Innocence and Evil (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #6) by Jennifer Malone Wright Read Free Book Online Page A

Chloe,”
Oscar called after us.
    ***
    Upstairs, Alice had just finished making a
plate of sandwiches and was placing it on the table as we entered.
She glanced up at us. “As always, you guys have perfect timing when
it comes to food.”
    “I can smell it a mile away,” Chloe told her
jokingly as she plucked one off the pile.
    Sarah and Daniels were already sitting down
at the table. Daniels had the chair turned around, resting his head
on his arms which were folded across the back.
    I looked for Christina and found her leaning
against the counter, filing her fingernails. She caught my gaze and
offered a small smile. Sometimes, it was hard to know what she was
thinking. My girl was all hard around the edges and didn’t like to
let people in. I guess that was what made us so perfect for each
other.
    Ignoring the urge to cross the kitchen and
kiss her until she couldn’t breathe, I chose to pull out a chair
and sit down at the table.
    Drew stalked in next, tugging his shoulder
holster off and looping it over the back of a chair. “We have to
talk about what we’re going to do with those guys.” His eyes
flicked toward me.
    I leaned back, returning the glare.
“What?”
    “It’s just that we aren’t really equipped to
hold people prisoner, nor do I want to have anyone tied up
in our basement.”
    “Well, excuse me for not having time to
consider the options. I was busy trying to get the morons to
talk.”
    Chloe snagged another sandwich. “Knock it
off, you guys. Hey, Alice, is there anything you can do to wipe
their memories or something?”
    Alice poured herself a big cup of coffee and
sat down. “I can’t do anything like that right now, but I could
work on it when I have time.”
    “That would come in so handy if we end up
having to hold more Dragons. We know there are a lot of them still
out there.”
    Christina tucked her file into her back
pocket. “And they are still following the Vampire Council.”
    “The Vampire Council that is trying to come
back from the dead,” Alice pointed out, lifting her coffee mug to
her lips.
    “All right.” Drew selected a sandwich from
the top of the plate and held it in his right hand without taking a
bite. “We have several things to worry about right now. I feel like
the first priority is finding the vampires and taking them out.
Maybe if we do that, these Dragons will just stop whatever they are
doing.”
    I shook my head. “Those two downstairs need
to be locked up forever. The evil radiates off of them like bad
body odor. We can’t let them out into the world again.”
    Gavin had quietly entered the room with
everyone else and stood off near the doorway. “Zander, I don’t
really think that is your decision to make.”
    “Wrong. It is my decision. The Warrior Angel
gave me these gifts for a reason.”
    “So you think the fate of mankind is in your
hands?” Gavin’s voice was low, non-confrontational, and I tried to
keep that in mind when I replied.
    “Look man, I was given this power for a
reason. Not only do I want to do the right thing, but I want to
accomplish the mission the Warrior Angel gave me.”
    Christina stepped up behind me. “What he
said was that if we find the humans, then we will find the
vampires. He wants us to find the vampires.”
    “But… the Dragons.”
    “No,” she cut me off. “He said that the
Dragons were simply mislead, and that hopefully they would change
course. That means there is still hope for them. These should be
the only ones we hold.”
    I took a deep breath. Had I jumped the gun
with the Dragons? Yeah, I didn’t kill them … and I admit, I wanted
to. “Okay, these two are the only ones … for now.” I added the last
part and Drew glared at me.
    “What? You know as well as I do that some of
these guys are bad dudes. What good are we doing the world just
letting them roam around hurting people?”
    “Again,” Gavin stated quietly, “That is not
your call.”
    I wanted to argue, but I didn’t have