“I think you all are liars.” I growled.
Andros stood then, and went into the kitchen. He didn’t say a word, but I assumed he went to pour himself a coffee.
I balled up my fist and slammed it backward into Gray’s gut—not too hard, just enough to get my point across. “Tell me what my nose looks like.”
The laughter just got louder and suspicion started to swirl through my stomach.
Andros came back and crossed his arms. But his tough guy persona was ruined when he saw Gray’s prank. “Epic.”
I glared at every single one of them before I decided to take matters into my own hands. I leapt off Gray’s lap and grabbed Gray’s burner phone from the seat. Gray had insisted on iPhones because the wealthy prankster couldn’t handle the cheap ass phones I’d wanted.
I turned on the camera feature and flipped the screen so that I could see myself.
Fury nearly knocked me out.
Zavier hadn’t been kidding when he’d said my nose was the worst of them all.
Grayson had enchanted my nose to look like a dick. A thick, black one.
13
I woke up to hear the dull pulse of the magical newscast downstairs, the frantic intro music designed to make the masses panic; it was quick-paced, high pitched and annoying … and probably full of things I really didn’t want to hear.
I rolled out of bed and glanced around the little room I claimed at the farmhouse. There was no clock in the bedroom, just a queen-sized mattress and a dresser that had a thin coat of dust on top. I glanced out the window, shielding my eyes from the light as I tried to gauge the time of day. It was midafternoon. I didn’t sleep nearly as long as I wanted to, but there was so much to be done that I didn’t even attempt to roll back over and get more sleep.
I reached under my pillow and grabbed the vial of serum, then rolled out of bed, cracking my neck and stretching as I slid the pouch string over my neck and grabbed two phones, my phone and my newest burner—one Gray had provided each of us before we went to sleep.
I checked the first for a call from my mom, but there wasn’t one. Part of me wondered if she’d gotten away or … if she was so strung out on Calm after everything last night that she wasn’t even able to call me back.
I blew out a breath and tried to get rid of the anger that heated me up at that thought—it wasn’t productive.
And I needed to get back to work.
We had to stay one step ahead of those Pinnacle bastards.
I groaned and slinked into the bathroom to clean up using the supplies Gray’s guys dropped off for us. The toothpaste tasted heavenly on my disgusting mouth. I walked out to find a couple more duffels in the hallway, lined up against the wall. The first one had guns in it. The second was full of ammo.
Hopefully, we don’t need to use any of that shit, ever, I told myself as I knelt to check the next bag.
The third duffel had what I was looking for—women’s clothes. I took it back to my room and changed into jeans and a flowy green shirt before I slipped on some tennis shoes and headed downstairs in time to hear the news announcer on Gray’s laptop say, “The massive manhunt has ended. Thirty-four vampires have been eliminated after a rampage that began last night and culminated in the deaths of two-hundred-fifty-six magicals and forty-seven norms …”
My heart clenched at those numbers and my face paled.
I looked over at Malcolm, who sat next to Gray, nursing an energy drink as he shook his head. On the other side of the table, Evan fiddled with a fork, ignoring his waffles as he listened.
The internet fritzed then and Gray cursed it.
I used a bit of magic to repair the satellite signal and the solemn newscaster’s baritone returned. “The local norm hospitals are full of victims from the attacks and we know of at least thirty buildings that have sustained damage.”
"Fuck," I ran a hand through my hair. All of that was my fault.
"Don't even think it," Evan said, jabbing his fork in the air in my direction. Somehow, he knew how I felt. "You tried to do right by that guy. The Pinnacle fucks probably made him unhinged. I mean--who knows how long he's been down there."
"Shhh," Malcolm held up a hand to interrupt us. "None of that matters." He flipped the laptop around to me. "Check all those feeds you hacked earlier. See if we have any good footage of those vamps escaping from the Pinnacle itself."
It was ironic Malcolm wanted me to check that, because just then, the newscaster added, “The cause of last night's massive vampire attack is currently unknown. Local vampiric institutes have reported no breakouts and Unnatural Spell sites were inactive last night due to the ball."
The internet out here was so slow that even though I’d broken into the Pinnacle feed, the upload speeds were snail-paced. We'd gone to sleep while we waited. Now it was time to see if what I'd gotten was of any use. I opened the first file as I stole a bite of Evan's syrup-soaked waffles. But it was a bust.
So was the second. And the third. The screens filled with static instead of footage.
"Motherfucker. They had to have spelled it. Shit." I clutched my fork like a weapon.
"How?" Malcolm asked.
"They used a Tock. Turned back the time on the feeds, then corrupted them." Andros' deep voice came from the base of the stairs. I glanced up to see him rub a hand over his unshaven face.
"Dammit!" Malcolm's hand slammed down on the wooden table, making Evan's coffee cup skip. I dropped my fork and rescued it, but before I took a sip, I stared hard at Gray.
"It's clean," he said.
As I sipped my prank-free coffee, Malcolm closed the laptop, frustration etched across his features. "The Pinnacle's gonna spin it. I know they will. They're gonna say the vamps came from somewhere else."
Evan chipped in, "We've got bigger fish to fry. We need to snag Matthew before they start purging the damn Institutes. There's gonna be a call for that--"
"That's short term. Long term, people need to know the government is fucking--" Malcolm shot back.
Gray threw up his hands. "I'm gonna let you two yell this out and grab a bite." He and Andros strode off through the swinging door to the kitchen.
"There's gonna be an investigation," Malcolm asserted.
Evan shook his head. "So? We've covered our tracks--"
"That's not enough! What they're doing--"
They interrupted each other for the next five minutes, each arguing about what he thought the best next steps were. I let them go at it for a while as I steadily stole my breakfast from Evan's plate. It was better to let them get it all out.
"Look," I interjected, "the faster we can prove the serum works, the faster we can save vamps. Save vamps and we redefine the world as we know it. Including the Pinnacle."
"Save the sane ones anyway. Not the British assholes who backstab you the second you free them," Evan grumbled.
"Agreed," I retorted.
Malcolm huffed and slouched in his seat.
I ignored his pout and said, "Open the laptop back up. We need to check in on what else they're saying."
As soon as the laptop gaped open, the baritone newscaster rang out, "This just in. The vampire release might possibly have been part of a plan to cover up a jewel heist that occurred last night. Sources are saying that several women who attended last night's Unnatural Ball have reported their jewelry stolen. Some of the pieces taken were insured for millions. There is no word from Pinnacle Police yet whether this theft was connected to the vampire rampage that went on, but several attendees have issued statements on social media regarding the connection. We'll keep you updated on this breaking story as we get new details."