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Rampant, Vol. 2
Rampant, Vol. 2
Rampant, Vol. 2
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Rampant, Vol. 2

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Little Goddess: Book Four
Vol. 2

Lady Cory has carved out a life for herself not just as a wife to three husbands but also as one of the rulers of the supernatural communities of Northern California—and a college student in search of that elusive degree. When a supernatural threat comes crashing into the hard-forged peace of Green's Hill, she and Green determine that they're the ones in charge of stopping the abomination that created it. To protect the people they love, Cory, Bracken, and Nicky travel to Redding to confront a tight-knit family of vampires guarding a terrible secret. It also leads them to a conflict of loyalties, as Nicky's parents threaten to tear Nicky away from the family he's come to love more than his own life.

Cory has to work hard to hold on to her temper and her life as she tries to prove that she and Green are not only leaders who will bind people to their hearts, but also protectors who will keep danger from running rampant.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 22, 2016
ISBN9781634771825
Rampant, Vol. 2
Author

Amy Lane

Award winning author Amy Lane lives in a crumbling crapmansion with a couple of teenagers, a passel of furbabies, and a bemused spouse. She has too damned much yarn, a penchant for action-adventure movies, and a need to know that somewhere in all the pain is a story of Wuv, Twu Wuv, which she continues to believe in to this day! She writes contemporary romance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and romantic suspense, teaches the occasional writing class, and likes to pretend her very simple life is as exciting as the lives of the people who live in her head. She’ll also tell you that sacrifices, large and small, are worth the urge to write. Website: www.greenshill.com Blog: www.writerslane.blogspot.com Email: amylane@greenshill.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/amy.lane.167 Twitter: @amymaclane

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    Rampant, Vol. 2 - Amy Lane

    Rampant, Vol. 2

    By Amy Lane

    Little Goddess: Book 4

    Vol. 2

    Lady Cory has carved out a life for herself not just as a wife to three husbands but also as one of the rulers of the supernatural communities of Northern California—and a college student in search of that elusive degree. When a supernatural threat comes crashing into the hard-forged peace of Green’s hill, she and Green determine that they’re the ones in charge of stopping the abomination that created it. To protect the people they love, Cory, Bracken, and Nicky travel to Redding to confront a tight-knit family of vampires guarding a terrible secret. It also leads them to a conflict of loyalties, as Nicky’s parents threaten to tear Nicky away from the family he’s come to love more than his own life.

    Cory has to work hard to hold on to her temper and her life as she tries to prove that she and Green are not only leaders who will bind people to their hearts, but also protectors who will keep danger from running rampant.

    Table of Contents

    Blurb

    About Jack & Teague & Katy

    Acknowledgments

    Character Lexicon

    Bracken: Little Deaths

    Cory: Briefly

    Nicky: Life as Bird Boy

    Cory: Black Velvet

    Bracken: Queen Takes Rook

    Teague: Knight’s Dilemma

    Arturo: Bishop Panics

    Cory: Queen’s Defense

    Bracken: Pieces Moving Beyond the Board

    Cory: All the Players on the Board

    Bracken: Wants and Needs

    Cory: Queen’s Gifts

    Nicky: Flying

    Cory: Bloody Moves

    Bracken: Knight in Darkness

    Cory: Queen’s Legion

    Bracken: Knight’s Gambit

    Cory: Check Mate

    Bracken: Forgiving the Queen

    Nicky: Off The Board

    Cory: Meeting the Dawn

    Arturo: Bishop Danced

    Cory: Changing the Board

    Green: Bowing to the Will of the Queen

    Cory: A Brand New Game

    More from Amy Lane

    Readers love the Little Goddess series by Amy Lane

    About the Author

    By Amy Lane

    Visit DSP Publications

    Copyright Page

    About Jack & Teague & Katy—

    THE GREEN’S Hill Werewolves have gone through a couple of incarnations by the time this edition of Rampant goes out. They started out as short novellas on my website, and then they were later picked up by an independent publisher. When Dreamspinner Press told me that they wanted to publish my Little Goddess series, one of my first orders of business was to get the werewolves back so all of Green’s hill could be under one roof.

