I ignore him as I hear a phantom ticking clock. Emit moves toward me, but I jump back and hold up my hand. “If I don’t go in there right now, she really will tear down my House. I just spent every waking second working on it, and none of you have any right to step in.”
Vance nods curtly, so angry his jaw can’t stop ticking.
“I’ve negotiated with Idun on air,” Arion tells me quietly, his eyes dangerously close to the ‘red zone.’ With a slight growl, he adds, “She’s going to put you down and show you your place. You’re the first of your kind, and a small example needs to be set to remind the world she’s the Neopry alpha for a reason.”
I won’t lie. I want to cry and knee him in the balls at the same time. Instead, I make a small sound of surprise—disappointment and disgust at once.
“We can’t make you understand how dangerous it is to overstep, and Marta wants to treat you like an equal, while you manipulate us all into doing whatever delusional new achievement—”
“Let’s get on with the humbling show then, shall we?” I interrupt as I shove past Emit.
I wipe the stray tear away as I head inside. I don’t even have time to catch my breath or reinforce my pretend badass. My knees just barely wobble, but I keep it together, thinking of everything…except what’s about to happen.
CHAPTER 10
VANCE
“I tried to salt the bloody ghost, but she disappeared before I could,” Damien says as we all stand idly on the front steps, staring at the man who got out of the vehicle with Violet as he climbs into a window of the coliseum with a distinct lack of subtlety.
I’m not even sure why they came in from that direction.
“She’s taken on too much, and she’s going down the same path as the pureblood wolves did with Emit. She’s doing the exact same thing to Idun, and she doesn’t even see it. She’s the one intentionally riling Idun the second Idun enforces her authority,” Arion bites out.
I scrub a hand over my face.
“What’d you have to give her in trade?” I ask him.
“What did her mercy cost? I promised her a seat at the table instead of seating Nadine in her place. It’s one punishment I knew she’d not be able to pass up having lifted,” he says, as I nod vacantly.
It’s a large concession, but it’s the only option Violet’s left us with.
We head inside, ignoring the probing looks of everyone. Dorian smirks at Damien, and Damien pointedly avoids glancing in his direction.
The Neopry skin walkers all sit in an isolated grouping, leisurely chatting amongst themselves, as though all is fucking well with the world now that someone we care for is about to suffer.
Idun left them underground while she created her own website and livestreaming service. Violet raised them, and this is her reward. We have to trade for mercy for a soft-hearted, na?ve omega.
Nadine is the only one looking on with some sympathy, as Violet steps into the arena, cracking her neck to the side.
The suspicious fellow from earlier is lurking off to the side, though I’m not sure whose beta he is. He actually looks disgusted with all this, and disappointed in Violet.
“Be glad you have friends in high places, Violet. You won’t get your way, and the shifter will still get her flogging—a lick for every year she didn’t have it done—but at least you’ll feel better about yourself for trying. Winning spirits all around, and the little guy gets his shot at the big one for a fleeting moment, without too much damage done,” Idun says as we take a seat.
I’m not sure what anyone else is doing, because my eyes are on Violet.
She dodges a camera that moves too close, and she frowns over at Idun.
“That’s going to be over three hundred licks,” she says as though she’s pointing that out.
My knee starts bouncing, moving faster, as the tension ratchets up.
“If she can survive that, she’ll be free and clear. I will sign it in blood that she can live in your little sanctuary. See? I’m amendable.”
“You get to try to kill her by beating her to death, so I’d say that’s just a more fun challenge for you to get your way,” Violet inserts with a dry tone.
Idun’s grin grows.
Across the room, I spot Zuela rolling his eyes, before shooting me a disappointed look.
“Guess it’s good to be alpha sometimes. But you don’t understand our purpose, because you’re omega. We’re an infection. We have to monitor that infection. And omegas who forget their places infect the world in one way or another. I run a tight ship. Remember that in the future when another shifter swings by for sanctuary.”
Violet nods as she takes a few steps forward, and Idun feigns stretching, as her grin broadens. I listen for Violet’s heart to drop, expecting her to go with a fast element of surprise.
She moves to the small platform in the middle of the room and drops to her knees in front of the pillory. My knee stops bouncing altogether.
“Do I get to stay clothed for the flogging, or am I allowed that dignity?” Violet asks far too conversationally.
Everything goes utterly silent.
Zuela sits up, brow furrowing, as Arion leans so far forward in his seat that he almost falls out of it.
Idun blinks like even she’s surprised.