by Erin R Flynn
“Thank you, Sera. We were clear you weren’t poaching nor trying to gouge the local vampires,” Jake replied with a tired tone. “And everything was wonderful yesterday. Is it true that the seafood was a gift and you’ll always have access to it?” I realized he probably knew the answer from yesterday, but he wanted me to say it in front of Vlad, right from the horse’s mouth maybe?
I explained the situation with the elves, confirming the paperwork for the visas was done and approved and we’d bought the farm, so there would be more in the future and probably lots of it for all paranormals to buy… Like Vlad for his hotels, but I didn’t say that part, getting why Jake had brought it up.
“I found places to hang the items I chose from Igor’s collections as payment for you using my moving company,” Vlad said instead of commenting on the elves. “After Alena took her findings home and after your new friend the fairy queen and even after Alpha Stud.”
I threw my fork onto my plate and met his eyes with the hate I was starting to feel for him. “Enough, Vlad. Seriously, just fucking stop it. You’re like the jealous lover and school bully and a few other clichés all in one. You broke our friendship and the alliance with the wolves. Most leaders would have fucking blacklisted you or tried to oust you. I demanded you follow the law and cut the shit.
“Now you’re slighted you got middle pick of shit I didn’t even want from the deals you made for me that broke us and traumatized me? Are you fucking kidding me? You’re lucky I didn’t gut you with them for how I got them. You were pissed I didn’t let you handle the negotiations. You were pissed you made yourself look bad in front of the council and others at what happened.
“None of this is my fault, but I still let your people handle Noah’s bodyguard school knowing you get a cut. I agreed to invite some for the friends and family preview. You’re sitting here now after the many blocks you put up for us to open. You should have sent flowers to congratulate us. You were king of Chicago before, and now you’re not and you’re pissed. Get over it. You’re risking trouble for Chicago with this, and I can’t fathom why you are.
“What is it you’re looking for, Vlad? Me to ignore what you were doing? To let you go back to dictating paranormal rules to Chicago? Give you Noah? What is your actual goal with acting like this? The fact I came over here is about the only inch I’m willing to give, and it hurts me to do it after the last time I sat at a meal with you, but I did it for my wolves and your vampires because none of this is their fault. And you start more—”
I swallowed a sob at bringing up the dinner and night with Igor and quickly got to my feet, excusing myself. I made it to the bathroom and curled into a ball on the floor, thinking back to the lobster bisque of that night, the threats Igor had made and how Vlad had left me all alone to sink or swim. What I had let Igor do to me in the name of survival and how Vlad had had a hand in all of it.
I smelled wolf, and my wolf filled me, comforting me as I was surrounded by scents I knew well… And I pushed them away.
“Sera, let us help,” Hagan whispered as he tried to move closer again.
“I keep hearing Reagan call me a dead fish and knowing I wasn’t getting any energy from either of you that you wanted me after I was broken,” I wailed, tucking my head down further.
“That wasn’t why,” Reagan choked out, rubbing my naked back. “We couldn’t help. We seemed to make things worse, and it wasn’t we didn’t want you, you didn’t want to be with us. I’m sorry, Sera. I’m sorry for what I said. I’m sorry we didn’t protect you that night. I’m sorry we didn’t demand to be at your back at a meal with a councilman even if Vlad was there like we should have. I’m sorry we don’t know how to be proper seconds like Dain is, but we’ll learn.”
“We’re sorry we weren’t what you needed and made it worse,” Hagan added. “We were drowning too. We’ve never been Betas before, and coming back to Chicago was harder than we’d thought it would be. We haven’t been back since we lost our parents. There’s so many threats against you, and we kept panicking we wouldn’t be able to protect you after already having failed you so big right away. We’re sorry.”
I slowly raised my head and sat back on my feet, wiping under my eyes. “That’s the first time you’ve said you felt it was your fault for what happened with Igor. Why was it your fault? I ordered you to protect the boys.”
“Because we were good soldiers and listened,” Regan whispered, his cheeks wet with tears. “That’s being an enforcer. We’re your Betas. We should have counseled you like Dain does about potential dangers. We failed you again in Vegas by just waiting for orders. We keep messing up, and I feel like I’m drowning in it. It wasn’t you. It was us. You’re not a dead fish. You’re wonderful, and we were so deep in shit we couldn’t see how deep you were in it.”
“Okay,” I breathed, accepting the towel someone handed me, apologizing when I saw Simone had left the party to check on us. “We’re okay. Go be super cool owner.”
“Yeah, more like break up the fight between Vlad’s party, as they’re pissed at him. I think a lot of his petty crazy is his people are on the outs with him. If that many vampires were angry with me, I wouldn’t ever sleep. Would you?”
It made sense. Unrest in his own house would cause ripples and a bit of paranoia.
“What a mess,” I sighed as she left me with Hagan and Reagan alone. I glanced between them. “I can’t just forgive you, but I was drowning too. We need to do better, and you need to give me time to deal with what happened because I flinch at the idea of either of you touching me after that.”
“Do you really want us to be entertained by those women?” Hagan asked, his tone full of pain.
