17
I focused on Kristof. “You did it. And you kept me from doing it when you knew I wanted it and didn’t have a real conversation. But I’m still having it with you instead of just doing what I want and fully am allowed to as a fucking adult and not your daughter.”
That took the rest of everything out of his attitude. He swallowed loudly and nodded. Kristof adjusting his neck before moving closer. “I’m practically indestructible at this point though, my love, and—”
“Bullshit. You fall from a jet at those speeds and that height and you’re just as dead as I am. That’s why they checked all the safety everything before you went up. I’m going up in the choppers—I want this. I’m doing it. Accept it and don’t make this a thing and I’ll try and not throw a fit you kept me from this. But you have to stop putting me in a fucking bubble!”
All of the emotions played over his face, and I saw the moment he debated just grabbing me and racing off. “Quickly. Please? Just not far or too high and quickly.”
“I said the same,” James assured him. “And I won’t mess with her like I do others. I promise.”
Kristof bobbed his head and met my gaze. “I’m sorry. I cannot lose you, and the risk isn’t worth it to me.”
I huffed and went to hug him. “I got that at first, but they’ve been flying all over the place and nothing has happened, you old fart. And I’ve been seriously pissed at them for not doing this for me. You are in deep shit. Totally deep shit.”
“Yes, My Princess,” he chuckled as he hugged me tightly. “Come back to me, Inez. Don’t leave me alone in this life.”
“Ten minutes tops and they can do the radios now.” I gave him a heated kiss and was excited to go.
Yeah, not yet since everyone demanded the full inspection just in case someone messed with the jet because people knew it was James’s jet now. Fear raced through me and I ordered someone always guard the jet and we had a dozen just for him that he rotated through. A locked hanger or something even.
I was glad when others agreed with me and took that threat seriously.
They really took it seriously when now I would be riding in the jets and it would be an easy way to take me out. One of Keres’s nobles and—Kristof became a beast of ideas, barking out how to fortify our jets after realizing that.
We should have done that already, but at least we were now.
It took a while as James and his team inspected everything. I saw he was nervous now that everyone knew and was watching. I sighed. It was always such a spectacle and thing when I was involved.
It made sense, but it got annoying at times.
Fine, all of the time.
I told everyone to give them an hour and we should go handle other things. The appreciative look James gave me made me chuckle. He did tell me not to eat even if he was going to go easy on me.
Fair.
I got some of my nervous and excited energy out putting some small things back online. It was so easy for me now that I’d really focused on growing my power and things had been going well. It wasn’t shocking how much damage stress could do to your body, but when you saw how well your body functioned when things got better… That was like a punch to the gut.
At least it was for me.
We came back and he was ready. He had me change into a flight suit for the full experience and walked me through the safety features, always the patient instructor. Mostly he wanted to make sure I understood how to pull the emergency release in case we had to eject.
Got it.
“Just do what you normally do and be my sexy pilot,” I told him when he started to get nervous again. “I’ve wanted this for so long that my head’s about to pop.”
“Yeah, I got you, spicy snack,” he chuckled, snagging another kiss. He helped me get in and belted up before he did his thing.
I had to bite back a squeal as the cover started lowering and the engines fired up. Finally. Like… Finally , it was happening.
I did squeal when we took off. It was so much better than the helicopter. It was un-fucking-real and something I would never forget. I let out a whoop as we turned so I could see them below.
“Okay, gonna get away a bit and a little higher before I punch it. I’m going to do everything safest with the winds and weather even, so we’re not just going to see this or that,” he said to me over the radio. “We can do that on the whims of the weather—even like commercial flights it’s better for the days to check on New Orleans or whatnot.”
“Yeah, someone suggested we do that more, but why when we have the old farts who can race there?” I said.
“I would still advise we get drones going and have that always as the option,” he replied. “We have the people now and—anything for more warning. We should train more and the humans—there were a lot who knew the system and just need the refresher and chance after so many years.”
