Team Inez (House of Garner Book 2)

by Erin R Flynn

  If you did, thank you. Thank you for respecting me and other authors for their hard work, understanding this is our job, and while we love it, we do deserve to be compensated for all the hours, and hours, and hours we put into it.

  If you did not… Go buy one! You are a thief and your parents and grandparents and cute animals all around the world are ashamed of you. There is no justification for committing this crime because it is a crime, no different than walking into a physical bookstore, taking a print copy off the shelf, and walking out of the store without paying for it.

  There is no such thing as a victimless crime. If you truly believe that, you’ve never been a victim. And the victims aren’t only the authors, but the fans who lose authors that quit over our constantly being stolen from and mistreatment. Mistreating the authors that write the books you like or read—not liking them isn’t an excuse for theft, it’s just extra weird then—that’s not a fan. Fans leave reviews to support. Fans send messages of love. Fans… Well fans are nice. Be nice.

  There are lots of ways to fight eBook piracy, reporting the site even if you’re not the copyright holder is always a good option. If you want to help in the fight, Google it and you can see there are many ways.

  My name is Inez Garner, and I’m a vampire princess. It still sounds crazy to me too, but again, the fangs sold me, especially now that I have my own and drink blood. Things have become more complicated as people give me answers, but I’m no longer alone to handle it all. I have Darius and Jaxon, plus my knights, and maybe one of the oldest vampires alive joining us to help keep me alive.

  That’s not terrifying or anything. But they think I’m Aether’s champion—who is not a guy, but the Goddess of everything—and that’s going to upset a lot of people. Which means they’ll want me dead because sure, there’s not an apocalypse or corrupted trying to eat us all, so I should be the priority never.

  Having help is great though, and it seems like the tide is turning in the war we’re all fighting. We’re working hard to try for a future, and now with some of the amenities we can have because of my abilities with electricity, it looks like we have an actual chance. Well, some days, other days don’t go so well.

  House of Garner is an apocalyptic, hot burning, WhyChoose romance with darker elements, strong language, violence, and a heroine that doesn’t let anyone get in her way.

  1

  “I’m out of ammo,” I called out as I raced behind Wolfe and Wilson, sliding along the tile floor to the bag I’d thought I’d had instead of the one I’d grabbed… Leaving me with only the clips of ammo on my body instead of the extras I’d planned ahead for.

  “Someone’s going to get sidelined from clearing packed buildings,” Wilson about sang, the more playful of the twins and always teasing me.

  “Whatever,” I grumbled, heading back to my spot and switching clips before shooting into the dozens of corrupted at the end of the hall. It was like shooting fish in a damn barrel once we got them together. I kept firing at any heads that moved until they all seemed dead, the shots echoing in the hospital as nothing else made a sound.

  “I think we’re clear,” Vance called from the other side of the reception area since they’d gone left and our group right.

  “We’re clear,” Jaxon said, Darius echoing him.

  I stood and stretched, smiling widely as the adrenaline pumped through me. “We’re just that good.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me when I turned to face him. “Oh? And who ran out of ammo?”

  “I grabbed the wrong bag, it was fine,” I said calmly. I felt a flare of anger when he opened his mouth to say something, sensing it and backing down. “Thank you for being worried about me, and I know you guys are all gung ho to protect me, but if you try to put me up in the crazy safe princess box, I will lose my mind and not behave well.”

  He leaned down and gave me a soft kiss. “Thank you for always discussing things with us and making keeping you safe easier on us.” Another, longer kiss, and he smirked at me. “That was some hot shooting.”

  “And a shocking amount of corrupted,” Darius said as we headed out.

  Yeah, it was.

  We’d spent days clearing out Boston and loading up trailers to hide while scouting for supplies, before heading around New Hampshire and Vermont and finding what I needed to, what the pull made me need to find. So we’d gotten more marked off the map and baddies dead before handling what we could of Maine then making our way up to Canada.

