The adults turned back around, and I didn’t miss the quick glances at the scars on Flint’s back. They made me so angry. The kind of gut-burning, red haze producing, angry. But also frustrated. And sad.
I looked at the adults’ faces, because I was eighteen so technically an adult, but what the fuck did I do about an injustice like Flint’s?
My eyes flicked to Azar’s, and the anger I saw in them reassured me. She met my eyes over his shoulder and nodded. She’d do something. I knew they’d all do something if they could. But they had lives, and in Alistair and Micah’s case, literally hundreds of young charges to look after every day. Trust me, we didn’t make that shit easy.
No, I had a feeling that if I wanted justice for Flint, I would have to do it myself. I wrapped him in my arms.
“Hey, I know we kinda just met, but do you want to be my boyfriend?”
Bobby groaned, and Sammie still looked kind of stunned. I grinned over my shoulder at them both. “Those two as well. Like one big, happy, slightly psycho quad. Except Bobby. He’s the token good guy.”
“Hey!”
“Uh, sure?”
Well, he wasn’t overly enthusiastic in his response, but it had been a big day. I leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips, and he held me tighter. He’d come around. I would lure him to his doom with soft kisses and softer hands, and then by the time he realized he’d fallen into my trap, he’d love me.
Muah ha ha.
“Good. But also, my dad kinda said you have to come over to dinner tonight, and so does Bobby.”
“Which dad?”
Bobby snorted. “Doesn’t matter, bro. They are all scary as fuck. Even Tex, and he’s blind and like, half human. But he’s also the grandson of a dragon, so you know, he’s got some cred.”
I looked over my shoulder at Sammie. “You too?” It wasn’t a demand, more of a hopeful question.
I knew Sammie had obligations here at the Academy. He was a good guy, taking care of his little brother and cousin, but they were teenagers, and probably wanted to be playing video games or underage drinking or something anyway. Plus, this thing with the four of us might be a little more confronting to a human.
Maybe I’d call in a favor with Cara. Lord knows she’d probably need to call in the favor sooner rather than later if her little war with my brother continued.
Sammie smiled and nodded, and I had to give it to the guy. He was willing to throw himself into a den of sharks, just for a chance to… I don’t know what. With Bobby and Flint, I had a century. With Sammie? I’d have fifty years if I was lucky, and for most of those I’d look like his daughter and not his mate.
The very nature of Sammie’s humanness hit me like a two-by-four. No. That wouldn’t do. Not at all. But I had to prioritize.
First, Operation: Retribution For Flint.
Then, Operation: Together Forever.
Yeah, I’d give it a less stalkery name eventually. You know, if it worked out. But as I watched him skim his fingers gently down Flint’s arms, and Flint leaning into the touch, I had a sneaking suspicion that this was it.
These three guys? They were mine.
20
Bobby
The sun set below the horizon, which cast a warm light over the guy in my passenger seat. It made him look like a piece of expressionist art, the sharp lines of his cheekbones and jaw becoming even more pronounced. I noticed a slight bump on his nose, like he’d had it broken at some point. Given what I knew about him, which was a lot because his brother and cousin liked to talk and I had informants all through the school, it seemed reasonable that he’d broken his nose fighting.
“So, you and Flint?”
Sammie slid his eyes toward me. “There isn’t really a me and Flint.” He tilted his head at me, meeting my eyes despite protocol. I knew he knew the etiquette, but I found the fact he ignored it kind of nice. “So, you and Carmen?”
I let out a sigh, but it was both a sigh of contentment and frustration. That was Mouse in a nutshell. “It’s always been me and Mouse. We just added tongue.”
Sammie laughed, and it was a warm sound, the kind of laugh that was like a starburst of happiness. How the kid of the Four Horsemen and a mobster ended up with a laugh like that was beyond me. I raised an eyebrow. “You and Mouse?”
This time he couldn’t help the smile. “If I was smart, I’d run the opposite direction. I’m on one strike already with the Academy Board. And Carmen, she doesn’t seem like the stay-out-of-trouble type.”