Part of me wanted to be a bitch. My siren wanted to order crap because we’d been hurt and she was vindictive. I couldn’t handle any more games though. I was so, so tired, so I told the truth. “No. No, I don’t want you fucking other women.”
9
“But I’m not forgiving you just yet,” I reminded them. They bobbed their heads, and I decided to make one thing clear. “I’m not kicking you out of the house either though.”
“Was that on the table?” Hagan gasped, both of them having matching looks of shock.
“I’m Alpha, remember? You’re my Betas who asked me to be lovers. Think like a Beta, how does this fight look to the outside? I know Simone’s kicked people out of her bed forever for less. Hell, I tossed Tristan out for a while after he frightened the boys when I just met them. You missed I was drowning and kept selfishly fucking me then called me a dead fish and blamed me for the whole thing. Even if it was more than that, that’s the basics.”
“Yeah, most Alphas would toss our asses out,” Reagan agreed, lowering his head as his shoulders shook with silent cries.
“Where do we go from here then?” Hagan asked, the question thick in the air.
“I don’t know. I get better that you were drowning too, and it’s something you both should talk about with Zeno since we trust him, and with the pack. Maybe Theon? I don’t know. I’m just saying you can stay, I also wouldn’t do that to the boys because your leaving would kill them, but other than that, I can’t have you touching me. It hurts.”
“We’ll figure out a way to fix this, because you’re worth healing and loving the way you need to be loved,” Reagan cut in when Hagan looked like he might ask something else.
“You are both so alike and yet so different, night and day but with the same morals and foundation. I fell for you for different reasons, but the one thing I adored so much was you both did whatever you could to help me, give me what I needed. Was that just Betas helping their Alpha? I thought it was because you loved me, but if it was that, when and why did it stop? Because you got me? You moved in with me? Why am I not worth more to you?”
“You are, Sera, you are. We did it for the woman we wanted, do want, not the Alpha or wolf,” Hagan assured me. “I’m sorry we ever made you feel otherwise, but we will show you again and again.”
“
And we will figure out a way to stop drowning and all communicate better what’s going on with us. Everything’s always so busy that sometimes things just get done and you don’t see it was us, us making sure we gave you what you needed.”
“That’s fair,” I conceded, getting to my feet. We left the bathroom, and I never even said a word about them following me into the women’s bathroom, but it was kind of funny they had.
What wasn’t funny was the fight I walked into by the kitchen.
“You need to apologize, Vlad,” Remus hissed at Vlad. “You need to start fucking groveling.”
“I am Master of Chicago, not you, Remus.”
“I know that. Hell, I don’t want the job. I’m telling you as head of your security that if this riff gets any bigger or you hurt her any more, you’ll have a riot on your hands soon instead of stacks of requests to transfer covens!”
I gasped at the news, Remus flinching as he realized I was there and had missed it. “Why would they request that?”
Remus let out a huff and glanced at Vlad. Right, the boss would never allow him to confess something so important.
“They worry I will betray them to save myself as they perceive I did you,” Vlad answered, giving me another shock. “Though I did it to save them and keep my coven safe. It wasn’t the right move, and I am sorry. I never dreamed it would be taken so far. I never fathomed you’d be so traumatized by it all, as you seemed willing.”
“You’re one of the nicest paranormal leaders any of us have ever met,” Remus continued, taking the green light from Vlad and saying what he obviously wanted to get off of his chest. “Most would have killed Tristan and then Vlad for sending Tristan after you, no matter the miscommunication or circumstance. Instead, you treated Tristan like a god, giving him a home, no real rules or requirements as Masters do us.
“Fine, things went amuck because of the bond, but still you just traded him away, not beating him dead for leaving without talking to you and upsetting you. Most leaders would have killed Vlad, and you’ve not even demanded reparations, Sera. Your ancient vampires can’t say enough about you. Noah got to keep his business that he has with Vlad. Hell, everyone who meets you adores you.”
“I can name lots of people who hate me.” I winced. “Most of the Vegas FBI does for sure.” That situation had blown up big time as my team—with the help of Laila’s information—had closed a bunch of their regular FBI cases and all the paranormal ones. That was something that couldn’t be hidden. Chief Hull had gotten suspended, and a major shakeup had happened in that office.
“Yeah, they fucked up though. You don’t start anything, but you will finish it.” He gave Vlad a meaningful look. “You might have spanked our Master, but it was better than jail and putting who you wanted in charge, and Noah’s power has jumped to the point I bet he could be a master vampire in no time, so he could hold Chicago with your help.
“But you’re forgiving. That’s rare in our world. You could care less about the separation of species and don’t get haughty with us vampires. That’s really rare in our world. No one wants to be on the outs with you, and everyone is lining up to get in good with you while we’re not. It’s causing a lot of unrest.”
“You’re in good with me,” I assured Remus. “I don’t hold the boss’s actions against the people under him.”
“Which is why you’re pretty much a goddess to all of us, Sera. Remember, I was there that day and did nothing to stop it,” he reminded me. I remembered. He hadn’t been right there, but in and out, a lot of them had.
I nodded and left the hallway, done with the heavy for the night. I got worried looks when I returned to my table, not really in the mood to eat.