    That’s happened, but the timeline is just a little bit off. The Green’s Hill Werewolves will be published in two volumes in the early part of next year, before Quickening Volumes 1 and 2. So if you haven’t read about Jack and Teague and Katy yet—well, there really is a story out there. In the meantime, just know that they’re important—and their story is coming.

    Amy

    Acknowledgments

    HOW DO I love these people? Let me count the ways…

    I love everyone who has been with me from the very beginning. I love the people who edited for me when I was an independent writer, shipping my book from person to person in the hopes of feedback, any feedback at all. I love the fans who loved me through all my flaws and continue to love my writing in spite of the fact that my learning curve is as flat as day-old root beer. I love Gin and my current editing team because even though they may possibly hold small private ceremonies to burn me in effigy, they have the grace and good humor not to let me know this happens and to keep all the photographic evidence to themselves.

    I love my family, who still thinks my writing is cool, and my husband, who listens to me talk about imaginary people at inopportune times.

    I love my best friend Mary, because… like whoa. You cannot even believe what she puts up with.

    I love Damon and Tere and Rayna and Kate and everyone in my convention crew, because they listen to my bullshit when I’m at my most vulnerable.

    I love Elizabeth and Lynn, because after seven years, they still want me to write for them, and they’re still happy to hear from me when I do.

    Character Lexicon

    CHARACTERS INTRODUCED IN VULNERABLE:

    Cory. Corinne Carol-Anne Kirkpatrick op Crocken Green started this little adventure as a gas station clerk, and then she met Adrian, a vampire who loved her, and Green, who loved them both. She is now married to Green, Bracken, and Nicky, carries three of Adrian’s marks and so leads his kiss of vampires, and is still trying to get that degree.

    Green. Vernal Green, Lord of Leaves and Shadows. The leader of most of the supernatural peoples in Northern California, Green is not a warrior. Instead he leads and heals with sex and love, and people would die to protect him.

    Bracken. The youngest full-blooded sidhe on the hill, Bracken was Adrian’s lover and fell in love with Cory at first sight. He stepped away from her then, because Adrian loved her and they didn’t share well, but upon Adrian’s death, he became her full-time lover.

    Adrian. Adrian started life as the sexually abused cabin boy whom Green rescued on his way to America. Adrian became a vampire so he wouldn’t age and leave Green alone, and even after he fell in love with Cory, he couldn’t survive without his ties to Green.

    Arturo. Arturo came from the jungles of South America to the new world in the fifties, trying to find an easier life. He found Green’s hill instead, and instead of conquering, fell exquisitely in love (in a very heterosexual way) with a leader who would lead with compassion instead of violence.

    Grace. A devoted family woman, Grace was dying of untreated breast cancer in Redding when Adrian heard her yearning to see her family grow, with or without her. He granted her wish and made her a vampire, and Grace has come to love her Green’s hill family even more intensely than she loved the mortal family she left.

    Mitch. Mitch was Renny’s first lover. Renny loved him since they were kids—when Mitchell was accidentally transformed into a werekitty, Renny actually seduced him so he’d bite her and turn her too. Mitch was skittish and independent and refused to accept Green’s generosity and live in the hill, but Renny’s heart was so twined with his that she almost lost all of her humanity when he was one of Sezan’s first victims.

    Max. Max is the police officer who tried to ‘save’ Cory from Green’s hill when she first met him. In the end, Green’s hill saved him, and he ended up beguiled by a girl who was more cat than human.

    Renny. Renny became a werecat to follow her first husband, Mitch, into the life. When Mitch was killed, Renny’s cat personality became dominant and nearly feral. She’s become more human since she and Max have become a couple and gotten married… but not by much.

    Marcus. Marcus was a history teacher with a passion for snow skiing. He’s got curly brown hair, big brown eyes, and a teacher’s affection for Cory. He enjoys their project of documenting the world they’ve found themselves in as he tries to make sense of living with fangs and a taste for blood.

