Gypsy Rising (All The Pretty Monsters Book 5)

by Kristy Cunning

  When tears start rushing down her cheeks, I quickly grab her, cradling her to me.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Damien. She’d never forgive you and you know it,” I say to him, causing Violet’s eyes to dart all around.

  Damien turns visible just in time to open the door in front of us.

  His look is as cold as mine, as his jaw tics with the same violent urges I’m suppressing right now.

  “Bloody aware,” Damien says through his barely restrained ire.

  That blue fucking book is a nightmare of procedures. Most of those procedures call for the woman, whom we all desperately covet, to have her ass stomped without any retaliation of any sort. It’s not okay.

  We signed this shit.

  We signed it without ever once thinking Violet would deceive us in a way that would affect us.

  She’s left us mostly powerless in moments like this.

  But she came to me.

  I exhale into her hair as I hug her tighter, gently carrying her up the stairs toward my room. I feel Damien trailing me as I go.

  “The Simpletons are a dangerous stock, even if they are ridiculous and gentle the vast majority of the time,” Damien states in a tone of forced pleasantry.

  Violet grips me tighter around my neck, even though she feels mostly limp, as more tears leak from her eyes.

  “Did you at least unleash your own monster to challenge hers?” Damien asks her, his forcibly pleasant tone failing in the heat of his frustrating helplessness.

  “Yes,” Anna supplies with a roll of her eyes. “She lost control, so now she’s drowning in pointless guilt for the what-ifs and blah, blah, do-gooder-perfectionism blah. She’s upset that she upset Caroline—you know, the crazy bitch who charged her like a territorial rhino for not fucking the four of you.”

  My footsteps halt, and Violet glares over at Anna, who grins and gives her a little wave.

  “Your secrets are not safe with me when they’re stupid secrets,” Anna continues. “You brought me back from the super dead. I’d like to keep you among the truly living to pay off that really big debt I sort of owe you.”

  Blinking out of my trance, I numbly move Violet to my bed and go to grab some of her healing potions from my drawer.

  “How did she bring you back?” Damien asks like it’s idle conversation.

  Violet rolls her eyes before narrowing them at him, while he pretends to be oblivious to her annoyance. Anna shrugs a shoulder.

  “A big hole tore through the third dimension where ghosts go after final decay. I managed to leap through it at the last possible minute during the cosmic upset at the Simpleton gravesite, because Violet told me where to go,” Anna explains.

  My eyes move to Violet, brow furrowing, as she allows her eyelids to flutter shut.

  Carefully lifting her head, I pour the healing potions down the back of her throat instead of onto the wounds. She’s given us instructions in that damn book as to how to tend to her in moments of crisis.

  “That’s ludicrous. Ghosts turn to piles of salt and cease to exist. There is no third dimension,” Damien cuts in, sounding highly suspicious.

  “Says you. I’m pretty sure I know more about ghosts than you do, pretty boy,” Anna purrs, running her finger over his shoulder. “Too bad I lost my libido there,” she adds on a putout sigh, as she moves back to Violet’s side.

  She barely even spares us a glance, as she plops down on the bed beside Violet. Violet stares at us like she’s daring us to say something paranoid and suspicious toward her…friend.

  “We’re going to have to talk about this eventually,” I inform her, as I pour more healing potion down her throat.

  “Should have done that five months ago…back when you probably should have first noticed me,” Anna drawls with a devilish grin.

  Violet gives me a look that tells me she’s agreeing with the impossible ghost at her side.

  “Marta Portocale hasn’t drained you of your life yet?” I idly muse.

  “Am I still sitting here? I suppose that answers that question then,” Anna says around a derisive snort.

  Clearly I’m not getting any answers about her existence today. Which is fine. Anna is the least of our concerns.

  Violet’s body is more damaged than I realized, because her mangled jaw took up most of my attention. Now I’m noticing the bruises as they get more and more defined.

  She took Caroline on during a manic rage fit. Bobo once obliterated my entire house and houseguests during one of his fits.

  “I’d say you should see the other girl, but Violet didn’t do much damage,” Anna states like she’s annoyed with this, shooting a glare toward Violet.

