At our look, she continues studying us.
“Again…” Her word is drawn out, as though she’s trying to assess our look.
“You didn’t know Caroline broke Violet very recently, did you?” Damien notes. “What did you think happened to her room?”
Marta glares over at Emit, who drops my very expensive, authentic, Wild West cowboy hat on his fucking lap to cover his stupid dick in front of his mate’s mother. At last.
“I assumed the wolf crashed in and stole her away. There was only a little blood, and it didn’t take long to realize she was being claimed when I tracked the scent of her blood through the air. The math added up,” she bites out, working hard to keep her very old temper in check.
Emit looks over at me like he expects me to save him from this nightmare, now that he’s gone and finally started feeling uncomfortable.
“Regardless, Violet’s monster managed to save her. It’s the only way Violet would have gotten away from Caroline. Caroline’s a danger to all of them. Her manic rages happen the most often, likely because she has the most pent up aggression,” I state, dragging everyone back to the important matter at hand.
“Violet’s monster is much faster than a Simpleton, and that gives her an edge. She’s no match for a fully functioning alpha. Maybe she could do some major damage to Damien, since he’s not bothered feeding, beyond my daughter,” she prattles on.
Damien cuts his gaze to her, lips twitching. “You’d love to see me fuck up right now, wouldn’t you?”
“I watched you fuck it all up for five straight months. I’d simply find it redundant at this point,” Marta quickly fires back with a wicked curve to her lips.
Damien’s expression changes from smugly taunting to infuriated sobriety within a blink.
“My daughter is a girl who knows her value, even though her father was mostly absent from her life. As far as she’s concerned, he left because of the monster inside of her. He didn’t leave the girl who keeps the monster on the leash. She’s a psychological paradox that I’m quite proud of,” Marta adds in a bored tone, as she looks down at her nails. “I’ve avoided him, since he seems to be around a lot more, but it’s not been easy, Vampyre. You need to release him from your punishment. I’ll ensure he never stakes you again. I’d be embarrassed to admit a mortal carpenter even got the drop on you, let alone managed to run a stake all the way through your heart.”
Arion snorts, but his attention seems to be mostly focused on Jasper.
“Violet enjoys having her father around. I think I’ll just keep my rules in place,” the vampire tells her.
Marta doesn’t even acknowledge his refusal.
It’s odd…
All five of us lounging in my bedroom, discussing the Portocale daughter we’re all eager to steal from her, while an entirely new—alleged—pureblood species lies on my bed next to the psychotic vampire, who is telling the lad he’s going to buy him his first car…
It’s all odd.
Life in general is odd these days.
“She really has changed an awful lot in such a short amount of time, hasn’t she?” I ask, letting the full weight of this image sink in.
No one speaks for a moment, but I notice Marta, Damien, and Emit all staring at Arion with the same weight of surreal disbelief. The shifter mother may abandon her child completely if she realizes the kid is safely adored by the most brutal, relentless protector there’s ever been.
Arion cuts his gaze at us, a slow smile curving his lips, as though he’s realizing we’ve finally caught on to his future plans. This psychotic vampire really does want to start a family.
“I think we should help out around the House more, don’t you? Violet’s passive aggressive attitude will dissolve if we put forth more effort,” Arion says as though he’s talking to the wee lad.
The baby smiles and blows a spit bubble.
“Aww. He does agree,” Arion states as he stands, lifts the lad, and turns into a streak of dark blurs for a distracting moment.
Marta barely reacts when he stops too close to her, retrieving the downed backpack full of diapers and such.
“Let’s go see your future daddy’s favorite beta and see what needs done around the place,” Arion adds.
He’s gone in the next blink.
Emit releases a heavy, tired exhale. Damien resists the urge to laugh, clearing his throat of the inappropriate reaction, as he shakes his head and stares at the floor. Marta stares in slight horror out the window, her hands gripped on the chair arms like she’s fighting to stay in her seat and not chase after him to attempt to slay him.
I consider Arion’s words, weighing them in my head.
“He’s genuinely going to steal that child and make Violet his bride, isn’t he?” Marta asks on a shaky breath she works hard to steady.
“Yes, yes he is,” Damien answers with zero hesitation.
My phone chimes with a text, and I see a message from Avery that instructs me to turn on Idun TV, even though I’ve made it a conscious habit not to even glance at the app.
“What are you doing turning that shit on?” Emit asks in an annoyed tone, as I work on getting the app open on my TV. “Violet’s still pissed at us because of this damn Reality TV obsession with our ex.”
Technology really does overcomplicate things. I always felt bloody brilliant, until this era. It’s been a very humbling world to live in this past century or two.