    Phillip. Phillip was a stockbroker with a passion for snow skiing. After Marcus found him buried in an avalanche and brought him over as a vampire, the two spent twenty years struggling with their sexuality and their boundless love for each other. What they finally decided upon was a relationship based on the sentiment I apparently can’t live without you, asshole, and that seems to be working for them.

    Sezan. Part sea-nymph, part human, Sezan is what happens when someone is warped from conception on. He came to NorCal to torment and kill Adrian—but he had help.

    Crispin. Crispin was the kiss leader of the Folsom vampires until Sezan arrived and brainwashed/drugged/threatened him to force Crispin into Sezan’s own vendetta.

    Crocken and Blissa. Bracken’s parents, Crocken and Blissa, are a study in opposites. Blissa is a flittery sex kitten of a four-foot pixie, and Crocken looks like an undusted pile of rocks. Together (and with a little bit of Green’s magic to make everything fit the way it should) they managed to produce Bracken, whom they love to distraction.

    Leah. Leah’s little brother died and Leah descended into a spiral of sex, drugs, and self-destruction. Adrian saved her from all of that, but Leah’s emotional makeup does not include any sort of monogamous relationship. Still, she misses the stability of having a small nuclear family and has spent years trying to find a balance in the hill.

    CHARACTERS INTRODUCED IN WOUNDED:

    Nicky. Nicky is an Avian—a shapeshifter who turns into a bird. He met Cory while she was attending CSU San Francisco immediately after Adrian’s death, when he was working for Goshawk, the bad guy. Nicky accidentally bonded to Green and Cory in the course of saving Bracken’s life, but because he was trying to atone for his assault on Cory at the time, Green and Cory took him into their family—and their bed.

    Mario. Mario was an Avian who worked for Goshawk, the bad guy in Wounded who convinced Nicky to mind-rape Cory on their first date. Mario’s wife, Beth, was killed in an assault on Green’s hill, and Green gave Mario back his will to live. Mario is midheight, stocky, and very proud of his Mexican heritage.

    LaMark. LaMark is another sweet-tempered Avian who had the misfortune to meet up with Goshawk while struggling with his identity. Unfortunately, LaMark’s identity is not a comfortable one—a gay, black Avian is sort of doomed wherever he goes, isn’t he? In spite of that, LaMark is a nice guy with a sense of humor and a blinding smile.

    Andres. Andres is the leader of the San Francisco vampires. In Wounded, he allied his vampires with Cory’s—and passed up on an opportunity to take both Cory and Bracken into his bed.

    Orson. Orson is the leader of the San Francisco werewolves. He’s not a particularly physical fighter, but he is an aggressive advocate for his people.

    Mist. Green’s old lover, Mist betrayed Green to Titania and Oberon. When Green escaped their faerie hill, Mist watched jealously as Green fought for a place of his own. Mist was responsible for sending Sezan Adrian’s way—he couldn’t stand that Green was happy, especially with someone Mist considered inferior.

    Morana. Mist’s lover at the time of Wounded. She’s mostly just a smug, superior, elitist bitch who thought Green was a good lay. For that alone we despise her.

    Goshawk. Goshawk was the leader of the Avians in San Francisco. He was working on world domination when he convinced Nicky to mind-rape Cory in order to get her most powerful memories to drive his power. Nicky was guilt-ridden and turned against his former leader in order to help the girl he hurt.

    Timmy and Danny. Timmy and Danny were two of the Avians who were set against Green’s hill. They were captured instead and given sanctuary. Like LaMark, Mario, and Nicky, they chose to stay at the hill instead of rejoining Goshawk’s forces.

    Titania and Oberon. The traditional leaders of the sidhe in England, Titania and Oberon ruled over a court full of sexual excesses and cruelty. They held Green prisoner in their famed faerie hill because nobody could provide sexual satisfaction like Green. Green hoarded his power, though, and eventually snuck himself and his lime trees out of their garden and across the sea.

    CHARACTERS INTRODUCED IN BOUND:

    Chloe. Grace’s bitter, unpleasant daughter. Chloe had to have her memories of her vampire mother and of Green’s hill wiped in Bound because she was not the kind of mortal Green allowed at the hill (i.e., she was a real bitch).