  Violet’s eyes only well up with more tears, and Anna looks away, muttering something about being too soft.

  When Violet’s body goes limp, finally succumbing to the exhaustion that was likely caused by the painful damage, I thread our fingers together.

  “Caroline did this because of Violet’s hesitance to take us back?” Damien asks Anna when we hear Violet snore.

  Anna’s eyes collide with his, as a dark grin emerges on her red lips. “You’re talking to me while she’s asleep? I thought the dead shouldn’t influence the living,” she says with a deepening grin.

  “Stop being so terribly creepy and answer the question before I throw salt at you,” Damien states in a bored drawl.

  Anna shrugs and rolls her eyes. “It’s more fun when I’m creepy. But whatever. Be a prude. Anyway, yeah. So Caroline has been stalking Violet for a while, whispering through the walls to her, tracking her every single movement. She even hangs out in the walls beside Violet’s room when she sleeps. If you think I’m creepy, you best put her way ahead of me, because that crazy bitch wants to live in Violet’s skin and show her how to be better at beating Idun, at least when it comes to the four of you.”

  There was a time when Caroline tried to give us ‘love potions’ to steal us from Idun, simply to weaken the Neopry alpha. We never told Idun about the failed attempt made by the pitiful Simpleton.

  My phone rings, and I glance down, finding Arion’s name flashing across the screen.

  “Not a word about this. He’ll do something terrible to Caroline, and Violet will possibly never speak to him again,” I tell Damien, who simply grinds his jaw.

  “The temptation is unbearable,” he confesses, as he tosses salt at Anna, who curses when she’s ejected from the room.

  He takes her spot on the bed next to Violet, as I answer the call.

  “Now’s not a good time, Arion. We’re—”

  “I’m putting together a fun little Monster Olympics,” Arion says with all seriousness.

  I shoot an incredulous gaze to Damien, who looks as stupefied as I feel.

  “Monster Olympics?” Damien mouths.

  “Violet once told me she’d always wanted to be a team mascot, but she never spent enough time in a town to make friends, let alone become a part of a team,” Arion goes on. “I’ve already secured an appropriate sized stadium, several horses, some of those unnecessary hurdles people now put on tracks just to make running harder, and a few other things. I’m looking for a band. According to my research, all good events have big names headlining for such events.”

  Pinching the bridge of my nose and exhaling, I lean forward, closing my eyes, and give him my full attention.

  “Arion, what’s brought this on?” I ask on a tired sigh.

  “Violet stuck me in the friend zone. I’m going to remind her I’m one helluva romantic son of a bitch, far more so than any of you lot. Then she’ll be my bride.”

  I drop the phone, barely managing to catch it before it hits the ground. Damien’s eyes are wide and round when I glance over at him.

  Quickly, I pull the phone back up to my ear and say, “This is sudden. You can’t just claim Violet to be your bride after spending centuries begging Idun for—”

  “I never asked Idun to be my bride. I knew she’d say no,” Arion drawls. “It’s the only
way I can make Violet understand I’m choosing her. I’ll grovel for Violet in a way I’d never do for Idun.”

  “And a way for you to gain some control over her,” Damien supplies, as he gingerly brushes Violet’s hair away from her face.

  Her jaw makes a few snapping sounds, as it slowly pulls back into place. Idly, I wonder if she fainted on purpose just to avoid feeling all this pain.

  I squeeze her hand in mine and kiss the back of it, as Arion goes quiet.

  “You two have Violet with you, don’t you?” he asks quietly.

  “She’s been injured, and—”

  The bloody fast vampire is suddenly in the room with us, and I sigh as I pocket my worthless phone.

  “Idun?” he asks sharply, cutting his slowly blackening eyes to me…as they begin collecting an alarming red pupil.

  “No,” Damien and I say in unison.

  “Who—”

  “I’ll not tell you, because you’ll do something really unforgiveable in Violet’s eyes, according to her blue book, and she’ll be too angry with you to ever consider being your bride,” I tell him, manipulating him just a little. “Consider this a good favor, Vampyre.”

