Chapter 19
nineteen
AVERY
We didn’t make it down to the prison that night. We could’ve—but we didn’t want to.
Instead, we threw some popcorn in the microwave and watched a movie in bed together. We didn’t actually watch most of the movie, but neither of us minded that.
Talon kept grinning, which made me feel like a million bucks. The way he carried himself was totally different. Like he’d been hauling a weight on his shoulders, and it had finally been taken off.
Part of me had been worried he would get angrier or meaner when the bond was complete. But without the stress of rejection hanging over his shoulders, he just seemed calmer.
Instead of going back to his office the next morning, we headed to Mistwood. I had never seen the inside of Dragon Manor, and we both wanted to bring the rest of my stuff back to the castle anyway. It would probably take a few trips, but we both enjoyed flying too much to mind.
Blair and Hale met us near the vampires’ security checkpoint, and she threw her arms around me for a massive hug that I returned with a wide smile.
Out of all my sisters, Blair was the one I had been closest to before all of the mating drama happened. Back then, it had been because she needed the most support. She had struggled so much with what we were, and the way we fed.
Now that we were both mated, I was curious to find out whether or not we would get that close again. Only time would tell.
When Blair offered to help me pack the rest of my stuff, Hale offered Talon a tour of Vamp Manor. My mate didn’t seem thrilled by the idea, but he looked much less worried about leaving me than he had been before we were mated.
Now, he knew I was safe.
And that I was his.
That I wasn’t going anywhere without him, either.
“I’m so glad you guys figured things out,” Blair admitted, looping her arm through mine as we made our way to the elevator. “Talon always seemed like a big teddy bear underneath all the gruffness.”
I laughed. “Yeah, right. You guys actually thought he was going to start a war. I can tell you for sure, there’s not a chance in hell he was ever going to go through with that. He just wanted to scare you into handing me over.”
“Fine, we didn’t. But in a roundabout way, his plan did work,” she said, with a reluctant smile.
“Too well,” I agreed, still wearing a smile of my own. “Honestly, I’m relieved it’s over. I was so tired of hiding away.”
“It feels good to be free, doesn’t it?”
“Insanely good.”
“Just wait until your first real trip into Mistwood. Nothing beats going to the grocery store without having to worry that someone’s going to jump you.
“They still try to jump you for pictures, don’t they?” I asked.
She waved it off. “The paparazzi are annoying, but it’s a tiny price to pay for not worrying about getting trapped in a mate bond. I’ve tried so many new candy bars since I mated with Damian.”
I smiled.
I didn’t particularly care about the grocery store, but I was happy Blair was happy.
And she was right—it felt insanely good to be free.
We talked about the usual Vamp Manor group chat drama while we packed my room. Someone had ended up in the hospital with their throat almost completely ripped out after the last time someone called Hale “Big Daddy,” but since then, people had just gotten sneakier about it.
Vampires healed too quickly to care about a little injury. Or a big one.
After everything was packed, we brought it all up to the roof, texting the guys to meet us up there.
Blair and I both sat on the ledge, our feet dangling as we stared out at Mistwood.
“Can you believe this is our life?” she asked me, her voice soft but genuine.
When I looked over at her, I found her smiling, with tears in her eyes.
“No. We were so afraid, for so long,” I admitted.
“The kings are assholes, but they’re our assholes now. Mistwood might be wrong about this whole situation being our wicked plot to take over the city, but maybe we should’ve planned it.”
I laughed. “It would’ve been a good plan.”
“Can you imagine where we’d be if not for me being Damian’s bloodmate?”
“Probably enslaved with Curtis’s pack.” I made a face. “Maybe Porter would’ve heard about it, and come to take over the pack. He wanted to claim one of us to get him out of his funk.”
“He and Iz are so good together, you know he would’ve picked her even if all of us were lined up and willing,” Blair said with a smile.
I laughed. “Who knows, maybe Bane would’ve heard about a few poor siren ladies trapped, and shown up to save the day. He imprinted on Zora so fast, there’s no way around what they have.”
“Or maybe Talon would’ve needed a siren so badly that he would’ve swooped down and stolen you away to help with whatever shit he has going on. He would’ve taken one look at you and known you were his,” she countered.
