She nods, still smiling tightly.
“If I was a freakishly strong beta, I’m sure I’d agree,” she says with some very notable ire.
Poor Shera.
She’d punch me for pitying her, so I keep my sympathy to myself.
“Regardless, I’ve turned over the reins to your new beta. Good luck with that. Call me when he fucks it all up, and I’ll see what I can do to sort it out for you,” Shera says to Arion, who grins at her.
“Thank you, Shera.”
Arion moves quickly, and Shera trembles, as he grabs her arm and flips it over in front of him. She relaxes when his claw shoots out, much to my confusion.
Seems now would be the time to tense.
His claw presses into her wrist, and a tiny trickle of blood begins to drip as he drags the sharp tip down her wrist for two or three inches. Then he makes another line that intersects with that one in a X formation.
Tears brim her eyes, but she clears her throat and keeps the waterworks at bay.
“I release you to Emily in good standing, good faith, and full honor. You’re a damn good beta, Shera,” Arion tells her.
She nods, even as her eyes water a little more.
“Damn right I am. You’re going to miss me, because your new head beta doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. You’ll probably spend more time stabbing him with pencils than anything else,” she carries on, primly glancing around to deliberately avoid Arion’s gaze.
Arion’s grin stays fixed on his face, as he releases a long breath.
“They don’t remember why the trials were nixed. They haven’t seen how strong they’re not. For now, everyone’s full of themselves and ready for a fight. They’re looking to make a name for themselves in a time where war has been mostly obsolete,” Vance tells her. “Give it time. A few centuries, and they’ll be humbled by a few freakishly powerful betas. Then they’ll crave more merit than strength. Promise.”
“The more things change, the more they stay the same,” Emit says like he’s reassuring her.
Shera only nods again, visibly struggling to keep those persistent tears at bay. She gives me a look that says more than words could right now, which is good, because it seems like she’s talked all she’s going to be able to.
I give her a small smile. “You really are a damn good beta. Thank you for making Sanctuary possible. Hopefully, you’ll come back one day. Goodbyes seem irrelevant, since we’re going to be around for all eternity.”
“Says a weird freak girl who can’t die,” she fires back, losing some of the water in her eyes.
“Just avoid pointy wooden objects or losing your head, and you won’t die either,” I volley.
Her lips turn up in an almost appreciative smile, but she stows it and gives me a glare.
“Try not to turn my alpha into a joke in my absence. Also, try not to piss off any other all-powerful beings, unless you learn how to fight. And try to learn how to dance. Arion likes dancing, and he can’t be made a fool in front of the other vampires—”
“Seriously, Shera, you’re starting to sound like some of my human mothers would have if they’d been dealing with vampire stuff,” Arion butts in, staring at her with some mild horror.
“Sorry, boss,” Shera says, while swallowing back the rest of the words, while I refrain from smiling.
A horn blows, and Shera leans over to pick up her suitcase.
“Is that Talbot Lane?” Arion asks with some incredulity, drawing my attention to the driver of the car that’s idling at the curb.
Talbot smirks at us and gives us a little wave.
“H-he was already heading in that direction to look into some succubae disappearances. He’s just dropping me off,” Shera says very quickly.
Too quickly.
She spins on her heel and walks away like there’s a fire after her, but she’s still too proud to run.
Arion seems to buy it. Damien rolls his eyes. Vance and Emit have lost interest and are engaged in a conversation about a sword technique Vance is in the midst of creating.
A smile curves my lips when Vance absently reaches out, his fingers touching mine. Emit makes a seemingly unconscious move to let his fingers rest at my side, just barely touching me.
Arion moves to be behind me, and his cold fingers graze my throat when he moves my hair to the side to expose the marks he left behind when he made me his bride.
They’re scars that won’t heal.
Just like Emit’s claw marks on my back.
Just like Damien’s marks on my wrists.
Just like the marks on all their hands…
“What’s on your mind, sweet monster?” Emit asks, his hand coming up to cup my chin.
All their eyes are on me, and I don’t know if there will ever come a day when that isn’t a little intimidating.
“We’re bound together, for possibly most or all of eternity. I’m still not sure what that means, but I’m looking forward to finding out, instead of worrying about what could go wrong,” I tell them, feeling my stupid, somewhat embarrassing smile spread.
“You, January Violet Carmine, are not worried about something or someone?” Vance asks me in a disbelieving tone.
“No plans to completely uproot a system and change all the rules to suit your softer nature in another society?” Damien asks, being a dick.
He smiles and wiggles his eyebrows, proving he thinks he’s cute and funny.
“No. I’ll stick to the monster society. Any idea when Sanctuary may actually fill up? Is it a good sign that not many new applications have started pouring in?”
“I thought you weren’t worrying,” Arion drawls, grinning next to my ear. “I mean, you’re not an established alpha, so it’s not your concern.”
“I’m not going to be an established alpha, and don’t talk about that here. Someone might overhear,” I remind him very seriously.
They still don’t actually take me seriously.
