Her brow cleared. “Oh, you know. Great.”
Wait. “I’m not cool with that. Me and Kyros aren’t in the mood for bullshit.”
Lalitta stopped in front of her vehicle. The paint-chipped pick-up truck momentarily derailed my train of thought.
Did not see that coming.
“You’re wrong about my eldest brother,” she said, smiling.
Seemed like I was always wrong these days. “Wrong in what way?”
“My brother feels as trapped as you do. He’s unsure how to reach you through his bindings.”
More like unsure if he wants to reach at all.
“I don’t want him reaching for me. That’s all anyone has to know, including him.”
She dipped her head. “As you say.”
My eyes narrowed. That sounded a whole heap like when I said I hear you—aka I’m listening but don’t accept what is being said.
“Regardless, my siblings are relentless in persuading me to steal you away. I don’t intend to be unkind to you like Rory and Gerome, but it would mean a lot if you could pretend I was horrible after. Just to get them off my back.”
I groaned, looking skyward. “You’re fucking me.”
“Is that a yes?”
Saying no to her was the equivalent of kicking a puppy. “Depends. What’s on the cards.”
“Movie?”
Okay, she had my attention. “Popcorn? I’m not watching anything sad or scary. Or romcoms. Hate that shit—apart from the Rebel Wilson one. But that’s kind of a romcom for people who hate romcoms, you know? Wait, I’ll watch anything with Jason Mamoa in it. That’s all I’m in the mood for. A Jason Mamoa film.”
Her brows crept up. “... We’ll figure something out. Remember, I need you to tell everyone you had a really frightful time.”
Really frightful time.
I snorted.
She could sing “A Spoonful of Sugar,” and I’d believe she was Mary Poppins. Her plan was doomed to fail even if I held up my end of the bargain. “Sure, Lalitta. Take me to see Jason.”
Jerking awake, I rolled in bed, fumbling for the screaming thing.
I cradled it in my hands, eyes shut.
“Miss Tetley?” a voice asked.
The shrill ringing that woke me had disappeared. Magic. “Invisibility cloak.”
Faint laughter erupted.
“I’ll give you a moment to wake up.”
I rubbed a hand over my eyes. “Daylight savings.”
More faint laughter.
People were listening. Wait. Oh my god. I was in bed and holding my phone—aptly named Beast.
How…?
Blinking, I stared at the phone clutched in my hands before pressing Beast to my ear.
Who was I speaking to? “Angelica?”
“Yes, Miss Tetley. I apologise for the early call.”
What was the time? I squinted at the offending blue light of my alarm clock.
“Shit, Angie. It’s 2:00 a.m.!”
“I apologised for that.”
I flopped on my back, bouncing with the mattress. “Your apology was good for a 7:00 a.m. call. 2:00 a.m., and I’m gonna need more than that.” Fucking vampires.
“Like what?”
“Get creative. You should be up to the task.” She was with her matchmaking efforts.
She hummed. “I’ll keep it in mind. Could you come up to Level 66?”
I groaned. “Humans sleep during the night.”
“You told me once that you were a night owl.”
“Your ability to selectively listen is incredible.”
“One of our team leaders had an idea. We need to discuss it with you before presenting the idea to King Julius for approval at 3:30 a.m. It’s important.”
They thought it was important. All because two kings couldn’t agree who’d knocked up a queen one hundred and fifty years ago. I found it hard to get worked up over that.
“You can’t ask me over the phone?” I tried once more.
Silence.
Grumbling, I shuffled off the bed. “For the record, I’m not okay with this.”
I hung up, glancing down at the fluffy rabbit onesie I’d purchased yesterday and worn to bed.
The movie date with Lalitta had morphed into a late-night shopping trip. After my money woes and the run-in with Clint, I ironically had nearly seventy thousand dollars from house commissions—the house in Black had bumped me up big time. I supposed it was extra ironic that I considered that a huge amount of money now, what with being in possession of a multi-billion-dollar estate.
I hadn’t dared to buy anything—except materials for the décor pinecones—since screwing up so grandly during my first week. But the urge to no longer feel like a white-and-royal-blue wearing trophy wife had spurred me to flush several thousand dollars down the drain. The trip yielded a rack of clothing in every colour but white and royal blue.
And a rabbit onesie.
Oh well. I wasn’t changing for anyone, let alone those bastards.
Swiping my card key off the bedside table, I set off for Level 66.
Beast was flashing red. He was either about to explode, die, or he had something to tell me.
I read the message from Tommy as I stepped onto the elevator:
How are you doing after the funeral?
After the funeral.
Her wording was intentional, a reminder about the fresh parameters of our tattered friendship. Losing Tommy would be one of the worst fuck-ups of my life—something I’d regret forever. I’d known that before cutting the ties between us. Except I was beginning to realise, I may not survive this storm without her.
When I lost my parents, I was surrounded by love and had the blissful resilience of youth on my side. I’d now lost my grandmother, and my appetite had faded to null again. The most substantial meal I’d had was popcorn at the movies last night.
I wasn’t coping.
The elevator shot up as I typed out a vague reply that would pass through the security measures—otherwise known as Kyros’s possessiveness—on Beast.
