Gypsy Moon (All The Pretty Monsters #4)(64)

“Fully intended to,” Vance cuts in. “But first I need to lay eyes on the burial ground and see if I can pick up any trail from there. She circled back and likely did a series of loops from one location to the next and back again, so I wouldn’t know which direction was the last she took.”

“Gee, I wonder why we overthink everything,” Damien states dryly.

“Who?” Gerald asks from the back as he shifts back to his two-legged, slightly less hairy form.

“That’s something we mean to discuss with your alpha. Not you,” Emit tells him.

“Alpha is preparing the barn, but Arion isn’t permitted on the property,” Gerald says as he quickly lowers his eyes.

“Arion won’t need to be here,” Emit states as he turns and walks back through the pack that quickly clears a path for him.

“Can you promise he’ll not cross a line while in our region?” Gerald asks like he’s nervous to do so.

“We have an ace,” I assure them, glancing down at my phone, as Arion’s name flashes across the screen.

I quickly open the image he’s sent, and then I grip the phone just a little tighter when I realize it’s a very short clip of Violet. Naked. Showering. Oblivious to the ten second video being taken…

I really should delete it. Instead, I save it to my damn phone and mentally note to let her know I have it so that it’s less Damien-creepy.





CHAPTER 19





VIOLET


First time ever being in a very nice hotel lobby in nothing but a coat, boots, and a bra. I’m paranoid every time I feel a slight breeze that someone is seeing everything.

There are no less than five elaborate chandeliers in this lobby. Shadow Hills is not this nice. The one motel there advertises free wifi as its solo selling point.

I’d feel much more comfortable in a seedy motel than a fancy place like this, given my current attire—or lack of.

“On holiday or business?” the receptionist asks.

I’m not sure either of those apply to us.

“Bit of both, given how very nice tonight is shaping up to be,” Arion states absently.

The woman taking Arion’s card casts a dubious look at me, and then bats her lashes. She pulls her lips up in a flirty smile, and deliberately brushes his hand with hers, as she hands him the key cards.

Arion seems oblivious to it all, as he stares at his phone, typing one-handed. All on autopilot, he casually takes the cards and pockets them with his free hand, as though this is all too simple for someone who was buried for a century.

“Please don’t be afraid to call the front desk for anything you may need. Our concierge won’t open again until nine tomorrow, but I’m capable of handling all your needs,” she goes on, flirty smile still plastered on.

I feel almost sorry for her, since he’s too busy checking his messages, rolling his eyes at the screen, and making a few amused sounds here and there.

“Thank you very much, Linda,” he says as he threads his fingers with mine.

He turns and stares at me very deliberately, as I walk us to the elevator and press the button.

“You have to call Vance once I go get our things, because I’m going to put his bloody head through a wall if he doesn’t stop making this damn thing go off.” He wiggles his phone at me. “I can’t turn it off, due to the Idun alert. We voted. All agreed,” he says as he pockets his phone at last. “Tell him you’re fine, of sound mind, and warn him that I’m on the verge of doing something just to make him miserable, simply to punish him for trying to interfere.”

I never have a reply at the ready when he says things like that. Instead, I awkwardly check once again to make sure my coat is shut. I never got to find out where my underwear went, but it was probably swallowed up by dust or put in someone’s pocket.

That’s just my life these days.

I don’t understand it either.

“Oh, Mr. Arion, I meant to ask, would you like any room service?” Linda calls loudly across the vast, empty lobby.

“We’ll ring if we do,” he answers as he steps onto the opening elevator, dragging me with him, as he pushes me back against the wall and cages me in.

I just stare up at him as the doors slide together.

“What do you want to do now that you have me all to yourself?” he asks me with a slowly growing grin.

“I have a lot of questions,” I tell him, careful not to touch him and start a spiral. “We can start them once cameras aren’t on us, though.”

He quickly puts a hand on my hip and drags me closer, glancing around like he’s checking the box for cameras, when the doors suddenly open. Linda startles before blinking at us in surprise.

“Oh. You’re still here,” she manages to say.

Sometimes I forget that Arion doesn’t know all things from this century.

“We got distracted,” I say by way of covering up the fact I forgot to push the button to our floor.

She eyes Arion, who is holding me to him like a predator who thinks I’m going to be snatched away at any moment. Clearing her throat, she presses the button to our floor and another, and then glances over at Arion again, as he straightens.

The awkward elevator music is a rendition of Ghost Busters, and I shake my head at the irony. Anna would be singing every single word.