Gypsy Origins (Page 35)
He looks surprised, and…then he looks like he wants to punch something—more exactly, me.
“She told me so,” I add so that we’re clear, and the fight leaves him as he looks away.
“We find this Abby bitch who was connected to this Drew cunt, and we find out what triggered this attack,” Emit states like it’s fact. “I’ll figure out what to do from there.”
“Arion will hunt them all and kill them if you don’t, so make sure he thinks there’s a different plan of action,” I point out. “Regardless of how he plans to use Violet, he did pledge her his protection. And we all know he gives wolves less of a pass than anyone else,” I add.
Emit’s jaw grinds. “At least these wolves aren’t mine.”
Chapter 16
VIOLET
The house is quiet as I pick up Anna’s urn. I’m not sure how I managed to sleep all day, since the jungle of boxes in the kitchen are leading me to believe it was a busy day for the store.
The omegas and Dad are missing, as I lift the lid to the urn and peer down at Anna’s salt pile.
“You’re an asshole for this,” I tell her quietly. “The triplets don’t get why I’m not mad at my mother. Mom didn’t know you. She didn’t know you’d end up being my best friend—my only true friend. The one who looked out for me to the best of your ability, despite your worst delusions.”
Her salt stirs when my fingers swirl in the air above the fine grains.
“Gypsies are tied to salt. We use it so regularly that it’s become an extension of us. In a way, you’re now an extension of me,” I go on, watching the salt swirl again.
“If there’s some third plane where final-decay ghosts can see but not be seen, I hope you’re not there, even as I want you to know how angry at you I truly am,” I tell her, my voice staying calm as the salt goes silent and still, my fingers lowering as I just stare.
“Men are much more complex than you made them sound. You were sort of narrow-minded like that. Monsters are twice as freaking complicated, because life gets more complex the longer you live it, it seems. My life sucks pretty hard right now, and you’re not here to kick me in the ass and tell me to get on with it. Instead, I’m yapping at your salt like an idiot, because I don’t have you here. I don’t know what to do next, and you’re not here to offer up some ludicrous idea.”
I sit back in my chair, shaking my head.
“I was meant to find them; I’m just not really sure why yet. Things are developing a little quicker since you bailed after slowly killing yourself by being my friend, instead of saving yourself like you should have.”
I stop when my voice cracks, because I’m really sick of the emotional overload.
“Mom never let me cry. It always hurt her when I cried, so she made me tougher. Like her. Like you. I could really use one of you right now, and one of you is a salt pile in an urn, while the other ghost is who knows where for who knows what reason. Maybe because of this soul sucking thing attached to me, she’s not been able to get close? Doubtful, but still a theory.”
I grab one of my apples from the bowl on the counter that no one ever seems to touch but me. The oranges disappear so quickly. The apples get picked around like the unwanted fruit. Someone even put some red apples into another bowl, as though the green ones weren’t good enough.
No one even bothers to sample them.
I crunch the apple in my mouth as I roll my eyes. “You’d be disgusted with me right now,” I prattle on, glaring at the urn. “I finally figure out my purpose, and I’m sitting here feeling sorry for myself. But I was just starting to feel like maybe my purpose was them. So arrogant, I know.”
Standing, I go to grab a bottle of water, as I continue eating my apple.
“It’s all for the best,” I explain. “I mean, it’s clear they need someone a little more badass than I’m capable of being.”
I sit back down and glance over the sales for yesterday, talking myself out of my stupor.
“Vance made me feel like I was a moment of pure distraction, and in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in me. Slowly, deliberately, and intensely.”
I take another bite of the apple before groaning.
“Then it was aloofness followed by me getting the same Vance as everyone else. I stopped being special, and…then I sort of felt special again…and then I didn’t…”
I really am pathetic.
“Now I have no idea, but it doesn’t really matter. I do know he’s going to help me, but not because I’m special. It’s because he doesn’t like feeling as though he owes yet another horrible debt. I turned out to be the vessel to deliver that message.”