Getting by, thanks <3
How are you and your dad doing? <3 <3
Ding!
I hit Send and stepped off the lift, opening Snake as I weaved between the monitors and frantically typing Vissimo toward the glass room I’d once seen Kyros leave.
The top level of the tower was circular. Glass rooms occupied the outer perimeter while standing desks and monitors filled the rest of the floor space in uniform rows. The only break in pattern was a huge glass tube currently out of sight. That’s where the dice roll was streamed each night.
I circled the snake around on the screen to collect another brick.
Yesss!
Fernando, one of the Indebted, said he’d reached a high score of 2300. I hadn’t come within an eighth of that yet. I really did have a long way to go before I could call myself Snake Master.
Beast flew from my hand as I bounced off a Vissimo. The archaic phone slid across the ground.
Game over.
The female vampire gasped, blurring to pick up the phone.
“Miss Tetley, I didn’t see you,” the vampire rushed to say, bowing three times before I could blink once.
Taking the phone, I clicked the middle green button. The screen flared to life. Beast was still in working order. Thus, Snake could still be played.
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “I walk into people, too, sometimes—and nothing can kill phones from the 90s.” Or whenever this hunk of crap was from.
Relief flooded her face. “Thank you.”
Jesus. She needed a holiday.
I tucked Beast away in a front pocket of my rabbit onesie and side-stepped the drop-dead gorgeous woman.
“Is she wearing a rabbit onesuit?”
“They’re called onesies, idiot.”
Great. I’d found them. Their voices floating out of the glass room.
“I think it’s adorable.”
“I wouldn’t be c
aught dead in that.”
The sooner I could hear about this plan, the sooner I could get back to bed. To play Snake.
I eyed the nine royal children of Clan Sundulus and Angelica standing inside one of the glass offices. Easing between more furiously typing Vissimo, I ignored the screen of flashing colour blocks that represented Bluff City, entering the meeting room.
Lalitta blurred to my side, pulling up the hood of my onesie. “It has ears too.”
Uh?
I peered at her. We’d been together when I bought it. We’d left the action movie early when Lalitta became too engrossed in the film. Let’s just say her eyes lit up and shone two laser points on to the movie screen.
I grinned, and she rounded her eyes slightly.
Yeah, yeah. I remembered. I was terrified.
“What’s that about?” Neelan asked, peering between us. Whether he intended to flex his muscles as he spoke or they just tended to ripple, I couldn’t decide.
“Miss Tetley and I spent some time together yesterday,” Lalitta said, baring her teeth. “If you must know.”
Yep. Kyros looked super worried. Not. A quick search of his emotion platter confirmed his utter lack of concern.
But as though jolted, his face turned thunderous. “Where did you take her, Lalitta?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “That’s between me and Basilia.”
I’d let her call me that this once. Because I was terrified.
She continued, smirking. “I didn’t hurt her too much.”
Kyros stalked slowly to the long table occupying most of the rectangle space. “Lalitta—”
I stared at him, a wrinkle between my brows.
He wasn’t feeling one jot of anger toward her. All I could detect was fondness.
“Right on, little sis.” Gerome held up his hand. Lalitta slapped her palm against his, grinning wolfishly.
She strutted to her seat and plonked down, beaming.
My mouth bobbed.
They knew she’d done absolutely nothing to me and were pretending for her sake? Mostly dislike them, I may, but that was freakin’ adorable.
I pushed my floppy bunny ears back.
Rory blurred to my side and yanked the hood up again. “If you’re going to wear that, commit to the whole look. Plus, the hood covers your hair.”
I shooed him away, glaring. “My hair looks that way because I just woke up.”
“If you say so.”
I squinted at his hairline. “At least I don’t have grey hairs yet, old man.”
He inhaled sharply and whirled away, pulling out his phone to get the camera up.
Pantsuit snorted and I shot her a wry look. Rory was Vain with a capital V.
“Does the one suit have a tail?” Neelan sneered.
I stomped my foot. “I didn’t come up here to be quizzed about my onesie. It gets cold in my room and this is warm.”
“Aw, she stomps her foot. Just like Thumper in Bambi.”
I eyed Gerome. “You’ve seen Bambi?”
His mouth snapped shut with an audible click.
Francesca folded her arms. “How come she can stomp her foot, but I always get yelled at for it?”
Because you’re a brat.
I placed my hands on my knees, smiling at her as I would a three-year-old. “I shouldn’t have done that. It’s a naughty, naughty habit.”
Francesca snarled, bursting to her feet.
“It’s embarrassing that you’d elect to wear that,” Deirdre stated from where she sat, hands clasped behind her head. “You’re a grown woman but look like a child.”
My lips twitched. “Thanks for weighing in, Deirdre.”
She dipped her head regally.
“It does have a tail,” Neelan announced. He was behind me? “A little, furry tail.”
A hand tugged the back of my suit.
I jumped. “Let go!”
He followed me in circles until I had the sense to stay still.
There were only a few sane people in the room, and holding myself rigid, I addressed one of them. “Why am I here, Angelica?”
“Please take a seat, Miss Tetley.”
