Gypsy Moon (All The Pretty Monsters #4)(73)

A soulless creature incapable of feeling anything shouldn’t be capable of guilt. That proves there really is a piece of his soul left, just as Shera has referenced numerous times while championing him.

How much does he still love Idun? How much does he miss the monster she was? Those are the only two questions. Neither of those are exactly the sort of foundation to pile onto an already extremely complicated relationship design.

Somehow, they’ve gotten into my mind that it really is a package deal, even though not one of them has directly said it. Aside from Arion, obviously.

I should sleep instead of thinking, especially after being struck by lightning, surviving my first ever plane ride/crash, getting chased by a hellhound with one of those ironically unassuming names such as Blue, and then getting possessed by three ghosts long enough to initiate foreplay. I think. Still fuzzy on those details, and I’m so not asking. At least not tonight.

“Can I have one of those waters?” I ask him as Linda continues to linger. On a whisper, I quickly add, “Is she waiting on a tip?”

It can’t take long to set up a table with some alcohol, and Arion isn’t from this century, so—

“Of course I tipped,” he says like he’s wondering why I’d think any differently. “I know how to be civil when out in the wild, Violet,” he adds with a small grin, that one gesture melting away some of the thick, stuffy awkwardness.

He grabs me a bottle of water, returns to hand it to me, and I twist off the cap as I just watch him.

His hand gently closes around my ankle as he does something else on his phone, and his thumb draws slow circles there, like he just needed to finally touch me.

I’m not sure how a Simpleton attracts such complex situations and emotions.

“All done, sir. Can I do anything else for you? Turn down the bed, perhaps?”

“No, thank you, Linda. We’ve got it from here,” he answers distractedly, frowning at his phone.

I hear the door shut, signaling Linda’s departure.

“I suppose they will be arriving in a few hours, after all, if they find us tonight. Things apparently got a little ugly in the House of Van Helsing earlier.” He says this with a smirk, as though that’s something he feels smug about.

See? Complex. Very complex.

It’s hard to see someone as a psychotic monster when they’re gently touching you just to feel your touch.

The smirk falls from his lips as he pockets his phone. “Unfortunately, that means I’ll have to pay my brother a visit earlier than intended. I wanted to at least have somewhat of a trail on Idun. Vance won’t be of much use, if I know her as well as I’m certain I do.”

I sit up a little, and his frown deepens as I pull my foot away from him.

“I’m starting to feel like this is now a hunt for Idun, and not the rising we came here to do. With Idun already up, we should be able to raise them before the full moon.”

He opens his mouth, likely to argue, but I cut him off.

“Vance explained all that very confusing, complicated stuff. I don’t understand all of it, but I got the gist. She was the hold-up, because of all the power infused to tie her down. With her out of the way already, the others should be a cinch—no gypsy moon juice required. And Emit will be there to help, since he won’t be on all fours and racing through the woods on an aggressive rampage,” I go on.

“Violet, we fully intend to raise them, but that’s going to expend a lot of our energy. We’ll have to feed after we finish. A lot. It’s not as simple as digging up body parts. The ground is sealed—”

“I blew up your seal. I’ll blow up theirs. Just give me a pot and a recipe to screw up,” I tell him as I throw back the covers.

His hand goes to my arm, catching me just above my elbow.

“We can’t tonight, Violet. We have to at least know we can hide from her until we’re recovered. After raising them, it’ll take us at least three days to fully—”

“You rose after being under for a century and hurt Vance,” I say very calmly.

“Vance, who probably hadn’t slept much, has a thousand tics to signal all his next moves, and someone I can usually predict very easily, Violet. Idun is unpredictable until I find her so I can set the table. She can’t follow the rules until the rules are in place,” he says like he’s carefully explaining something to me.

“So they lie underground for longer, for no reason, so that Idun’s games can begin,” I state softly, giving him one nod.

He drops my arm and curses, as he runs a hand through his hair.

“It’s not that simple, Violet. You flew out a window because little Blue terrified you. That’s Bobo’s fucking pet, love. I’ll not let you turn into Caroline, so I need to get the rules put into place.”

My eyes collide with his, as Caroline’s phantom sobs echo in my ears, the flash of Idun pulling her into that chair suddenly plowing through the forefront of my thoughts.

“What’d she do to Caroline?” I ask him.

Like he’s not engaged in the conversation, he glances down at his phone again. “Caroline was a terrible alpha. All the Neopry Simpletons were—are, because they’re not alphas. They’re omegas in the head with the strength of an alpha. They want to group together, but—”

“But the Neopry House is so strong because she needs big Alpha Houses to go along with the freaky shit that happens when mixing this magic with that. Got it. I asked what she did to Caroline,” I point out, causing his eyebrow to arch.