  Which put us in St. John the first day of April and seriously confused as to how many corrupted were here. At first, the leopards had kidded it was some sort of April Fool’s Day joke because why were there so many here, but when we could sense them too, it just seemed out of place. Had people fled north thinking there would be less and walked right into packs of them?

  Probably, which was sad.

  It had been almost a month since I’d met Darius and my life had flipped on its head, but I wouldn’t have changed that for anything. My life was infinitely better since meeting him and Jaxon, the leopards as well. We had a plan and were getting shit done in a world that was too lost. We were building towards a future, and I couldn’t imagine life without them now.

  We worked our way through buildings to put down more corrupted so we could have the peaceful night we’d planned on before heading to the camp they’d plotted. Giving up navigation and handling the logistics was something I gladly did. Not having memories besides the past five years was not easy, and they had a lot more years than me, so that was smart to hand it over.

  As dinner was cooking, I worked on my new project with Vance’s help. He was a civil engineer and had studied advanced farming, so he wanted to help me organize the seeds I got when ghosts dissipated around me, plotting for what we would build once we finally arrived at what would be my coven. Heavy stuff, but that wouldn’t be for a while, and it felt nice to feel like we had a future.

  They’d gotten me a huge book that cataloged every known seed, and then we’d hit a craft store to organize them. We’d found a tower of interlocking boxes that each held twenty-eight smaller containers that was meant for bead sorting and storage but was perfect for our needs. So after we also found a label maker, we had a plan, and I really liked my plans.

  And I really liked feeling a bit settled on the path instead of just crazy. I had lived so long in the crazy that now I was shown better ways and had help, I wanted that. I wanted that a lot.

  I had worried that sorting them would be a problem or not what I was supposed to do, but it felt right. The only thing I ever noted from them was which was the first seed and not to let others touch them when I collected them after the ghost was gone. It was fine for Vance to touch them now to sort them, which I thought weird, but Darius had said Aether probably wanted him to help me.

  I wasn’t sure how sold I was on all of this big G Goddess stuff and feeling a bit like mice being pushed through Her maze, but well, I liked answers better than no fucking clue and scared all the time. After sorting and dinner, the guys cleaned weapons before they said they were going to go on a run, and I had some nice alone time with Jaxon and Darius.

  As in naked, not alone time.

  They’d worn me out, but a nightmare had woken me. I didn’t remember it, but I felt upset, closed in. I saw the twins were sleeping in the huge king sized bed the camper had, which was “my” room. I wiggled out from between them—used to the leopards being snuggly and snoozing with me since Jaxon and Darius didn’t need to sleep as long—careful not to wake them.

  I was glad to see the other three were sleeping soundly on the couches, as they needed rest too when we’d all been pushing. I snuck outside, feeling like I could bre
athe again in the cool night air and shaking off the remnants of the nightmare I couldn’t remember.

  Glancing over my shoulder when I heard a splash, my mouth went dry when I saw it was Kristof coming out of the bay. He was even more beautiful wet and in the moonlight. His gaze was locked with mine, and once again I felt like prey, knowing very much that he was the more powerful one as he moved towards me with all the sleek grace of a deadly predator.

  “Your men aren’t here,” he told me as he rubbed his hair with a small towel, drawing my attention away from his hypnotic eyes and reminding me he was naked.

  And I’d never seen that before. I watched as water dripped down his thick arms, along his neck and chest, able to easily see as we were almost the same height.

  He took in a slow, full breath as he eyed me over as well. “Is there something I can do for you, Princess?” He smiled when I flushed, realizing I was only in the tiny chemise Darius had wanted to see me in and it didn’t even cover my ass. Still, I couldn’t help myself from looking, wanting to see all of him.

  My eyes went wide at what I found. For the love of fuck, he was huge, and he wasn’t even fully hard.

  He chuckled and moved closer until he dripped on me as he whispered in my ear. “Tell me, did you clench your thighs or your sexy pussy become wet?”

