A loud noise buzzes, and a series of shrieks go off so loudly that the bits of glass remaining on the house shatters. In the next instant, I’m rushing through traffic and leaping into the open window closest to me, panic damn near seizing my breath.

“Sorry!” Violet shouts, slinging her voice in a circle. “It’s just a saw that gets loud. I’ll warn you next time!”

She swats at a little dust, as she stumbles toward Tom, pulling something out of her bra.

“Healing potion. Put it in your ears!” she shouts to him, as he winces and digs a finger into his ear.

I roll my eyes, my heart hammering in my bloody chest, and sway to the side, as I exhale in relief.

“Vance?” Arion growls just loud enough for me to hear him from across the street.

“All in one piece,” I assure him as Tom shouts at Violet.

“What?!”

She holds up a finger as she looks over at me in surprise. “Are you okay?” she asks me so sincerely.

“Can you please pretend to realize the reality of the situation at hand until I can explain it to you later?” I ask her.

She cocks an eyebrow. “I’ve got my problems—a lot of them at the moment. You’ve got yours—one of them at the moment. You deal with your shit, and I’ll deal with mine.”

I point a finger at her, as she crosses her arms over her chest a little defiantly for no reason at all.

“We’re going to talk about you sending all my calls to voicemail the second we have a chance. And then I’ll check to ensure the text messaging is working on your phone as well.”

“What?” Tom shouts again, cupping his ear toward us.

I really do hate that man.

Violet holds a finger up at him again.

“It’s just been a few days, Vance. You’ve been busy, and so have I. Can we do this later? I sort of need to help my dad be able to hear again, since no one mentioned Simpletons could do that scared shrieking thing. Then I’m going to be up all night doing what little we can, before we have an actual game plan, so that we don’t waste any time with construction.”

There’s a sociopathic monster with jealousy issues just outside, after we’ve painted Violet a glowing target, and Violet’s too busy to deal with me right now.

I’m not sure if I’m still stuck in a hellish Portocale curse trance, or if this is just one of those days where Violet makes no sense.

Idun is watching me as I begin my return, and she glances around.

“I’m not the monster anymore, and I won’t interrupt this relationship you have going with her,” she tells us very abruptly.

When we all look at her like we know she’s leaking horse shit, she rolls her eyes.

“Again, you’ll just have to see to believe. I’m working on diluting my accent, catching up to an acceptable vernacular, and I simply haven’t had time to even try to catch on to how very different the world looks.”

Cue her dramatic head-tilt toward the sky, paired with a distant, thoughtful stare.

I actually roll my eyes, and Damien checks his reflection in his pocket mirror.

“But for now, I have things to do, such as learn as many changes as I can in a vastly new setting. I’ve secured the fifth available wheel that will fortify the circle here. I could only assume that seat would be mine, since we’re all the family Heads of our respective Houses.”

“And you really expect us to believe you’ll just leave Violet be, when she’s the very first person you taunt with your presence?” Emit asks through clenched teeth.

I keep a keen eye on Idun, waiting for the trap. Always waiting for the trap.

She glances toward the hotel, eyes never meeting ours, her expression staying stoic.

“I can understand your trepidation, given my past, but even if I felt threatened by a young, mildly attractive Simpleton, I still wouldn’t react, because you’re on the verge of giving her up,” she assures us.

Damien grins broadly, and I make another derisive sound.

Arion has stepped back, arms crossed over his chest, and has propped to a lean against a tree, seemingly content to observe her.

“How long do you foresee a girl, who is carrying a burdened heart such as hers, to open her arms to monsters not all that different from me?” she asks us seriously. “Because I’m not the only one they all fear, and you’re all even bigger hypocrites than you already were if you don’t see that.”

With that, Idun turns to leave, and I hold my ground, since I can physically take no action against her until she gives me a reason to.

She glances back a few times, giving us a small smile, just before she turns the corner and disappears from sight.

Damien is gone in the next instant with Arion, both of them trailing her under Damien’s illusion, and Emit’s eyes meet mine.

“Okay, Van Helsing. Now we know her game,” he tells me idly as just a handful of his wolves line up alongside my knights a little late.

Both of us are doing what we can to hold our composure in front of so many prying eyes. A composed, united front looks better than a rattled one, and monsters stuck in a state of fear and paranoia would be a volatile concoction in this era, more than any other before.

“And now you know your betas still aren’t up to par. You need to bring in your best for this, Emit. Quit leaving them out there and bring them in to restore your House, before Idun tears it down out from under you, while pretending she’s lost the monster inside her.”