Chapter Eighteen
Starla gripped the glass of champagne in her hand tighter as she looked over the railing, watching the crowd below her. The masses of dancing bodies were beautiful. There were couples, throuples, and even quads moving in tune to the beats pulsing from the speakers.
“Why are you strangling that glass like you want to eliminate it from existence? By the way. Do you know how hard it is to see you as a fully grown woman, when it feels like yesterday we were preparing you for SATs and thinking about sending you to college?” Aurora spoke from beside her, holding her own glass of sparkling liquid.
She tipped the glass to her lips, letting the last of the delicious alcohol slide down her throat before answering. “I know. Although for me, it was a lot longer on Fey, I imagine it was a shock for you. Are you still having oh shit issues?”
Her sister swallowed a huge gulp of her own drink.
Starla set the delicate flute on the high table behind her, waiting for Aurora to finish her drink.
She knew her sister had reservations about Starla and Scepter.
However, there was nothing she or Savage could do about their bond.
Her wolf knew way back before she’d left with the Fey Queen.
Scepter had known. Their bond was unbreakable.
She was the only one who hadn’t claimed him fully, yet.
Tonight, she planned to rectify that. The feel of the full moon sizzled through her veins, calling the primal part of her wolf.
“Shock might be a little tame to describe how I’d felt knowing you’d aged seven years in a few months.
But”—she held up her hand— “I can see you’ve truly matured in more ways than age.
While I’m saddened that you and I missed years together, I’m glad you’re here now, and that aging allowed you to bond with Scepter. He was distraught when you were gone.”
Starla snorted. “Is that your way of saying he was an asshole?”
Aurora covered her lips with the glass she held. “You said it, not me.”
“Excuse me, Vita Mea. Who are we calling names?” Savage buried his face in Aurora’s neck.
“Have I told you how amazing you look? And you, Starla...I’m afraid Scepter is going to want to throttle me for not demanding you wear something else.
I’m going to need the two of you to protect me when he arrives.
” Savage stood behind Aurora with his arms holding her in a loose, yet possessive embrace around her hips.
Starla could see the way Aurora leaned into him, as if she needed his touch as much as Savage needed hers.
She wondered if she and Scepter would be the same way once she bonded with him completely.
Aurora laughed. A slow smile stretched her full lips. Starla smiled back, happiness filling her heart. They were both in a good place.
“Savage, are you saying my outfit is any more daring than the one your mate has on?” She looked her sister up and down.
Aurora wore a beautiful red and black lace corset with long sleeves attached to an A-line skirt made of black gossamer fabric with a peek-a-boo red backing.
The deep V of the corset pushed up her cleavage and showed off her assets to perfection.
While Starla tended to be on the tanner side, one could only describe her sister’s skin as porcelain.
Their differences were truly startling. She had white-blonde hair and dark eyes with tan skin, while Aurora’s hair was very dark, nearly black, her eyes were a beautiful blue, and her skin was milky white.
They’d each taken a little bit of each of their parents.
“Ah, but you see, Sorellina, my mate is with me. Scepter isn’t going to see you with me and not see red.
Every being here knows not look at Aurora.
I will pluck their eyes from their sockets and feed them to them if they dare to do so.
Scepter has been remiss in announcing such declarations to the masses. ”
Starla opened her mouth and closed it. She tried to come up with a witty comeback.
Her gaze went to Aurora, wondering why her sister didn’t denounce the absurdity that had spewed out of Savage’s mouth.
As the seconds stretched into almost a full minute, she sputtered incoherently.
Finally, she reached for her glass, finding it empty.
“I need a refill,” she muttered. Before Savage could demand she stay, sit, or some other dominant bullshit that would piss her off, she flashed down to the bar where Thana and Thane were working. The female vampire saw her first.
“Holy shit, Starla. You’re truly gonna give Scepter a heart attack. Good fucking, Goddess, girl. Do you have a death wish for every male or female who leans that way?” Thana asked, perching her chin on her folded fists while smiling with the biggest, cheesiest grin.
Starla did a slow spin. “Do you like?”
“Fucking-A, our Second is gonna go on a killing spree,” Thane gritted out.
“That’s what I just said,” Thana agreed.
“Aw, you two are so sweet. Can I have a refill?” She shook the empty champagne flute in front of the other female’s face.
“Female, I am not sweet. As far as you're concerned, I am gone. Thana can serve you. In fact, I am not looking at you.” Thane turned away, making Starla laugh.
“Seriously, I need that outfit when you’re done with it.” Thana sighed. “Never mind. I can guarantee Scepter is gonna ruin it by the time the night ends. Can you send me the designer's information?”
She huffed a laugh and settled onto a stool. “Stellina Designs.”
“Is that you?” Thana asked, eyes on her.
“Yep. This is the first piece I created. I’m not like a real designer, where I had to sit down and sew and search out the fabrics and stuff.” She ducked her head, pointing out the obvious seemed the right thing to do.
“Honey, you think every one of us hasn’t had to recreate designs we’ve seen?
Trust me, I’ve done it, and every other supernatural being on this Earth has.
The big difference between you and me is I’ve never created an outfit I haven’t seen before.
That right there is a work of pure genius.
Now I said what I said, and I meant it. When you start thinking up and creating more delicious works of art, I will be your best client.
I’d say first, but I have a feeling you’re going to be your own client if Scepter doesn’t flip his shit.