“And maybe Hale wouldn’t have wanted to be one-upped by the dragons, and would’ve shown up to raise a little hell. He would realize you were his the moment he smelled your delectable blood,” I tossed back.
We both broke out laughing.
“What about Kai and Clementine?” she asked, wiping away happy tears.
“I don’t know. They just work. Maybe in this scenario, they would’ve been the last unmated ones instead of me and Talon.”
“Good point.” The wind tossed Blair’s hair over her face, and she dragged it back with a hand through the top of it. “Are you happy with him, Avery?”
“I am. We understand each other.”
“Do you talk to him? I know you don’t talk to us, about the Wendell stuff. And you don’t have to—but you should talk to someone. You can’t heal if everything’s still trapped inside the wound.”
My throat swelled. “I talk to him about it,” I said softly.
“Good.” She captured my hand, lacing her fingers through mine and squeezing. “You deserve that.”
Maybe I did.
And maybe she deserved the truth, too.
Maybe all of my sisters did. Because I might not have talked to them about it, but they were all there for me in their own way. Zora had taught me to be stronger, with her take-no-shit attitude. Clem had taught me to be happier, with her constant cheer. Izzy had taught me how not to take myself too seriously with her sarcasm, even when things got dark.
And Blair… she had taught me to embrace who I was and what I felt, even when those things didn’t necessarily make sense.
So, I told her.
Sitting on the roof of Vamp Manor, my old happy place.
We cried together, and held each other close.
And when the story was over, I felt lighter.
Freer.
Happier, too.
When Talon and Hale finally made it up to the roof and found us hugging on the ledge, we were quickly whisked backward, to safety.
Our gazes met, and our tears turned to laughter again.
She mouthed, “Overprotective assholes,”
And I mouthed back, “We love them anyway.”
A few trips to the castle later, the rest of my things were put away, and we were back in Mistwood for a shopping trip.
We had all decided to go shopping for food and decorations for the party together, and when Zora had mentioned it to Clementine, she insisted on coming along too.
Our mates weren’t thrilled to let us go without protection, so we made them play rock paper scissors to decide which of them could tag along.
They refused, of course.
And reluctantly elected Talon and Bane. They were the newest mated men, and therefore the most overprotective at the moment.
Blair, Izzy, and Clementine were all warned to text frequently while we were gone, of course.
There was no way to avoid the protectiveness, but considering the way most of our lives had gone, none of us really had a problem with it.
The shopping trip was a blast, and we were all still grinning when we eventually made it back to Vamp Manor with everything we needed for the party. Zora, Izzy, and I put up the decorations while Blair and Clem added Chlorine to the pool.
We were fairly certain we heard evil laughter from their side of the room, and exchanged grimaces, but it was Clementine’s birthday. If she wanted us to be disco balls, we’d survive.
The guys wrestled Vamp Manor’s soft serve ice cream machine into an elevator and up to the pool’s deck. Afterward, they went back down to grab more food. They actually seemed to be having a good time, too.
“Have you seen Stella and Evan?” I asked Izzy, as we finished putting up the last of the streamers.
There were way too many, but Clem was always the most enthusiastic about birthdays and decorations, so none of us would say that to her.
“Oh, yeah. They’re freaking adorable.” She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, they’re all over each other. I thought I’d seen that guy smile before, but the way he smiles with her? It’s stupidly cute.”
“I thought you caught them having sex in your office a few days ago,” Zora pointed out.
Izzy grimaced. “Yeah, that was not cute. I was keeping it on the down-low for Talon’s sake, though.”
“Oh, dragons are pretty laid-back about sex. Talon told me about this one party where their whole friend group was hooking up. I’m sure he knew who Stell was sleeping with, and where.” I shuddered. “I’d rather not have that kind of information about any of you.”
“Agreed. The mental image of Zora and Bane screwing in that conference room can never be burned from my mind,” Izzy drawled.
“Hey!” Zora grabbed a roll of tape and threw it at her. Izzy dodged it, barely, but was too close to the pool. She stumbled, and went down hard. Her head hit the ground before she plunged into the water, and blood clouded around her.