I’m starting to think first impressions really do last forever, because not much has changed about how they see me. Other than the fact they now think it’s hilarious to dupe me in some form or fashion.
Fair’s fair, I guess.
“Could you look more like a barbarian?” Arion asks Emit, shooting a condescending look at the long stretch of fur that is covering Emit’s middle.
“Could you look more like a vampire?” Emit fires back, giving an equal condescending look at the vampire’s gothic ensemble.
“Remember the part where you swore to be romantic all day?” I butt in, interrupting whatever Arion was about to say back. “Absolutely none of you are doing that,” I add, just so they’re clear.
Damien’s smile spreads wide, and Arion’s mimics his. I hate it when they do creepy stuff in unison.
Vance gives me that very smug, somewhat condescending eyebrow arch he’s perfected over these many long centuries he’s lived.
Emit does his wolfish grin, as he confidently struts toward me, definitely looking every bit as barbaric as they swear he is.
I guess I have a lot of time to see it for myself, now that I’ve signed on for forever.
As Leiza hurries by, Emit plucks Jasper from her arms, cradling our baby to him.
Our baby.
I can’t seem to find anyone else who will raise him, because everyone is scared Arion will kill them if they take away his chance to be a father.
I can’t fault them for that.
I’m not ready to be a mother, but it doesn’t look like that matters much at this point. He’s mine. To be honest, I’d probably kill someone if they tried to take him.
Unless it was his mother.
Possibly his father.
I feel sorry for his father if he ever does come back, because he’s going to have to share him with the four who’ve already claimed him as their own son.
“Ovaries all over the world are exploding,” Anna says on a wistful sigh, while staring at a cooing Jasper tucked against the savage. “And it looks lik
e the fun is finally starting.”
She disappears, not elaborating on what she meant by that.
My monster grooms start circling me very suddenly and subtly, and my eyes narrow as all four of them smirk in my direction. I turn in place, ensuring I keep an eye on each of them.
“What’re you doing?”
“Being romantic,” Arion assures me, as he pockets his hands, and leisurely continues his circling with the others.
“This is predatory,” I counter.
“We’re monsters,” Emit says unapologetically.
“And you’re getting very turned on, so stop pretending you don’t love it every time we are predatory,” Damien inserts, as though he’s calling me out.
“I wouldn’t say every time,” I’m quick to argue.
Vance runs his hand over the back of his neck, keeping a cool and calculated look in his eyes.
Arion’s fangs protrude, and his eyes turn black, while he smiles like the wicked vampire he is.
All the betas and omegas who’ve come to our wedding are whimpering and moving back, giving us a wide berth.
Emit’s eyes glint with the wolf, as a subtle, barely noticeable growl rumbles in his chest.
Damien’s eyes fog over with a barely-there white hue, teasing me with how close to the surface his monster is.
Pheromones pulse through the air, and my own lips tug in a grin, as they continue circling me.
“Little monster, now you’re all ours,” Damien says, just as Arion lunges.
A giggle is ripped out of me, as the vampire steals me. It’s both terrifying and, well, just terrifying, when he moves like a streak of lightning.
“What the hell are we doing?” I shout, twisting to wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. “We still have the reception!”
I start clinging like a crazy girl when I realize just how insanely fast we’re going, because the vampire doesn’t have seatbelts.
“Leiza, hold my baby,” I barely hear Emit say.
“You like having fun, so I figured we’d play a game of chase,” Arion says against my ear, sounding way too damn amused.
A wolf howls from somewhere behind us, letting me know the others are giving chase.
Arion zigs, zags, and weaves through trees, while a forest swallows us. I start realizing where we are, and I jerk my head around, seeing the steep cliff up ahead.
“Arion, don’t you dare!” I shout, damn near panicking.
The vampire skids to an abrupt halt, stopping inches from the edge of the cliff. As if Anna’s been torn from my body, she’s launched out of me, screaming as she falls over the cliff.
I stare, with some humiliation, as my monster’s scream echoes and continues on.
And on.
And on…
Okay, now it’s just annoyingly cartoonish.
Arion shoots me a dry look, as if to say the same, and I shrug. I’m so tired of my monster embarrassing me.
A crash has my attention jerking over to see a dead tree collapsing to the ground, as Emit shakes his head in wolf form. He snarls at Arion, and then those wolf eyes turn smug as they move to me.
Vance drops down from a tree, landing in a mild crouch, while his hands stay in his pockets.
Damien turns visible next to Emit, casually leaning against a standing tree.
“Game’s up, Vampyre. You may be fast, but there are three of us,” Vance drawls. “And I’m not too shabby on my own.”
Turning my head, I watch Arion’s lips curve in a devious grin. A sense of dread fills me, and…the vampire leaps.
I try to scream, but the sound gets lodged in my throat, as my stomach and heart collide on their way to join the trapped scream. The world plummets all around me, as Arion’s hold on me tightens.
Arion’s unrepentant, diabolical laughter drifts up, and I barely catch a glimpse of the other three leaping over the edge. We land with a somewhat jarring hit, but Arion launches us forward, racing away before the others can catch up.