  “A bit of both,” I admitted, not seeing any reason to lie. I swallowed loudly as I still stared at it, shivering when it grew harder and bigger. “Does that throw you off balance?”

  “I’m long used to it.” He moved his hand to it and stroked it. “I would like to feel you wrapped around it.”

  That broke the spell I was under, looking away and turning a bit. “Um, sorry, that was rude but, well—”

  “I’ve seen every inch of you and multiple times, so it seemed only fair you could look when I so obviously wanted you to?” he teased me. “Look all you want, Princess, but I’d like an answer.”

  I cleared my throat. He hadn’t asked a question, but I guessed that was an offer. “Um, well, ah—” I cleared my throat again and shivered when I felt a few drops of cold water on my naked skin, knowing he’d move closer. “You’ve said you won’t stay.” I swallowed worry as the temperature seemed to rise and I assumed it was because of his anger.

  “So one must swear to be yours forever to sample your sweet pussy?”

  I flinched, moving away and meeting his angered gaze. “No, and I didn’t say that.” I blew a raspberry. “I care for Darius and Jaxon. It would kill me if they just hooked up with another woman. I’ve told them only them and—you don’t want to stick around, so it seems wrong to even think of doing something without talking to them. They deserve more respect from me than that.”

  And then I about fled, wanting what he offered and him. But he’d made it clear that he wasn’t staying, just joining us for now like he was bored, so touching that stove, that predator, seemed stupid.

  Even if I really, really wanted to.

  The whole situation didn’t put me in the best of mood, so hours later when Darius and Jaxon returned, I’d had a while to simmer. They looked like kids who got busted as they came into the camper.

  I glanced between them and let out a slow breath. “Thank you for wanting to protect me, but I want you both safe too. I know you get up and sneak out to go kill more corrupted so I won’t, but don’t you think I worry too? You didn’t even take the fucking radio with you so I could check on you.”

  “You’re right, we’re sorry,” Jaxon said gently, Darius the same.

  I gave a firm nod and bit my finger before drawing a small heart on their skin. They moaned at how good it felt to have my blood on them and it was our thing. They now wrote “Love” on me sometimes, and I’d gotten to the point where I could respond with a tiny heart. It was huge for me, and I was grateful they didn’t push me, accepted that I meant it.

  “I’m taking a shower alone,” I grumbled, forgiving them but still anxious. I didn’t want to sound like a baby, but I felt off from the nightmare and then they’d just been gone. I didn’t like that, and simmering for hours with worry really hurt.

  They didn’t let me shower alone though, joining me and asking what else was going on. I told them, only because it was fair that if I wanted them to be more honest with me—telling me they were going out to hunt—I couldn’t turn around and hide stuff from them.

  “Sorry we weren’t here,” Darius murmured, hugging me to him.

  “I’m not a baby that needs one of you here, it was just how it played out, and I don’t like being placated,” I clarified, glad when they nodded and we were good. We hurried to finish so we didn’t use all the hot water, and I bit back a laugh as Jaxon pulled out another sexy chemise for me to wear. I took it and gave him a serious look. “Be careful how often you sneak out of my bed when I wear these for you.”

  He swallowed loudly, both of them loving how I’d wear whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. Darius gave me a worried look as well, and I was glad they were taking what I said seriously. I put it on and headed to the kitchen, glad it was before sunrise so I could get going on my plan.

  “Coffee,” Vance grumbled as he stumbled over to me.

  “No, take the pot and have coffee out on the patio thing,” I muttered, tossing him the bag of grounds. “I’ve got the kitchen. All of you out.”

  “The super secret project?” Darius teased me as he moved behind me, kissing my shoulder as his hands ran up my thighs.

  “Yes, out.”

  “Fine, but if it’s as good as I know it will be after all your plotting, we’re going to eat you out on this counter to thank you for spoiling us,” he warned me. I shivered, knowing they would absolutely do that.

  “Shit, now I’m really nervous,” I muttered when I was alone. I shook it off and got to work, already several steps into my plan. After they’d gotten me the seeds book, I’d gone back to that bookstore and started doing some research on how to make things better for us. We had electricity and now the camper, so that meant room for appliances.