“Fuck,” Zora breathed, and we both ran for the water at the same time.
Izzy couldn’t drown, obviously. And supernatural genes meant quick healing, but she was still bleeding.
Zora jumped in, and I dove. Glitter covered our skin as we went, thanks to the chlorine our sisters had already flooded the water with.
We both got to Izzy at the same time, and she swatted us away weakly with a sparkling arm as we dragged her back to the surface.
“What happened?” Blair called from the side of the room, as we hauled her onto the edge of the pool.
“Zora tried to kill me,” Izzy complained.
“You deserved it,” Zora growled back, though I could see the worry in her eyes as she pulled Izzy’s hair away from the wound. Between the platinum hair, blood, and glitter, she looked like something out of a horror movie. Or a comedy.
“This thing is pouring blood,” I warned. “Should we call Kara?”
Kara was the vampires’ doctor.
“I’m fine,” Izzy grumbled. “Just grab a towel or something to take care of the blood while it heals, or Porter’s going to flip out.”
“Good point.”
“I’ve got it!” Clem grabbed a blue towel off a chair nearby and jogged over with it. She handed it over, and I pressed it to Izzy’s wound while Zora held her hair out of the way.
“That is a lot of blood.” Blair crouched down with us, grimacing. “Porter’s going to panic even with the towel there.”
“It’s cool. I like to keep him on his toes,” Izzy said weakly.
She was starting to look a little dizzy, though.
“Let’s lay her down,” I suggested, and everyone agreed.
“I don’t need to lay down.” She tried to push us away, but failed spectacularly. A few minutes later, she was on the ground. “Actually, that does feel better. Am I still bleeding?”
I didn’t bother lifting the towel to check. “Yes.”
“I’m going to text Porter just so he doesn’t lose his shit when he walks in and sees this,” Clem said, hurrying over to the lounge chair she’d left her things on.
“Too late,” Zora called back, as the guys came walking back in. They were all chatting about something—and they all stopped when they reached the inside of the room.
A few rumbles told me they’d caught the scent of blood.
“Izzy’s fine,” Blair called out.
“I’m good!” Izzy agreed, her voice too weak for anyone to believe her.
“What happened?” Porter growled, shoving his armload of food at Bane before jogging across the room.
Thanks to his vampire speed, Hale managed to catch all of the food Bane nearly dropped.
Talon’s gaze was a little concerned when I looked his way, but I gave him a thumbs-up, and his lips twitched.
They all started setting up the food while Porter kneeled next to Izzy.
“I’m fine,” she insisted.
“You’re bleeding, baby.”
“Profusely,” Zora agreed.
Porter scowled at her, and she shrugged.
She wasn’t wrong.
“Let’s give them some space,” Blair suggested, taking Zora by the arm and dragging her away from the rest of us. Clem was heading back in our direction, so Blair grabbed her on her way over to the guys.
“What happened?” Porter repeated.
“Nothing,” Izzy grumbled.
“Zora threw a roll of tape at her. It was deserved,” I said.
Izzy flashed me a glare, but I shrugged. We both knew it was true.
“She dodged it, but forgot to watch where her feet were going,” I added. “Her head hit the ground on her way into the water.”
“That would explain the glitter.” Porter took the towel from me and pulled it away from her head, inspecting the wound. “It’s almost healed. Just a little surface cut.” He pressed the towel back to it anyway. “You were taken down by a roll of tape because of a sarcastic joke, huh?”
“Shut up.” She swatted at him, though her lips quirked upward at his joke.
He slipped an arm under her back, and scooped her up off the ground. “You’re going to survive this one. Let’s get some food in you, so you heal faster.”
“Alright,” she agreed.
“Thanks for saving my girl.” Porter winked at me, and Talon growled from across the room.
I ignored the sound, nodding back. “She was our girl first, you know.”
“I know. Congrats on the bond, by the way.”
With that, he swept Izzy away.
I made my way over to Talon, slipping an arm around his waist when I reached him. He let out a long breath, draping an arm over my shoulder.
