He growls.
“Yes, I agree. It tells us a lot that we don’t want to know, but it still tells us a lot,” I carry on. “I’m not just being an insensitive prick, but we know this game. Don’t let her in your head again, wolf. This is how she always breaks you.”
He cuts his gaze toward me, eyes fully dilated.
“Okay, so not exactly the same. She’s never been one to assume the identity of an omega before. I guess your omegas will be shaken by that knowledge. However, the premise is the same, regardless of the details.”
He stands and starts moving away from me, heading toward his home.
“You’re not charging into her lair and starting a war? Any chance we can keep this information to ourselves?” I ask, hoping to let Idun carry on with her charade, which would be easier if she thinks we’re still in the dark about things.
He says nothing, but I can tell just by his mannerisms that he’s not hotheaded over this. He’s just really upset and wants some privacy.
Thankfully, this discovery came on the perfect full moon. Almost too well-timed…
Violet’s simply not that calculated. Is she? No. She was genuinely worried Emit was off his rocker, and wasn’t playing any part.
She’s too sincere for all that.
Lifting my phone, I call Shera. She wastes no time answering, but her voice is shaky and oddly soft.
“Yes, Alpha?”
“I want my Monster Olympics ready within three days. I’m too impatient to wait any longer.”
“Of course, boss,” she readily complies.
No sass.
No complaint.
No anything.
“Did someone important die or something?” I ask, suspicious now.
“Arion, do you have a plan to deal with Idun?” she asks with zero preamble.
“Of course I do, Shera. It’s the long game but the sure one. It will work. We’re motivated,” I tell her.
She exhales a sigh. “Okay, Alpha. I trust you.”
With that, she hangs up, and I try to think of one single thing that’s made sense lately. My days are entirely too exhausting in this era.
I’m looking forward to a little fucking fun.
Chapter 26
VIOLET
It’s been two days, and Emit hasn’t said a single word. He’s waited until I go to bed to even come around, and then his arms come around me in my sleep, and he burrows his face in my neck.
If I try to speak to him, he walks away. If I try to find him, he disappears. It’s clear he needs some space, but I hate not knowing what to say or do. I feel helpless.
Feeling helpless is the hardest thing in the world for me.
Vance and Damien have been going over some sort of top-secret, anti-Idun plan…that will apparently take centuries to have a major impact. Since they have to find a way to dilute her fear-factor…which isn’t going to be a fast process.
Considering she was underground for longer than most betas and omegas have been alive, and is still a relevant boogeywoman—so to speak—even after all this time, is proof this isn’t going to be easy.
Anyway, it’s kept them busy and away for two straight days, which is worrisome.
I haven’t been let in on the full plan. The only reason I even know there’s a plan at all is because Shera apparently ambushed Damien and caught him on a day where he felt sympathetic enough to share that with her.
“Tomorrow is Arion’s Olympics. If you keep worrying about the wolf, the vampire will get pissed at him,” Shera tells me in her business-as-usual tone, pulling my hand to guide me away from the window.
“Surely Arion can find more compassion than that to spare for one of his best friends he’s just gotten back to a good place with,” I state quietly, hoping to spot Emit, since he was supposed to take a guided group of wolves to the Sanctuary running lands.
“It’s like you love him without really knowing him at all,” Shera inserts.
I give her a dry look, and she arches an eyebrow at me. Anna pops up behind her, rolling her eyes.
“Really, Violet?” Anna asks.
“He’s a soulless vampire, who has very adamantly decided this will be the grand gesture of a lifetime—a gentle tradition he’s starting in your sweet little honor,” Shera tells me, unaware of Anna’s presence. “I’m shocked he’s been this sympathetic, considering she’s done this to them so much it’s redundant at this point.”
“Are you a soulless vampire?” I ask her, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Not completely soulless. But I’m not supposed to know about this, so it’d be worse if I had any opinion at all,” she states before walking off. “You better find a way to enjoy every second of this thing, Violet. Otherwise, Arion will sulk for years about this because he’s convinced this is the perfect way to demonstrate his undying love for you. Then I’ll find a way to make you miserable. Tata. I have a hair appointment.”
Her voice becomes a near echo by the last part, as she nears the end of the hallway. But then she turns abruptly and faces me, allowing her voice to carry to me more directly.
“Violet?” she says, making my name sound like a question.
“Yeah?”
She hesitates, almost as though she doesn’t want to say whatever it is she wants to say. Finally, after what resembles an internal struggle, she releases a breath.
“Don’t get us all killed just because you’re too stubborn to kneel, okay? There’s no shame in backing down when you don’t have the power to step up,” she says, her eyes softer than usual. “We can’t control everything in life. The alphas should handle her. Not you.”
Staring at her, I can tell she’s just barely stopping herself from begging me to kneel to Idun.
“Even though she terrifies you, needles all she can needle, and takes lives for sport and petty agendas, you’d have me bend to her will? Even if it means compromising the integrity of Sanctuary after all this hard work?” I ask, as Anna props up and studies Shera.