    Gavin and Graeme. Chloe’s sons, they adored Green’s hill and completely accepted all of the strangeness within. Once a year they come back to the hill—Green has arranged a sham camp to cover for their chance to visit with their grandmother and all the other people they have come to love.

    Sweet. Sweet is one of the more promiscuous sidhe at the hill—but also one of the most pleasant. She’s also one of the three sidhe who are known for being healers.

    Ellen Beth. Ellen Beth was brought to the hill when her lover was infected with some poisonous blood. Her lover died horribly, and Ellen Beth was turned over to Sweet for emotional healing. Sweet decided to keep her, and Ellen Beth has been happy to be kept.

    Eric. Eric is a werecoyote with a sad past and a long-ago history with Green, Bracken, and Adrian. He is content to live in Austin and run his own company, until he meets up with Green and Green introduces him to Nicky. Both of them realize that they have something in common—too low-key for the intense emotions of the hill, they both make better secondary characters… except to each other, where they are the heroes of their own story.

    Kyle. The lone survivor of the Folsom vampires, Kyle’s beloved, a girl named Davy, was killed because she and Cory vaguely resembled each other—and because they were friends. Cory took Kyle into her kiss and forced him to want to live.

    Hallow. Hallow is a sidhe and a professor at Sacramento State University, where Cory and the other students attend school. He is also—by Green’s request—a counselor for the students themselves. Although Green usually counsels his own people, he felt that he was way too close to the situation as Cory’s lover and her leader to be objective or effective, and thus his trust in Hallow.

    CHARACTERS INTRODUCED IN JACK & TEAGUE (& KATY):

    Jack. Jack is actually a nice, quiet young man. When his sister—who became a werewolf by choice—is killed, Jack asks Green for some answers to her world and the people who would kill her. Paired with Teague to be human liaisons to Green’s hill and to go out and deal with violent and legal matters outside the hill, Jack fell utterly and irrevocably in love with his damaged, noble partner. When the two of them become werewolves (Jack by accident and Teague by choice), Jack’s transition to the hill is marred by his realization that Teague really is the great man Jack has always believed—and that means that his loyalties cannot ever be exclusively Jack’s.

    Teague. Teague was brutally abused as a child and inculcated in the same ideas of hate and prejudice that killed Jack’s sister. One night while hunting a werewolf, he is injured while saving the life of a young man who looks very human—and Adrian pays him back by bringing him to Green. From that moment on, he is Green’s devoted subject. When Jack is injured and Cory comforts him while waiting for the injury to heal, Teague’s loyalty is transferred to the lady of the house, even while he pursues a relationship with Katy and Jack, whom he loves beyond reason.

    Katy. Katy has loved Teague Sullivan since she was barely old enough to talk. When she found that fate had brought him to Green’s hill too, she pursued him—and Jack—with a single-minded quest for happiness. Now that they’re a family, she wants to be a part of Teague’s adventures whenever she can be.

    Lambent. Lambent joined the hill just before Jack and Teague were bitten. He had always been semi-independent of Titania and Oberon, but until he ended up on Green’s hill, he had no idea how much he’d valued his autonomy—or how much he hated the antique laws that governed sidhe behavior in the old country.

    CHARACTERS WE MEET IN RAMPANT:

    Tanya. A not-yet-mated sylph.

    Sam. Offspring of the other and a human.

    Walter. A sweet, young, newly made vampire.

    Rafael. The leader of the Redding vampires.

    Annette. Nicky’s unpleasant ex-girlfriend.

    John and Terry. Nicky’s parents.

    CREATURES:

    Sidhe. High elves—lots of powers, humanoid attributes, and physical beauty.

    Fey. All of the underclasses of elves existing at Green’s hill—pixies, nixies, sprites, gnomes, sylphs, red-caps, trolls, fairies, etc. etc. etc.

    Weres. Shapechangers, they age at about 1/3 – 1/4 the speed of a human, have super strength, super speed, and whatever characteristics their creature possesses. Werecreatures reproduce by biting humans. They probably can carry young of their own species, but interspecies mating is so prevalent at Green’s hill that no one knows for sure.