  So yeah, no more kettle on the grill, but a coffee maker. We’d gotten a ton of eggs from that farm outside Boston, and that had been part of my research, as you could freeze eggs. And they’d butchered a bunch of pigs, and Jaxon had done whatever to make bacon. Plus, the wheat which they’d harvested. That had been a bit of a clusterfuck to figure out, but Kristoff had actually jumped in.

  And now I was trying to put all the efforts together for something I’d been plotting by getting the wheat grinder, the meat grinder, the blender, the food processor, the mixer with dough attachment, and all the right ingredients.

  Well, except butter, cheese, or milk. They’d have to make due with oil, fake cheese flavoring, and powdered creamer.

  They’d been smart picking the camper with the biggest kitchen and appliances since we had more than enough storage. Heck, the place was so cool there was a loft where a few of them could crawl up over the entertainment unit and crash.

  It took over an hour, as the dough needed time to rise, but I was pretty sure I managed when the bread came out looking like, well, bread. And it smelled good, so I wasn’t sure how bad it could be. I started bringing everything outside to the folding table we had now, knowing they were all waiting.

  “Bread, really?” Wilson asked, smiling widely. “Nice.”

  “Say that after you try it,” I worried, rushing back in and grabbing the rest, thanking Vance when he came in and helped me. They already had plates and whatnot, and I sat nervously, worrying.

  Jaxon jumped right in, his eyes going wide as he took the first bite. “Shit, this is awesome. What is this?”

  “A scrambler,” I answered. “It’s breakfast potatoes, the bacon you handled, and I made sausage patties that I crumbled up. Eggs with powdered cheese, and I made a salsa.” I shrugged. “We found that lime tree that had some and basil at that farm, so it was supposed to be cilantro according to the book, but I thought it was okay.”

  “It is, and this bread
is perfect,” Darius praised.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, why are you so nervous?” Callum chuckled.

  “It’s my first time cooking,” I told him, accepting the piece of bread Darius handed me. “Or that I remember. I’ve helped Jaxon and learned from him, but the rest were the cookbooks I got.”

  “It’s delicious, truly,” Kristoff complimented. “The bread is basic, but that’s an important starting line to grow from. Well done.”

  “Thanks.” I took a bite of it, agreeing that it was basic, but it was most certainly bread and good. Thank fuck. I would have hated to waste the flour we’d gone through so much trouble with. I mean, they’d harvested it by hand, and then we’d beaten it up to get the wheat berries, and separating that had been a bitch. So yeah, no wasting flour.

  “I believe we promised to eat you on the counter,” Jaxon murmured when breakfast was over and all of it was gone.

  I yelped as he plucked me out of my chair and carried me inside, doing just as he said, taking turns with Darius even… While Kristof watched. He sat in the living area, sipped his coffee, and enjoyed the show. I came so hard when I locked gazes with him. I so wanted to touch that dangerous animal even if he bit me.

  Something was wrong with me in the head.

  Later when we got ready to handle the ghosts, Jaxon and Darius cornered me in the bedroom, each giving me a soft kiss.

  “You should take Kristof up on his offer,” Jaxon said gently, hugging me when I flinched and went to pull away. “We know you’re interested, Inez, we can smell it, sense it.”

  “It’s okay,” Darius whispered, cupping my cheek. He licked his lips and chose his next words carefully. “Our princess can do whatever she wants, always. As our woman who we talked about us being together, we’re saying we’re okay with it as long as we know the person, know you’re safe with them.” He shook his head when I opened my mouth. “It’s okay, really.”

  “We know you’ve said you’d die if we ever touched another woman, but we have hundreds of years of history,” Jaxon reminded me. “We’ve experienced lots, and what kind of men would we be if we didn’t want the same for you?” He kissed my hair. “You don’t want a normal princess/nobles relationship, and we adore that about you, Inez, we do.”