Shera’s lips thin, and she reluctantly answers, “Even if you don’t like the way things are, that doesn’t mean you have the right to change it for what you feel would be better. That’s true for humans and monsters alike. Once upon a time, five gypsy families conspired to sacrifice another. All because things were unbearably brutal, hard, and suffering was just a way of life. Now monsters roam the earth and could end it at any given moment.”
“That’s heavy shit, dude,” Lela, the resident ghost stoner, says as she appears next to Anna.
“I’m looking forward to the vampire’s fun. This place is too grim lately,” Anna says in agreement with Lela.
“I’ll always make sure it’s my head on the chopping block. Not yours,” I assure Shera.
Her hands tremble, as she slowly adjusts her stance.
“You wouldn’t be the first to make that promise. The problem is, you can’t control who she goes after. The omegas. Me. The Simpletons. Everyone under this roof was marked a target after you barged into her home and made demands. The take-no-shit ball-busters make excellent heroes in an exciting story. Unless the trail blazer is humbled, because then it makes them the cavalier fool in a sad story, Violet. Remember that.”
With that, she turns and walks away.
“In other words, if you succeed, you’ve saved the monster world and you’re awesome. If you fail, you’re the fucking cowboy idiot who got everyone killed,” Anna tells me, as though I need Shera’s warning broken down.
“You really are all American, aren’t you?” the British ghost asks as she pops in and takes a seat on the railing next to Anna.
“And a total buzzkill most of the time,” Lela says with a dopey grin, apparently stuck in an eternal state of ‘stoned.’
“Only one ghost at a time can insult me. I’m too busy for this,” I say as I turn and walk down the hallway in the opposite direction Shera went.
“So, when are you putting on that ring from your Van Helsing?” Anna asks, as the other two ghosts f
ortunately leave, presumably to haunt someone else.
“I’ve got a lot on my mind, and now Arion is apparently preparing to seal the vampire-bride deal with the Monster Olympics. I’m rarely sure how one thing leads to another, but that’s become a typical day in my life.”
“You have four boyfriends with some insanely hot bodies. Sex better be on your mind, or you don’t deserve your vagina,” Anna interjects, as I round the corner to my sad little office.
“I’ve yet to tell Vance my suspicions about Margie. It’d be wrong to be thinking about sex until I find a way to bring that up,” I say on a tired sigh.
I smile when I see a very prettily wrapped present on my new desk. The old one was smashed at some point. Presumably, Dorian was knocked into it. That’s according to Anna, so it’s not a reliable source. For all I know, she somehow blew it up on accident.
Or on purpose.
“You’re a pain in my ass these days,” I decide to inform her, as I tear open the present from Arion.
She nods like she completely agrees. “But you begged me back and now you’re stuck with me.”
I open my mouth to argue that, but as I pull the top of the box off, my eyes go round and my mouth splits into a painful grin.
“Is it diamonds? Did the vampire send a box full of diamonds? I’d expect a box full of severed heads from him, but you smile about diamonds and not severed heads,” Anna prattles as she comes to poke her head over my shoulder. “Holy shit. You’re actually smiling about a severed head,” she adds in a dry tone.
I lift the large head out of the box, finding the body flatly folded underneath.
“Why are you holding an oversized tiger head with so much joy in your eyes?” Anna asks, looking between me and the tiger.
“Because Arion can be sweet when he wants to be.”
My smile falls and I immediately feel guilty for my brief moment of happiness over a costume, when I remember what Emit’s going through.
As if my thoughts have summoned him, Emit ducks to enter the room, and straightens back to his intimidating height.
Autumn eyes stare into mine, proving his wolf is near the surface. His beard has been trimmed, but is still long enough to get a grip on, if needed. His hair is barely damp, as though he came here after a shower.
Dressed in jeans and a sleeveless Aerosmith shirt, he props at a lean against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, as he stares at me.
I’ve been desperate to speak to him, and now I have no words.
“The other night was supposed to be a really good, sacred thing you were sharing with me, and I ruined it by crossing a line,” I blurt out. “I’m sorry, Emit. I wish I had never—”
“We know more today than we did before that day, so it’s best if the truth came out. I knew it was too easy to have her come out like she did. It’s always been a risk to take a woman to bed,” he says, pushing away from the wall, as he comes toward me.
I hate her.
I’ve used that word before. It’s a running joke between Anna and I.
In all my life, I’ve never truly, sincerely hated anyone. However, I hate Idun.
I hate her.
“Arion’s informed me that if I ruin his big day tomorrow, he will destroy me. Don’t let Idun’s many fucked up antics sour the good times, Violet. That’s just one of the many ways she breaks you. You’ll find hundreds of other cruel breadcrumbs like that one. I’m sure it’s only the start of many ways she’s been fucking with our lives,” he goes on, having no leading emotion.
He sounds more tired than anything. Not defeated. Not upset. Not depressed. Not any of the many things I was worried about him feeling.
“You’re okay?” I ask him quietly.
“She killed one of my omegas and switched places with her. I never expected anything of the sort the entire time, and once more feel like a fool, while also grieving another wolf I lost. One that I’d sworn to protect. No, I’m not okay. But it’s not the sort of thing that can break me, Violet. No need to worry so much,” he assures me, tipping my chin back as he invades my space.
