Gypsy Moon (All The Pretty Monsters #4)(8)

My jaw grinds when I think about him stuck in the coffin, waking up with this curse during each Portocale death. Not even I hate him that fucking much.

“He was supposed to be unconscious. Like going to sleep and waking up,” Damien says quietly, as though he’s inside my head.

Another scream and a hard jolt has us both straining to keep him still.

“He said he’d never go under the ground again,” he goes on. “Made a point to tell Violet that while I was in the room. I still thought she was Idun then.”

Another scream interrupts him, and then Arion finally goes limp.

“Three hours before the worst of it starts,” I say in a hushed tone.

“For no less than twelve days for the bloodthirsty vampire,” Damien says as I toss Arion over my shoulder and move him outside to the back of my new SUV.

It’s the only place to put him, since he can’t go into Violet’s house beyond the salt line, even if we broke the line. That’s the private section he doesn’t have an invitation for.

“Violet will get herself in a very big mess if she panics prematurely and they find out what she is before she can use her one move,” I tell him as we stare at Arion’s calm before the storm.

I let Damien shut the door on him.

“Can you get a scent? Or was that bullshit?” he asks me hopefully.

“She left the latch up on Violet’s cellar orchard. The scent is obsolete, because whatever she was using to lock in the scent of the oranges was also unsealed.”

“I remember being so happy to smell a Portocale orange. Now it’s like it’s everywhere and I can’t smell anything else,” he gripes in agreement as we head back inside.

“Vance gave her a knife to use, and she fainted after putting it away. It’s almost like she wanted to be caught,” I say on a small growl.

“It’s her training, Emit. She’s supposed to be captured, and she’s supposed to make her escape,” Damien tells me a little coldly. “When she’s scared, she relies on her training. You’re saying the true Marta Portocale is her mother, something I’ve still not fully wrapped my mind around, and that bitch didn’t bother training Violet in any form of combat, knowing what sort of hell she might face as a Simpleton. They’re always the first targets because they’re weaker, and their monster is never enough once people know what’s going on.”

Running a hand through my hair in frustration, I start to say something, when Damien’s head cants like he’s listening.

“He should be chattering by now,” Damien says with a frown. “His teeth always begin to chatter after the first few minutes of the initial downing,” he adds as I quickly yank open the door.

Both of us stare in disbelief at the vacant space that once hosted my vehicle.

“Well…he didn’t drive himself away. You saw the whites of his eyes,” Damien states flatly, as we continue staring like two dumb fucks who’ve really cocked up this time.

“What are the chances Abby’s currently watching us instead of Violet?” I ask very quietly.

“If she is, you and I are going to look like fucking idiots for losing the vampire alpha to a bunch of wolves, after he’s just been downed for twelve days and won’t have any idea what’s going on. They might actually succeed in killing him for the moment,” he says as he clicks his tongue. “I don’t like feeling like a fucking idiot, Emit.”

There’s a moment of pause where we simply stare at each other.

“He can’t be killed until midnight,” Damien adds so quietly no one could possibly hear it, unless they’re as close as I am. “We have until then.”

Cutting my gaze to the curb once more, I simply stare for a second longer, willing my vehicle to appear and secretly hoping Damien is being an ass and just hiding it all from sight.

“Any chance Abby isn’t an omega? I find it hard to believe an omega would have the fortitude and keen desire to steal Arion,” I decide to say like it’s something of importance.

“Going on the offense is definitely not an omega trait, and Abby’s clearly on the offense if she’s watching us. Last time she expected one alpha, but she still managed to shoot an arrow through my heart, effectively stopping the beating and weakening my own monster. She knows a lot of alpha secrets.”

“She knows just enough to get herself killed. There’s a lot of that going around lately,” I state, thinking of Violet’s own father, a whole other mess we’ve yet to start cleaning up.

“It’s not pleasant to feel watched when you’re not even aware someone may be watching,” Damien says with a slight shudder as he shuts the door.

I give him a wry look, but he doesn’t notice it, as he shakes his head.

“On the bright side, Arion will be there with Violet now. If she can manage to get to him and break his curse, he’ll be more than dead weight to her. Hell, he’ll have it all cleaned up before we get there,” he adds as he takes a seat and pulls out his phone.

“You make it sound easy,” I grind out.

“Seemed easy when she did it for me,” Damien states in an almost annoyed tone. “In fact, she made it sound overly simple…”

“Who are you texting?” I ask as his words trail off during his distraction.