Chapter 26
Star
Of course, Heather was too mean to actually die.
She probably clawed her way out of the grave like a zombie…
Being ambushed in the breakroom of Sizzling Discourse by my knife-wielding ex-bestie was not how I’d envisioned my evening going, but I also knew the coven meeting wasn’t supposed to last long. All I needed to do was keep her talking until the guys returned.
Which shouldn’t be hard.
Girlfriend does like to hear herself talk…
“I can’t believe your loser boyfriend tried to kill me—ugh!
” Heather huffed, pacing in agitation before squinting at me accusingly.
“And how did you manage to land two boyfriends, anyway, Brittany? After how you attempted to ruin my reputation with Bodacious Babes, you don’t deserve anything, much less double the fun. ”
Not this again.
I sighed, absolutely done with Heather’s conspiracy theories and self-righteous rants.
While I was fully aware the surprise apology she gave on the Retail Haven roof had been nothing but Max’s compulsion power at work, a small part of me wished she actually felt bad for creatively ripping me off before booting me to the curb to further her own career.
In my dreams…
Guess it’s time to match her batshit energy once and for all.
“Girl, I am soooo sorry Bodacious Babes hasn’t been going well for you since I left…
” I pretended to pout sympathetically, knowing my blood red lip color, lined in crisp black, was deadlier than her entire look combined.
“It’s probably because you spent all your time convincing people you have skills instead of, you know, actually working on developing those skills. ”
“AS IF!” She practically dislocated her jaw while shrieking her reply. “I’ve been flourishing with Bodacious Babes—”
“Really, poser?” I calmly interrupted, crossing my arms and leaning back against the chipped countertop.
“Last I heard, the kiosk closed the fuck down, so it sounds more like you’re trippin’ than flourishing.
I know you loooove to blame me for your misfortunes, but you should probably take a good look in the mirror instead.
” I paused and gave her a long, judgy look for maximum damage.
“Because your makeup techniques are butt ugly.”
My ex-bestie’s mouth fell open in shock, her mascara-encrusted eyelashes flapping as she rapidly blinked, full-on rebooting.
Who knew total dominance was the way to fry her Terminator mainframe.
Unfortunately for this wastoid, I wasn’t done. “And to answer your question, I landed two boyfriends because… that’s how karma works.”
So bite me.
Instead of buggin’ out again, Heather turned weirdly calm. “Karma, hmm? Funny. That’s why I’m here, Britt—to deliver karma to the vampires who’ve displeased us.”
I tensed, unsurprised by Heather talking about herself as the royal “we,” but totally unprepared for this airhead to peg my guys as vampires. To be fair, Max had displayed some of his supernatural powers in her presence, but Heather wasn’t the type to pay much attention to anyone but herself.
Knowing her, she probably critiqued his levitation technique.
I pushed off the counter and placed my hands on my hips, determined not to show any fear. “How exactly do you plan to deliver karma?”
She cocked her head. “By killing you, of course! Finding their precious ‘third’ lying dead in a puddle of blood will teach both of those disrespectful coven members a lesson.”
Time seemed to slow as I absorbed my ex-bestie’s bombshells. Not only did she know my guys were vampires, Heather just name-dropped thirds and covens, which implied she’d gotten the inside scoop from somewhere legit.
Too bad I’m the real threat in this room.
I hope…
My gaze drifted to the shiny blade she’d been brandishing since she first appeared. “Yeah… about that.” I smiled wide, allowing my fangs to lengthen for full dramatic effect. “I don’t think your little nail file is gonna do much against a vampire like me.”
I’d expected her to turn tail and run back to the grave she’d crawled out of but, true to form, Heather just rolled her eyes and flipped her fried permed hair off her shoulder.
Revealing four fresh fang marks on her neck.
Well, shit.
“That’s right, Britt…” she purred, slowly advancing, twirling the blade between her fingers. “I’m a vampire too—the one true mate of your boyfriends’ leader—and this is no ordinary blade. It’s pure silver dipped in holy water, and I’m gonna use it to stake you through the heart.”
Shitshitshit.
“Who the hell told you silver and holy water have any effect on vampires?”
Heather spun with a gasp, and I exhaled in relief to see my mates had arrived.
Double the fun!
“Was it Vlad?” Max continued with a biting, Valley Girl-worthy laugh before turning to Damon. “I can’t decide if that old world bag of bones is truly ignorant about vampire lore, or if he just sent this clueless bloodbag on a suicide mission to do his dirty work for him.”
“Suicide mission?!” Heather snarled. “I can’t die, dumbass. I’m immortal!”
Really, poser?
Now that I had backup, I was able to focus my vampiric senses on the prey before me. Heather’s pulse was racing, and while a vampire’s heart was able to beat after a fresh kill, I could tell the only blood flowing through this “bloodbag’s” veins was her own.
I take it back.
She’s not too mean to die.
“Are you sure about that?” Max purred, advancing in a way that had my pussy throbbing.
Throbbing for murder once again, I see…
“Of course I’m sure!” Heather snapped, although she was looking pretty damn unsure as her gaze darted from me to Max and then to the exit he was now blocking. “Vlad said—”
“Vlad says a lot of things,” Max chuckled, backing my ex-bestie against the wall. “Although… he didn’t refer to you as his ‘one true mate’ at all during our meeting, did he, pet?”
It all happened so fast. Max half-turned to Damon, taking his eyes off Heather just long enough for the psychopath to stab her knife into his heart.
“No!” I screamed, blindly reaching for him as tears blurred my vision.
