Vance stumbles over his own feet, as Marta sits with a blank expression on her face.

“Where is she? What happened?” Vance demands.

Edmond Portocale staggers out of the Sanctuary doors, face paler than I’ve ever seen it.

“Marta,” he says on a dry, slightly trembling breath.

“I suppose you won’t ever cross her again,” she says without looking back at him.

“That’s…nothing that should even exist,” he says with no emotion, dropping to his knees.

“Where is she?” I grind out. “Why were the bells ringing?”

“She asked me to ring them at sunrise,” Marta states, as Arion slides to a halt beside us, slinging up dirt in his haste.

“I smell Idun’s blood all over town, and I can’t find either one of them,” Arion says, eyes on the verge of being red.

Damn vampire has already come, gone, and searched for Violet, before returning, in the amount of time it took my starved self to make it this far.

“I bloody hate you,” I say aloud, because at this point, my mind can’t even begin to start the process of understanding. “Where did you disappear to?”

“I was chasing Violet’s trail, at least until she ditched me. The trail went cold real fast,” he says as though this is the most frustrating part of all this.

“Was Idun defeated? Is it over?” Emit asks, shifting back to two legs, and looming over Talbot.

Talbot grinds his jaw, his next words coming out harsh. “It’ll never be over. Neither one can fucking die. Both are too strong for you to take down on your own. Idun and Violet will war for all eternity, unless I do something. Violet’s lost to the monster. She’s too fucking young to have faced Idun so soon. That much power has consequences,” Talbot goes on.

I remember the first alpha fight I had with Idun. My monster stayed in place for over a decade, and that was after learning to harness it.

Violet has all the power, but lacks all the experience. Only, she doesn’t bloody understand that, because we never explained all the hardest parts. She’s too fucking soft to hear that much.

“I’m getting really tired of everyone underestimating me,” Violet says, startling us all into a bounced-turn-about.

Her hair is drenched, leaving it plastered to her head under the torn, semi-bloodstained/semi-white veil, and a bloodstained, silk…wedding gown, is clinging to her body, visibly outlining the very slinky underwear underneath.

We all tilt our heads to the side in unison, as she gives us a small grimace, that expression that I now know is a signature Carmine expression—the aw shucks look.

This is not a damn aw shucks moment.

Not. At. All.

Especially since she’s dragging Idun’s headless body, in two separate pieces, like it’s hard work.

“Could someone give me a hand?” Violet asks too casually.

As if it was planned, one of Idun’s hands drops to the ground.

“I swear I didn’t do that on purpose,” Violet rushes to say, standing before us as the picture of innocence.

I…have no words. I have no thoughts. I have…nothing.

Judging by the stunned, stoic, or savagely curious expressions resting on the faces of the silent other three, I’m assuming I’m not alone in this.

She kicks the hand toward my feet, and I drop a suspicious glance to it, before taking a large step back. I’m going to need another minute or two.

Violet’s shoulders sag, as she continues to stare at us, and she drops her hold on Idun’s body, letting it thud to the ground on either side of her.

“I guess you’ve got questions,” she says, still using that barely contrite tone, and bearing that aw-shucks look.

“I’d say that’s an understatement,” Emit informs her very seriously.

After inhaling a tired breath, Violet says, “I didn’t tell you, because I knew you’d never believe me.”

“We asked to see your monster. You hoodwinked us,” Arion tells her, canting his head to one side, as his lips curve in a grin. “You sly little monster.”

Violet shakes her head. “No, I actually planned on showing you my monster. But…Anna is a pain in the ass to control. She’s the one who fucked with you. Not me. To be fair, I don’t even know what you saw, but I knew you didn’t see Anna. That much was clear.”

Does she…still not know everything about herself? Does she know she has two monsters? Does she know one is pointless and she’d have been prey in this dangerous world of ours?

Also, how do we know this is Violet, when her monster is so good at playing pretend?

“First impressions really do matter way more than you guys seem to understand. It forces you to see a person in a certain light—either equal, above, or beneath you. People are inherently loyal to their own opinion,” she adds, sighing heavily.

I’m not sure why now is the best time for her to be lecturing us on first impressions.

But since I can’t seem to make myself speak, I let her go on and ramble.

Idun’s chest is intact. I can hear her heart hammering from here. That means she’s still conscious.

“Don’t be fooled. Violet’s not possible of regaining this much control so soon after giving Hyde that much power and freedom,” Talbot is quick to point out. “You all remember what it was like to deal with your monsters in the beginning, and you had far less power than she’s starting with.”

Anna appears so suddenly, right next to him, that I hear the chills rake over his body. He darts his gaze to her.

Anna grins, spinning her floating ghost body around him.

“Aw, now. Did you have fun? I did. I don’t know when I’ll get to do it again, so I did all my favorite ideas in one night,” she says on a giggle.

Her look changes from sweet and goofy, to serious and cunning in the next instant.

“I’ll have even better ideas for next time,” she adds in a dark, sinister tone, her lips curving in a chilling grin.

Her expression changes again, returning to the Anna we’ve all come to know...

“Violet still says she’s in charge, whether I like it or not. Tell her I’m a better main character. Please. Tell her so she’ll let me play more. If you enjoyed that, wait until you get me in the bedroom. Am I right, Van Helsing?”

Anna elbows Vance, although her elbow simply crosses through him. He’s staring at her with that steely, stoic expression still firmly in place.

“Anna, either shut up, or I so totally will salt you. You weren’t supposed to let them see you,” Violet cuts in, very angrily, while bloody arguing with…her monster…in front of us.

I scratch my head. I’m still going to need another few minutes.

“But did you see their faces? I let you remember, so surely you think it was worth it. I know you do,” Anna gloats, spinning like a ballerina on one toe.

“Anna, just because a thought crosses my mind, it doesn’t mean I want you to act on it. Sometimes, a thought is just an absent thought. This is just one of the many reasons I have severe trust issues with you,” Violet carries on, as though this has secretly become a common thing.

I’ll never take my eyes off my Flame ever again. Apparently, very important, life-changing things happen quickly, abruptly, and in secret around her.