There went my hope for a quick yes-or-no wrap-up.
Lionel walked to the seat at the head of the table, drawing out the chair for me.
The seat was directly opposite Kyros’s.
Lionel’s wide smile faded as I took the seat next to Safina, a position that would best shield me from Kyros’s view.
“Spit it out.” I sighed.
“In your time at Live Right, you have secured six houses,” he said.
The table was a much nicer place to look than to where Kyros loomed. I tuned into his emotions. Determination… maybe? Something fluttery sat beneath it though.
Hold the phone.
That wasn’t pride…
Kyros was proud of me? Or himself?
Probably himself.
“That’s an unusually high success rate,” he continued after a beat.
Oh my god. He was proud of me. Go figure.
He added, “More unusual when you consider you were delegated our troublesome properties.”
As punishment for a little misunderstanding with the law. I slid my hood down and glared at Safina when she whipped it back up. Pantsuit was meant to be the kickass reasonable one.
Dammit though. Still respected the shit out of her.
Francesca snickered, and Gerome whipped out his phone to take a picture.
Scrap that. Every single one of Kyros’s siblings was a piece of shit.
“Miss Tetley,” Kyros said in a delicious, toe-curlingly deep voice.
I straightened at the oily quality behind his words.
What was that feeling? I’d felt it yesterday when we’d spoke too.
Giving up, I peered down the table at the crown prince of Clan Sundulus.
His meadow-green eyes locked on mine like I was north and he was a compass. “We have gathered the difference is due to you being human.”
I pressed my lips together at his serious expression.
He paused. “What’s so funny?”
Shoot. “You guys are only just figuring that out?” I shook my head. “Of course that’s the difference.”
Nine scowls trained on me, plus Angelica’s amused crook of the lips. Kyros was too smart to only be figuring this out now. What? He thought I was too stupid to put two and two together and decided to ease me in?
Oh, brother.
Kyros steepled his hands. “Every other day—during Clan Fyrlia’s turn—instead of outside appointments, you will train my realtors in human behaviour.”
Was he high?
“You want me to what now?” I blurted, brows climbing.
My response confused him.
“No,” I said, standing. “Not happening.”
A leaden quiet took hold of the room and plunged it into icy water.
Kyros’s confusion slid directly to deep irritation. Fury exploded, followed by intense focus.
Was that him trying to control his alpha temper? Or was he trying to gauge my mood?
My head spun from the emotional influx and I drew in a steadying breath.
“Is that all?” I darted a look toward the door.
Safina leaned back after a swift look at Kyros. “Can we ask why you’re saying no, Miss Tetley?”
Because I’m not teaching you to get better at taking advantage of the humans in this city.
“I’m not here by choice. You’re acting like I give a single fuck about how this game pans out.”
“Kyros is your true mate,” Francesca said incredulously.
Vissimo were going to kill me one day. I didn’t care that my blood told me Kyros was my mate. Or true mate. Or whatever the correct term was. That meant zilch to me.
Neelan pushed off the glass wall next to Gerome. “You’d stand for that disobedience from your staff, big bro?”
Kyros unfolded to his full height. “My true mate, Neelan.”
; Frustration. Wrath. Confusion. And something warm I didn’t want to look too closely at. Hold on, there was that ugly oily quality again. Like a throbbing.
What the hell was that?
Kyros moved around the table at an ambling pace I didn’t trust for one millisecond. “Basilia, are you allowing your decision to be dictated by what’s happening between us?”
I crossed my arms, ignoring the rabbit ear flopping over my left eye. “I don’t work any other way. If someone lies to me or treats me like crap, you better believe I won’t lift a finger to help them.”
“You secure houses for us.”
“So I can spend a few hours outside this asylum.”
“Might want to rein it in, Basil,” Gerome hushed, eyeing his brother.
Yeah, the last bit got to him for sure. Kyros didn’t like me displaying distaste for his blood or the homing beacon development after the second thrall. He didn’t like me insulting his tower either.
Boohoo.
I eased from between the table and chair as Kyros stopped behind me. He didn’t have a waistcoat on to match the form-fitting black jacket and trousers tonight, but the tie remained. I closed my eyes to shut out the sight of the vampire, doing my best to control the fierce awareness of how much I wanted to touch him.
The bond wanted me to rip off his clothes, shove him down on the table, and ride him until the sun rose. The itch under my skin burned to be satisfied.
“There doesn’t have to be hate between us, Miss Tetley.”
Lust. Frustration. Oily throbbing.
I scoffed, opening my eyes. “Really?”
“I’d rather have your willingness in this.”
“I’d rather a lot of things, too, Kyros. What we’d rather doesn’t always pan out.” I stepped around him.
Distance was a very, very smart idea.
“Give me one good reason why you’re refusing me? Something that isn’t related to how things stand between us,” he added when I opened my mouth.
Kyros folded his arms across the wide expanse of his firm chest.
They were talking to the wrong Basi. It was 2:30 a.m., not to mention anything else from the last week or beyond.
“Because you’re all fucking monsters,” I shouted, my hands balling. “The only ones who aren’t are the people you keep shoved down on the lower levels.”
Vampire Debt: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 2) Page 4