Page 45 of Unbound

And worst of all, I am terrified that what Marie said is going to prove to be true. I was never meant to live in the dark.

Chapter

Sixteen

“Good morning, Mrs. Malus,” Alan says when I walk into the kitchen. “Would you like a latte?”

“Yeah,” I reply. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

It’s nearing eleven in the morning, early enough that it’s believable I was simply sleeping in after a normal late night out.

I know Alan has been held spellbound more times than his brain probably knows how to process, so I have no idea if he’s aware of anything that happened last night.

Hell, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. I tell myself I’m not going to go down an internet rabbit hole searching for the Bellamy family. I make it about five minutes.

Like the Blackwoods, I’m not able to find much. The Bellamys seem to come from money, though, and there are several articles about descendants attending Ivy League schools. Interestingly, there’s almost nothing about them before that. It’s like they didn’t exist until they graduated high school.

Which is probably because they were attending a witch academy hidden inside a secret Covenstead. It seems Eudora is a family name, and my gut is telling me Claire is the missing girl’s middle name. Eudora is kind of a cool name, but it’s definitely old-fashioned. If I were a kid, I’d probably choose Claire too. Not surprisingly, that’s about the extent of what I can find on the Bellamy family. I’m not sure what I expected. It’s not like I was going to stumble across a Facebook group documenting all their demon-hunting shenanigans from the last century.

I eat breakfast and then go upstairs to change into workout clothes. I text Delphi, letting her know I can meet with her and Larkin anytime this afternoon. It’s cloudy outside, and the air is thick with humidity. Rain is supposed to start any minute, so I head down to the gym and walk on the treadmill. About thirty minutes later, my brothers join me, and we spend the next hour training.

Working out used to be my go-to coping mechanism. If I pushed my body to its absolute limit, my brain had a harder time keeping up. Afterward, I head upstairs to shower and change. As soon as I shut off the water, animated voices drift upstairs, loud enough to hear through the closed bathroom door.

It takes me a second to recognize the female voice.

Victoria.

“Great,” I grumble, wrapping a towel around myself.

I take my time getting ready, hoping she’ll be gone by the time I finally come downstairs.

But Delphi texted me while I was in the shower saying she and Larkin want to meet at three at a restaurant downtown, which doesn’t leave me with much time.

I try to sneak downstairs quietly, hoping I can somehow make it to the garage, grab a set of keys, and drive away before Victoria notices me.

So much for wishful thinking.

“You!” she shrieks the second she sees me, pointing a finger in my direction.

Theo is standing in the parlor with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks utterly annoyed. More than usual, which is saying something. He pinches the bridge of his nose and makes a dismissive motion with one hand.

“What the hell was that last night?” Victoria demands. “You ran out of the press conference to go sing on stage to a live audience?”

“She was very good,” Mabel says, looking up from the little table in the corner where she’s brushing her porcelain doll’s hair.

“That has absolutely nothing to do with this,” Victoria snaps, waving her hands through the air as she talks. “Do you realize the mess you created?”

I make a face and inhale sharply. “I do realize how weird it looks now that I think back on it.” Because, yeah…I ran out of a press conference, went straight to a bar, got onstage, sang one song, and then immediately ran away again.

“I got onstage because I was looking for a demon,” I explain. “Which I found. And then killed.”

Victoria stares at me without blinking. She turns toward Theo, clearly expecting him to back her up and confirm that I’m insane. Instead, he holds his hand out in front of his face and lets out a dramatic sigh.

“That is exactly what happened.”

“Well, how the hell am I supposed to work with that?” Victoria snaps.

I shrug. “You’re the PR expert, not me. I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” I turn on my heel and catch the faintest smile on Theo’s face as I leave the room.