“Hurry up and do something, old man,” I tell Zuela, moving to the ladder. “How the hell did you know we’d need help?”
“I told him to help you,” the male ghost says, popping up beside Zuela.
Zuela bristles and hurriedly goes to start dragging Vance toward the ladder, as I keep a safe distance from the silver. I block out Violet’s current condition, because the last thing anyone needs is for my wolf to break free from its leash.
Zuela manages to lug Vance up the ladder with impressive haste, and a knight leans over to aide him at the top. Talbot shimmies up ahead of me, but I’m not far behind him by the time we reach the chopper.
Zuela Van Helsing, the head werewolf alpha, and an incubus, coming to save Vance. The world really has started rotating in a new direction. It was inevitable we’d trip at some point.
“You better not wolf out on my chopper,” Zuela tells me, as we all easily fit inside the spacious tin can with tandem rotors. “And my son’s likely going to stab all of you, once he realizes what you allowed her to do for him.”
“Allowed her to do?” I snap.
This is much faster than the one we flew in on.
“Yes, allowed her to do. This is clearly on the four of you,” Zuela gripes.
“You’re taking directions from a ghost. I’m taking directions from a ghost. Arion and Damien are the ones there, and if Violet’s still on that field, it’s because her ghosts have somehow found a way to incapacitate the vampire and the deviant,” I bite out.
“Oh, that’s for certain. Her other ghosts have some way of zapping their lights out. It’s brief, but effective enough to sideline them. They’re being forced to watch. One move, and down they go. Care to explain how that’s possible?” Zuela asks very seriously.
Talbot tosses a thumb in my direction.
“Does it look like he knows what’s going on? At this point, I’m certain I’m more in the know than he is,” Talbot states very bluntly. “On another note, this motherfucker took a silver sword through the heart, and he didn’t even seem to be bothered by it.”
I start to pull out my phone, hoping for a signal so I can check on Violet, but Zuela yanks my phone from my hand.
Growling, I lift my eyes to meet his firm ones. “No good will come out of watching something you can’t do anything about. And I mean it. I don’t want your wolf on my chopper.”
“The old man has a point,” Talbot says, his eyes moving to the open side, his voice barely carrying over the outside noise.
Exhaling a heavy breath, I sit and stare out at the setting sun.
“She said ‘on the way’ wouldn’t be good enough. She’s not stopping until Vance is home and in front of her,” Zuela says, shaking his head.
“That’s because she truly believes she’s distracting Idun,” Talbot groans. “She has no reasonable train of thought, and she’s too stubborn to ever change her mind.”
It takes all my strength to leash my wolf, because it’s the first time I’ve had too much time to actually think about it. Violet’s being beaten once again by Idun, only this time, there’s no message. There’s no meaning. There’s no purpose.
“I think it’d be better if I could see it. Not knowing is driving my wolf into a frenzy,” I confess, glancing over at Zuela.
His lips thin, and he takes his sword out, placing it in his lap, before offering me my phone.
“I see one stray hair, and I’m stabbing you,” he warns me.
“You can try,” I mutter, quickly pulling up Idun TV.
The stadium lights flash on, just as the sun gets too low to illuminate the whole field. It almost spotlights the action below.
Idun is smirking at Damien and Arion, who are blocking her path to Violet.
Violet’s on the ground, struggling to get up, her body so broken she can’t pop the bones in fast enough.
Arion’s eyes are fully fucking red, and his fangs are bared. I’ve never seen him bare his fangs at Idun, unless it was for show. His claws are extended, and his entire body is vibrating with obvious fury.
Damien’s eyes are white—something he rarely allows to happen. His black claws are just as sharp and ready to be used. Idun sways, a small grin forming on her lips.
“Trying to turn me on, lover?” she quips.
He hisses, alongside Arion, as the two of them take a step toward her. Violet begs them to get back, and she begs Anna to knock them out. Anna sits beside her, mocking a yawn.