Which I am so looking forward to. Here, bottoms up.
” Thana placed a new flute of bubbly gold liquid in front of her.
“Thank you for the drink and the compliment. Um, have you heard from Scepter?” she asked, hating the tremble in her voice. He’d put a wall up between them to protect her from whatever business he’d gone to take care of.
Thana shook her head and moved to help a customer down the counter. Starla got up, planning to walk back up to where Savage and Aurora were waiting. She downed the drink in one swallow, placing the glass on a table as she passed.
The DJ played a song she recognized. An eighties classic, played with a mix of rap, made the floor vibrate beneath her feet. Starla danced along the edge of the crowd, not wanting to get caught up in the gyrating bodies, but at the same time, she really loved dancing.
“Would you like to dance? It’s such a shame for a beautiful woman to be out here all alone when she should be making memories with a partner.”
The hair on the back of her neck stood up.
She felt an inexplicable fear race down her spine as she stared at the male.
He had black eyes that screamed evil. At five-foot-four, she wasn’t tall, but this male stood only four or five inches taller than her.
While most males she’d seen were fit, due to their long lives and supernatural abilities, the one in front of her appeared more like a human who’d eaten one too many fast food burgers and skipped the gym altogether.
She shoved the fear down. Starla wasn’t powerless.
“It is rude to stare, girl,” he rumbled.
She did a slow blink, unwilling to show him any sign that she was scared of him.
Hell, she no longer feared him. If he tried anything, Savage or one of the others would be on them in a snap, if she didn’t take him out herself.
“I don’t want to dance with you or anyone but my mate. He will be here any moment.”
The male made a deep inhale that reminded her of a hissing snake. “Your male isn’t taking very good care of you if he’s leaving you all alone. Do you have any clue what kind of predators are out here?”
She narrowed her eyes, working to keep her wolf from rushing forward and ripping this fuckers throat out. “That would be an issue if I were prey,” she rumbled low.
“Oh, a female with a bite. I love the feisty ones. They taste so much sweeter when they...break.”
Starla’s skin prickled. She lifted her right hand and flipped the male the bird. Before he could respond, she raised her right leg and kicked out. Her foot hit him in the groin, hard. A roar of rage followed his oof of pain.
“You little fucking bitch. I’m going to enjoy hurting you before—”
“Shut the fuck up, you fucking weasel. The only thing you’re hurting is my ears. What’re you going to hurt me with? The micropeen you got in your pants. Hard pass, thank you.”
The smile faded from his thin lips. “You think you can hide behind that mask and fake fairy scent? I know you’re a shifter. I can smell you from a mile away. Here, you are nothing but cattle for ones like me.”
Her claws threatened to burst from the nailbeds of her fingertips at his audacious words.
She huffed a small giggle at him. “Big words for such a wee male. I’m bored with this conversation.
” She turned to head back toward the stairs at the opposite side of the dance floor.
If she were to flash away, he’d think she was a coward.
Her head snapped back as he must have grabbed her by the back of her hair.
Her wolf was ready. She arched her back, allowing the power of her Fey to fuel her rage.
She moved fast, ignoring the stinging burn in her scalp, and punched out.
Using her fist, she struck his throat first, followed by slamming his solar plex with her left palm.
The impact sent him sailing backward into a column.
In a blink, she moved, dodging the blade he tossed.
She didn’t need to see him move to know what he’d do.
It was as if she could predict his next steps before he made them, feel the air move seconds ahead of his decision to attack.
The commotion caused the dancers to give her and the vampire room, which Starla figured meant Savage would be popping in shortly to play hero. She gasped as the male conjured up a blade that grew as long as a sword. The jackhole had to take it up a notch, making it glow and shit.
“I guess we gotta see whose dick is bigger, huh?” She bent her legs and got into her best fighting stance, preparing to brandish her own sword when a male who looked so much like Scepter appeared behind the vampire. “Who the fuck are you?”
With a roar, the asshole charged her. The tip of the blade jabbed into her abdomen. Eyes eerily similar to her male’s went as wide as saucers, then lifted to her shoulder, and he smiled. She stumbled back from the hit, grunting out a curse.
“Astaroth,” Scepter roared, catching Starla before she fell. His red eyes glowed down at her from behind. “What the fuck are you doing alone? Never mind. We’ll discuss this after I dispatch this bastard of his head.”
Whoowee, she heard the absolute truth in his tone. She looked down at the blade still trying to penetrate her stomach, then at the male Scepter called Astaroth. “You’re so dead, fucker.”
“Starla, please flash to Savage and your sister,” Scepter gritted out through clenched teeth.
The male who wore Scepter’s face, but in her mind, wasn’t as handsome, lifted a brow.
She could see he was waiting. There was a hint of humor on his features, but beneath it was a boiling cauldron of rage.
She tried to get a sense of who or what he was so angry at.
His immediate response to her digging shook her to the core.
The male allowed her to see his need to be the one taking Astaroth’s head.
The images were gruesome, but they were clearly from the past. She recognized Astaroth killing the male's father and his bonded mate.
She hoped like hell Scepter wouldn’t get too angry at her for what she was about to do, but the male who had to be his twin deserved the kill.
Without giving herself a chance to change her mind, she used her Fey power to launch Astaroth into the waiting arms of the look-alike named Severin and turned in her male's arms.
“Hello, my love. How has your evening been?” Starla asked, fluttering her lashes.