“Do it,” I accepted after a moment. “Yeah, we can find a way to have a squad at every location or something—some guaranteed apartment or something so they’re on location with drones going. Especially in Canada where there’s so much area and the settlements are smaller. Some of the vamps have talked about splitting up more.”
“Yeah, because they didn’t like the people of their coven as much as their leaders. That’s smart. You really are the best leader, Inez. Seriously.”
“You guys are on the radio we can all hear,” someone reminded us.
“We’re not flirting,” I drawled. “Tell Trisha and Lara that I want them working with either Noel or Josephine on the idea. We can super secure some sort of area and building for humans to stay out and outfit them to make this work. It’s better we not have them all grouped together either for one big target.”
“Or to become a cult like other settlements did,” James drawled.
“I will handle it,” Cerdic promised. “And the princess has decided officially on her new name. She has chosen Vivien after an actress she admired and made a name for herself against great odds. She wishes to do the same and start her new life with her new name.”
“Good for her,” I said, truly meaning it. “It suits her. Nice.”
“It does,” he agreed. “Now shut off your brain and enjoy your ride, love. You deserve it.”
Yeah, I did. And I was enjoying it. It was amazing to see everything from this high in the clouds and—it wasn’t something I could put into words.
Or maybe I could, but words wouldn’t be enough? Amazing could really only cover so much. Epic was overused. Breathtaking was… Words weren’t enough.
It changed some part inside of me, that was for sure. It was the reminder I needed to remember the big picture and how much I was responsible for. The girl from nowhere who knew nothing and thought she was a freak—some variant of the virus or completely insane was now the boss of two huge continents basically.
Wow, life really was crazy beyond reality.
“I’m going to punch it,” James warned me when we were in position.
“Yes, please,” I chuckled, more than ready as I gripped onto the harness.
Yeah, I made noises. It was fucking insane and I loved it. Breaking the sound barrier was something I wished everyone got to experience in their lives at least once. It would change them, and we all needed more happy in our lives.
We really did.
Or at least positive excitement. We needed more of that; it would be nice to have.
We didn’t stay up long, and James told me he didn’t want the pressure of landing with me when they started bitching to come back down, sort of hinting it would be unwise for them to do it. I agreed and was glad they all behaved. The landing was exactly how it should go from what he said, and his eyes were bright and full of joy as well.
“Oh yeah, we found us a fly girl here,” he chuckled when he hopped out and glanced at me.
“One of the best experiences of my life,” I told him honestly.
“And you kept her from it,” Jamelle said under his breath. “You fucking git.”
“Yeah, I get it, but—you volunteering for Ma to go up in that after how many we saw get shot down or crash for years? ” Jaxon threw right back. “Any of our family?”
“Fair. Fair, but it’s a conversation to have not something backhanded to implement,” Sebastian cut in.
“That’s why you’re smarter than your son, Da,” I praised as I climbed out. I stuck my tongue out at Jaxon, too happy after getting to finally have my dream to even be mad at him.
Jaxon chuckled and bobbed his head, taking the chastising.
Kristof was immediately at my side. “Are you okay? Do you need the lemon juice or—”
“I’m fine,” I promised him. “It was awesome. Cerdic felt that because James fucked with him.”
“No, I felt some of it too and Tyson didn’t with me,” Kristof admitted.
I frowned but then shrugged. “I’m fine. Ready for lunch but a bit…”
James burst out laughing. “Yeah, you’re a fly girl.” He hugged me to him and let me feel his partial erection.
Okay, glad I wasn’t the only one who got a bit turned on from the adrenaline and rush of flying. I wasn’t the only weirdo out there.
At least in this.
“Let’s have lunch,” I said to James.
His eyes flashed shock but then heat. “Yeah, I’d like that, My Princess.” He glanced over at his people. “You guys—”
“We got it,” one assured him. “Take a break, boss.”
He waved at them and then focused back on me. “What are you in the mood for? I heard Seattle is having that crab salad you love today.”
