The damn, poor fella is definitely all broken up about this. I’ve had a long relationship with guilt, but I don’t have his heart. Bobo is the gentlest man on the planet, who still lives with all his few sins.

“Guilt is heavier than burden, isn’t it?” I decide to ask, my gaze steadily fixed to Bobo, who says nothing. “I imagine it would be even more so for you and yours, given the fact you’re much gentler people.”

“I got angry,” he admits, though it’s noticeably hard for him. “We all got angry. And we made the only decision we could, assuming someone would build an altar and get a little more than they bargained for. It was a risk they’d turn out worse than Idun, of course, but we were desperate. Now Violet has a monster inside her that rivals Idun’s, and we all know what Idun’s monster has done to her.”

He stares at Arion the longest, as if reminding him how very different the vampire is than he was before his sacrifice.

“She wasn’t ever a delicate, caring woman, but we all know she wasn’t this ruthless until after the altar. What she’s done to Caroline…” Bobo’s voice trails off, and his lips tighten, as though he feels he’s said enough.

We all take a moment to hold our silence, because there’s no easy way to explain Idun, as we know her, to him. Though he fears her, he still believes there’s good left inside her, and he blames her monster for everything.

Just as he blames all of our monsters for everything.

When a mute man speaks, everyone tends to listen and remember his words.

“Violet’s been getting angrier and angrier. Silently stewing most days. She turns into a block of ice at the mention of Idun’s name. Since Idun came to town, Violet’s warmth has been chilling to nearly inexistence,” Bobo adds, choking back a sob, as his shoulders start to shake.

“Her monster’s been riled this entire time, and she really has been posturing against Idun,” Vance says as he takes a step back, realization of some sort seeming to dawn on him.

“No,” Marta and Talbot both say in unison.

“She’s not been posturing,” Talbot assures us. “Hyde is linked to the host on a deep level that influences it. We all know that Violet loves collecting toys, making shampoo, and toying with potions because it’s…fun.”

Marta gives us all a dead, tragic look.

“Hyde’s been playing with Idun. It’s fun,” she tells us.

It’s so surreal that none of it is sinking in. None of it is making sense. None of it plays by the rules.

I don’t know whether I want to stick my head in a bucket of water or a box of sand.

“By age four, Violet started talking to ghosts I couldn’t see,” Marta says, her eyes stirring with anger.

“By four she should have been dead, but Hyde’s mind was purged from memories, and it began this journey as a babe this time. It started at the beginning this time. You binding it merely made it smarter,” Talbot assures her. “But I was desperately hoping you’d found the answer to all my problems, and hoped for the best, since it was better attempting to put it in the box again.”

“He’s the reason I faked her death,” Marta informs us, smiling tightly. “Once I was no longer vulnerable, I regretted trusting anyone at all, aside from Tom.”

We all swing our gazes to Talbot, who rolls his eyes.

“I fell for it, and Hyde must have escaped. It was heavily suppressed,” he confesses. “I sensed it again in later years, but never could track it,” he says, his gaze flicking to Vance.

“Until a Portocale gypsy was spotted amidst the hearts of the Head Alphas,” Vance guesses, smiling tightly.

We really were fools to fall for a Portocale.

We were fools in general, but Violet brings that out in a person.

“I still didn’t take it seriously until she raised the Simpletons,” Talbot admits. “I can’t sense Hyde to the degree I used to be able to.”

He abruptly lifts his shirt, and gestures to a very familiar symbol that is slowly appearing on his skin.

“Then this showed up approximately the same time Violet’s head came off,” he adds, pointing to the symbol.

“How were you turned into an incubus? Pandora couldn’t be changed. She tried after her magic dried up, according to my sources,” Zuela says, reminding me he’s even here.

Per the usual, the older Van Helsing seems to think his suspicions are the most relevant item to discuss.

“I was mortal when I turned into an incubus; however, I do believe my unique status elevated my spell’s strength, in the long run. If I hadn’t been too drunk to give the ceremony the exactitude it needed, Idun may have been dug up and destroyed several centuries ago when I first unleashed Hyde,” he babbles.

Everyone’s phones start going off, which can’t be a good sign.

“Explain yourself,” I state to the shifty new player on the board.

“I’m explaining that the monster I created is stronger than any monster my mother could have created, because I was a blood-witch incubus. The only one of my kind, as far as I’m aware. You boys are the first models. Idun’s the enhanced version, due to an extorted detail. Now that Hyde is immortal, Violet’s the bloody upgrade.”

No one really knows what to say. It sounds insane.

Violet has a more lethal monster than Idun? The girl who froze among wolves trying to tear her apart because she couldn’t decide if it was right to kill them? The girl who built Sanctuary because life and death suddenly felt tricky? The girl who has dolls and toys scattered around her home?

The girl who’d rather sew some awful outfit together, as opposed to spending money?

It’s not even feasible.

She’s not an alpha.

An image of her stumbling over her own feet, while escaping the house full of botched-potion fumes flits through my mind. Red-faced and mortified, she struggled her way through our very first meeting.

“The upgrade?” Damien asks, as though he’s unsure if he’s heard correctly.

“The wolves are fending off the Neoprys near Sanctuary. We have to go there. Emit, you’re with us. Damien, you’re worthless until you recharge. Take your beta and see if you can track down Violet and Idun. Then see how true this is or isn’t with your own damn eyes. Fucking find her,” Vance directs.

“If you’re wrong, and she suffers for all this, all because you got drunk and wanted a change, I’ll make your life a living hell,” I say through a growl, as I look over my shoulder at the blood-magic incubus.

“I was no less miserable than you were when I made the decision, and it’s not like it could have been much worse. You were bitter, cold, and empty shells after you finally got her underground,” Talbot answers too casually. “If not for your omegas and betas who cared for you and kept you from neglecting your duties completely, I’d hate to see the world today.”

“You’re too frank for someone I already don’t like,” Zuela informs him.

“You’re too old to find this that surprising. Pandora made opening a box seem simple enough. However, it’s simply not simple at all to change the entire universe, and a hell of a lot harder than I ever imagined it could be to clean up after a mishandled box, while also tending some of your neglected issues. Be glad that I at least have a sense of responsibility.”