“Sorry. You got your ass kicked too hard. Clearly you need some help,” Anna tells her. “Also, I can’t do it anymore. They’ve grown immune. I told you it wasn’t going to work for too long on them.”
Tears gather in Violet’s eyes, as she struggles to pull herself to her knees. She cries out when something on her body pops, and I almost slide out of my seat after moving out too far out on the edge.
Talbot and Zuela have both put their heads closer, staring on with me.
“Leave them alone. You know it’s me you want to hurt,” Violet calls out, her breaths labored, as she snaps her knee back into place.
Suddenly, another body steps in front of Violet.
“Fucking dumb vampire,” Talbot says on a cringe and an exhale, covering his eyes, when he realizes it’s Shera. “I thought she had more sense than that.”
The foolish vampire beta is fully trembling, swallowing hard, and holding her head up high. She’s also packing four guns that are strapped to her legs. She’s not bothering to reach for one, since she’d be dead before her finger even got on the trigger.
“Shera, you’re fired if you don’t get back on the sideline!” Violet shouts.
Shera nods. “I’m putting in my notice anyway. You’re too much fucking trouble,” Shera informs her.
“Isn’t that darling. This new generation is absolutely adorable, honestly. Arion, your heart should be too small to be so sentimental,” she says, gesturing at Shera.
Arion’s so close to attacking that I’ve already started dreading the moment she’ll kill him right in front of Violet.
“She baits the poor girl. Violet’s trying so hard to counter Idun, which is something we’ve all failed to do too many times, even with all our experience,” Zuela says, scrubbing a hand over his face. “The damn girl is too brassy for her position,” he adds, sounding regretful.
“Hurry the fuck up!” I shout to the pilot.
“This is as fast as she goes,” Zuela tells me, just as Arion finally loses that thread of sanity and foolishly launches himself at Idun.
I barely see the surprise on her face, before she grins and charges.
I don’t know how it happens.
I don’t know where she comes from.
Just as Arion and Damien are about to collide with Idun, Violet is suddenly there. Idun crashes into her, and I jerk in my seat, feeling sympathy pain for Violet—
My own eyes widen when Idun’s body folds in on itself, as though it has just slammed into a brick wall. Her entire body is jarred, before it bounces off Violet, followed by the sound of bones crunching and effectively echoing through the air.
The entire stadium has gone eerily silent.
So has the damn chopper, sans the numerous working mechanisms. Even the two knights, who aren’t piloting the helicopter, have started watching with us.
Talbot’s breaths are too heavy next to me, as he watches with the same shock and admitted horror.
Idun slides across the ground, her body lifeless for a brief second. Violet’s eyes lose the purple, and she blinks over at the sideline, her jaw grinding.
The camera doesn’t show who she’s looking at, unfortunately, because the distraction is brief. Idun’s bones quickly pop back into place, and she easily pushes back up to her feet.
“That place is about to be a battlefield, and she’ll never live with the guilt of getting those omegas and betas killed, let alone what will happen to all of us,” Zuela says, exhaling a harsh breath.
“This is where alliances shift. We’re
about to learn where we stand with our families. Where do you stand, Zuela?” I ask him, as Idun continues to crack a few bones into place, her back still turned.
The ominous calm before the storm.
Everyone in the stadium is still silent.
Damien snags Violet at the waist, and in the next instant, his hand is on her head. Her eyes slam shut, and she goes lifeless in his arms.
He turns and darts away, carrying her with him. Arion is hot on his heels, the two of them working in perfect unison, as though they planned for Violet to go too far.
Or else their monsters are working on full instinct and protecting their chosen mate from the closest threat the best way they can when they’re outnumbered and not ready for a fight.
“I predicted that the Monster Olympics were a terrible idea,” Talbot interjects, sitting back in his seat.
Idun runs her fingers through her hair, straightens her bra, and turns to face the direction they just went.
