“Oh, right,” he muttered, feeling dejected and stupider by the second.
Nina looked down at him, her eyes intense and hard. “Listen, Peace Lover. I get you have reservations and you want to fucking make nice because he looks like he’s just a kid. But I got news for you. That little fucker is a piece of shit. The crap he’s done to humans alone just because he can would be enough to make your big-ass horn curl. He’s no saint, trust and believe. He uses his powers for gain—financial, political, societal. That ain’t cool. He’s a grifter who doesn’t know the first damn thing about working for anything. So unless you want him hacking off your horn and selling it to the highest bidder, get your shit together, Sparkle Tits. I’m not gonna let you look at me like I just took a steaming dump in your mother’s living room because I stopped him from choking you out. Feel that?”
“Let him be, Nina,” Wanda chastised, and she wiggled her toes. “It takes a long time to remember all the ins and outs of the paranormal. Or are you forgetting the time you picked up Marty’s clothes while she was on a full-moon run?”
Nina rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Fuck you. They were on the ground. I was just trying to keep them from fucking getting trampled with all those ass-sniffers running around, howling.”
“Uh-huh. But the point is, it took a while to remember Marty’s needs her clothes after the shift. It’s the same for Oliver. It’ll take a while to remember he’s only half-human. Cut him some slack and ease off. And while you’re at it, grab me that ice pack from the freezer, would you? My feet feel like ten-pound sausages.”
“Yeah? That’s not what they look like. They look like fucking Sequoia stumps,” Nina teased with a snort.
He felt like a complete and total shit right now. “I didn’t mean to question your methods. I’m sorry, Wanda.”
Nina handed Wanda the ice pack for her feet and grunted, but Wanda reassured him. “Not a worry in the world, Oliver. I know this takes a certain amount of faith, but I swear, we really can be trusted to do what’s right within the confines of our packs and clans.”
Nina clucked her tongue and shook her head. “All well and fucking good, except that little fuckhead isn’t talking. We don’t know how the hell he found out about Oliver and who else he told, and he’s not giving it up. We can’t keep his ass here with us forever, so that means eventually that twat goes to council, which fucking means—”
“The council will find out about Oliver, too,” Wanda finished with a frown. “Damn it!”
Oliver looked at both the women and swallowed hard at their tone. “Meaning?”
Nina gave him a pointed glance, her face hard. “Too many fucking people will know you exist, and we won’t be able to contain this shit. When the council finds out you have these abilities—and believe me, they GD will—they’ll want to investigate. Which means isolating your ass somewhere until they ‘understand’ your predicament. You get me? You’ll be under what they call a ‘soft lockup.’ Sure, they’ll give you nice meals and some magazines because this was an accident. Maybe you’ll even get a TV. But make no fucking mistake, Unicorn Man, you’re gonna have more tests done on your person than a hundred flippin’ senior high students take in a year—because there’s no one else like you. No one.”
Ahhh. Therein lie the hitch in this whole giddyup.
Shit.
Chapter 13
“Hey, Vinnie?” Marty whispered softly, sitting down beside her on the comfy sofa, her floaty ice-blue negligee and matching bathrobe swishing softly around her. “You okay? You’ve been very quiet since we caught Ezekiel. He was pretty scary, I’m sure.”
Vinnie folded her hands in her lap and nodded. He’d definitely been scary. “I’m fine. Really. I guess…I mean, I guess the experience made me realize how little help I can be. For example, you and Nina? Zoinks. You two are a force, add in Wanda, and I’m sure there isn’t much you can’t handle. But all I was capable of doing was latching onto that bastard’s hair and yanking, for all the good it did me.”
Marty tsk-tsked her words. “Did you see yourself jump on that jerk’s back? Who says you’re no help? You distracted him for us. Not to mention, you held on to his hair for a pretty good amount of time. That was smart because it was just what we needed to get to Oliver. Also, you’re no dummy, little lady. Even what little information we have came from you.”