A small, content sound vibrates his chest when he runs his hand under the back of my shirt, feeling the scars there.
“I never have to question if you’re mine or not. These can’t be faked,” he tells me. “At least, not to me. I can feel the claim resising in the marks.”
He bends, and I tip my head back, feeling the brush of his firm lips against mine. The soft press of his beard tickles against my cheek, when he runs his lips along my jaw.
“Enjoy yourself very freely tomorrow. I’ve already grieved Fay’s loss, even though I grieved her at the wrong moment in time. I still grieved her loss. I have no desire to do it again. Idun’s done this countless times in the past. I’m desensitized to even this, Violet. Don’t fret so much.”
He cups my cheek, his head pulling back so that his eyes stare down into mine.
“We’ll have a chance to test her strength tomorrow,” he says, confusing me a little. “We have our own plan. Trust us.”
He leans forward. I lean forward. At some point, his lips are pressed to mine, and he kisses me. My arms wind around his neck, pulling him closer, but he breaks this kiss, breathing heavily as his hands grip me at the waist.
“As much as I would love losing myself in you, especially after the rough few days, I’m afraid I have to escort some wolves to the running lands. Also, there’s a stamp on your forehead that spells ‘LOSER,’ and I’m finding it terribly distracting during this really intense moment.”
I jerk my head to the right to where a mirror is hanging on the wall, and my eyes widen in horror. Shera, that bitch, said nothing.
The ghosts who haunt my life in an attempt to make me miserable? Unsurprisingly, they said nothing at all either.
“I’m not even sure what that came from, but—”
Anna snorts, and I turn to where she’s shaking with silent laughter in the corner. When I narrow my eyes, she disappears, her seemingly distant laughter echoing in her wake.
“If you’re awake when I return,” Emit starts, reminding me there’s a semi-serious conversation to resume, “I’ll pick things up where we left off.”
It’s a big day tomorrow, but I’ve gone much longer without sleep and been fine.
“I’ll be up,” I tell him, feeling my lips tug in a small grin.
I may hate Idun more than ever, and I hate that he’s so numb to this that it’s only taken two days for him to open up about it. However, I’m relieved to see it hasn’t shaken him as bad as I worried it would.
She doesn’t win.
How much more did she do?
How long was she really above ground?
How elaborate is she?
His lips tug up on one side, and I stop worrying about what else is waiting to be discovered.
“I’ll see you later, sweet monster,” he says, teasing me with a ghosted kiss once more before his touch disappears completely.
Swaying forward, I blink my eyes open to find myself alone in the room. Sighing, I sag to a chair, and pull the tiger head in my lap.
It still feels wrong to celebrate, but Idun can’t suspect anything is wrong. The more we know about what she’s been up to, the better. The less she knows about our new discoveries, the better.
Shutting the door to my office, I decide to read over the Monster Olympics program.
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Salt Wheeler tournament
Archery tournament
Crystal ball reading tournament
Salt Wheeler tournament? What’s a Salt Wheeler?
They can read fucking crystal balls? As in they can tell the future?
Maybe I should have looked over this sooner.
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Tag
Hide and Seek
Tug of War
Really? Did he also plan a kiddie Olympics or something?
I’m not sure what to say to that.
That’s all the info
rmation the program allows. There’s apparently a big meeting going on tonight about the big day, but Arion wants to keep most of the day’s festivities a surprise. Well, a surprise where I’m concerned. Everyone else gets to know more details.
“Think you’ll actually be able to have fun?” Anna asks me as she pops back in with a devilish grin. “Compared to Idun, you’re no fun at all, and that makes for a terrible main character. Loan me your body, and I’ll liven your story up.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I exhale a tired breath. “I’m the girl who loves to dance like an idiot, sing in the car, dance on a bar, and play with toys. I’m a lot of fun. Usually. It’s just that there’s so much—”
“I’ll stop you there. You’re in love with four alphas, who are all weighted down with some pretty major responsibilities. There’s always going to be something serious going on, Violet. Maybe you’re just not cut out for it,” Anna tells me.
Without a backward glance, I pull some salt out of my pocket and toss it over my shoulder.
“Motherfucke—”
Her hissed word is cut off when the salt connects, and I smirk to myself.
“You only get to stay when you’re being supportive,” I say to the empty room.
My gaze moves back to my tiger costume. I have no idea why it’s a tiger, but a small smile does curve my lips, and I allow myself a moment to enjoy a gift from a very oddly romantic, somewhat scary vampire.
Chapter 27
VANCE
“How’s the wolf?” I ask the deviant, my eyes on the sideline, where Violet is holding her head in her hands.
Well, her tiger head.
She’s talking to Arion. Actually, she’s laughing very freely at whatever Arion has said.
I can’t hear over the obnoxious music blaring from the vampire tent, where all the alphas are slathering on heaps of sunblock, all while wearing their designer glasses. They’re also demonstrating an alarming amount of excitement.
Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters Book 6) Page 24