“It was just a matter of time before it escalated. Every pup has to learn its place. She’s too new a monster, and she’s not lived in our society,” Zuela carries on. “They can run. For now. Idun’s about to kill half the stadium. If they—”
Thunder rumbles as though the universe has good timing for once. The Neoprys scatter like roaches, as the next rumble of thunder rattles the camera.
“The lightning will lead Idun right to Violet. She gets struck twice as often as a typical Neopry,” I say almost too quietly, my body still frozen in some shock at the dramatic turn of events.
“Right now, Idun’s going to collect herself, and she’s going to use the lightning as an excuse to do it. It’s been a long time since someone, other than the four of you, have physically challenged her. She thinks it’s tacky to let the monster out as casually as you all do,” Talbot ‘predicts.’
Anna pops up in our helicopter so abruptly and unexpectedly that we all startle.
My eyes cut to Talbot, who quickly darts his gaze away from Anna, his jaw tightening. He refuses to look at me, but we both know I saw him react to her presence, unlike the knights.
Studying his tense profile, and the clearly angered look on his face for breaking composure, I listen as Anna talks.
“Oh, isn’t that interesting, Grandma?” Anna asks, going to study Talbot, who refuses to meet her eyes.
“Thought you were just an incubus,” Zuela chimes in.
“As much as I adore attention, I believe we have more pressing matters to concern ourselves with. Once this storm concludes, Idun will be ready to put the game to an end. It’s different this time. This time, she’s really pissed off about you putting her underground for a thousand years, and it’s finally starting to show,” Talbot deflects.
“According to every knight who has ever crossed paths with you, you’re rarely wrong, and you’ve saved plenty of their lives, while just passing by,” Zuela cuts in, showing Talbot more recognition than he’s ever shown any other incubus.
Talbot nods, almost as though he arrogantly already expected Zuela’s respect.
“She casted the Van Helsing in his own silver. I don’t know how Violet’s ghosts found them,” he says, his eyes moving deliberately to Anna, since he can’t even bother denying it.
Anna grins. “I have my ways. You’re sneaky, Talbot Lane. I don’t like sneaky boys any more than I like sneaky girls.”
“Everyone has secrets to keep for one reason or another,” Talbot fires back.
Anna rolls her eyes and gives me her full attention, while waggling her eyebrows. “Hey, sexy barbarian. Wanna talk Violet into loaning me her vagina, so I can show you what a real woman can do with a touchable body?”
“Where’s Violet?” I demand.
Her eyes flick to Vance, and she tilts her head, as her eyebrow arches.
“How long will he be stuck in there?” she asks instead of answering, giving the silver man a worried look.
He’s been put at a diagonal on the floor of the helicopter, since it’s the only way he’d fit.
“Where is Violet?” I ask, using a more commanding tone this time.
She gives me a lazy look. “She’s with her vampire and her Morpheous. They’re devising a plan to stall until you return with Vance—Damien and Arion, that is. They’ve gone and knocked Violet out, and they both tried to salt me. I figured I’d come hang out with the sexy wolf instead. Please don’t salt me.”
“This is a fucking mess, Anna. Tell me where she bloody is,” I say on a feral growl.
She slashes her claws at me, grinning the entire time. “You’re even sexier when you’re angry. I can’t tell you where they are. Not until Vance is not stuck in silver. Sorry about the mess. I tried to warn her, but she never listens to me.”
“Anna, fucking tell me—”
She disappears after that, and I swallow down a litany of curses, as I strain that much harder to keep my wolf under my skin. You’d think a wolf would have no trouble tracking his mate, but there’s nothing cosmic guiding me in this moment.
Zuela grips his sword tighter, eyes intently on me.
“I’ll stab you if you turn wolf,” he reminds me. “But when we hit the ground, I’ll stab anyone at your back. She’s a Simpleton pup. The more I see of her, the more I realize who she is and what’s really going on here. I can’t let that poor girl look to have more spine than I do in front of a legion of our people, who don’t understand what’s going on. There will be more of that than the ones who see it for what it is.”
“Glad it’s the perfect political maneuver for you,” Talbot rattles out.