She shrugged her shoulders. She wasn’t normally prone to pity parties, but she was feeling a little raw. “It mostly came from Khristos, but I’m doing my best to get more.”
Marty patted her thigh and smiled. “Exactly. Listen, I know it sucks to be stuck here with nowhere to go, but it won’t be forever. Soon you’ll be able to go back home to your normal routine and your beloved pets. I know how hard it can be to be away from my daughter and my poodle, Muffin. Oh, and my DH, too.” Then she laughed, a tinkling sound Vinnie liked.
Maybe that was part of the problem. Being with these people, people the paranormal world considered half-breeds, made her feel like she finally fit in. Maybe she didn’t want it to end. It had only been a couple of days, but she felt a bond with them she’d never felt with a group of people before. Not in school. Not in college. Not until now.
Naturally, that didn’t mean she didn’t want to find out how to get Oliver’s life back, but she was really, for the first time in a good portion of her life, enjoying the camaraderie of female friendship she’d lacked because she was too afraid to reach out to those who considered her less than.
It was her own fault, of course. Rather than give people a chance, even people outside the paranormal realm, she simply didn’t risk it for fear of rejection.
But Marty intuitively sensed that, and when she looked into Vinnie’s eyes, she smiled gently. “Is that part of the problem? You don’t have to tell me if you’d rather not. But I don’t think I’m wrong when I say your mother embarrassed you, and she embarrassed you quite often by inserting herself where she wasn’t wanted, yes?”
Her heart clenched tight. “Yeah. You’re right. It was always so awkward because we really didn’t fit in. Not even a little. She foisted herself on people with the premise she deserved to be there because she’s technically a Goddess and by birth, so am I. I knew it hurt her when she was rejected or left out. Yet, she never stopped trying. But the real problem was, she never stopped shoving me in their faces, too. She never listened to what I wanted, which wasn’t to be forced into a situation where I didn’t just feel inferior. I was in inferior, and that’s not a plea for pity. That’s the truth. I’m immortal and that’s it. I have no real power.”
Wow, she’d never said the bit about her mother to anyone out loud ever. Not anyone other than her mother.
“You know how I see this, Vinnie? Your mother has chutzpah out the wazoo. She’s the epitome of try-try-again. My mom was a single mother, too, in a day and age when it was frowned upon, but she worked her butt off to give me everything. And yes. Sometimes it embarrassed the hell out of me. But now, as a mother myself, I think it wasn’t just selfish motives that drove our mothers. They wanted us to belong in the same way I want my daughter Hollis to belong. I want her to belong to her father’s pack, of course. I’d fight as hard as our mothers did for her inclusion in the pack even though she’s technically a watered-down werewolf.
“But I also want her to understand she can make a place for herself the same way we did, and she’s not less than because she’s not pure werewolf, and neither are you. Because we fought to be a part of this, Hollis will always have a crabby Auntie Nina and an ultra-sophisticated, etiquette-minded Auntie Wanda. So the gist of all that is, I want her to belong to something—belong to a family so that if anything ever happens to me, she’ll always have them. I think that’s what our mothers wanted, too.”
What an unusual perspective, but it rang crystal true with Vinnie. “That makes so much sense, it hurts my head.”
Marty giggled softly, dragging a throw pillow to her lap. “Sometimes, it just takes a little perspective from t
he outside looking in. Listen, when this began for me, when I was accidentally turned, that is, my mother had passed and it was just my poodle, Muffin and I. I didn’t really have anyone, and then I had everyone and their brother, and I mean that literally. And everyone and their brother didn’t like me much because I was only half-were. It took some getting used to them and them to me, but as the years passed, in the midst of fighting for our own places in our respective packs and clans, we misfits formed an unbreakable bond—one I know I can count on until the bitter end—if there ever is one, that is. I mean, I was in a coma after suffering a heart attack, and Nina and Wanda refused to accept I wouldn’t wake up. So what did my ride-or-dies do? They hired a doctor, set up a hospital room in my damn bedroom, and never left my side until I woke up.”
