Gypsy Moon (Page 17)

Now I want to punch the vampire too, but I don’t think I’ve fed enough to take him yet.

I settle for a bored look to cast in his direction, not letting him see he’s riling me, and look back over to Vance.

“Fuck you both,” I decide to say before turning and jogging up the stairs to where Violet is.

She’s filling a small basket with waters and some sandwich things when I reach the kitchen. Is the damn girl planning a weird basement picnic?

I shouldn’t envy Vance so much in this moment for something so…confusing. Why is a dank basement romantic?

“Whatever he bought you, I’ll buy you five,” I say conversationally as I hop up on the counter next to the basket and take one of the bottles like she’s also including me in this picnic.

“Can they hear me?” she asks in a quiet voice.

“Certainly,” I tell her.

She nods like she expected that and turns to grab a pen and a piece of paper from a drawer, as though she knows where everything in his house is.

I’d forgotten what jealousy feels like, but I really do want to see if I can land a painful punch on Vance’s smug face right now.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her very plainly, and loudly enough for them to hear in case she needs proof that I’m not too prideful to apologize in front of—

“What’d you do?” she muses, still writing beside the basket that’s interrupting my view.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m sincerely fucking sorry, and I hate you being mad at me while you’re clearly falling hard for Vance.”

“You all pretend to be okay with sharing, and yet you make each interaction a competition. It’s very stressful,” she says as though she’s educating me. “If I really have to choose just one, then—”

“Whoa,” I cut in, waving my hand in front of her face and causing her to blink over at me. “No one is putting you to the test of choosing, especially when I’m in trouble without knowing why,” I quickly clarify.

She rolls her eyes and continues writing. “I wasn’t trying to manipulate you, Damien. I’m saying if I need to choose one, I will. I don’t want to be in the middle of a long feud that stays in a constant state of competition. It’s not—”

“We’re not important enough for you to fight for. I get it,” I say tightly.

She stops writing and huffs out a breath. “You do realize how confusing all this is for a novice, right?” she asks as she glares over at me. “Especially when you mix in monster parts. I struggle to even keep one human man interested.”

“Monster parts? Exactly what monster parts are the issue, sweet gypsy?” I ask, my grin growing as her adorable little scowl forms.

“Har. Har. Read the paper. Those monster parts.”

“Tell me what it says. I’m not reading your thoughts like we’re pen pals. It creates too much of an emotional distance, and there’s already too much of that,” I tell her, ready for any argument concerning the Neopry debacle.

Clearly she’s got retrospective anger over that if that’s her reason for being pissed at Emit.

She grabs my hand, and I happily follow her through the house and out the door.

“Tell me when they can’t hear me,” she says on a tired sigh over her shoulder.

“Keep walking until we get to my house,” I supply.

“They can hear that well?” she asks incredulously.

“No, but my house is better than Vance’s. I have a basement and blankets too, if that’s your—”

I shut right the hell up when she turns and glares at me.

“They shouldn’t be able to hear us from here,” I state as I point to where we are and give her a charming smile. “Why’s it so important they not overhear?”

“Because Arion is competitive, and I don’t want him doing something terrible just because you’re a self-centered asshole.”

I…am supposed to be old and wise…

This gypsy is the most confusing little pistol I’ve ever met.

“You love that I’m a self-centered asshole. It’s part of my charm, remember?” I try.

I fail, apparently, judging by her unimpressed and slightly angry stare.

Seriously, I need to feed more so I can stop struggling so hard in the one area of expertise I’m supposed to have.

“You deliberately made me think Arion left, because you see this—me—as some sort of competition, and the opposition shouldn’t get an advantage, right?”

I’m still…sort of confused.

Made her think Arion left? Ohhh…

“Are we discussing the werewolf brawl?” I guess, since that’s the only time I can remember hiding away Arion, who thought he was going to sneak in snuggle time while she was vulnerable.

That fucker is the reason she was vulnerable to begin with. Prick.

“Has there been another time when you hid him from my eyes because you’re a self-centered asshole?” she asks with frustration.

“I didn’t think you liked Arion,” I point out. “I thought the last thing you’d want is—”

“You wanted me to think he’d abandoned me because I’m some sort of prize you’re both racing to get. Arion was Idun’s pet, and you don’t want history repeating itself with the new girl,” she interrupts, causing me to bristle with how very on-the-nose she hits it, while also missing it broadly.

“I’m not sure what I’m defending exactly, but I do know you’re going to make whatever I have to say sound petty when you get your tongue around it, so I’m just going to stick with I’m sorry,” I say very sincerely, and give her a firm nod.

She almost looks a little…sad. Not mad. Not relieved. Just sad.

I really don’t like her with watery eyes, because it always makes me feel. Her emotions are like small tides that suddenly crash against you with more force than you expect.

“Arion was right beside me, and you made me think he’d left to let me bleed all alone, while werewolves surrounded me in my helpless state. It was more terrifying than I care to explain, and I was so focused on not panicking, coaching myself through each and every single moment of that to stay calm and awake, knowing fainting or passing out while I was stressed was possibly risky,” she says as her voice slightly wavers, and that hammer hits my chest as those tides crash with even more force than the last time.

My shoulders drop, as a harsh breath escapes me.

“You did that to me without even considering what I was going through in that moment, because it’s just another day to you. You’re an alpha. You knew what was going on. I was seeing the same illusion as the wolves, Damien, because you wanted to impress me with how much stronger you were.”

“Violet, I’m—”

“The first wolf attack, you struggled because you hadn’t been feeding, and the illusion was harder to work on that many. This was your redemption and your fuck-you moment to Arion, who stepped in with a jacket and a flashy, last-second entrance the last time,” she continues in that still sad tone, like she feels bad for having to explain this to me in such great detail.

“I don’t have the luxury of staying mad at people. It’s just not in my DNA,” she says, almost making me groan with the timing of her reminder of what colossal fuck-ups we all really are.

Vance included.

“So yeah, I’ll get over it…this time. Maybe the next. Possibly even the time after that. But each time whittles away more and more trust, Damien. You, among others, keep treating me like Idun. Clearly she was a combative and competitive person. I’m not.”

“You’re—”

“If you say I’m simple, I will never sleep with you again,” she interrupts, pointing a finger at me.

“I was going to say softer,” I defend, smiling a little tighter at her. “I’m sorry.”

This time when I say the words, I actually fucking mean them.

She quickly bats a tear away when we hear a car pulling up, and I turn to see Emit stepping out with a speckling of blood across his face.

“Rough day?” I muse as he glances over the shirt Violet is wearing.

I’m sure he notices it’s one of Vance’s favorites, and it’s wrinkled…

Vance doesn’t even seem to care…

I just genuinely apologized for being an insensitive ass…

The world has turned upside down.

Emit looks like he’s about to say something to Violet, who is staring at him with a confused expression on her face. Stepping out from behind his vehicle, he becomes more visible, blood staining his hands and shirt.

“Are you really driving around advertising death?” I hear Vance ask on an exhausted breath, right as the front door opens.

Arion and Vance start walking toward us, and Arion noticeably avoids touching Violet, as he steps around her to sniff Emit.

“I smell wolf beta blood. Mostly from two different betas. That’s a lot of blood,” Arion says in his gloating tone.

“It’s been a busy day that I need to get back to. You said it was important to meet up immediately,” Emit tells him gruffly.

“I didn’t realize you were doing something productive for a change,” Arion drawls, still gloating.