Gypsy Origins (Page 44)
My lips start curving in a slow grin.
My eyes stay fixed on her, because she’s a lot of fun to watch.
I’m sticking this out indefinitely. Idun can hang out in the cold for a few decades, while I soak in all the warmth Violet can offer.
Chapter 18
VIOLET
“Is Emit—”
“Full moon tonight, love. Much too dangerous to be around you right now,” Arion tells me like he knew what I was going to ask.
He has music playing at an almost-loud volume, as if Vance isn’t lying on the bed and suffering.
He lights up a cigar, before tossing another to Damien, as he goes through Vance’s room like he knows where everything is hidden.
Which is weird, since when he was watching them, Vance was living in Damien’s house instead of this one.
Handclap starts playing, and Arion starts actually dancing through the room, as he strips out of his shirt and continues checking all of Vance’s drawers.
That song is way too upbeat for what poor Vance is going through.
“He doesn’t sit still very often,” Damien tells me as he lights his own cigar, feet propped up on the bed beside me where he’s pulled up his chair.
Arion’s head falls back, as he grins and closes his eyes, just moving to the music. He even claps his hands with the rapid beats, smiling around his cigar when he catches me watching.
He goes to drop onto the couch across from me, and even when lying down, he continues dancing and doing the hard hand-clapping beats. The cigar hangs from his mouth as he puffs it without touching it with his busy hands.
I can only imagine how bad it was to be stuck in that casket…awake…if he’s that riled most of the time.
“You didn’t spend long with Emily,” I finally say when I realize I’m still staring and he’s grinning like he’s winning a prize.
Damien’s head snaps up, and he shoots a look to Arion, as if he’s asking what the hell I’m talking about.
Arion is too busy wiggling on the couch, still dancing.
“Emily’s here?” Damien asks in a…harsh tone.
“Yep,” is all Arion says, making the word pop, more focused on the song.
He has one leg hanging off the sofa now, as he bobs with the rhythm and grabs a newspaper to read. My attention drops to Vance when he makes a small sound in the back of his throat.
I’m sure he’d most certainly hate everything going on in this room right now, including me trying to keep his fever down as much as possible.
“Shouldn’t you be there?” Damien asks very angrily.
“Violet’s scared of me,” he says without really explaining, as the song changes. “I think it’s clear she hasn’t spent nearly enough time with me, and I’m not as far ahead as I thought.”
I huff out a breath, unsure how to even address that, as I smooth the rag over Vance’s chest again.
“I’ll need help changing the sheets and such in a couple of days, because I can’t move him around on my own,” I tell Damien.
Arion now seems excited about Idun rising, given all the dancing and jubilance, yet he’s still here and talking as though nothing has changed.
However, I note that he’s not all over me while I’m in the same room, and that’s a change.
I give him a dubious look, trying to figure him out.
“Emit’s not going to be pleased you told him about Idun,” Damien tells me seriously.
“Fuck Emit,” Arion states as he gets up on the couch and starts playing air guitar.
“I think you fail to understand what we have to deal with,” Damien states dryly.
He gestures over to Arion when the vampire starts bouncing on the couch, still puffing that thick cigar.
Vance makes a choked sound, and my attention quickly returns to him. He’s getting hotter.
“From what I understand, Vance is the only one who really deals with anyone or anything. You and Emit just check in when you’re not busy being checked out, and Arion does whatever Arion does to drive you all insane,” I murmur quietly, looking at the downed man who really would hate us all being in here to see him like this.
Or at least act like he hated it.
“What did Vance do to make you like him so much? Aside from painting your toenails, love. I just can’t lower myself to that,” Arion says from across the room as he starts trying to crack Vance’s hidden safe.
Does the vampire ever sit still?
“A lot of things,” I say dismissively.
“I want specifics,” he says as he grins over his shoulder, snuffing out the cigar.
“Vance painted your toenails?” Damien interjects like he has to circle back to that, because it sounds as insane as most things out of Arion’s mouth.
