“Sorry. My bad. Total accident,” Violet is saying, as there’s some rustling and more of those terrible sounds from earlier.

“Well then. I’ll not be eating for a while,” Vance says, clearing his throat.

“Please don’t let this change the way you see me,” Violet is saying, causing my eyes to reopen.

She’s staring at us with a look so…innocently hopeful.

“Though I hate being treated like a delicate flower, that doesn’t mean I want you fearing me, acknowledging my power, or any of that other jazz. I’d rather you just saw me,” she babbles, nervousness radiating from her.

“Are we ever going to talk about the naked wolf in the room?” Anna chimes in, breaking through some of the tension.

Come to think of it, the original ghosts have always been Violet’s biggest cheerleaders, as well as her biggest critics. They’ve been instrumental in many tense moments that could have gotten far worse, had they not been so utterly ridiculous.

Also, she gave me a ‘phantom blowjob’ once, so does that mean she was trying to claim me then?

Now I’m examining every single interaction before this day, and it’s going to be a maddening adjustment period.

“No?” Anna asks, dropping to her knees and wagging her butt. “Arf. Wanna sniff my butt?” she asks me.

Arion snorts.

Damien chokes back a laugh.

Vance stays lost in his own head.

My flat, very unimpressed gaze lifts to Violet, whose eyes widen in slight horror.

“I swear that’s not even a thought in my head,” Violet says very quickly, cheeks burning red. “Like it would never be a thought in my head. I swear on my mother’s old urn. I still respect it.”

“You didn’t handle your mother’s ‘death’ as well as you pretended to,” I note aloud, deviating from her current, pointless, mildly degrading topic. “Which is why Anna was able to break free. You were vulnerable when we met you.”

“Extremely vulnerable,” she states in agreement. “Since my mother’s been back, I’m slowly getting back to my old self. Well, when I haven’t been dealing with a lot of Idun drama.”

She eyes Idun’s head, no expression on her face. Animals make her screech, but gore never seems to have much of an effect.

Un-fucking-believable.

“I only thought I couldn’t love you more,” Arion tells her, eyes glistening with genuine glee.

Violet darts a glare at him.

“You’re seriously freaking me out,” she informs him on a sigh.

“I’m currently struggling to reel my monster in before it claims you, simply because you keep saying that,” he says, giving her a charming smile. “See? I’m soulless and still considerate.”

I swear…he’s always so genuinely proud of the lunacy that spews from his mouth.

Violet exhales a heavy breath, even as Anna runs her finger up Arion’s arm. His smile deepens, and I bristle.

Surely, she wouldn’t claim the vampire before me.

I almost slap my own stupid face after that thought flits through my head like a bad habit I’ve yet to break.

“Emit, you’re starting to scare me, because if your face is any indication, you’re going through a lot of emotions right now. Wanna share, big guy?” Violet asks, giving a little nervous laugh.

“Yeah…he just looks scarier than he is when his brain is overloaded,” Damien chimes in.

I glare at the son of a bitch, who I really thought would take at least a little longer to digest this.

“You can’t possibly be this inconceivably adjusted to this already,” Vance tells Damien with some clear jealousy.

I’m jealous too.

 

 

Chapter 51

 

VANCE

 

All. The. Things.

I will know all the things.

For the rest of all eternity.

“You’ve got Pandora’s son as your beta, and he created Violet’s monster. A monster that could easily destroy the world if she decided to populate,” I tell Damien, while I get used to knowing all the new things I almost wish I didn’t know.

“It bothered me at first, but with the combat trials in place for House disputes, not just actual trials, it seems like a smart, calculated risk. I’ll keep the beta, despite his betrayals. Besides, I really do want to keep an eye on him,” Damien answers.

“Yay me,” Talbot states dryly.

I continue to keep a steady, stern, are-you-fucking-kidding-me look trained on Damien fucking Morpheous, who seems more lively today than I’ve seen him in centuries.

“I’m not sure what this feeling is. It’s almost like…I care,” Damien adds, mocking a thoughtful pose. “The weight of Idun has been so unbearably daunting for so long. Yet, I saw it with my own eyes; Violet’s the perfect countermeasure to Idun. Her speed is uncanny. And she has the ability to be in multiple places at once—at least in some form. For the first time ever, we actually have control. It’s not just a pointless waste.”

“Be thankful your people fear Van Helsing,” Talbot grumbles. “It’s the only reason you’ve gotten away with your complete lack of responsibility.”

“Thanks, old chap,” Damien says, leaning over to clap me on the shoulder.

His head jerks back in the next instant, mostly because my fist slams into it. I’m not sure how that happened. I can’t even blame it on my monster, since I don’t have that sort of monster inside me.

Still, it makes the man in me feel very fucking happy right now.

I’d be even happier if I could also punch the very happy vampire.

“Fuck’s sake, what did I do to deserve that?” Damien snaps. “I was showing gratitude.”

“I appreciate you letting me punch you in the face. Consider it gratitude,” I bite out.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I really should get this mess cleaned up so they can come back upstairs. They can’t hear us. They haven’t seen much. However, all the shifter cameramen need a new memory. They’re tied up in a cellar…somewhere,” Violet says, directing that last part to Arion, whose grin only grows.

“Are you asking me to alter their memories, love?”

“Can you?” she asks, sounding somewhat uncertain on whether or not this is even okay to ask.

It really is an entirely new beginning, and I don’t even think she realizes that.

“Abso-fucking-lutely. If you’ll be my bride,” he answers, gloating over his counter offer. “I’ll even let your monster claim me in return.”

This is madness.

Even for us.

“Damn it, Arion, I’m already her mate. If she’s claiming someone—”

Violet’s eyes cut hopefully to Emit, almost as though she’s been dreading his reaction the worst, for whatever reason.

Emit’s words die, and his lips move, as though he intended to say more, but didn’t ever actually mean to start speaking aloud in the first place.

Violet’s lips turn up in a subtle grin, and she looks away. Her smile falls when she seems to remember she’s still holding the head of the queen.

“I have one more minorly diabolical thing to show you. This one’s all me, though, Anna adored the idea,” Violet says, clearing her throat. “I still consider Anna an entirely different person. I’m putting a pin in the fact she’s somehow an extension of me, because I haven’t ever met that part of me. I’m not even sure I fully buy it. It has too many memories now. Things I could have never seen sometimes pop into my mind like broken snippets of oddly placed memories. That’s been happening more since I woke Vance from the curse.”