“Excellent plan. Only, you didn’t sense or smell me coming. All because that baby really messes with someone’s senses,” Marta goes on.

We all frown over at the lad.

The memory of his mother nearly evading us springs to mind. At the last possible second, she was sensed. She also remained surprisingly calm during her captivity.

That’s something to revisit later.

“For all you know, there’s a coven or two out there with the same undiscovered genetics. It’s worth looking into,” Marta goes on, brushing some wrinkles out of her layered skirts, as she sits back and gets comfy.

“I’d rather talk about Violet,” Arion states, idly taking the other spot by Jasper.

“So would I,” Marta says on a very reluctant breath. “Because it’s clear now that she truly is replacing Idun for the four of you. Idun’s going to try to remove that mark from my daughter.”

“Why would she bother? She never wanted my mark for herself,” Emit states in confusion.

Marta scrubs a hand over her face. “No, but she does want the four of you. To have Arion, she needs all four. To have you, you can’t have your mark on anyone else. To have Vance…I’m not really sure what she needs. To have Damien, she needs to be a bit more randy in the sack.”

“I’m not quite that easy,” Damien tells Marta with a sneer. “Violet’s going to be my Flame.”

Marta groans. “You’re all painting her a bigger target than she already is!” she finally gripes.

Her tone sets the babe off into a tizzy of tears.

Maybe Pandora really is behind all this. Did she send us a girl we couldn’t resist just to drive Idun into a jealous rage?

Arion shushes Jasper, as he lifts him and cradles him to his chest, and Marta watches the vampire, while he gives the little one all his attention.

For a damn moment, you’d believe this was Arion’s son, given all the concern over a small little outburst of tears. Marta looks as confused as she does annoyed by the sight.

She blinks away from the scene, bristling.

Frustrated, I try to keep calm, as I start speaking again. “If Violet is—”

“Then she needs less spotlight and more time on her hands. Once other alphas get word that she’s something so special, they’ll be after her for their own purposes. Even if Pandora is behind it, it doesn’t mean we have to play into her plans, you fools. Do you really think your families won’t want a taste of something so intriguing?” she grinds out.

Damien flicks a troubled gaze toward me, even as he pushes off from the bed to go grab a drink.

“We could be a family. Do you think any man or woman so suicidal as to attempt to take that from me?” Arion muses, gently patting the lad’s back, as he coos in content now, his tiny body comfortably resting against the homicidal vampire.

The vampire’s eyes swing over to Marta, who looks slightly horrified.

“You can’t keep the baby, Arion. He has a mother,” Emit points out, sounding worried.

“A mother who doesn’t particularly tend to him very often,” Damien adds, really not helping the situation. “Violet loves him more than his own mother.”

“His mother does want Violet to raise him and is practically forcing the situation,” Anna chimes in, popping in out of nowhere.

It takes a large effort to not startle.

“I think you’d be a cute little monster family. Even you, Grandma!” Anna adds in a gleeful tone.

“Salt that infernal thing,” Marta growls, glaring at Anna.

Anna gives her a narrowed, somewhat chilling look like I’ve never seen before. Then she smiles brightly, blows a kiss at us, and disappears.

“What kind of ghost can break through boundary spells laid out by a Portocale?” I ask in quiet confusion.

“The kind that shouldn’t exist. Violet’s crossed a line,” Marta states, clearing her throat.

“Does Violet know about this theory?” Damien cuts in, getting the topic off Anna.

“I made the unfortunate mistake of telling her that first day in the box, while the four of you overaged creeps stared on. It was a desperate attempt to explain why she couldn’t be with you all. If Pandora set all this up to tempt Idun into taking out her rage on another target, Violet can’t play into her hands,” Marta goes on.

Arion deliberately lifts his gaze to her.

“Violet’s going to be my bride,” Arion tells her matter-of-factly.

Marta pales, though she doesn’t look very surprised.

“Anyone, including you, who gets in my way will be destroyed. I’ve never wanted anything more than I want this, Marta. I’d love to give you a demonstration of how serious I am,” Arion continues as though this is all conversational material. “I’ll sacrifice my full army if need be. Even my favorites.”

Marta’s shoulders drop, and though her jaw is so clenched that I’m worried it’s about to come unhinged, I’m surprised by her overall composure.

Never once have we all sat in a room together without it quickly devolving into threats and old grievances.

“I watched you all make Idun untouchable for a great many centuries,” Marta says quietly, interrupting my silent pat on the back I’ve just given her.

Trying to keep things from rapidly turning into a blaming fiasco, I calmly state, “I hardly think this is the time to throw up ancient history when we’re working to achieve the same goal: Keep Violet safe.”