“She’ll collapse and then they’ll find someone old enough to guide them to the next step. Which is sawing her to pieces,” Arion adds, eyes on mine again like he and I are definitely going to find out who’s stronger the second this is all over.

“Apples and bloody oranges,” Arion says, his gaze jerking away as his knee begins bouncing. “Trouble magnet. I can’t remember the last time I had this much dread in my gut. Vampires. Wolves. Occults. She’s the omega under everyone’s feet all at once.”

He curses as he runs his hand through his hair.

“It’s as though she’s deliberately the opposite of Idun,” I say under my breath.

“Probably the reason for our damning obsession with her,” Damien adds on a dry note. “Every time we give her a moment to herself, she gets herself into a mess.”

“So it’s settled. She’s moving in with me, and you all can come see her when you want to,” Arion says like he’s declaring it the new law.

“I’m struggling to see how that’s the next thing out of your mouth. Did I miss another conversation you only had in your head?” I ask him.

“Well, she needs twenty-four hour vigil. I’m the strongest, because, aside from Idun, I’m the only fucking real monster in this group.”

“Idun’s not in our group,” Damien quickly tells him, narrowing his eyes.

Arion exhales harshly. “She will be very shortly, and we can’t deny her alpha position. I didn’t mean romantically,” Arion clarifies.

“He used to be quicker at the loops,” Damien grumbles.

“He’s slower because of all your loose ends mucking up his mind, so stop trying to make this his fault when it’s Emit’s. You don’t even have a good reason to hate Vance anymore,” Arion gripes at Damien before gesturing toward me. “Emit is the fuck-up right now.”

“I think telling you she’s unable to die has hindered the seriousness of the situation we’re in,” Damien says, glaring over at Arion.

Arion’s cool smile flits away as his pupils waver. “Perfectly on edge, mate. But until Vance does his part, I can’t do mine. Do you want me somewhat sober when that time comes?”

“Fair enough,” Damien says with a shrug.

“And Violet stays with me,” Arion adds, pushing for that last bit of extra he always does after winning any argument.

“That’s not even—”

“Where else will she stay? Is she going to stay with you?” Arion asks him in interruption, swinging a dubious look at him. “You, who struggled with some omega purebloods?”

“I took a sabbatical from feeding. Things are looking up now, though. Heart’s beating firmly. I’m still an alpha, Arion,” he says with a sneer.

“It’s going to take longer than that to replenish all you allowed yourself to lose. Especially since you’re avoiding dealing with Dorian,” Arion goes on.

“Dorian isn’t my problem, and how did this get turned around on me? You were hating Emit. Let’s get back to that. It’s his fault Violet is at the mercy of pureblood wolves and held captive by a daughter with too many secrets. Let’s also be pissed about the fact Violet won’t let Vance find her, because she’s a stubborn girl who thinks she can handle whatever, since she hasn’t found her limit yet.”

And Arion’s back to glaring at me.

“I’m going to go see if I can catch a scent that’s strong enough to follow and at least give us a general direction to point Vance in. Find something more helpful to do,” I say as I stand and walk out.

“Spoken like the true guilty party,” Damien adds to my back, and I turn to see him saluting Arion with his drink.

It’s never good when Damien plays nice with Arion. It’s all fun and games until they finally collide.

A heavy thunk and Damien’s shouted curse has me looking back again, just as a bloodcurdling scream cracks through the air and sends a pained chill up my back.

I always forget how much more the vampire’s curse hurts until I hear that scream.

I’ve seen Arion brutally tortured and never scream like that.

The curse has finally claimed him for his turn.

His body contorts as Damien’s eyes shoot to mine, and we both heave out a breath of frustration. This is terrible timing.

Without another word, I walk to Arion’s side, and force down his legs, as his bones begin to crack. Another shrill scream almost deafens me. Damien holds down his shoulders as the bones stop cracking as hard and as frequently.

My jaw grinds when I think about him stuck in the coffin, waking up with this curse during each Portocale death. Not even I hate him that fucking much.

“He was supposed to be unconscious. Like going to sleep and waking up,” Damien says quietly, as though he’s inside my head.

Another scream and a hard jolt has us both straining to keep him still.

“He said he’d never go under the ground again,” he goes on. “Made a point to tell Violet that while I was in the room. I still thought she was Idun then.”

Another scream interrupts him, and then Arion finally goes limp.

“Three hours before the worst of it starts,” I say in a hushed tone.

“For no less than twelve days for the bloodthirsty vampire,” Damien says as I toss Arion over my shoulder and move him outside to the back of my new SUV.