    Vampires. The blood-sucking undead—but in a nice way.

    Sylphs. Sexless fey, they choose their gender when they choose their mates.

    Avians. The only shapechanger that’s born and not made by another shapechanger. The Avians are bonded for life with the person/people involved in their first sexual experience. If this mate doesn’t produce offspring within ten years, the Avian is doomed.

    Bracken: Little Deaths

    WATCHING THE vampires almost killed her figuratively, and the abominable big-titted human almost killed her for real.

    Of the two, I definitely preferred the vampires.

    Dinner was much the same as it had been the night before. About fifteen minutes before the vampires awoke, when the woods surrounding the lake grew thick and deep with shadows, a feast appeared, complete with a tablecloth on two of the picnic tables behind the cabins. The tables were illuminated by strings of lights in the surrounding trees and one large lantern per table, including the one at which Nicky’s parents and their unwelcome guest sat.

    Phillip, Marcus, and Kyle awakened quietly while we were all eating, and Cory stiffened next to me for a moment until we heard splashing down at the lake. She’d been keeping a quiet eye on Phillip for the last month. Gretchen’s deteriorating condition didn’t seem to be bothering him—until you saw how haggard Marcus was from caring for him. But that’s not why Cory was concerned now.

    Did they remember their trunks? I asked, and she shook her head.

    No, but they will by the time they come up to eat! Then she dug into her plate—Lambent and I were eating vegetarian baked beans and salad, and she and the shape-shifters got some sort of sausage. Whatever it was, it must have been very tasty to carnivores, because they seemed to be enjoying themselves. I watched, though, as she stopped very deliberately after one serving.

    All done? I asked carefully.

    All weirded out by wandering around in a bikini, she answered, although she’d changed back into shorts and a T-shirt after we’d gone swimming and had yet to actually wear the thing without a T-shirt over it. I glared at her, but at that moment, Nicky’s mother came up and asked us if we wanted to sit with them for dessert.

    We’d been expecting the invite, and we got up without ceremony to sit at their table—and honestly, it felt less awkward than sitting in our happy group while they sat alone, exiled by their own thoughtlessness.

    They had bought some kind of chocolate cream pie from a store, and I thought wistfully of whatever it was that Grace had sent over via the sprites but dug in anyway. They’d better save some for me. I was halfway through when I realized Nicky’s mother had asked me a question.

    I swallowed and then swallowed again—it had been a big bite. What do I do at school? I asked, feeling dumb.

    Yes, hon, Terry said, bemused. What classes do you take?

    I stared at her in the lamplight, wondering whether she was being dense on purpose. I take whatever classes Cory takes, I said through another bite.

    Nicky’s father answered, Well, son, that’s nice for kissy face and all, but it’s no way to decide on a living.

    I blinked, and Nicky laughed. You should see your face right now, Bracken! he chortled. It’s like they asked you how to split the atom!

    I grimaced at him. Well, what’s your major, bird boy? I asked, and he flushed.

    See? I’m right, aren’t I! I crowed. You do the same thing, but you take classes you’re interested in because you can!

    Why can’t you take the classes you like? asked Jonathan Kestrel, and I could actually hear Cory roll her eyes in the semidark.

    Don’t say it, I warned. Don’t even think it. I could give a f… damn about the human piece of paper. That’s your job. My job is to—

    She held out her hand. Yes, beloved. Her voice was gentle with humor. I know what your job is. I’ve made my peace with it. I just don’t think you ever put it into words before.

    I don’t get it, Terry asked, genuinely puzzled. What’s his job? Why’s he going to school and not worrying about a degree?

    He’s there to keep me safe, Mrs. Kestrel, Cory said bluntly. It’s the only reason he ever agreed to go to school in the first place. When Nicky and I first met in San Francisco… well, we were under attack and didn’t know it.

    That was my fault, Nicky said quietly.

    You were coerced, she reassured. Anyway, he tells me he enjoys it now.

    I do. It was only the truth.