“Perfect,” I agreed, leaning into him. “You need to undress me, right?” I smirked at him and wiggled the flight suit at him.
“Tease,” he mumbled under his breath and helped me out of it.
I gave Kristof a kiss and a knowing look. “You don’t get to come and play. That’s your punishment.”
“I understand,” he said, clearly not liking it. He gave a quick glance around and probably realized I was more doing it for show and to quell the whispers that he was really the power of the coven and blah, blah, blah.
Someone else caught my eye and I did some quick math in my head. I got his attention and waved him over, asking Kristof with my eyes to protect us after I pulled Vitor closer with us too. At the last minute, I did Jamelle as well.
“Well, this feels like I’m about to be part of a conspiracy,” Jamelle drawled.
“No, hopefully a way to start doing more and giving appreciation to people,” I snarked right back before focusing on Princess Lawan’s noble. And not just an alliance pairing. He truly loved her and I knew she valued him too. “I want to thank your princess for her extra help. I cannot put into words how Arpa has truly helped.
“My coven, me —I’ve had no training for this role or how to be a noble. She’s—a gift makes her sound like an item to trade. You know what I mean. She’s helped a lot and I’m grateful.” I waited until he nodded. “I’m going to fuel up and I need a place to let it out. I know it’s inconvenient with the time difference, but can you sneak there and wake your princess up…”
His eyes filled with shock. “You’re willing to come to our coven and put things back online? Truly?” His eyes cut to Jamelle and there was confusion again.
“Yes, she’s snuck to my princess and done it, but the logistics were harder because everyone assumes that’s where she would go,” he confirmed. He met my gaze. “You want to start throwing people off by doing it for your other allies with no rhyme or reason. You give too much of yourself and risk—”
“So do they,” I countered. “Don’t even tell me you don’t understand the risks Nora’s taken. I do. I get it. She’s shielding me like I am her daughter and we both know it. Lawan sent her sister who she actually loves to help and it worked. She’s a miracle and pulled—do you remember how Noel and Jose—Vivien were when they arrived.”
He sighed. “They are so different.”
“I would say that is as much you as Arpa, my love,” Kristof muttered. “I worry of this risk too, but I agree it’s worth it. You have to keep giving the horse the carrot.” He nodded to Lawan’s noble. “You know what I mean.”
“Of course. I do, and I don’t disagree even if it wasn’t my princess. She gave the most and should get the… Cookie? I believe you say cookie here. It will also motivate people to keep pushing while there is calm. That is when people get lazy and that leads to mistakes. That is what my princess is worried for. She has said we almost need the next layer of motivation.”
Good. Glad we were on the same wavelength.
Kristof gave me a kiss and said he’d handle it and the diversion even like they were plotting something for Nora and going to Boston. Even better.
Lunch was just about to start in Seattle, but there was a ton of food because they normally… We had a bunny hop system in place.
No, leapfrog? I wasn’t sure the right term, but we had a system.
Boston was the first time zone, so of course the sun was there first and people got to work. That meant breakfast first. What they had left they would never just toss. Not everything, but the hot stuff or like fresh was brought to the next places a lot of times to help out. Right now, that was what we had going in Ohio, Illinois, and New Orleans.
Or Ohio was the same zone as Boston?
Yeah, I couldn’t keep it all straight, especially not with Canada brought in.
But that was how it worked and helped because cooking in bulk was always easier. So zone two had their extra brought to zone three spots like where the castle and Albuquerque were—Salt Lake too. And then we brought anything to Seatle which was the end. Same for them when they wrapped up for the day.
There was a lot of their end-of-day stuff that would be fine to toss in for Boston’s breakfast. We all were working together like that. And it worked with vamps who could zip across the country like humans could jog next door and deliver a tray of proofing donuts or whatever.
So there was a lot to load up on before we grabbed some of the first sandwiches and got out of their way. We went out by the water even if it was still cold and enjoyed our picnic.