I barked out a laugh, because he couldn’t have been more right. “That’s what you don’t understand. Trouble follows her and her littermates around like a fourth sibling. But Mouse is the worst. Enit is sweet, but she's a little devilish too, though in a much more subtle way than Mouse. Christopher is an Alpha, and quite a powerful one. Combined with his trauma, it makes him a little volatile.”
“Trauma?”
I shook my head. “Not my story to tell.” Although it was one that everyone in Dark River and Nîso knew. But still, I’d give Mouse the opportunity.
“Would he hurt my sister?” Ah, I’d heard about the squabble between Cara and Christopher. Something told me that there was a fine line between hate and lust with those two.
Still, I took my eyes off the road so Sammie could see my absolute sincerity when I said, “He would rather die than lay a hand on your sister in violence. I swear on my life, and give you my word as Alpha-Heir of Nîso.”
Sammie dipped his chin. “You don’t have to use your hands to hurt though, do you?” I didn’t answer, and the question must have been rhetorical, because then he asked, “Why do you call her Mouse? I can’t think of anything less fitting for her.”
Memories of a younger Carmen rushed to the surface, but they were memories colored by a little boy’s obsession. “When Carmen and her littermates arrived in Canada, Carmen didn’t speak to anyone but Christopher and Enit. Those three used to be able to speak telepathically, I’m not sure if they outgrew it or not. Like it was the magic’s defense against their situation, and once it determined they were safe, it just receded.” I shrugged because I had no idea. “Anyway, she was completely mute, but she was also stealthy. She would creep around in the shadows, trying to ensure no one saw her, so that she didn’t have to interact with people any more than necessary. My Matriarch, before she died, said she was quiet like a mouse shifter. It made her laugh at a time when you never heard a sound pass her lips, so it became a nickname and it stuck.” Apart from those few years when she was going from kid to teenager and hated everyone and everything, including the nickname, she’d embraced being Mouse. “Now, it's more like one of those ironic names, because there's nothing timid about her.”
We sat in silence for a while, me stuck in my memories and Sammie figuring out whatever it was he needed to figure out. I pulled into Carmen’s driveway just as the sun dipped behind the horizon. It wouldn’t be full dark for a few more hours, but this time of the day was more comfortable for the newer vampires.
Sammie’s eyes seemed to take in everything, and as he leaned over to grab the cake from the center seat, I noticed the hard outline of a gun at his waistband. When he stood, I frowned at him. “You know that won’t do you any good here, right? You can’t shoot a vampire with normal bullets. It just pisses them off.”
He nodded, though I could almost see him mentally filing it away. “I’m here to meet my, uh, girlfriend’s parents. I don’t want to shoot anyone. I just wear it out of habit.” I guess, for a human in a paranormal world, that would make sense. I didn’t blame him, but the idea of him trying to shoot Nico or Lucius? Or hell, X? They would tear him apart for the insult.
At least Walker would probably listen to reason. Maybe.
We only just beat Christopher and everyone else home, which would probably grate against his competitive Alpha nature, but fuck it. I smiled smugly as he slid out of the driver’s seat and scowled at me.
“Getting slow?” I taunted with a grin, and he gave me
the finger.
He looked over at Enit. “Enit was running late from Shamanistic Medicine and Indigenous Treatments class. Had too many questions.” He sounded simultaneously indulgent and annoyed, which summed up his relationship with his Omega sister completely. He was harder on Carmen, but that was because Carmen enjoyed winding him up way too much. Speaking of which, she slid out of the car, her fingers twined with Flint’s. He looked like he wanted to eat her alive, and it was an expression I knew well. When she got closer, I pulled her from his arms and into mine, kissing her like I owned her. It was a lie. If anyone was conquered, it was me. She owned me heart and soul. But it wouldn’t hurt to remind them that I was first among equals.
She moaned against my lips, until Christopher came over and slapped the back of my head. I looked over my shoulder and growled at him. He just rolled his eyes and herded Enit into the house.
Enit waggled her eyebrows at us, and I had a feeling she knew more about everything than she let on. “Come inside. If Brody comes out and catches you guys making out in the street, he’ll be pissed.”
