared his throat. "The demon didn’t appear on film. At least, not how we saw it."
It took a second for that to skink in. If the demon
didn’t show up on film, then it was just us werewolves, a fey, and a bunch of dead cops. "What do you mean?"
"It’s better if you see." He rewound the news, stopping in the middle of the fight.
The video was a little grainy, but I could make out something moving in the middle of a ring of snarling wolves. I moved closer to the TV as the demon swiped at Kelly.
The demon’s motion turned it toward the camera and I stopped breathing for a second. The camera hadn’t been close enough to pick up the red eyes, but I should’ve been able to see its skin color. Its nails. And its proportions that were anything but human.
Except, the thing in the center of circle, surrounded by wolves, didn’t look like a demon. If I didn’t know—if I hadn’t been there myself—I wouldn’t have known it was a monster.
From the video, it looked like a hunched over man. If you looked close enough, you could tell because it didn’t move like a human, but I doubted anyone was looking that closely.
I closed my eyes and sank back down on the couch. "So what now?"
"Your dad and Presley are with the police. They’re trying to get it sorted, but..."
I buried my face in my hands. "This is so messed up."
"It is."
"What’s everyone saying online?"
"It’s bad. You don’t want to check."
He had to say that. Now all I wanted to do was look.
"Since you didn’t shift there’s a lot of speculation whether you’re a Were, but because you grew up human, your records are out there. Maybe someone from your old school will talk or they’ll match your photos, but it’s only a matter of time before the media gets your name. And when they do..."
"I’m going to be hounded." Forget "Freaky Heather." This was going to be a whole new level of crazy.
"Cosette too, but she’s MIA. We’re not sure when—or if—she’s coming back."
She’d be back. She had to be. We needed her, especially if she was that good against demons. I didn’t know anyone else who could whip weapons out of thin air mid-battle.
"Lots of theories about the vials and the explosions. They know it wasn’t us who killed the cops, and the footage shows the body getting sucked into the ground—but we’ve still got problems." He leaned back against the couch. "The local cops are freaking out because the FBI came down and now... It’s like they just learned the X-Files are real."
This was too much. My mind was blown. I pulled my knees to my chest and held them as I watched the soundless TV. "So, what now?"@