    And I don’t think I could have passed physics or poli-sci without him.

    You could have. I believed that—it just would have taken her a little longer.

    But the whole reason Bracken started coming to school in the first place was to keep me safe. She flashed me a smile that was just for me. And so far, it’s worked.

    Except when you’ve gone haring off without us, I grumbled, and she grinned back at me.

    That was one time!

    Yeah, Nicky added, but you almost got killed!

    Which is why, she reasoned with a quick nod at his family, it was only one time!

    I don’t understand, Terry declared. I don’t understand any of it. You all talk like soldiers. How dangerous can your lives be?

    Cory abruptly grew sober. It depends on how you look at it, she replied with poise. The three of us can wield a tremendous amount of power—yes, even your son. There are things out there that will prey on that. We’re also part of the leadership of one of the biggest collectives of supernatural creatures in the area—

    Continent, I corrected, and she raised her eyebrows and flushed. She didn’t like to think of that.

    Okay, fine. Whatever. She continued, Green’s hill wields a lot of power. And because we have that power, we’re obligated to keep everybody’s power in check—our own included. Nobody likes the power police, Mrs. Kestrel—they’re pretty much everybody’s asshole. So we tend to travel in groups, and we take our family very seriously.

    You’ve got magic powers? asked Annette from the other side of the table. "Bullshit! You’ve got to show me your magic, honey—I’m dying to see it!"

    Cory turned a miserable and cold glance at the woman. Usually people who are dying to see what I can do end up dead. I don’t do demos.

    There would have been an awkward pause then, but the vampires came up at that moment—dripping into dry clothes, as it were. Marcus, usually the best public face, led them as they came up to talk to us.

    Evening, Cory. Evening, Nicky’s folks, he said with a charming smile. The Kestrels and their guest gave a blank, frightened stare back. The night before had been that much of a disaster.

    Heya, Marcus. Cory smiled against the strain. Good swim?

    Marcus’s answering smile was dreamy. Everyone loved the lake. Awesome. We should have Green make one of those in our backyard.

    We have one, genius—it’s called Sugar Pine, she quipped. When Marcus’s surprised laugh had subsided, she added, Hey, do me a favor?

    Anything, O Mighty Queen! Accompanied by the requisite bow.

    Oh Goddess…. I could smell her blush. Anyway, could you feed from the Avians tonight? She gave Nicky an apologetic glance. If that’s all right with you, Nicky?

    Nicky shrugged. Me and Marcus are always good for a party, sure.

    Cory nodded. We’ll fill you in later, but there’s…. She gave a furtive glance at the civilians and flushed more, realizing she had been indiscreet. Let’s just say that personal dynamics are a little wonky. No one’s fault, but thank you. This’ll make it easier.

    Marcus gave a nod, and Nicky stood up to go find a very quiet corner with the others. He turned to us and waggled his eyebrows lasciviously. Back in a flash!

    Marcus snorted. I’m better than that, and you know it. C’mon, breakfast.

    The banter between the three vampires and the three Avians continued as they disappeared far beyond Annette’s censorious and prying eyes.

    Well, I just don’t see why they’d do that, Annette sniffed in disgust. Cory and I looked at each other with bittersweet memories of the same vampire vibrating between us.

    He’d bitten me in bed, in the yellow light of his yellow room, his profile so thrown into light and shadow that it seemed the shadows had grown cold breath to nip at my carotid.

    It was a sensitive place anyway, but with his cool, hard body printed against mine, with his erection pushing insistently at my hip, my neck was suddenly every hot spot on my sidhe-sensitive body, from the ticklish underside of my head under the foreskin to the crown of the dark place only Adrian, Andres, and Green had ever invaded.

    And just as I had this thought, I gasped, groaned in need, begging, for Adrian’s teeth had invaded me, and he’d pulled sex from that vulnerable place under my jaw just like he promised to pull come from my cock as he ground against me and fed….

    CORY AND I blinked slowly at each other, coming awake from our own sex-saturated memories, and Cory turned an unrepentantly sultry face to our bemused audience.

