Team Inez (House of Garner Book 2)

by Erin R Flynn

  “It was. Maybe not in temperature, but it was. Apparently you both have wormed your way into my normal and not having you around is downright freaky.”

  “I felt the same,” he promised. “Though you felt it more, as I was the one flying and handling stuff, so that was odd enough to not notice so much you weren’t there. I did look around for you a few times and had to remember you weren’t there. How did you spend the time?”

  “I stuffed my face while sitting on my ass like I promised. I watched the kitchen crew make dough and all sorts of awesomeness while working the flour mill. Not a single corrupted while you were gone. There were awesome pastries for breakfast. That’s what you missed.” I bit back a smirk. “And something we taped for you.”

  He groaned, and I swallowed a laugh, knowing I was mean to bring that up right then. “And yes, my mother was thrilled with the deal. Hesitant, but that’s her nature and how she’s survived as long as she has and had such a powerful coven. She took a lot at my word, but from one stranger to another—”

  I snorted. “No fucking way. I wouldn’t have even listened to it. The apocalypse brought out every con artist as the norms and made me think that whole ‘people are their best in a crisis’ is bullshit. I’ve helped people when corrupted were attacking them to turn around and have them steal my shit. It does not bring out the best in most people but selfishness.”

  “Not you,” he murmured, raising our joined hands to his lips. “You immediately wanted to help.”

  I shook my head. “Don’t make me sound any less selfish, Jaxon, I’m not. I could have helped lots along the way, and I didn’t because I was scared of what they’d do to me. I was already hunted and a corrupted beacon. I saved my own ass time and time again by not giving people power or showing them what I can do. I’m not selfless. I’m only willing to help now that I’m safe. That’s not a good person.”

  “Yes, it is,” Sebastian of all people argued. “You ask for something in return for this deal because otherwise you are a doormat, but it wasn’t made with the gains being the intention. That’s a good person. You wouldn’t put yourself in danger because people would use you. That is vastly different than being selfish, Princess.”

  “I agree,” James added. “You weren’t the people who offered you a shower or place to crash for the night and then chained you up so you could breed babies for their cult.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” Jaxon seethed, his hand gripping the steering wheel hard enough I heard it creaking. “You never told me that.”

  “Because you’d react like that,” I muttered, gesturing to his hand. “Yeah, I was traveling through a settlement and had brought in some food I’d gotten while driving. I was getting on a boat and I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I traded it for a shower and to stay the night, knowing I wouldn’t because corrupted would come for me. She agreed, and her brother knocked me out and locked me up.”

  “What happened to them?”

  “They got eaten,” I answered, staring out the window. “The corrupted came for me like they always did, and they got eaten. People came to help and found us, let us go, and I got my shower as promised and got the fuck out of there, catching the ship in the morning and leaving. That wasn’t the only time. The other time I had to break my wrist to get out of the shackles and probably dislocated my shoulder in the process.”

  “What happened to the people you escaped from?” he asked gently.

  I pulled my hand away from his. “I cut myself on purpose so the place smelled of my blood and then left. I would think they got eaten, as apparently corrupted can smell my blood from hundreds of miles away because that’s not freaky.” I was glad when we pulled up to the dock. “I’m not a nice person like you make me sound, Jaxon.”

  “You are. You are, Inez.” He sighed when I didn’t answer, parking the SUV and turning it off before facing me. “You are, Inez.”

  “I’m not. I not only didn’t feel bad for what I did, but I was pissed I didn’t get to shoot them myself, but I was too hurt to risk it. That’s not a nice person. There were other people who didn’t lock me up.”

  “Did they know?” he asked. “Did they know what they planned to do to you?”

  “Yes since it wasn’t to make babies but for sex. They were announcing it around.”

  “Then they all deserved it,” he snarled. “I would have bathed in their blood, so they got off easy being eaten. I want to go make sure because they even thought of touching you in that way. If they had… You don’t want to know what I’d do to them.”