“Yeah, this was exactly what I needed,” James said when we were finishing up. “I was really struggling with starting another new year in the fucking apocalypse. I think in my mind somewhere I thought we’d be done by now and I was disappointed. Like I had hope and I got too excited?”
I nodded, having heard a lot of people say the same when they didn’t think I could hear them last week when the new year happened. “I think people are of two camps. That or like me where they can’t imagine this not being our lives. Like the idea of not living in the apocalypse is so fucking foreign that they can’t see anything else anymore.”
“I would think that’s more your circumstances, Inez,” he said gently.
“I thought so too, but Vanessa said a lot are like me,” I countered. I nodded when he seemed skeptical. “You can…” I realized I was going to say too much. If he thought it was just me then obviously Trisha hadn’t told him that she felt as I did and Vanessa helped her see that.
But she’d told me exactly that.
“I knew a few cats close to us who feel the same,” I promised him.
“Huh, interesting.” He nodded as he cleaned up our containers and plates. “I believe you. It’s just—we get so into our heads that it’s hard to see someone so deep into a different side.” He snorted. “That’s about everything, not just the apocalypse. I mean some of it was people are idiots or won’t admit they’re wrong—double down until it’s like a fucking cult.
“But a lot of times it’s just life and not feeling like anyone will listen if you talk about it. Trisha would say that all of the time when I pushed her to speak up or say her piece. She’d look at me like why waste her breath and no one would listen. It made me sad. It really made me sad that it would be name-calling and insults because she wanted to have a conversation.”
“Hopefully, we do better this time around if we make it.”
“When we make it, Inez. When we do. We’re going to make it,” he promised.
“I’m not there to believe it. I’ll keep fighting, but… I’m not there.”
“Well, clearly, I’m not doing my job then.” He gave me a wink when I asked what that meant but wouldn’t say anything.
But I found out. He took me up in a chopper as his co-pilot, my guards coming with since they switched out. James showed me Seattle from the sky and I was in awe of how different it was—how much had changed . Huge sections were gone and cleared out.
“This is fucking genius,” I whispered as I saw the shipping containers full of energy beads as a huge perimeter.
“It is,” James praised. “It was Ricky Novak’s idea since he’s not moving onto Portland anytime soon and gets along well with Matias Perez. They decided it after they heard corrupted were in the sewers and drainage in Albuquerque. Fences are too easy to slit a hole through, even several like we have but this—he made a crack about the beads being like water—”
“And everyone would know if one of the containers was fucked with and sprung a leak,” I finished, totally getting the idea. “Plus, we’re swimming in energy beads with how much we’re taking down. We can’t remotely use them all right now and what to do with them—this is genius.”
“I think they talked about it with Cerdic and Lara, but they were waiting to see how the logistics of it were panning out,” James explained. “They needed vamps to level the ground in certain areas—it’s been work. They’re planning to not just have one tall layer to easily tip over.”
I turned and glanced at it. “They’re doing sideways too. They’re cross-stacking. Smart. Really smart. They light this up and we get the drones going like we were talking—shit, we have a better plan, and—we have to tell the other covens. This is the new play and what Lawan was saying about the next motivation.”
He didn’t get that part, but I promised to explain later.
There was more, and the organization Seattle now had to get dead ships out of the ocean and beached so they could be broken down was impressive. We were saving the good ones to fix up and put online one day, but a lot of the ships were trash after being left at sea for years or even docked and unattended.
Like a lot of them.
It was understandable, but I was glad to see the progress. I reached over and took James’s hand for a moment, thanking him for showing me this. I let go because he needed it to fly but yeah, I hoped he understood where my head was.
It was full of gratitude. That was for damn sure.
We saw more and everything gave me hope. There were ideas and plans while still doing what we needed to and being safe. The greenhouses and farming operations alone were amazing and took away my stress.
“We got dirty,” I said to James, before glancing at Sisay since he was on my detail now. “How much time do we have before they’re expecting us?”
“About thirty minutes,” he answered.
“My hot spring should be safe?”
“Let me check,” he hedged.