    There are perks, she said throatily. Then she cleared her throat and tried to sound all business. The vampires protect us, and they’re formidable. And the bite… can be nice.

    Suddenly Nicky’s father, who had been quiet for much of the last two days, squinted his eyes at Cory and sucked in a breath.

    You’ve been marked! he said in horrified fascination. More than once! You have a harem of husbands, and you’ve been marked by a vampire? Wasn’t one good enough for you?

    Just that quickly, the pleasant memories of pleasure and comfort were replaced by the memory of pain.

    Your son fell in love with me when I was recovering from Adrian’s death, she said tautly. Nicky asked me to dinner, mind-raped me, and threw me against a concrete pole. Her voice wavered and grew strong again, and I knew she was struggling to summarize a long, complicated happening into a few words.

    And that’s just the beginning. She swallowed. It was true—we usually boiled the entire happening down to bad shit stories. It was hard to resurrect them now. But it doesn’t matter how we started, because we love him now. We care for him. We treasure him. If you can’t respect me or my choices because you don’t understand that sometimes the Goddess is a fickle bitch and we do what we can to survive her, you should at least respect the fact that, for all the reasons we had to despise Nicky, we chose to love him forever instead.

    The silence then transcended awkward and breached painful. She stood up on watery knees and fumbled for my shoulder. I dropped my fork and stopped eating their goddamned pie.

    Excuse me, she said tensely. I’m done with dessert.

    I watched her stalk blindly into the dark of the surrounding woods, knowing she—literally—couldn’t see to save her life, and turned to the people who should have been a joyous part of our family.

    We love Nicky, I said after a moment, remembering the trusting way he had simply sat in my arms and accepted my comfort. He’s going to stay with us—he’s happy with us. But you are under no obligation to stay in his life. Remember that when you try to hurt her.

    And with that, I turned around to catch her before she gave herself a concussion by walking into a tree.

    I found her trying to step on moonlit patches of path between dark lengths of black shadow. Teague had been right—the moon was still bright, even though it wasn’t full. I came up to her side and took her hand, then walked along the clearest ways, knowing she would trust me to take her where she couldn’t see.

    Maybe it was the… the chaos thing, or whatever, I consoled her, although it seemed unlikely. Those words had been hers—and they were the words she should have said, not the words she shouldn’t have.

    I doubt it, she grunted, gasping as I took her around the waist and moved her over the pit she was about to fall in.

    Me too, I was forced to agree.

    I’m getting worse at this, she lamented after a couple of moments of walking toward nowhere.

    I caught a branch that was about to whap her in the face and said, At walking in the dark? Damned straight!

    No, genius, at talking to my own goddamned species, she snapped back. I steered her away from a big patch of poison oak before I replied.

    You’re getting better at not taking shit, I corrected. I was rewarded by her unladylike snort.

    I’m pretty sure I never took shit! she threw back, and I had to concede.

    You never took shit from strangers—but humans you know? You try too hard.

    I heard her slowly let out her breath between her teeth. In the dark glow of the moon, her expression was almost amused. That’s part of being human, Bracken Brine—compromise.

    When you’re queen of every-fucking-thing, to compromise is to take shit. It’s not an option. It seemed basic. I could swear we were speaking the same language. What part of She takes shit from no one was my beloved not getting?

    "I should be able to take shit from these people, she said softly, almost to herself. I mean, they’re not the enemy. I don’t have anything to prove. I should just be able to suck it up, eat their crap, and know it’s good for Nicky, you know?"

    Nicky wouldn’t ask you to do that. She hadn’t been there—Nicky had thrown his lot in with us in a way I admired. I could only thank the Goddess that I had never been asked to make such a choice.

    I heard her sigh in the slight breeze and wondered if she was sweating like I was. The sun was down, but the temperature was still in the mideighties. Maybe it was cooler down by the lake edge—but before I could veer her that way, there was another rustling and I looked up to see Nicky coming toward us. The vampires really had gone deep for their feeding!

    I wouldn’t go that way. Nicky waved in the general direction of where he’d come from. His face was flushed pleasantly, and he not-so-subtly

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