  He runs two hands through his hair in frustration, jaw tensing, as he looks her over.

  “If she’s this beaten up, it was clearly a strong Simpleton during a manic rage,” he says, repeating all our earlier assumptions.

  The subtle scent of Caroline’s blood has slowly been overpowered and drowned by the stronger scent of Portocale blood that still spills from Violet’s wounds and onto my bed, saturating the comforter. Her scent seems weaker inside the veins lately, for whatever reason, but decidedly very Portocale outside of it.

  “She knew it would happen. They panic too easily,” I state without the details about Caroline’s panic stemming from Violet denying us.

  My free hand fights forming into a fist, because Arion is far too perceptive these days, something I’ve come to realize these past five months.

  “She’s being ridiculous by refusing to have us there. I swore I wouldn’t harm one of them, but I could damn well prevent this shit from ever occurring,” Arion bites out, gesturing toward our very broken little monster.

  “We all sat around jovially bonding over Idun’s asinine TV show, just as our fucked up bitch of an ex-girlfriend wanted us to do,” Damien says as he presses his forehead to Violet’s, likely giving her sweet dreams. “She’s not wrong for being pissed. She’s just insane if she thinks we’ll give up so easily.”

  His eyes cut to mine as he adds, “Quite frankly, everyone should know better.”

  Clearly he’s talking about the worried Simpletons, such as Caroline, who will likely have more and more manic rages.

  “I see what’s going on right now. You two just shared a silent conversation I’m not privy to. What’s going on?” Arion insists.

  Instead of answering, I ask, “What about your Monster Olympics, Arion? It sounds absurd.”

  He drops to the bed and pulls Violet’s feet into his lap, carefully inspecting the swollen bruises around her ankles. His eyes gather darker red pupils that are slowly expanding.

  With a harsh exhale, I notice him fighting the monster back into the cage, which is a rarity with the vampire alpha.

  Not even I’ve ever managed to talk him into trying to cage the monster after it’s been summoned. He likes the freedom too much to assert that sort of control.

  Until Violet.

  With gentle examination, he continues to inspect her ankles while answering, “We’ll include all the alphas and prospective or current betas. Omegas will have a few events they can compete in, but they’ll feel the urge to serve, so we’ll have chores set up for them. Violet will love it. Then I’ll propose.”

  I groan as I scrub a hand over my face. “You can’t be serious,” I mutter under my breath.

  “Of course I’m serious. It’s time we all settle down, and Violet’s just the girl to do it with. Even Emit’s wolf knows it to be true,” the obtuse vampire argues.

  “Too soon, Arion. Way too fucking soon. The damn girl just broke up with us,” Damien reminds him, even as he kisses the inside of her wrist, the place where the bonding mark goes on a female who has accepted an incubus as her Flame.

  Another mark Idun never took…

  “We have too much history with Idun. It’s intimidating to Violet,” I state very pointedly to Arion and Damien.

  “All the more reason to prove she’s who we choose over—”

  My doorbell chimes, and a shock of heat licks up my spine.

  Arion and Damien’s eyes shift to mine.

  “She’s like Beetle Juice. We said her name one too many bloody times,” Damien gripes dispassionately, betraying the unease in his eyes, as he shifts closer to Violet.

  In the next instant, Arion is across the room, and a surprised breath rattles our ears, as Damien and I both dart our gazes over.

  The vampire is as fast as the skin walker these days, it seems.

  Idun is pinned to the wall with Arion’s claws tightly gripping her neck. His lips are curled back, as his fangs extend, and the red in his otherwise fully black eyes isn’t caged this time.

  Idun looks as surprised by it as I feel.

  She recovers quickly, giving him her smug, self-assured little smile. “I just came to inform the resident Van Helsing that I’ve returned and my punishment for overstepping a petty little line has been concluded. I’ll not be punished farther, Vampyre.”

  “There are three other infractions we’ve discovered. Careful how you tread, or I’ll punish you for those as well,” I tell her as I stand, effectively blocking the empty bed from her view.

