Gypsy Freak (All The Pretty Monsters #2)(13)

“You couldn’t see me, could you?” Damien asks me, his eyes meeting mine for the first time.

“No. Of course not. You know this, which is why I threatened you to stay out of my room,” I remind him.

“Hmmm. Now that’s interesting,” he says with a dark grin. His eyes flick back to Vance, who looks as confused and entirely too focused on that comment as well. “Why would that be something she forgot? And how in the hell did his people pull that off?”

“Why the hell were you watching us have sex?” I ask the lunatic.

“Do you remember kissing me?” he muses. “It certainly didn’t seem like something you’d just brazenly do, but I’ve been wrong before. However, after the fact, it all seemed a little…coached.”

“I think I remember…” My words trail off, and I try to remember why what he says sounds familiar, even though I have no idea why.

His hand cups my chin, and his eyes seem to light up for a brief second as images pulse through my mind. Images that feel like memories he’s pulling from a fog or sharing with me—one or the other.

And then I remember…seducing him into talking. How did I forget that? Why would I forget that?

It’s the only time I’ve even somewhat really liked Damien.

I blink rapidly a few times, even as the memory plays on, but I can only see the memories from his point of view. I feel my pieces missing.

“The gifts were coached. Makes so much more sense,” Vance says on a groan. “But that gives you no damn right to fucking be in here right now. Twenty more days.”

“The decades were broken down to the exact number of days in years with three-hundred-and-sixty-five days. I knew you’d try to weasel those extra days provided by leap year from me,” Damien answers with a satisfied, unapologetic grin. “Feel free to repair the damage you caused during your tantrum.”

“You watched us have sex?” I ask again, this time more firmly.

“I thought you could see me, tricky gypsy,” he says with a shrug. “To my knowledge, you knew I was in the room. You even glanced at me several times. I was quite turned on by it. The ghost possessing your body never glanced at me.”

“You watched all of it?” Vance asks as he pinches the bridge of his nose, standing in the middle of the room while wearing nothing but a soft gray robe.

I’m still naked on the bed with the jackass who watched us have sex.

“You’ve forgotten you could see me, and you never bothered to tell me how while the memory was there,” Damien goes on like this misunderstanding is all my doing.

“Why can’t I remember?”

“Arion,” they both answer at once with a dry tone.

I drop back and pull the sheet over my head.

“What’s your past with my family?” I ask from under the sheet.

“Complicated,” they both say, though Damien’s tone is far more amused than Vance’s.

I peek out from under the sheet to stare over the edge of the bed, finding Anna’s ripped dress on the floor. I knew she’d ask him to rip her clothes off.

Wrestling the sheet back around me, I feel the threads whirring as I quickly make a toga out of the sheet. It’s all wrong, but that’s my normal, so I carry on, looking for the…outrageously high heels I forgot Anna wore.

“Can Margie give me a lift home?” I ask Vance, reality hitting hard and quick now that the magical moment is shattered.

“Margie can’t drive. She has panic attacks behind the wheel,” Damien drawls.

I can feel his grin at my back.

“I’ll drive you,” Vance answers, reaching for me as he glares over my head toward Damien.

I let him take my hand, but Damien clears his throat. “Dorian is in Shadow Hills, but he’s not the one who turned those lovely girls you killed yesterday,” Damien states.

Vance’s grip tightens on my hand as I remember to breathe. We just had sex, and my body is still not quite ready for detachment, especially when provoked by even the simplest of touches.

Wait…what did they say?

“You killed—”

“I killed monsters who wanted to die. Anything out of his mouth right now is to sour you toward me. Damien doesn’t like for me to enjoy any moment of pleasure in my life,” Vance quickly informs me.

“On the contrary,” Damien says, that same wry amusement sticking to his tone, “I fully intended to allow you to continue. It’s that battle axe housekeeper you have who interrupted this lovely and entertaining evening.”

They’ve apparently forgotten I’m even standing here, still arguing like it’s all they know how to do.

“You’ve crossed a line,” Vance growls.

“This is my bedroom, as of today. I thought she was aware of me and perfectly content to let me have my moment of voyeurism. I see no lines being crossed, aside from the very big one you crossed,” Damien goes on.

Yep. They’ve truly forgotten I’m even here.

They continue arguing in vague terms, their history clearly more complicated and intricate than I can fathom in one day.

I’m more concerned with the fact a vampire…whose name is once again eluding me…Arion! It’s Arion. I’m more concerned with the fact he’s making me forget things, and I don’t know why.