Yeah, she had a point and I was on thin ice with the Alpha as it was. I walked up to the door and Lucius appeared from nowhere.
Mouse’s scariest parent was identical twins with her coolest parent. Lucius and Nico were like night and day, both in personality and in parenting.
Lucius looked between Flint and Sammie, his eyes dropping to the bulge where Sammie’s gun was. “The Alpha-Heir is correct, that will do you no good here.”
Because he was either brilliant or stupid, I wasn’t sure which, Sammie pulled the gun from the holster sitting at his lower back and handed it to Lucius, butt first.
We all froze as Lucius looked from the gun now in his hand, to the very human guy in front of him. “You’re human, correct?” Sammie nodded, and Lucius just stared at him appraisingly. Then, surprising each and every one of us, he handed the gun back to Sammie. “Interesting. They are out back grilling meat.”
Then he disappeared like he’d never been there at all. “Damn, I think I just pissed myself,” Flint whispered, and Mouse snorted.
“He’s a marshmallow. Let’s go.” She tugged Flint into the house, Sammie close on his heels. When he looked at me, his expression said he knew how close he’d come to death. He’d gambled and it was good, but damn it had some serious potential to go wrong.
Lucius was a psycho. He’d kill Sammie just to watch him bleed red on the lawn. It was a testament to how much he really loved Mouse that Sammie still lived. I herded them all into the house, like leading lambs into the lion’s den, and Carmen threw her backpack beside the door.
“Put that away,” Tex, her dad, said from somewhere in the house, his sense of hearing more honed in both his human and shifter form.
Flint leaned back toward me. “Do I have to remember all their names?”
I nodded. “Default to Sir. Trust me on this one,” I whispered back.
Mouse huffed, picking up her bag and then tossing it through the door of her bedroom. It was a mess of clothes and band posters, but it smelled like her and I wanted to go and roll on her bedsheets like the truly pathetic creature that she’d made me.
We walked through the house which was really a home. There were pictures of Mouse and her siblings all over the walls, pictures of them on holidays, of Raine and all the guys together. There were trophies and awards and all that shit that came with being parents.
Carmen pushed through the back door and I realized everyone had turned out to give Flint the third degree. While I was glad it wasn’t me, again, I kind of felt protective of the Ifrit kid, purely for the fact Mouse liked him. Plus, he was kinda funny. And hot.
Their eyes bounced between the three of us; me, Flint and Sammie. “You brought a human for dessert? You shouldn’t have, Squeak,” X cooed, and Mouse rolled her eyes.
She grabbed Sammie’s hand and dragged him to her side. She glared at them all. “Mine. Sammie is mine. Don’t give me that, ‘we’re vampires and can’t help ourselves’ bullshit either.”
X laughed, and ruffled her hair. “You’re my favorite.”
“Liar. You said Christopher was your favorite yesterday, and Enit was your favorite when she made you pancakes on Sunday.”
He shrugged. “I’m fickle.”
Liar. He might be a scary psychopath, but he loved these guys equally. Mouse rolled her eyes again and stood in the middle of her parents. “Guys, this is Flint and Sammie. They’re my boyfriends.”
She stuck out her chin defiantly, as if she was daring them to say something about her having a human and an Ifrit as boyfriends. Though of the two, Flint was probably the easier to accept.
Raine looked over at me, her eyebrow raised. “I thought you were with Bobby?”
Mouse looked over at me, a small, secret smile curling her lips. That smile—no, it was more a smirk—made my heart race.
Sammie looked between us both. “Aren’t they fated mates? I mean, I’ve only ever seen it once, but the way you spoke about her in the car ride over, I just thought—” he cut off as Mouse’s head whipped toward him.
“What?”
Sammie seemed to realize he’d fucked up, and I felt the blood drain from my face. “Hey, what the hell do I know? I’m a human. Hey, I brought cake? Where should I put it?” Desperation began to edge his voice.
“Fuck the cake, Sammie. Explain.”
He looked at me and my blood started to rush in my ears. Shit. Fuck. His gaze bounced around the rest of them, though only Christopher and Flint seemed to still be confused. Enit just looked worried.