  “I might have done the same. That’s my point. You guys act like you’re normal and I’m innocent or whatever, and I’m not. I shot an asshole just so corrupted went for him and bought me time.”

  “Why was he an asshole?” Sebastian asked, sounding interested in the conversation and interactions between us.

  “He was touching and drooling on a girl a few years younger than me that clearly didn’t want it. He got called away, and I heard one of her friends telling her it was okay, that everyone had to give in to him, even the boys, and she’d get over it like they did. He was some high up in the camp and everyone knew it was the price of getting to stay.”

  “So they were twenty or so?”

  “No, I was eighteen then. They couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen.”

  “I would have shot him,” James snickered as he got out.

  “I’m not sorry I did,” I promised as I slid out, meeting his gaze over the door as we were on the same side. “But who was I to decide that?”

  “But could you live with knowing he would touch and hurt others if you didn’t?” Sebastian challenged as he came around with Jaxon.

  I gave a swift nod. “Which was why I did it. I’m not asking for forgiveness or saying I’m a bad person. I’m saying I’m not anywhere near as ‘pure’ as they say like my name or a nice person.” I held up my hand when they argued. “I also didn’t go to find those kids and help them.”

  “Because you would have put a target on them as they were after you,” Jaxon muttered. “You ran to lure them away.”

  “Did I?” I shook my head. “I’m not so sure. I maybe thought they liked me, but I wasn’t sure then.”

  “Yes, but you were eighteen and mostly a child yourself without her memories,” Jaxon pushed. “You didn’t run past a baby and leave it. You weren’t stupid and tried to go look for people you didn’t even know that could have been somewhere safe and the corrupted went with you into that place. You did the best you could.”

  “Still doesn’t make me pure.”

  “Sebastian, good to see you, mate,” Cerdic cut in. He chuckled as he extended his hand to Jaxon’s father. “You were acting so adorable, love, we skipped all the normal stuff.”

  “Glad you’re safe,” Sebastian said as they shook.

  “Yeah, the family’s good?”

  “Yes, thank you. Congratulations on your sister’s ascension.”

  Cerdic burst out laughing, his arm wrapped around his stomach. “Oh, no one wants her in charge, but that’s how it goes. My sympathies to Princess Nora and your family, but I’m staying far away from her tantrums and shit.”

  He nodded, glancing at Kristof who had joined us. “A long time, Kristof. I’m glad you survived.”

  Kristof’s lips slightly twitched. “Yes, I’m sure you are, Sebastian.” He extended his hand, and they shook. “I hope Nora and your coven are well.”

  Something flashed in Sebastian’s eyes but then was gone as he let go. “She is, I make sure of that. Circumstances change, but it’s nothing we haven’t lived through before, simply a new type of monster though, others have eaten their kills when invading.” His eyes narrowed slightly, barely noticeable. “It’s good you found a new court to stay with and lend your strength and support to.”

  “Yes, but I’m also courting Princess Inez,” he answered, and a fly farting could have been heard in the group that had gathered, mostly coming from the other coven.

>   And then I remembered what Kristof had told us before. Jaxon’s mom had tried to get him to be her noble. I winced. “Oh, shit, awkward.”

  “Yes, and now that the cat’s out of the bag, my sister will not be happy, as she used to say she would snag Kristof if Mother couldn’t,” Cerdic added.

  Yeah, that did make things worse. How the fuck did we salvage this?

  21

  “Fairbanks,” I blurted too loudly, clearing my throat when people gave me weird looks. “Right, sorry, I forgot I wanted to bring up Fairbanks. Um, it’s almost completely intact, and that’s a lot of everything to raid.” I focused on Sebastian. “Cerdic thought there might be more than meat you guys could use given you don’t have easy access to more populated areas.

  “I mean, I don’t know if Ireland had Walmarts, but of course you had stores. We’re finding more intact than we’d thought, but there are whole areas I’m not going near no matter how many people tell me radiation from certain bombed areas won’t kill us. No thanks, I don’t want that touching me. But we had a lot we could probably get in Raleigh, and Boston was in good shape, so we can find more.”