  In truth, Damien is just masking both he and Violet from plain view.

  I almost worry I’m going to have to pull Arion back when the red in his eyes grows. Idun swallows thickly, eyes more on him than me for the first time ever.

  “Easy, Arion. Don’t overstep,” I caution him. “If your Violet’s monster, listen to me.”

  He doesn’t release her, but he also doesn’t try removing her vulnerable neck between his claws either.

  It’s a pointless endeavor that will only spur vicious retaliation.

  She really can’t smell the blood in this room. Arion wasn’t lying. Her nose is as pointless as Violet’s.

  It’s just one of her best kept secrets that exposes one more weakness I didn’t know I could extort.

  “Unless you’re choosing a side right now, I strongly suggest releasing me,” she says in a cold tone to Arion.

  The wild-eyed vampire simply smirks. “I choose Violet’s side. You’re the one who quickly forced the issue.”

  The casual way he says it makes it sound like a meaningless confession. However, the air is sucked out of the room.

  Idun can’t keep the utter shock off her face. Arion’s lips turn up in a menacing grin, his eyes narrowing on her, as though he’s savoring this moment.

  “Instead of picking my battles, I’ll simply be Violet’s monster. Eventually, she’ll be my bride. And you, Idun? I’ll make you dance like a puppet on strings by the time I’m finished with you. I know all your secrets,” he says, foolishly taunting her, as the red in his eyes deepens and his voice grows into a hiss.

  Idun doesn’t shrink back, but it’s clear she’d like some immediate space between herself and the loyal vampire servant, who has finally growled at its shit master.

  “You were always a volatile beast, Arion. Cutting ties to you will only aide in making me whole again. In this era, I need to be softer, it seems. That will take some work. And you and I will be one less toxic relationship I have to suffer through, while catching all the blame for our wrongs together,” she states sourly.

  Arion’s smirk slips, and I see the way the red in his eyes shuts down. He releases her abruptly, the black in his eyes receding as well.

  Idun gives him a dubious look, before returning her attention to me, her gaze immediately softening.

 
“She always did favor the shining silversmith,” Arion tells me through a tight expression, as he goes to drop onto the bed.

  As if Damien feels like antagonizing her as well, the illusion drops, revealing himself and Violet, just as our fully-healed little monster unconsciously turns over, sliding her leg over Arion’s hip, searching him out in her sleep.

  Idun’s pupils try to dilate, and I see her struggle to keep her composure. I expect Arion to be smirking and enjoying her inconvenient moment of jealousy, but his attention is solely on Violet, as he brushes her hair down around her face and curves an arm around her waist.

  Damien is behind her, gingerly stroking her back as he leans forward to kiss her shoulder.

  Idun won’t know she’s in a weakened state right now. The less curious she is about Violet, the better.

  “I heard this era was more brazen and loose with sexual deviance. I bet it’s delightful to finally be taking advantage,” Idun says to Damien.

  He smirks as he stares at her, not saying anything.

  “You can look at me with all the disdain and hatred in the world. You can rebel and act like children who don’t know what the real world is truly like. You can play house with the sweet, naïve little girl who tickles your easily persuaded fancy,” she continues, flicking her gaze around the room. “But at the end of the day, she’ll never love you at your worst. And eventually, you’ll all return to your worst. I can patiently wait for the new to wear off. I won’t be provoking the silly little thing anymore. You have my word.”

  Damien’s head tips back, and he outright laughs.

  Violet’s certainly a little more accepting of our worst than Idun, but Idun doesn’t quite understand that. Yet. She thinks our worst is rebelling against her desperate, sadistic need for control.

  “Glad to see you’ve graciously matured,” Idun states dryly. In flawless Romanian, with her very memorable accent and her silky, smooth, enchanting voice, she sings, “Sing gypsies, sing of your lies.”

  “She knows of our lies. She knows of our truths. She knows of all our many flaws,” Arion drawls.

  Her lips twist in a very telling grin. “But do they know of your lies, Arion? Did no one bother to find out what secret he’s made the naïve girl keep?” Idun muses, eyes directly on mine.