She’d known.
Sammie dragged his eyes back toward Carmen. “I’m no expert. But he’s an Alpha, and the way he is with you, the protectiveness, the raw way he looks at you, it’s a lot like a bear couple I knew that were fated mates. But I might totally be wrong?”
She dropped his hands and stepped toward me. When we were toe to toe, she looked up at me, her eyes somewhere between angry and tearful.
“Is that true? Am I your fated mate?”
I wanted to lie. To keep things the way they were, because they were finally good. But I couldn’t lie to her.
“Yes.”
I should have expected the fist she threw at my nose.
21
Carmen
So many emotions flashed through my body, I didn’t know how to catalogue it all. I wanted to melt down on the floor.
Was I happy? Yes. Of course I was. You know how often fated mates meet? Almost never.
Was I glad that I was Bobby’s fated mate? More than I could ever express.
Was I angry? Hell motherfucking yes I was. He’d known. He’d known that we were mates and he never said a word.
I stared up at him, my skin alternating from hot to clammy to hot again. “Exactly how long have you known?”
He ground his jaw, but I gave him points for holding my gaze. “The year you turned fourteen. Forever? I don’t really know. You’ve always been mine, I just didn't realize why for the longest time.”
“You’ve known for years?” I screeched.
My dad stepped forward. “You were too young to be thinking about mates at fourteen, fated or not.” He was talking as Pack Alpha, not my dad.
I turned to him, and the look on his face spiked my rage too. “You knew too?” I looked around at the rest of my family. Stupid question. Brody would have known, and if Brody knew, then everyone knew. They didn’t keep secrets from each other.
But it was Enit’s face that hurt me most. “No.”
“Carmen,” she pleaded.
I was done. I looked at Christopher. “Give me your keys.”
He frowned and didn’t move. “Carmen…”
I held up a hand and launched myself at him, patting down his pockets until I found his keys. Then I strode back toward Sammie and Flint, not even looking at Bobby. “Let’s go.”
Bobby stepped forward. “Mouse… Carmen, you can’t drive this angry.”
Sammie slipped the keys from my hand. “I’ve got her.” I pretended not to see him mouth, “I’m sorry.”
Raine stepped forward. “Carmen, sweetheart.” I just raised a hand. I didn’t want her excuses.
I dragged Flint toward the door, Sammie behind us. “I’m sorry. Uh, it was nice to meet you,” Sammie said over his shoulder.
I stormed through the house, grabbing my phone and stuffing it in my pocket. Christopher would freak out if he couldn’t get ahold of me, and judging by the shock on his face, he was the only one who hadn’t known.
I don’t know at what point Flint became the herder rather than the herded, but he bundled me into the back seat, climbing in after me and then wrapping me in his arms. Sammie hopped into the driver's seat and pulled out of the driveway.
I turned my face into Flint’s chest and then screamed. Tears burned my eyes, but I didn’t know why I was crying. I hated being lied to, though no one had out and out said that I wasn’t Bobby’s mate. They’d merely omitted the truth.
“I don’t know where I’m going, so I’m just going to drive until you say stop, okay?” Sammie said from the driver's seat, and I sucked in a deep breath, slapped my lady balls and crawled off Flint’s lap. He looked up at me with soft eyes, his lip pulled between his teeth.
“I’m okay. Just angry or surprised or something,” I mumbled. I looked through the front windshield. “Take a left up here.”
I rested my head against the window and tried to unpack my mind the way my parents had taught me when I was a kid. First, I worked out what I was feeling. Angry. Sad. Cheated somehow. But also so damn hopeful. And scared. There was a little part of my brain that wondered if Bobby didn’t tell me I was his mate because he was trying to find a way out of it. Maybe I was too broken, too much stray trash shifter to mate with the next most powerful Alpha of Canada.
Flint gripped my chin, turning my face towards him. “Whatever you are thinking that is making you look so damn sad, I promise you it's not true. Bobby loves you. His face screams it everytime he looks at you.”
Rebels and Runaways: Eden Academy Book One Page 13
