He turns a glare on me before heading into her room without knocking.
I turn my smile toward Emit, about to say something, when Violet’s door reopens, and Damien moves to the edge.
“Violet is missing. So is my car that I parked at the very end of the driveway,” he says.
“Check Vance’s room. The doors are adjoining,” Emit says dismissively. “Those ignorant purebloods destroyed my fucking ride. Probably did the same to yours,” he adds in an annoyed tone.
He quickly pushes into Vance’s room, as I slowly put my drink down, as I sniff the air.
Between blood, alphas, and some peculiar toothpaste, the smell in this place is seriously fucked.
“Even omega purebloods are stronger than some betas. The fact they’re fighting against their instinct to run is alarming, because it could trigger feral insanity for all of—”
“Violet is missing, and it seems Vance is as well,” Damien says on a huff as he exits.
“Why the bloody hell would he leave with her directly after a wolf attack?” I ask as I start toward the door, finishing off my drink. “Without a word?”
“I’m not sure he left with her, so much as chased after her, since it looks like he found her note first,” Damien says as he jogs down the stairs.
I have the paper snatched out of his hand before he realizes it’s missing, and I flip it over, reading it.
DO NOT FOLLOW ME. THIS VACATION SUCKS TOO HARD TO STAY. I’M GOING HOME TO RELAX.
Sincerely,
the SINGLE gypsy girl who can think for herself
P.S. I’LL KEY YOUR FUCKING CARS if you come looking for me before I’m ready to deal with you again.
“Little rude to leave so soon, considering how hard I worked to find out where the hell you’d all gone,” I point out before walking out the door.
I’m gone before they can further delay me.
“She put it in shouty caps!” Damien calls to my back, though I have no idea what the hell that’s supposed to mean.
Chapter 14
VIOLET
“Tiara’s a pureblood?” I ask Leiza in confusion, tightening my grip on the steering wheel.
“Hence the reason she’s a lot stronger and faster than the rest of us omegas. But she still has a flight response instead of a fight response. We only fight when running isn’t an option,” Leiza explains. “It’d drive us crazy to seek out a fight. Hell, we might even fight each other if we tried.”
Some of that was going on…
Icy roads are slightly terrifying, but it’s the wolves that have me moving forty over them, just in case some are still in the woods surrounding this road. Surely they can’t run that fast. I’ve seen Tiara run, and it’s not that fast.
“How fast can Tiara run?” I ask just to be sure.
“On a good day, she can hit speeds close to thirty.”
Forty is safe then.
A scream rips out of my throat as the universe drops a cosmic fuck-you in front of me, a shadow landing on the road.
My foot stomps the brake, as Leiza screams with me like she’s suffering second-hand terror. We both scream louder and longer than I’ve ever heard two women scream in perfect unison, as the vehicle skids, nearly fishtailing, and I work my ass off to keep control.
My scream finally turns into a long inhale that sounds more like a horrified gasp, as everything on my entire body tenses so tightly a single flick from a finger could set my monster off.
I’m glad I was doing ten less than the speed limit, for fuck’s sake!
“Why are we screaming?” Leiza shouts as I manage to slide to a stop inches in front of a very angry looking Van Helsing.
The vehicle rocks, and I try to ignore my trembling hands. He glares at me through the front windshield, slushy sleet soaking him, as the lights shine on his non-bloody black tactical uniform…that is also soaked.
“Van Helsings are dropping from the sky,” I say by way of idle explanation, hearing her sigh of relief, as though that makes perfect sense to her.
Vance starts moving toward me, and I hang up hurriedly, while diving into the passenger seat. The monster hunter looks more pissed than I’ve ever seen him.
Vance swings open the driver’s door, climbs inside, and exhales harshly, as he takes a seat and shuts the door.
Wordlessly, he adjusts the seat, moving it back…taking his time.
“Are you taking me back?” I ask him quietly, since he’s twitching more than usual, and seems highly irritated.
“I never wanted you here to begin with, Violet,” he says with a sharp edge as he puts the Range Rover in Drive. “In light of dealing with a completely new threat, I am now certain I want you far away from here.”
He starts driving faster, gaining too much speed, and I pull my seatbelt tighter.
“Can you not drive like you’re angry?”
“You could have simply asked me to take you home,” he drawls, speeding up more. “Instead, you go off on your own, and—”
“Just because Arion has a plan for me to replace Idun until her return or until my death, it doesn’t mean I’m not on my own. I came, I listened, and I decided to—”
“You apparently missed the part where Arion gave up his soul for an eternal life with her—”
“It sounds more likely that he gave up his soul for the four of you—not just her,” I interrupt, really irking him, since I’ve done it a few times now. “Why bring that part up?”