Vinnie nodded. Marty’s coma had filtered down to even her—someone who didn’t attend many paranormal functions. “You were all the talk in paranormal circles when that happened.”
She snorted. “I bet I was. The point is, there’s no one I trust more than my husband, Nina, Wanda, Darnell, Arch and Carl. All of us, save for my husband, misfits.”
“I guess it’s hard to see you guys as misfits—with your capabilities and all.”
“Well, if you ask some people in these parts, they’d tell you different. But ask me if I care. Part of this experience is bonding, Vinnie. We bond quickly because in times of crisis, or a traumatic incident—which an accidental turning certainly is—that’s what happens. You cling to the people who get it. That’s why we make ourselves available twenty-four-seven. We don’t just understand what you’re going through, we know how alone it feels to be labeled. Our goal—OOPS’s goal—isn’t just to help people find their way in the paranormal world. Our goal is inclusion. For all, because there’s always room for more, and the door’s always open. Always. All you have to do is walk right in.”
Vinnie gulped as she fought tears. She wanted to believe that she could be a part of that. She only had to let herself. “Thank you, Marty,” she whispered, unsure how to process this new feeling.
“You bet.” Marty gave her a squeeze with an arm around her shoulder. “Now, anything else you want to talk about?”
“Like?”
“Like the way you look at Oliver.”
“Didn’t you just say in times of crisis, people bond quickly?”
Marty grinned. “I did.”
“Maybe I should wait and see if what I’m feel…experiencing…is all just part of the traumatic circumstances and nothing of substance?”
Marty batted long, flirty lashes at her when she winked. “You certainly should, but it won’t change how he looks without a shirt, and I don’t mind saying, he looks very nice. Very nice indeed.”
Vinnie giggled. “Okay, crisis or not, that’s a true statement.” Man, was it ever true. Oliver wasn’t hard on the eye, and her eyes liked him—all of him.
“Listen, I get feeling hesitant about what’s going on with your insides in regard to our sexy unicorn. You don’t want to upset his applecart further in an already explosive atmosphere by letting on that you find him attractive. Oliver’s got a lot on his plate and you don’t want to add to it. You’re also worried about how quickly you found yourself attracted to him, and you’re wondering if the circumstances are a part of that.”
She hadn’t been in such close proximity to a man, other than her students and fellow faculty, that she was interested in for a long time, and she was wondering if that was a part of it, too. “I don’t know what I’m wondering, but I think when I parse this out in my head, that’ll likely be on the list.”
“Listen, chemistry is chemistry whether you’re traumatized or not, and that’s just the truth. You guys have it in spades. You can’t fake that, crisis or not. And if you’re doubting,” she said with a grin, “I’m pretty sure he likes you, too, judging by the way his eyes smile when he sees you. All I’m saying is, don’t rule it out because you’re in the height of a crisis. Instead of overthinking it, breathe through it. Don’t add to your plate either, and if you find yourself overwhelmed by how you’re feeling, just tell us you need a time out or an ear or whatever. Will you do that?”
Vinnie nodded. “I can. I will, but…”
“But?”
She’d never talked openly to anyone about her virginity, and it had been a long time since she’d had to explain to a man. How did you broach that—even though it was already out in the open?
“My virginity…”
Marty shrugged her shoulders. “What about it?”
“Well, I guess I would have preferred I be the one to share that with someone I was interested in, but now that it’s out in the open… I mean, I’m twenty-eight, for heaven’s sake. I feel—”
Marty flapped her hands in the air dismissively. “So? There’s no age limit to choosing the right time and place to become intimate, honey. You’re you. You made decisions that were right for you and only you. So just keep being you, Vinnie. When you decide you want to change something about that part of your life, you go at your own pace and find the person who’s willing to do the same. It’s not something to be embarrassed about. And look at it this way—Mama Bear took any embarrassment you might have experienced out of that conversation if you ever chose to have it with Oliver, right? It’s over and done with.”
Vinnie giggled with a wince. “That did happen.”
