Gypsy Rising

“It’s law, Vance. You can’t stop me,” I say as I step around him.

“Never thought you’d be one to use that against me,” he says next to my ear, pushing against me from behind, as he leans down.

I pause, turning my head so that his nose and mine brush, as I make too-close eye contact.

“Really? What else can I do?” I ask seriously.

“Relax,” Idun says as though anyone is frazzled, though Damien does look ready to rip her head off.

Arion is just standing between us, not showing any expression.

“Violet, just give her the shifter. She’s registered to Idun, and she’s right about setting the precedent not to allow runners to abuse your sanctuary,” Arion states like he’s being the diplomatic voice of reason, never even glancing at me, as he gives Idun a placating smile.

“No.”

His smile falls, and the vampire narrows his eyes over at me.

“You can’t answer no, love,” he says like he’s cautioning me. “It’s just one shifter, Violet. One who started as a prisoner.”

“One who did absolutely nothing wrong, has never harmed anyone, and is claiming sanctuary in my home.”

“I have laws, Violet,” Idun says with an amused expression. “I’m not here to cause any problems with you,” she carries on while the cameras following her pan out wider, likely to add drama to the moment.

“You’re not a problem for me,” I inform her, causing Vance to pinch the bridge of his nose as I just stare Idun in her cold blue eyes.

I see it in the way she fights to hold that amused expression in place that she can only handle so much pretending.

“Good,” she lies, smiling bigger.

“By law, you can’t pull her out of here without my direct consent, and I don’t give it,” I add.

Damien glares over at me. “What are you doing, Violet?”

I shrug a shoulder. “Taking a stand. Making you care.”

Arion’s eyes stay narrowed on me, as Idun gives a tight smile. “I see the game here. Well, dear, surely someone’s informed you, that by law, I have the right to punish any delayed registries.”

“You have a right to a public flogging attended by all alphas who wish to view it and nothing else,” I tell her.

Her lips twitch. “It just so happens that a large portion of alphas have flown in for a meeting that will happen tomorrow to discuss reinstating—”

“I know,” I interrupt. “I was waiting on you to show up. It’s all been arranged, and it turns out that Vance has the necessary viewing arena for public floggings, per Van Helsing law, of course.”

Her jaw grinds like she’s annoyed I find her entirely too predictable.

“Well, then, why are we still here? Bring the shifter out so we can get on with it then,” she says, smiling darkly.

“Actually, you don’t get to have any interaction with my people outside of the flogging grounds when one has claimed sanctuary. It’s in the rules they all signed,” I point out, gesturing around at the four angry alphas surrounding me.

“What are you doing, Violet?” Arion asks me as he takes a step my way.

Idun steps forward quickly, drawing his attention back to her the second she moves.

He quickly puts his body between us again, eyes back on her.

“You see, while you’ve pretended to have transparency and worked to drive everyone mad with the Idun TV charade, you forgot one very important thing. They’ve all forgotten it as well, it seems,” I say as I take another step closer, leaving only Arion separating us, as I use the height advantage the stairs give me to stare down at her.

Mostly to piss her off.

“I felt their pain, Idun. I’m empathic like that,” I remind her, tilting my head, as the smile starts slipping from her lips, her pupils dilating marginally. “But you were never in pain. You went to sleep and woke up a thousand years later, because somehow you’re not even afflicted by the Portocale curse. If I hadn’t come to town, you’d still be sleeping underground.” I glance at the cameras, smiling a little. “Now they all know it too, so they can stop guessing.”

When my eyes come back to hers, I decide it’s good she can’t shoot death rays from them. It’s nothing more than an educated guess and a risky bluff, but everything about Idun differs from everyone else.

I’ve learned that Pandora was her bestie.

What happened to Pandora? No one seems to know or care, apparently.

Idun’s not the first-born, but she’s the most powerful.

She’s not the first-born, but she’s the head of her House.

She’s truly immortal, not someone who just reincarnates after a head is removed.

“You’re saying you can feel what everyone is feeling?” she asks me like she’s probing.

Leveling her with a look, I give her a crooked smile. “Surely someone’s informed you by now what empathic means,” I say, hearing Anna make a dramatic sizzling sound that sounds eerily like skin burning.

Idun bristles, as Arion’s eyes narrow just a little more, like he knows I’m full of shit, since I can’t actually feel anything unless it’s from the Simpleton— I don’t need to think about secrets. Idun has a mind-reading beta watching us right now, most likely.