Gypsy Moon (All The Pretty Monsters #4)(92)
I’m not sure why my throat tries to close up, because I promised myself I wouldn’t care so much about them.
“It’s as though they’re just starting to thaw, and little by little I can tell they’re actually starting to care…in their own individual ways. Which is…not the point of this ramble. I’m not trying to hit you up for more boy talk again just yet.”
Mom’s words erupts into my thoughts once again.
“They’re already chasing Idun, Violet. They’ll say it’s to find her before she finishes scheming whatever it is she is or isn’t scheming, but at the end of the day, either they’re chasing her, or she’s chasing them. Forever and always…until the infinitive end. Their story will never end. You’re simply another pawn who will be crushed under their weight. The very second they cared about you—if they truly cared for you at all—they would have walked away. But they didn’t, even though they know they’re bound to eternal misery by Idun’s hand. You’re just more collateral damage in their undying wake. There is no ‘after Idun’ Violet. They brought this on themselves, and I’ll be damned if I stand by and let them drag you into their hell.”
“But to be fair, my boy talk is a little intertwined with the mess going on around me right now. Mom’s a badass, and she seems scared about what my future holds, so long as I’m ‘entertaining their fickle fancies.’”
I stop chopping the intestines, carefully add a few small pieces, and promptly drop to the floor, mentally counting backwards from ten and hoping there’s no blastoff at the end.
“Most disappointingly, she’s right. At the end of the day, I’m not meant for all four of them. I get too attached to the one I’m with and start drifting from the others. It’s harder to be with four men than you probably understand. The romance of it sounds wistful and downright fantasy-approved, but the reality of it is harder, especially when they can’t seem to agree about much of anything. No longer do they even agree about me in most cases, and it’s starting to feel like we’re all working too hard for something that just simply isn’t meant to be.”
I stay on the floor, even though there hasn’t been a blastoff just yet.
“But they do agree that they should all focus on Idun and not the promise to raise a lot of really innocent people, who are now hurting for no reason at all—people who are a piece of me I’ve never known. The forgotten monsters, who are still being forgotten even with me championing them from inside the inner circle.”
Braving the bubbling pot, I stand, somewhat underwhelmed by the anticlimactic intestines now.
“The intermission is almost over, Anna. Your regularly scheduled program is coming soon. If you want to see how the more interesting story of Idun and her Monstar quad goes, you should probably come back.”
I add another piece of the intestine, swallowing down the urge to gag.
“I’m going to need you to keep me calm through the worst of it,” I add on a hopeful whisper, as I adjust my little Van Helsing knife on my ankle.
Staring at the pot, I realize what needs to be done. “Starting today, I’m going to actually make a plan. It’s time to put the brake on and stop rolling downhill.”
CHAPTER 26
DAMIEN
Now dressed in some of her mother’s clothes that are just a hair too tight on the hips and chest area, Violet is carrying a tray of potions she assures us are extremely dangerous. Of course that means we’re all watching her like we’re ready to save her life, even though she can’t die, as we pointlessly trek through the snow toward the burial ground.
Emit’s in wolf form, and he’s out ahead of us, sniffing the air, on high alert.
Marta says nothing, as she walks at her daughter’s side, keeping Violet’s pace.
I trail Violet and Marta as they talk about the encroaching storm and how long we have before it closes in on us.
I have no idea why she’s risking being outside with no cover, rubber, or salt to keep her safe from the lightning so soon. I’m on edge, glancing back at the increasingly darkening clouds, because I don’t want to endure watching Violet feed ever again.
“We should wait and do this another time,” I suggest, careful not to sound too pushy, since Violet is being frustratingly more stubborn and impatient than she already usually is.
Arion is with Vance, waiting on him to wake up, so he can question him first, most likely. It’s already clear that he wants to get the jump on catching up to Idun before us to start his foolish plan of ensuring Idun won’t be a problem. I don’t even know the plan, but I still know it’s foolish.
Unless the vampire is playing us all like flutes and has no such plan at all. It’s hard to tell with Arion sometimes, but I believe he’s smitten with Violet, since he broke his vows of honor and bedded another for the first time.
It’s a nightmare to piece together all the new things in a stale pond that hasn’t had much new anything in centuries. Motives are more uncertain than ever before.
Thunder rolls in the sky, and we all come to an abrupt halt, as Violet releases a shuddering breath.
“There won’t be any storms too close to the site. The seal keeps lightning from reaching it,” Marta tells her quietly, almost regretfully, as though she’s admitting she never wanted them capable of feeding and possibly gaining enough strength to rise.