  “You expect me to believe you’ve been intimate with the very lovely but extraordinarily young princess that my son is engaged to?” Sebastian asked Kristof, completely ignoring me.

  “Hey, yeah, baby vamp, but I still know it’s rude to ignore me like that,” I grumbled. “You saw him in the video. Did you come to start shit with him about not picking her, or do good for your coven?”

  Sebastian adjusted his neck but then focused on me. “I apologize. I hadn’t thought about him in the video, too focused on what we could manage for the coven. We also have some history that I didn’t expect to still be so emotional over.”

  I snorted. “You’re like completely locked down. I wish I could manage that. Yeah, you’re hysterical and raving. You should work on that.”

  He gave me a slight smile, the mood toning back. “I’ll make sure to do that.”

  I glanced at Kristof. “You said before that young vampires annoy the shit out of you. Are you like ageist?”

  His eyes flashed amusement. “Normally, yes. I find young vampires—and people in general—learn a few things and think they know more than anyone else. They make jackasses of themselves, not knowing or appreciating all that came before them. Then they get a bit older and learn the truth—the older we get, the more we learn we don’t know shit and certainly not as much as we thought.”

  “At least if the person isn’t a narcissist or completely deluded,” I agreed but then winced. So I was the idiot?

  “You’re not like that,” he said gently. Well, gently for him, and it was a voice he only used when talking to me. “You understand you don’t know as much as you wish you did, and you want to learn, ask advice, but won’t let anyone push you around. I think that’s why you lost your memories. It made you humble in a world that sees arrogance as a virtue.”

  I shrugged. “I never assume I’m the smartest person in the room, but I try never to be the stupidest.”

  “You never are,” he murmured, reaching out and tucking some fallen hair behind my ear. “We found a large cache of top latching shipping containers that will help with some of the shipping and efficiency so we’re not wasting crates on things like clothes or shoes that won’t be damaged.”

  “Oh, awesome. Yeah, that’s smart.”

  “Welcome back,” he greeted Jaxon. “You better spoil her tonight, as she did exactly what you asked, probably feeling guilty she wasn’t doing enough the whole time.”

  “No, not the whole time,” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest. “I get it. I’m the baby vampire. I’m listening, and after sleeping a full day, I get it.” They headed to check out the ship, but I held Jaxon back, waiting until at least the others couldn’t hear everything since they were talking. “Why was your dad interested in the other nobles?”

  “You caught that, huh?” He sighed as he scrubbed his sexy stubble. “You’ve acknowledged Mother as your mother-in-law to be. That means she’s got a vested interested in who else you might choose. She won’t have you in her coven, but she will absolutely give you ‘advice’ in who might be good choices, as you don’t have a parent to do that.”

  “That’s not necessarily a bad idea for help,” I hedged, knowing there was something I wasn’t seeing here.

  “Right, but she would have you pick Eddie, as she doesn’t get along with the Pinault coven.”

  “But if I was both of their daughter-in-law, that might bury a hatchet, or at least I was a deterrent to be good, as neither would want to piss me off or lose my favor or try to get me to side with them. Plus, I would have picked you first.” I brought my hands to my head and flicked out my fingers while making explosion noises that my brain was about to explode.

  “Yeah, it’s like that. Just do what you feel is right. You don’t want to get caught up in all that other stuff anyways. And don’t let any of the other princesses give you advice like that. You are your own princess and coven.”

  “Though I should let you give me advice not to take other advice?” I teased him, knowing full well he was saying what was best for me.

  “Yes,” he purred, moving up against the SUV. “And I do plan to absolutely spoil my princess in thanks that she made sure I didn’t have a single worry while I was gone and not at her side.”

  “Maybe you should be behind me instead later?” I offered. “My back was cold. Maybe drape all over it while inside of me? Check my breasts are still as you remember?”

  “Oh fuck me, Inez,” he groaned, kissing me deeply.

  “No, I’m sure the offer is to fuck me,” I teased him, smiling when he snapped his teeth at me like he was going to bite me.