“Have you guys heard the story of the slushy attack?” Brian asked the others.
“Seriously?” I groaned, shaking my head at why he picked that to try and lighten the mood.
“You know, I’ve wondered now that I know how well you guys smell if that guy was a shifter,” he admitted, shrugging when I shot him a look. “Sera was tailing this guy for undercover work, and she’s good. She changed outfits, wigs, all kinds of flips so no one would spot her.”
“You think he scented me,” I muttered, bobbing my head. “Maybe. I would know if someone was following me from that.”
“So anyways, she’s undercover and not carrying because the guys had been in and out of places she couldn’t get a gun in without flashing a badge,” Brian continues, smiling. “And he busts her in a fucking gas station, charging her as she’s at the drink station. She decides to throw her slushy in his face and turn on the machine so it’s all over the floor and he slips. But he crashes into her too, and by the time we rush in, they’re wrestling in slushy and she’s covered in it.”
“Tasty,” Jason chuckled, giving me a wink. “Sounds like you. Was the guy the one you’d wanted?”
“Yeah. We didn’t follow him back to the big dogs like we wanted, but Brian got him to flip at least. I swear I was sticky for days after rolling around in that shit. I still can’t even drink one.”
The table laughed, and some of the tension eased. I sat through full dessert this time, realizing it was pretty obvious that I’d left dinner early and missed the two dances on either side of “my” number. Basically we needed to do it faster and better this time.
“Noah will bring food to the table upstairs as if you’re trying other samples or you missed a course talking to people,” Dain informed me as he escorted me to where Gayle was waiting.
“I don’t have enough time,” she worried, wiggling the airbrush at Dain. “You’re going to have to help while I get the snow on her after you paint her white.” He nodded, and she gave him a super quick tutorial of what she called a syphon feed airbrush that was fully open.
“It tickles,” I giggled as he did it as fast as he could, letting out a lot of paint at a time. The white had to be applied thicker than the gold did, so that was part of why she was worried on time. We had less of it, and it was more complicated.
Once he got my face all done and moved on to my shoulders and back so he was out of her way, she sprayed on some type of adhesive to a craft sponge and then stuck it in the fake snow stuff. Then basically she stuck it all over me strategically.
When Dain came back around to do some more on the front of me, she did some on my shoulders and back before helping me slip on the headdress that was all white with some white glitter, fake pearls, almost a flapper kind of look, but at least there was no wig this time.
“Sera, I think we should invest in getting a better sprayer or two so we can do this better, maybe more bottles for paints so I can switch them out faster.”
“Sure, but I thought this was the club’s?”
“No, it’s mine. I had it from when I was in school with the tiny air compressor about to give out, so I think we need one of those too since you really want to go in this direction and—”
“Gayle, did you buy this paint too?” I sighed when she nodded. “I’m sorry, I thought Simone was handling this, but I bet she thought I was since it’s for me. Is there a place we can bulk buy supplies? Get whatever airbrushes and compressor that will make this easier for you, and if you get an extra hand to help out like Dain jumped in so it’s super easy.” I realized something else, glancing at the empty corner of the dressing room we were in. “We need a station just for these supplies.”
“That would be best, especially since this is the area I share with a few others,” she agreed, gesturing to the mirror and kits at that station.
“Is it better if we bulk buy the glitters and stuff you’re all using? Eye shadows or lashes? I don’t know what you all use.”
“Um, most use like a shimmer, almost like a fancy bronzer you would put on your face but all over so it gives an ethereal feel to the small outfits, not just naked or for those of us who are super pale. There are a few shades, and we use the big powder puffs. Sponges and whatnot too. People like their own brushes, but there are cleaners and stuff that woul
d help you get that all off too when it’s more than paint because you shouldn’t just scrub your face.”
“Is the wig and headdress yours as well?” I checked, mentally rolling my eyes when she nodded. “Okay, first of all, where did you get all of this?”
“Most of it was mine that I’m surprised wasn’t dead, but the rest I picked up some fillers and bases from Chicago Airbrush Supply on Western, right off 90. The wig I had, and I did the silver one from another old wig. I made the head piece with old stuff.” Her cheeks were red as she admitted she’d done it all on her own.
“Our queen has old wigs from previous shows, as we save all the costumes and whatnot that no one would care they were painted,” Dain informed me. “If you have a supplier right here and the prices are good, I would suggest setting up a business account that Gayle can use to purchase what she needs when she runs out but going with her to start that and get the bulk.”
“It’s all expensive,” Gayle worried.
“That’s fine. It’s better than people figuring out who’s who once we’re really open. This is a great idea, and I heard some of the hosts talk about doing body paint costumes and other fun stuff.” She nodded, and I thought about what she’d told me before. “Do you want to go back to school for it and finish your degree?”
“No, not really,” she admitted. “I thought I did, but I got a good foundation, and now there’s so much on YouTube that really, I don’t feel the need to. I mean, this is like my dream job, and I’d even like to do the makeup for some of the burlesque shows, bolder stuff we could easily wash off and reset between numbers.” She worried her lip as she applied more snow. “I wouldn’t order the airbrushes or compressor from them.