Yes, the answer was yes, and just to be extra safe, he borrowed one of the snakes that now lived in Seattle. I was excited to hear that and was shocked when I saw someone walking along the shipping containers with a huge ass python on his shoulders.
I went over to the vampire who dipped his head to me. I asked the snake if I could pet him since I’d never seen a python, but suddenly James was there clearing his throat.
“I prefer not that one,” he muttered. He gave me a look to believe him and Petre chuckled, cluing me in that something was going on, but I still didn’t get it. “It’s a male shifter who is very happy to be naked on your body, spicy snack. I’m not a fan of that.”
I couldn’t even give him shit. If the situation was reversed… I was a jealous woman.
So instead, I reached out and patted the snake’s head, praising him for doing a great job keeping everyone safe.
Then I was whisked away to the hot spring. I hadn’t been there in so long and it was perfect for the cold day after lunch and to be romantic with James.
Finally.
He watched me get naked and get in first, dunking under the water and waiting for him. I enjoyed getting to see him strip for me. The moment he was in the water I was on him. I kissed him and wrapped my legs around him.
“You’ve been hunting in your leopard for me, right?”
“Yes, daily,” he promised. “I normally have breakfast that way now just for my lover. My leopard is so fucking spoiled. How can I thank you, Inez?”
I was about to tease him, but then I realized what he was actually asking me.
How far was I allowing him to go?
I let my fangs slowly slide out as I smirked at him. “I keep tasting you—I have in more than one way. Don’t you want to taste me?”
Heat filled his eyes. “You know I do. Shit, I’ve been dying to even touch your sweet pussy, Inez.”
“You should because I’m thirsty,” I whispered as I eyed his long neck. “So fucking thirsty.”
He sat on the seat so I was straddling his lap. He cupped my face and then my head. “Drink, baby. I can’t have my lover thirsty. I fucking love knowing I give you this.”
Me too. And only me.
I took a quick sip that gave him a small orgasm before leaning back on his knees and letting him stare me over. I was happy when his fingers got busy, but he also wanted to play with my breasts.
“You okay with a bit of biting too?” he checked.
I gave a half shrug. “I find I let you do a lot that I never would others.” I gasped as he gave me a love bite on the neck. Yeah, I was into biting if it was James. I fucking came on his fingers and whimpered his name.
I didn’t even have time to blink before I was sitting on the edge of the hot spring and he was kissing my lower stomach. He looked up at me expectantly and I realized he was waiting for permission. Damn, for as stupid as he could be, James really did pay attention.
I nodded and was rewarded by learning that my pretty kitty had a talented tongue and apparently loved performing oral sex on women. It was unreal, especially for the first time with someone he didn’t know intimately like that.
But then I realized he did. He’d seen me have sex and be intimate and obviously paid attention to what I liked, what clues were mine of my pleasure—all of it. Fuck, that was hot.
He gave me two orgasms that way before I flipped the tables on him and was drinking from him as I stroked him in the water.
“Can I join so you get more blood like you need, love?” Cerdic said from behind me, his voice worried and tense.
Except I didn’t know what to do. This was my first time hitting this level with James and he worried about being territorial and… I swallowed loudly and met his gaze.
His eyes softened. “I intrude on their time and voyeur. I get it. I have to learn too. I’m cool with it as long as they’re cool with sometimes me saying no. We’ve talked. It’s good.”
“Thank you, my sexy cat,” I whispered before kissing him. I glanced over my shoulder and nodded. “We don’t have long, so I’m sorry that’s how it’s happening for us finally. Again.”
Something hopeful flashed in his eyes and he nodded. “I am too but also kind of glad because I feel like crying that you’re letting me after what I did but also…” He stripped in a flash and just got in.
Yeah, sometimes that was better.
He turned me to sit on James’s lap, but the shifter stood and moved his body against mine as I drank from Cerdic. They both rubbed one off on me and I finished as well, totally full of blood.
And yeah, a lot of fucking power.