  I wouldn’t mind that.

  Someone called his name, and he went to talk to them. I saw my boot lace was untied and knelt down to fix it so I could hurry and catch up with the others. I stood and glanced around before making my way to the ship everyone else was already on.

  “Inez, down!” Kristof bellowed.

  I dropped like I was tying my shoe again, glad I just had or I might have been too startled to think of how to get down fast. I went further and dropped to my ass and saw something fly over my head as I did. My eyes about popped out as it landed in a man about twenty feet away.

  Well, not so much landed but mostly beheaded the guy. I saw it slice through, and then the head dropped back, but the sword stopped like that had been the goal, as if it had kept going it could have hit someone else around. Or that was where my mind went as I freaked the fuck out.

  “Are you okay?” Kristof worried as he grabbed my arms and hauled me to my feet. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, no,” I whispered, glancing between him and the man. “He didn’t get near me. Why are you beheading people?”

  “His blood was poisoned, and he was racing to you.”

  “Poisoned? We can’t get infected I thought?” I demanded, still whipping my head back and forth.

  He cupped my face and made me stop that. “We can’t, but there are a few things that can poison our blood. You’re young, so it could be in his body for a while but kill you fast.”

  “Someone just tried to kill me?” I squeaked, getting caught up on that. I cursed when he nodded. “I didn’t think about someone from Clarence’s family coming after me. Fuck. I should have thought of that. I’m so sorry.”

  He pulled me into his arms, kissing my hair. “In what world should you be sorry for that? I was there and so were the others.”

  “And this wasn’t about Clarence,” Darius said firmly as he pulled me from Kristof and hugged me. “He pledged to a princess and she died and he was fine. A noble protects his princess even if it costs him his life, not steps aside when she disagrees with him. His family coven would probably have thanked you for what happened so he didn’t smear their family anymore.”

  “They wouldn’t have come after you. And you didn’t kill him, Aether did for brea
king the rules,” Kristof reminded me as Jaxon hugged me next.

  “And we’re missing three vampires from the roster,” Trisha told us.

  “So I don’t meet with nobles and the crew runs off?” I demanded, sounding a bit freaked out to my own ears as I stared at the guy without a head, a huge pool of blood under him now. “So he just had to bleed on me?”

  “Hey, hey, you’re fine, love,” Cerdic said as he pulled me from Jaxon and hugged me, making sure I couldn’t look at the dead body anymore. “I was coming too. Kristof just got to you first. There were so many new vamps around it was distracting.”

  “I don’t understand,” I rasped, fisting his sweater. “What did I do? I didn’t hurt anyone.”

  “I know,” he whispered, pressing his cheek against my head. “Just breathe. We’ll figure it out, but right now just breathe.”

  “I’ve spent years with corrupted trying to eat me and Clarence and his goons hunting me, but no one’s tried to assassinate me. That’s just fucking insane.”

  “Who’s missing?” Kristof asked.

  “Three vampires who weren’t Navy and came with a convoy after the initial bombs,” Trisha answered. “They weren’t the nobles, just regular vampires. We know their names, but we never asked what coven because what did it matter if they weren’t trying to get home or were fine with us? I mean, they came at least two years ago.”

  “When did they leave?” Jaxon asked.

  “No one’s sure,” she sighed. “We’ve got over a thousand, and we’ve been spread out now. Someone mentioned not having seen one at dinner, and then people talked, realized no one had and there were a few others. It reached me, and I had people going from group to group of assigned tasks, and they weren’t with anyone. I just got the word and was going to tell you guys.”

  “So they saw a chance to get back in with their coven if they were on the outs or get elevated in favor with their princess if they gave information?” James muttered. “That sounds a bit much.”

  “She can restore electricity and fix just about anything,” someone argued. “Power from ghosts and all the cats are her spirit animals and she’s a baby. Oh, you wanted cooler campers and more electric semis? Sure, let me use advanced powers like I’ve never seen before and break down a parking garage of vehicles into energy beads and rebuild them into electric semis.”