“Fucking fast vampire!” Damien shouts from somewhere way behind us.
They’re right.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. At least I know what ride I’m on these days.
EPILOGUE (Part 2)
ANNA
Thirty years later…
Screams pierce the air, and I smile to myself. I put the head on the body just so they could see her scream so pretty. It’s such a fun sound.
“Violet’s going to get mad at us,” the triplets tell me on a bored sigh.
Caroline must be showing Idun something very entertainingly awful, given that terror in her scream. It’s delicious.
“She said she doesn’t want people afraid,” the triplets drone on.
I remember when there was just me and a wall of dildos. I miss those days.
Now the kraken has eaten all the ducks, and the world has come to an end.
Or something like that.
Oooh! My hair looks perfect!
When I get the body back, I’ll wear it like this for the boys. They only wanted to play with me once, and I barely got any time with them.
Violet’s scared of me. Still. After all this time.
Sighing, I turn to face the screaming monster once more, hoping she gets brave enough to make a move so I can prove myself again.
“I wish Violet would give me the body. She’s so damn greedy with it. There’re so many things she’ll never do without my help,” I tell the screaming half-bodied woman.
She heaves for air, and then her scream starts anew. Caroline must love the screams as well.
Moving through the wall, I go to inspect the vengeful Simpleton, who is unlike all the others. Even Bobo has grown sympathy for Idun already.
I rather prefer Caroline. She knows how to harbor a grudge, unlike Violet.
Violet loves you or finds you irrelevant. Nothing in between. Which means no anger.
And no fun.
Caroline’s face isn’t one of enjoyment though, when I stare at her. At least I don’t think so, but what do I know? I do know she tastes like misery and burden, also a heavy dose of self-loathing.
That’s no fun either.
Sanctuary is depressing. All the fun was happening when Idun was taunting us. I want her to wake up and play some more.
It seems as though Caroline is truly trying to rehabilitate the broken monster who tried to break her. Simpletons. Gotta admire their heart, even if it does make them fools.
Leaving Caroline to suffer through delivering her punishment, I move back into the room with Idun. But…Vancetto Van Helsing slices Idun’s head off, and it rolls from the case.
He grabs her head by the hair, shoves it back in the case, locks it, and turns to walk out, never acknowledging me. This ruse is no fun.
I want people afraid of Violet.
Then the wars will start and I will conquer the world!
Oh! Pretty pony! Oh, no, wait, that’s Vance’s ass walking out of the room.
Like a haunting spectrum, I follow him all the way out, and he turns to face me at last.
I grin.
He glares.
“Keep sewing her together. See if Violet doesn’t find a way to lock you to her at all times.”
“I just want to play with her,” I assure him. “A little bit,” I add, pinching my fingers together.
He doesn’t look impressed. Only Violet impresses him.
He hates Marta, so I love him.
Oh! It’s Hammer Time!
“Unreal,” he mutters, walking away as I tear up the dance floor in a way Violet never could. “I mean it, Anna. No more fucking around.”
I bet the vampire would let me play.
In the next blink, I’m in the room with him, and his eyes widen marginally to prove I’ve startled him.
He quickly shoves his phone in his pocket, pretending he wasn’t watching Idun scream.
“She screams pretty, doesn’t she?” I ask him, knowing he’ll get it.
“I’m not watching Idun TV. I’m searching for the box maker, since Violet is never going to stop worrying about the bloody potential villain,” he states in a tired tone. “You’re supposed to be helping with that search.”
“I can stare at it too,” I tell him as I salute him, and I dart to his side, staring at his phone just like he was. “How’s this helping?”
I look up to find him glaring at me like I’m a problem. I definitely taste ire.
“So much power wrapped up in one unstable, lunatic monster. It’s not fair,” he says very seriously.
I grin, feeling flattered. I love that they think I’m crazy. It’s my favorite thing to be.
It’s especially flattering to hear it from the vampire they all find exceptionally psychotic. It’s like Christmas on the lips.
I’m so much better than Violet, even if she is my favorite-ever person.
“It’s a pretty drawing. Reminds me of the inside of my old box,” I tell him, shuddering at the lonesome, dark memories.
The vampire jerks upright, staring directly at me like I’ve somehow intrigued him. I grin and jut out my chest, since that’s clearly what’s caught his attention.
His eyes are on mine instead of my chest.
Such a sweet vampire.
“The inside of your old box? Do you know what those markings mean?”
“Dun dun dun!” I call into the air, holding my arms up.
His eyes go black.
“Sorry,” I lie, pulling my arms down, mocking a sheepish Violet expression. “Seemed like the tension was mounting and I couldn’t help myself.”
“Damn it, Anna, what do these markings—”
“It means the kraken ate the dragon and had a fat-toed ogre baby,” I say with complete seriousness, not wanting to upset him again.
He looks twice as angry.
“Or it means the box maker made another box like mine, and that was the design used to form it. It’s similar, but very different at the same time,” I carry on, rolling my eyes. “Hardly seems as powerful as us.”
Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters Book 6) Page 55