“Potentates are definitely a breed apart.” Midas rubbed his thumb across his phone screen, like he was contemplating making another call or wished for one that hadn’t come through. “You can’t let one psychotic vampire break your goodness of heart, Grier.”
Volkov didn’t deserve all the blame, and neither did vampires in general or Last Seeds in particular. Lacroix had done his part, and so had Odette. So had a lot of others. And the more I thought about all the ways they had attempted to control me, to manipulate me, to ruin my life, the more determined I became to have this huge wedding to show anyone who ever thought they could keep me down that I had made my own choices, and they could suck my big toe if they didn’t like it.
Make no apologies for surviving.
I hadn’t then, and I wouldn’t now.
“How can you be so blasé about this?” I wanted to rip out my hair. “Eva—”
“We’ve doubled down on protection for Eva. She was your weak spot and an easy target. You love her, and she runs wild all over your property and Lethe’s.” He opened his mouth, shut it, then shook his head. “We’ve got this in hand.”
Much as I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t shake the prickling sensation between my shoulder blades.
“When do the festivities begin?” I searched their faces. “I can’t even remember what day it is, honestly.”
“Remain vigilant and wear clean underwear.” Midas coughed into his fist. “That’s all I can say.”
“Goddess,” I breathed, already terrified of being at the mercy of Lethe’s imagination.
“I should be getting back.” Midas stood, his back to us, and finally put the phone away. “Linus, did Hadley mention where she’s staying?”
“Not to me.” He glanced at me. “Grier?”
“I assumed she would stay in the carriage house.”
There was a slim possibility she might stay with Adelaide, but it was up in the air last week.
“She’s been invited to stay with the Atlanta pack.” Midas hesitated. “At Lethe’s.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. Lethe hadn’t mentioned it, but she might not know if her mother was the one who extended the invitation. Alphas tended to take for granted they could do whatever they wanted, regardless of whose hospitality they tread on. “She accepted?”
“Not last I heard.” He rolled his shoulders, as if he could feel my gaze heavy on his back. “Let me know if she shows up here?”
“Sure thing.” I bit my bottom lip. “She’ll be at the bachelorette party, right?”
“As far as I know.” He paused at the front door. “Grier…”
“I won’t mention you asked,” I promised. “And I won’t tease you about Hadley.”
“To my face?” A smile warmed his voice. “I know how sisters operate.”
Sister.
That he included me in his definition of pack never ceased to amaze me. That he viewed me as a sister…
I was grateful he kept his back to me. I didn’t want him to see me cry and think he had overstepped.
Woolly held the door open for him, and he smiled up at the foyer chandelier.
About to leave, he hesitated on the threshold. “What’s Oscar doing?”
“Corbin was playing hide-and-seek with him last I heard. If they’ve moved on from that, your guess is as good as mine. Be careful, though. Corbin sent him a paintball gun for his birthday, but he hasn’t visited to play with him in person until now. I predict the woods are about to become a war zone for as long as Oscar can manifest, and he’s been sleeping for days in preparation.”
Midas cranked his head toward me. “You’ve got an interesting family.”
Grateful he included himself in that number, I winked. “I’m lucky like that.”
Laughing softly, he exited the house and trotted in the opposite direction of where I suspected Corbin and Oscar were setting up their ambush. Now that I thought about it, I bet it was all linked to their plans for Linus. I could see them duking it out with the gwyllgi in a no-holds-barred paintball extravaganza. I just hoped they didn’t paint the house by accident.
Alone with Linus, I wished I could curl up with him on the couch, snack on some of his extra buttery popcorn, and count down the minutes until the real insanity began, but we were no closer to catching Volkov, or whoever did his dirty work these days, and I owed the florist one last visit.
Ten
Flower Power, my adorable hippy florist, was ash by the time I arrived, and the backs of my eyes stung. Imagining it had been bad enough. This…this was so much worse. Its bright paint was blackened with char, and its retro art was reduced to blobs and globs and crust. And the mountains of flowers destined for our venue…gone up in smoke.
Gilly, the cleaner Linus had thinned from the herd, met us with a clipboard in hand.
“Hey.” I stepped up to greet her. “Any news on Mr. Laurent?”
“He was out with his girlfriend.” Her gaze softened. “There are no casualties.”
“Thank the goddess.” I clutched Linus’s arm. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all night.”
“Dame Woolworth—” she began.
“Please.” I rushed to put her at ease. “Call me Grier.”
Cleaners tended to be pack animals in the same way as gwyllgi, though they were comprised of all species in a given area in order for each faction to receive equal representation. They practiced isolationism to avoid even a whiff of controversy, so it was doubly a treat to meet one so normal.
I was impressed Linus had managed to earn preferential treatment, and he would have earned it, not bought it, as most folks would assume based on his station.
“I would rather not,” she said, but not unkindly. “I must ask you to leave until we’ve finished processing the scene. Our findings will be uploaded into the database throughout the day. The full report will be available within forty-eight hours.”
In two days, I would be married and off on my surprise honeymoon adventure. That was the plan. Had been the plan, anyway. I couldn’t leave my family and friends alone with this. Bad enough our wedding plans had gotten rocky, but I could manage. Missing two weeks of hogging Linus all to myself? That would suck.
“Of course,” Linus said, stepping into the breach. “Grier wanted to check on Mr. Laurent in person, but we’re pleased to hear he wasn’t present during the fire.”
“He’s behind the barricade.” She singled him out from the crowd. “You can talk to him if you like. Just stay on that side of the caution tape.”
“Thanks.” I backed away, into the crowd, and sought out Mr. Laurent. “Your beautiful store. I’m so sorry.”
“I have insurance.” He waved off my concern. “I started moving in with my girlfriend last week, so my apartment was mostly empty.”
“I didn’t realize you lived above the store.”
“Only for a few months while I waited on my house to sell and for Lexie and me to find a new place.”
A chill swept through me, tingling in bumps down my arms. Javier was killed at his sewing machine. Mr. Laurent could have just as easily burned to ash above his flowers. The baker and caterer ought to be safe. We had posted sentinels under the guise of private security with them to ensure no one tampered with the food. That call had been made early in to protect the guests, not Leslie or Vonda, but guilt made breathing hard when we could have prevented this by posting sentinels with all our vendors.