“It was possibly one of the nicest things anyone has done for me, since it was to calm me down,” I tell him.
Arion narrows his eyes at Vance like he’s the reason I’m annoyed right now.
“He also acted like it was no big deal that he’d cooked all my favorite breakfast things, or tracked me down on the road home because he was genuinely worried about me, or gave me a weapon—the first he’s ever gifted to an outsider—to keep me safe when I needed it. He does things without pointing them out, and I’ve probably missed a lot, because I don’t really know him well enough to note the things he does differently toward me than others. I was focused on the rejection. Not the kind things,” I add quietly, sponging his forehead again.
“I’ll paint your fucking toenails,” Arion says like it’s a reluctant concession, and I…consider kneeing him in the balls again.
“I don’t need to be calmed right now. I’m good for at least one more life-altering revelation for a while,” I murmur vaguely, since I have no idea what Arion does or doesn’t know at this point.
It’s all a headache.
There’s a board littered with a whole bunch of pins in it.
“You really should deal with Emily,” Damien tells him, looking his way.
“You should really deal with Dorian,” Arion counters with a fuck-off smile.
“Dorian isn’t my problem,” Damien says like he’s tired of saying this.
“Emily isn’t here to cause problems,” Arion says in a tone that suggests he’s winning an argument.
“The longer you keep her waiting, the more likely—”
“Emily can and will wait. Unlike the lot of you, my House stays in order,” Arion interrupts, shooting Damien an icy glare.
“I think you both should leave,” I tell them as I look back at Vance. “You’re too busy trying to argue to help, and Vance is the one who needs attention right now.”
Vance makes a small, pained nose, his fever getting worse by the second.
“Fine. But we’ll be back,” Arion says as though it’s not a big deal, and he comes over to kiss the top of my head.
I stiffen, mostly because I have no idea what’s going on inside his mind.
He cups my cheek, tipping my head back, as those dark eyes land on mine. “Easy, love. You’re the only person who shouldn’t fear me,” he murmurs as his lips brush mine.
Then he’s gone.
I swear…these guys…
“Whether or not he wants to admit it, he actually enjoys when Emily visits,” Damien says, making no move to follow him out.
“Unlike you, who hates Dorian,” I surmise.
“Idun fucked Dorian for the specific intention of hurting me,” he fires back immediately.
“And that means you can’t handle Dorian now?” I ask, confused by their logic sometimes.
“Dorian hasn’t stepped out of line since I handled him back then,” he says as he looks away. “Possibly the most ruthless I’ve ever enjoyed being. I was also a lot stronger back then. I fed regularly—before the nasty curse.”
“So you can’t handle Dorian until you feed,” I state aloud.
“Even then, I have no intentions of dealing with him. He’s beneath me now. Vance can deal with him.”
“You’re such a dick,” I mutter under my breath, feeling sorrier for Vance.
“Typically, yes, but in this case, I’m being wise. If Dorian beats me, he takes House Alpha.”
“So you mostly lack the confidence to beat him a second time, and don’t want him to know it,” I murmur as I stand to go open a window. “I need you to slit my throat.”
There’s a beat of silence, and I glance back to find him blinking at me, lips parted in surprise.
“How the bloody fucking hell did your mind take that twist from Dorian to slitting your throat?” he asks like I’m the one who’s insane for a change.
“If I bleed enough, my body gets just as cold as the outside. His fever is climbing.” My eyes dart back to the window when there’s a howl in the distance.
I’m not sure, but I think that’s Emit.
Shaking away from the distraction, I return my attention to Damien, even as I pat Vance’s chest. “Help me bleed so I can cool him down better.”
His gaze drops to my shirt when I start pulling it over my head.
“Violet, I’m a creature of sexual deviance. Maybe I’ve been numb for a while, but I’d appreciate it if you remember you recently awakened me.” His eyes land on mine as I toss the shirt aside. “There are far different things I’d rather do with your body that don’t include slitting your throat.”