Gypsy Moon (All The Pretty Monsters #4)(4)

“When you’re as close as you and I are to them, we learn the real truth. The solid foundation on which we stand is their shoulders. Take them away, and we descend into true, horrifying chaos,” she continues. “They have betas to handle tedious things such as fucking purebloods organizing hordes—an oxymoron that is still blowing my mind. They have betas to deal with the omegas and the other betas. Alphas don’t step in unless it affects them, Violet. That’s our worldly order.”

“Emit’s betas are committing mutiny on the regular,” I say a little quieter.

“Vancetto is handling the ones who try to spread the strains of infection, or form packs outside town limits, and his knights do decent jobs. There are some things that just shouldn’t happen; however, some have gotten too soft,” she carries on.

“I hate how everyone refers to immortals and fauximmortals—”

“Don’t steal my naming process and make it generic,” Shera interrupts, shooting me a pointed look.

“—as infections,” I finish. “Ever think that causes some of the unnecessary tension?”

“Don’t get PC on me, you twit. We’re Pandora’s Box, Violet,” she tells me, using her you’re-an-idiot-so-let-me-walk-you-to-the-corner tone.

“Pandora’s box is a metaphor too commonly used, so I’m desensitized to it,” I quip.

“It’s not a metaphor. We are Pandora’s fucking box, and the lid truly does not go back on,” she says so earnestly that I have no choice but to take her seriously. “Pandora is where the blood magic comes in. Once she broke the seal on their altar, mixing in her blood magic, the fountain of youth poured out and unleashed seven deadly monsters. Once the infection started, the box disintegrated; therefore, there was no box for the lid, Violet. It’s more like popping miracle grow onto some weeds, and giving them razor sharp fangs,” she goes on, causing my eyebrows to lift. “They needed a powerful blood witch to dabble with that much magic, and she needed strong gypsy magic. They met in the middle, and the world as we never knew it changed. Better? Worse? Who fucking knows? It is what it is at this point, and at the end of the day, monsters can only be monsters. You need a bigger, badder, colder monster at the top.”

“Like Idun,” I surmise, putting a pin in the whole Pandora thing.

She shudders. “No, fuck no. Not like Idun. Idun doesn’t want to be alpha of her flock. She wants to be alpha over it all. Big difference.”

“Like Arion does,” I mildly point out.

She exhales harshly. “If I was a suicidal woman, I would agree that Arion oversteps. Vance gets lost in the hunt and forgets to manage. Damien tries to fade from the world. And Emit tries to spend all his time forgetting or changing what cannot be changed.”

“Are you brave enough to tell me who was right or wrong about the last feud that sent Arion underground for a century? I mean…in your opinion? I know what the omegas think. They say Arion should have stayed under as long as Emit wanted, and they mean it.”

Shera’s gaze slowly connects with mine. “Smart omegas always take their alpha’s side, and often refuse to have a separate opinion,” she says like she’s explaining something.

“Do betas have opinions on such touchy topics?” I pry.

“I’ll answer that when I start thinking there’s a chance I could die,” is the answer I get.

I nod like that’s an acceptable answer, noting her confusion, as my sleeves drop to the ground in two small piles of thread.

She doesn’t note it aloud, though, as she continues speaking.

“Unless you’re like Arion, it’s not easy to be Alpha, because you’ve got hard decisions to make, and most of the time everyone fucking hates you for it. Or they become your favorites—the only ones whose opinions matter.”

“Why wouldn’t you tell them that they’re wrong? They could have been warned about the purebloods before it was a problem,” I point out.

She laughs almost humorlessly. “It’s so funny how your only introduction into our world has been through the eyes of the alphas. It’s quite frankly a novelty of a problem, because your introduction is a first. Usually, you start at the bottom and get a few glimpses of the top. You don’t even understand the threat of Idun, because it’s not your problem. You notice this problem, because it’s just as much your problem as mine.”

I’m really confused how that’s an answer. She stares at me, clearly waiting on me to somehow magically draw whatever conclusion it is she thinks she’s spoon-feeding me.

“I’m not gonna lie; you lost me,” I state very honestly.

Seriously, though…I’m so glad looks can’t kill.

“I can’t go whining that the pureblood omegas are too strong to call omegas,” she snaps in a tone that assures me this should be obvious. “I don’t have alphas coddling me. I’m supposed to be a badass. If I whine about omegas being too tough, I’ll get my ass kicked on the playground, Violet. Come on!”

I don’t mean to laugh, but one choked burst escapes me before I miraculously manage to swallow the rest.

She gives me a disbelieving, annoyed look.

I back away when I hear someone walking toward us, and Shera goes completely silent.

A bald man sneers as he steps in front of the bars, and I stay back, just watching, as he pulls a set of keys off the belt at his waist.