Zuela glares over at him.
“If you’re looking for nobility, you’ll find it on the battlefield where I left it over a thousand years ago. Serve my time, feel the weight of my responsibility, and then do it better. I’ll sit and take it on the chin when you judge me after you’ve paid those dues,” Zuela inserts.
“I’ve been a rogue beta. Our betas get very little respect, even though we manage our people without the backing of an alpha House. We get along just fine, because we’re mostly lovers. However, there are plenty of battlefields I’ve stepped foot on,” Talbot fires back. “I’ve paid more dues than you’ll understand, because I look twenty-four. I’m not twenty-four.”
He gives Zuela a tight smile, and Zuela shrugs.
“You’ve never done battle with Idun. You only think you know what battle is. In a hundred years, you’ll question all everything you thought you knew about yourself.”
“You know what battle with Idun is like when she’s playing cat-and-mouse and mostly gets her way,” I tell Zuela, drawing his attention to me. “She meant to leave him casted and sealed away. We caught a fortunate break in finding him at all.”
Zuela’s jaw grinds, and he looks away, running a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.
“She’s planning to bury us all,” he finally says on a loud breath.
“Unless you pledge yourself to her and stand with her against us,” I guess, staring down at Vance, wondering if he really is hearing all this.
“So what’s the plan?” Talbot asks, looking to the two alphas in flesh.
“The plan was to weaken her for two or more centuries by watering down her tales of superiority,” Zuela says.
“Now the only plan is to lose as few people as possible,” I answer, shutting my eyes.
“All because your sweet girlfriend can’t help but pick a fight with the bitch,” Zuela says. “I like the girl, but she never had any right to interfere with alpha business.”
Now she’ll learn the lesson the hard way, because we’ll never be able to save them all.
We may not even be able to save ourselves.
Chapter 34
DAMIEN
Lightning strikes outside, while Violet smiles and then frowns in her illusion-induced coma.
The shoes on her feet are an illusion, but the rubber is good enough, as Arion finishes closing the salt circle around her.
Cursing, he slin
gs the bag of salt to the corner of the safehouse, and then runs a hand through his dark, wet hair.
I’ve got nothing to say. As of right now, it’s possible Idun is killing every single person in the fucking town.
“When she finds us—”
“If she finds us,” I cut in, amending his wording.
He cuts his eyes to me. “When she finds us, you take Violet and disappear. Stay gone until we’re all alive again.”
“We can live life on the lam. Let the world spin into chaos, and let the monsters destroy everything without us keeping them in check. That should keep Idun busy,” I interject, since we’re talking nonsensical strategy and all.
“Vance is locked inside his own silver. Emit’s family will be the most loyal to us. However, he has several cousins who will turn—”
“Doesn’t matter at this point, Damien. You go and keep Violet safe. Marta set her up for failure by never teaching her the way of our world, and for making her think her monster was something far fiercer than it is in reality.”
He bends next to her, and gently strokes her cheek.
“I knew it was too good to be true. She couldn’t separate personal from business, and got caught up in her instinct once Vance was threatened. She’s a young monster, who has been fortunate enough to never lose before. It gives her too much arrogance and courage.”
I run my hand over my face.
“Shera mentioned Violet dropped her when the beta got in between you and Violet. I should have considered something like this happening,” I concede, shutting my eyes and wishing we could start this day over.
There’s a long moment of silence, and I watch the vampire continue to stroke her cheek with all his attention and affection.
He’s planning to die tonight.
We’re probably all going to die, and there will be nothing we can do to save Violet.
“She never runs away,” I finally say.
“She staked vampires after they presumed her dead. She charged wolves and gave the omegas time to flee. She broke a Van Helsing coffin and killed a barnful of wolves. She stood in the middle of an endless battlefield, while we fended off the horde. She flew toward my monster in a den of wolves. She dropped to her knees in front of Idun and took a beating for a stupid fucking shifter. We should have seen this coming,” he says on a tired breath.
Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters Book 6) Page 31