Leaning in, I whispered, “He wasn’t flirting with me. He’s clearly obsessed with Izzy, Tal.”
“I know. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Everyone expects it with newly-mated pairs. I just wanted to make sure you knew.”
He kissed the top of my head. “You look good in glitter, Ave.”
“I know. It’s one of my best qualities.”
He snorted, and my lips curved upward.
“We need to swim before we eat,” Clementine declared, grabbing Kai by the arm. She towed him toward the pool, catching Blair on her way, and Blair dragged Hale with her.
“Wait a second,” Hale warned. “I don’t remember agreeing to be covered in glitter.”
“You’ll love it,” Clem gushed.
“I don’t think I will.”
“You’ll survive,” Blair teased, tugging him with her. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Oh, just shove your magic at him,” Clem said cheerfully.
“That, I’m not opposed to,” Hale said.
“It comes with glitter.” Kai’s voice was deadpanned, but we’d all seen him grin when she grabbed his arm.
He loved every bit of her enthusiasm.
“Geronimo!” Clem exclaimed, yanking all three of them with her as she jumped.
Blair’s laughter followed—before the massive splash.
“You don’t want me to be covered in glitter, do you?” Talon asked, eyeing my skin skeptically.
“You don’t have to,” I assured him.
“It’s a rite of passage,” Porter called from the chair nearby. “Didn’t you get Clementine’s text?”
Talon’s forehead creased. “I didn’t bring my phone.”
Bane handed his over, showing a multi-paragraph message that started with:
Clem
Hello, my fabulous brothers-in-law! Or kings-in-law. Either way, today is the annual celebration of my birth, and as such, we’re swimming in chlorine! This is a siren rite of passage, so if you would please attend, I would really, truly love it. My sisters would too, of course
I grinned.
Bane leaned over and opened a separate message from Kai, to all of the guys.
Kai
You’re swimming in the glitter today whether you like it or not.
My grin widened, and I patted Talon’s arm. “It’ll be fun.”
He grimaced. “How long does it take to get it off?”
“Weeks,” Zora said, in the midst of loading her plate with food. “As in, multiple. Probably three, with the amount of chlorine those bitches added.”
“I’m going to get so much shit for this,” Talon muttered, but he scooped me up off my feet and carried me toward the pool. “You’d better take a lot of pictures, because this is only happening once.”
“I’ll document it fully,” I promised, lifting my pinky. He caught it with his, sealing the pinky promise.
Then, he jumped.
I pushed my magic at him when we went underwater, and when we surfaced, I couldn’t help but laugh.
There was glitter—so much glitter.
Blair was laughing so hard on the other end of the pool that she was crying.
Bane was eyeing the water with a grimace. “Do you think it’ll come off faster if I shift a lot?” he asked Zora.
“Nope.” She set her plate down on the ground, and when he looked away, shoved him toward the water with a wicked grin.
He barked out a laugh, hooking a leg around her back and dragging her in with him as he went down with a monstrous splash.
Talon lifted his arm to check out the thick coat of glitter. “This is ridiculous.”
“Welcome to being a siren,” Clementine said with a grin. “Glitter, sex, and peppermint are the name of the game.”
“The glitter really isn’t necessary, though,” Izzy pointed out, sitting on the ledge of the pool while Porter took a dive. Her magic followed him, spreading out from her toes.
“Of course it is. It’s part of our culture.” Clementine plopped down next to her and draped an arm over her shoulder. “You really shouldn’t bring up the Zora situation if you’re not ready to be hit with a roll of tape, you know.”
“Or something worse!” Zora yelled.
“You’re lucky she wasn’t holding a weapon,” Bane agreed.
“No kidding,” Porter flashed Izzy a grin as he swam over, sparkling just as much as the rest of us. He was obviously teasing her.
She couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of him.
“Now that we all look sufficiently like sirens, can we eat, Five?” Kai checked, lifting himself out of the water to sit next to his mate.
She leaned against him. “I guess.”
We all headed for the food, and the jokes and laughter continued. Considering all the glitter, I didn’t think they’d stop anytime soon.
And honestly, I loved it.
That was what family was supposed to be like—and I counted myself lucky to have it.