It’s the only place to put him, since he can’t go into Violet’s house beyond the salt line, even if we broke the line. That’s the private section he doesn’t have an invitation for.

“Violet will get herself in a very big mess if she panics prematurely and they find out what she is before she can use her one move,” I tell him as we stare at Arion’s calm before the storm.

I let Damien shut the door on him.

“Can you get a scent? Or was that bullshit?” he asks me hopefully.

“She left the latch up on Violet’s cellar orchard. The scent is obsolete, because whatever she was using to lock in the scent of the oranges was also unsealed.”

“I remember being so happy to smell a Portocale orange. Now it’s like it’s everywhere and I can’t smell anything else,” he gripes in agreement as we head back inside.

“Vance gave her a knife to use, and she fainted after putting it away. It’s almost like she wanted to be caught,” I say on a small growl.

“It’s her training, Emit. She’s supposed to be captured, and she’s supposed to make her escape,” Damien tells me a little coldly. “When she’s scared, she relies on her training. You’re saying the true Marta Portocale is her mother, something I’ve still not fully wrapped my mind around, and that bitch didn’t bother training Violet in any form of combat, knowing what sort of hell she might face as a Simpleton. They’re always the first targets because they’re weaker, and their monster is never enough once people know what’s going on.”

Running a hand through my hair in frustration, I start to say something, when Damien’s head cants like he’s listening.

“He should be chattering by now,” Damien says with a frown. “His teeth always begin to chatter after the first few minutes of the initial downing,” he adds as I quickly yank open the door.

Both of us stare in disbelief at the vacant space that once hosted my vehicle.

“Well…he didn’t drive himself away. You saw the whites of his eyes,” Damien states flatly, as we continue staring like two dumb fucks who’ve really cocked up this time.

“What are the chances Abby’s currently watching us instead of Violet?” I ask very quietly.

“If she is, you and I are going to look like fucking idiots for losing the vampire alpha to a bunch of wolves, after he’s just been downed for twelve days and won’t have any idea what’s going on. They might actually succeed in killing him for the moment,” he says as he clicks his tongue. “I don’t like feeling like a fucking idiot, Emit.”

There’s a moment of pause where we simply stare at each other.

“He can’t be killed until midnight,” Damien adds so quietly no one could possibly hear it, unless they’re as close as I am. “We have until then.”

Cutting my gaze to the curb once more, I simply stare for a second longer, willing my vehicle to appear and secretly hoping Damien is being an ass and just hiding it all from sight.

“Any chance Abby isn’t an omega? I find it hard to believe an omega would have the fortitude and keen desire to steal Arion,” I decide to say like it’s something of importance.

“Going on the offense is definitely not an omega trait, and Abby’s clearly on the offense if she’s watching us. Last time she expected one alpha, but she still managed to shoot an arrow through my heart, effectively stopping the beating and weakening my own monster. She knows a lot of alpha secrets.”

“She knows just enough to get herself killed. There’s a lot of that going around lately,” I state, thinking of Violet’s own father, a whole other mess we’ve yet to start cleaning up.

“It’s not pleasant to feel watched when you’re not even aware someone may be watching,” Damien says with a slight shudder as he shuts the door.

I give him a wry look, but he doesn’t notice it, as he shakes his head.

“On the bright side, Arion will be there with Violet now. If she can manage to get to him and break his curse, he’ll be more than dead weight to her. Hell, he’ll have it all cleaned up before we get there,” he adds as he takes a seat and pulls out his phone.

“You make it sound easy,” I grind out.

“Seemed easy when she did it for me,” Damien states in an almost annoyed tone. “In fact, she made it sound overly simple…”

“Who are you texting?” I ask as his words trail off during his distraction.

“Vance. I’m letting him know how stupendously we’ve fucked up. Something tells me Arion is going to be in a lot more pain than usual for this downing.” His eyes flick to mine. “Omega or beta, this bitch is insane enough to take him and thinks she won’t be punished when he awakes or returns after a short stint of death. Why is she so confident?”

“Does it matter?” I ask him.

“It matters very much,” he says quietly. “Because Violet is very protective of us—even Arion. It’s just a matter of time before she releases the monster inside her that doesn’t stand a chance against a den of mad wolves. Whether or not Violet can kill the leader depends on how skilled and knowledgeable that leader truly is.”

“She handled her own against my wolves,” I remind him through a growl. “And they were much better trained—”

“Fifty sane wolves with a weak vendetta is nothing compared to hundreds of feral wolves with a growing horde mentality that is certainly going to spread like hive fire when the vampire alpha arrives and stirs up their instincts. She likely won’t stand a chance then,” he goes on, quieter.