“The point is,” he starts, driving even faster as I shut my eyes and pretend we’re going forty, “Arion let Idun become his center when he no longer cared who lived or died. He lives by her set of rules, even to this day. You never know when he’s being honest or when he’s plotting. It’s even worse now, because he’s very possibly biding his time and plotting the perfect retaliation against the three of us.”
It’s a smoother ride than it was with Shera, but it’s still hard to handle the rushing speed.
“Or he’s very possibly sincere and sick of the fighting, and he wants the three of you to be his center instead of Idun,” I suggest. “I’m simply becoming his pawn to get to that point.”
“Why are you defending him?” he asks me incredulously.
“I’m not. I’m just noting my own observations to this point. Can we slow down yet? This is really starting to scare me.”
“I’m not quite sure how fast Arion is. Since you’re defending him, maybe you won’t mind him sitting in the back seat and whining about all the ways he thinks I’ve wronged him, never mind the atrocious ways he helped Idun wrong me.”
I don’t want Arion in the back seat. I don’t really want Vance in the car, but Arion is a hell no right now.
“From what I deduced, he gave up Idun for the three of you,” I go on, dealing with the nausea while keeping my eyes shut.
“Temporarily. At the end of the day, it will always be Idun. I’ll not believe that he’ll touch you until he actually touches you,” he says quietly.
“He’s touched me a lot, in case you’re blind. Always pressing me into things, touching me, and confusing me, all while imposing on my personal space.”
“You’re adorably innocent sometimes, Violet,” he says with seriousness and not condescension.
If I was willing to open my eyes and see the rapidly moving scenery while driving on ice, I would totally flip him off and point out how not innocent I am. But I don’t. I’m a chicken sometimes.
“I had some help when I put Arion in the ground, but for the most part, it was all me,” he goes on. “Since his return, I don’t feel confident I can do it a second time. Idun was impossible, and now Arion feels almost as impossible too. Not to mention, Emit’s been holding back, and—”
“So change your fighting style,” I tell him.
“What?” he bites out. “And stop interrupting me.”
“Well, I’ve already gathered that you’re getting your ass kicked, despite the fact you’re supposed to be this epic monster slayer who keeps all the monsters in line.”
There’s silence for a beat.
“If you could see me, you’d see the scathing look I’m shooting you,” he states dryly.
“I’m not being an ass. I’m being realistic. You’ve spent centuries kicking ass, and people always study the strongest. There’s always a way to beat one person. Hence the reason you all had to be divided before Idun could even begin to be conquered,” I go on. “You just have to change the way you fight, and instead of fighting each person the same, give them a more individualized approach.”
He goes really quiet. He actually stays quiet for a while, and I reach over, fumbling with the radio, until I get some music to break up the silence and take my mind off the ride.
“You make that sound like a simple task. Do you have any idea how much work that would be?” he asks as I lean my seat back and think of sunshine and rainbows and anything that is still or slow.
“If you’re not willing to do the work, then Arion isn’t the only one sitting around and whining.”
This time, I feel his glare without having to be told it’s there.
“Take some beatings and learn their weaknesses. It’s what they’ve clearly done with you. When something works for someone, they keep doing it the same way. When something doesn’t work, you change it again and again until it does,” I add.
It’s another span of time without a word after that, as though he’s giving it reluctant thought. Or he’s still just glaring at me for all I know.
It isn’t until I feel the car start to slow down to a moderately feasible speed that I open my eyes and exhale steadily.
My gaze darts over to him to see him absently staring ahead.
“Arion can’t catch up now?”
“If Arion catches up at this point—on foot—there’s really no point in me going through the trouble of reworking my technique.”
“And habits,” I tell him, studying his profile. “Change all your common habits too.”
His hair is a little messy now that it’s dried. It’s always sort of distracting to see him even the least bit disheveled, because of how pristine he keeps himself.
“How would you propose I do that?” he asks me with a hint of condescension. “I’ve incorporated years of sword training, martial arts, and various other styles of fighting.”
“C-average,” I remind him. “I wouldn’t know how to even begin, but you seem to think you’re smarter than everyone, so surely you can figure it out.”
He grips the steering wheel tighter. “Why is it you fear riding fast in the car with skilled drivers, yet nothing else gives you pause? That’s reckless.”
“That’s just me,” I retort. “Take it or leave it.”