Looks like sales are picking up nicely. The toothpaste is flying off the shelves. I’ll have to make more of that.
“Just so you know, he was the butterflies-in-the-stomach kind that had me staring at my phone for days after I left four really lame voicemails. I’m trying to pretend that didn’t happen.”
I flip the page, also noting the orange-infused products are unsurprisingly moving quicker than the green apple-infused products.
“Damien’s the kind of drugging sex that leaves you addicted for a blinding moment of sheer bliss. He made me feel the most wanted. Then he left me feeling the most dejected. It’s hard to put myself through that so soon after the last time, but he has something about him that just makes me want his attention as much as he wants mine. It’s not the empathy thing like they seem to think. Then again, they think they have an ever-changing world all figured out.”
I shrug a shoulder, sighing a little sadly.
“Emit made me feel like I finally wasn’t alone. I felt liberated, but his own guilt left me feeling chained. And then when those wolves attacked, I froze. I just kept hearing the word omega, and none of it made sense. Because I thought I had the gist of things. I’m still confused. The guys argue too much and get sidetracked too easily. It makes it hard to simply listen in and piece together things at a quick pace. Idun could be back before I figure out all I need to know.”
I rap my fingers on the table and just stare inside her urn for a second longer before putting the lid back on.
“The omegas are about to be really mad at me,” I say quietly as I close my eyes. “But how can I just walk away knowing how wrong these innocent Neopry monsters keep getting done? Not just by them, but by my mother’s family too? She wouldn’t let me be a monster for a reason, Anna. I need you to tell me I’m wrong before I make any mistakes, and I keep taking your really bad advice that just weaves in another layer of complication to my already complicated existence. That’s why I’m so mad at you that I sometimes think of flushing you down the toilet.”
I give her urn a small smile.
“I’d fill the bowl with cheap bourbon first, of course.”
I cross over to the side, lifting Arion’s jacket from the counter where I dumped it last night, and pull out the picture I discovered in the pocket.
“I’m not sure why I kept his jacket instead of wearing my own. Maybe because I’m the most stupid when it comes to him. He makes me feel like the world is at my fingertips, and he’s ready to give it to me no matter the cost. It’s not for me, though. I know that. It’s for them. Possibly, it’s for her.”
My thumb brushes over the small, well-preserved painting of a beautiful woman’s face. The details are as intricate as the feathering on the edges of Emit’s wolf’s fur. Her hair is dark and carries a shine. Her cheeks are strong and prominent.
“There’s a certain menace in her eyes, but the smile on her lips is inviting and charming. She’s as complex as all of them, when we both know I’m a simpler sort of girl.”
I carefully place the small painting back into the pocket of Arion’s jacket.
“He still loves her, and he’s giving her up for them if he’s really serious about making me their new center or whatever. I almost let Damien die, because I didn’t know what to do in that one situation where I should have reacted. I doubt she’d have failed him,” I add quietly. “I’m the prey. Not the predator. Omegas are only supposed to fight when backed into a corner.”
Someone knocks at the front door, and I wipe away my stray tears, as I slide Anna’s urn to the recess wall cubby.
“The store’s closed,” I call out as I head to the door and start unlocking it. “And the girls are out right now if you’re here to—”
My words cut out as a sizzle pops in the air. In the next instant, I’m pulled outside, and Ace/Arion is staring down at me with a smirk.
“I’m trying to figure out why you’re not chasing me yet, love. I came back. Did Shera not deliver that message?” he asks very seriously as his thumb runs over my lips. “Is that wound on your head worse than you let on?”
I swear I have to do a double-take sometimes to figure out if I’ve missed crucial information that leads from one encounter to the next with him. Life is twice as confusing since he stopped being just Ace and started being just Arion.
“What?” I ask incredulously.
“I played your game,” he tells me, leaning over to run his lips up my chin, as his other hand slides down my back.