Marty patted her knee and slid to the edge of the couch and rose. “It sure did, kiddo. Now, I’m going to see what the next plan of action is since that Ezekiel’s made a bloody mess of everything. You sure you’re okay?”
She smiled up at Marty in all her gorgeous blonde hair and swishy nightwear. “I am. I really am.”
She felt somehow lighter. Her anxiety less than it had been a day or so ago.
Oliver entered the room then, his broad chest covered with a ratty T-shirt, which in Vinnie’s personal opinion was a shame because he had a pretty great chest. One she’d like to test drive by way of resting her head on it as she slept.
Her cheeks turned red at her suddenly lusty thoughts, getting redder still when he looked down at her and smiled. He might look ridiculous with a big, glittery horn sticking out of his head, but she didn’t have any trouble seeing past it. None at all, and that made her stomach feel a little wobbly.
Now, when the man was in severe crisis, wasn’t the time to lust after him. That was definitely something she was sure of.
“Mind if I sit?” he asked with his handsome smile.
She started to scoot over, but he plopped down next to her, leaving their arms touching. In response, a shiver whizzed along her flesh and instantly she felt self-conscious. But Oliver didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he didn’t care.
“Hey,” he said softy, his husky voice resonating in her ear. “Thanks for what you did out there.”
She flapped a hand upward. “It was nothing. I mean, it was really nothing. I didn’t help at all.”
“You stalled him long enough for Nina and Marty to step in. That’s all it took.”
She craned her neck to look at the marks on his neck and grimaced with a hiss. “How’s your neck feel? It looks like it hurts.”
Oliver literally had handprints on his neck, red, purple and distorted, Ezekiel’s grip had been so tight.
He ran a big palm over the affected area. “Nah. It’s okay, but man do I have a headache. He squeezed my neck so hard, I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head.”
For someone like Vinnie, who worked hard to keep her life uncluttered and calm, Ezekiel had been an eye-opener. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.”
Oliver smiled at her with a nod that had glitter falling from his alicorn. “Me either. I really thought it was curtains.” And then he looked down at her hand and saw the bruise around her wrist.
He reached for it with a frown. “Hey, did he do this? Are you okay? You want some ice. I’m sure Wanda’d give up her ice pack for a little while.”
She let him hold her wrist in his big hand and it felt good. Comfortable. Exciting. “I’m fine. It’s just the bruise from where he grabbed me to try and make me stop pulling his hair, which he didn’t have a lot to pull, by the way. But I showed him, didn’t I?” Vinnie said on an ironic chuckle.
“Don’t knock it, Vinnie. You were pretty fierce up against a guy with superhuman strength.” He paused for a moment, before he asked, “What were you doing out there anyway?”
“Strange place. I always have trouble sleeping in new, strange places. I got up to get a glass of water and I saw him grab you from the living room window. I didn’t think. I just reacted.”
She didn’t mention that his gallant gesture to give them his comfortable bedroom had also resulted in her senses being overwhelmed by the smell of him on his sheets, on his pillow, everywhere.
“So I guess you heard the ladies?”
Vinnie nodded her head, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. “If you mean about what to do with Ezekiel, I did. They’re going to have to bring him to the council and when they do, this is all going to explode.”
“What the heck is the council? I didn’t want to ask the ladies because I’ve already jammed my foot so far in my mouth, it became uncomfortable to speak. But I don’t fully understand.”
“Each paranormal group has their own set of leaders. Think of these groups as separate countries, like Switzerland and England and so on. Each country has their own rules and laws governed by a body of heads of state, right? Be they prime ministers or presidents, whatever. So each faction of paranormals, like vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, have their own people in charge. The clan, which is what Nina belongs to, by virtue of being a vampire, has a council of elders and leaders Ezekiel will have to face for punishment because he attacked you. What he did was an egregious error on his part, and he has to pay. I guess they’ll have a trial or whatever vampires do. I’m a little sketchy on the details.”
The Accidental Unicorn Page 15