I can’t lose him!
“Ow.” Max casually yanked the knife from his chest and tossed it aside with a clatter. “You ripped my fucking shirt. This is custom!”
What a diva.
“B-but… I thought…” Heather stuttered, freezing like prey when Max closed his hand around her throat.
“You thought wrong,” he growled, telltale red creeping into the whites of his eyes as his fangs threateningly lengthened.
“Everyone knows a stake needs to be made of wood—although, which wood depends on the folklore.” He grinned evilly.
“And it looks like Vlad also failed to tell you a bite does not a vampire make. If you haven’t drunk his blood, you’re still nothing but an. Extremely. Fragile. Mortal.”
Heather was full-on panicking at this point. “Brittany! Tell him to back off. I wasn’t really gonna kill you… I just wanted to—”
To finally get the karma you deserve?
“Fuck you, Heather,” I spat, beyond done with her shit. “All you had to do was leave us the hell alone.”
Never betraying me in the first place also would have been nice.
I nodded at Max with full permission, and before Heather could fill the air with more of her lies, he ripped her head clean off.
Oh.
Well, that’s one way to do it.
“Max!” Damon hissed, clearly more annoyed than horrified. “How exactly are we going to clean this up—”
“We’ll handle it, bat-boy.”
I gasped again as three enormous dudes stepped into the breakroom, blocking our only escape.
Uhhh…
Neither of my vampires seemed concerned, even if Damon’s irritation only grew with the new arrivals. “I thought you were done dealing with werewolves, Max…”
“Werewolves?!” I squeaked, freezing as the newcomers turned their attention to me—three sets of eyes flashing yellow.
Gulp.
The largest of the men grinned wide, displaying incredibly large canines.
“Ah, so this must be your new pretty mate, huh, Max? As opposed to the existing one…” he winked at a scowling Damon before striding over and offering me his hand.
“Cassius úlfr, leader of the local pack, but you may call me Cash.”
“S-Star…” I shook his hand, realizing too late I was definitely staring. “I’m sorry. I just… I didn’t realize there were, uh, other supernatural creatures out there… other than vampires, I mean.”
I’m such a dweeb.
Cash laughed, a deep rumbling sound that made my bones vibrate.
“Sounds like you still have a lot to learn about our world. There are countless creatures existing beneath humans’ inferior noses, although, around here, it’s mostly vamps and wolves.
” He nodded in Max’s direction. “And we usually don’t get along. ”
“A ridiculous feud if you ask me,” Max grumbled as he finished washing his hands in the sink and switched to dabbing at the blood on his ripped shirt. “Which is why, when Damon and I moved to town ten years ago, one of the first things I did was introduce myself to the local pack.”
“I still remember that day,” Cash chuckled as he propped his hip against the counter next to the sink.
“My father was still our pack leader at the time, but I was there. We all thought it was a trap from the local coven but no—just a rogue vampire who didn’t give a shit about societal expectations. ”
That’s my man.
Max dried his hands and grinned at the werewolf, as if my beheaded former bestie wasn’t bleeding out on the linoleum. “Well, that and I knew offering to get my fangs dirty on your behalf may come in handy some day.”
Cash gestured toward the two beefcakes still filling the doorway. “And here we are, as requested, more than happy to finally repay our debt.”
What the hell did Max do for them?
Damon furrowed his brow. “But how did you know to show up to help with… this?” He vaguely gestured at the gore. “When did you call them, Max? I’ve been with you since we left for the coven meeting…”
Max looked uncharacteristically apologetic. “I originally asked Cash to swing by after the meeting to discuss our future move, assuming we had a good few months before Vlad noticed our absence.” He cleared his throat. “But it appears we now need to leave tonight.”
Tonight!?
My eyes must have been huge as Max immediately pulled me into his arms. “I’m so sorry, baby. This isn’t how I meant for things to go down…”
“It’s not your fault, Max,” Damon abruptly cut in as he stepped closer. “You take such good care of us and whatever you think is best is what we’ll do. I—we—trust you completely.”
Something in his tone caught my attention, but with the way my guys were intently staring into each other’s eyes, I got the impression it was just more of their old baggage getting worked through.
Righteous.
I cleared my throat, hating to interrupt their moment but assuming we needed to motor. “Sooo… what is the plan?” I asked. “And where are we headed?”
Max smiled softly—first at me, then Damon. “Well, the final destination is still up for discussion, but how does a cross-country road trip sound to you?”
I nodded enthusiastically as Damon smiled adoringly at his man. “Sounds just like old times,” he confirmed.
Max released me and rubbed his hands together like an evil villain. “Excellent! Good thing I already have our transportation sorted out…” He paused to peer around the room. “On that note, where’s Chaz?”
“I’m here! I’m here!” A slightly smaller—although, not by much—man muscled his way into the room. “I figured you’d want the store’s security gate pulled down… You know, so no one accidentally stumbles on this, um, little crime scene. That would be a total bummer.”
Oh, what a delightful himbo.
“Yes, we would hate to add any witnesses to the body count,” Max deadpanned, tossing Chaz a set of car keys I’d never seen before. “Level B2. Look for the hearse.”
Dude-bro werewolf bounced and I cackled. “A hearse?! Way to be obvious, huh?”
“Nonsense!” Max replied with the usual mischievous glint in his eyes. “How else will Chaz explain the oversized coffin in the back?”
“He’s coming with us?” Damon looked like he wasn’t the biggest fan of that idea, which I assumed was just more vampire-werewolf beef, since the himbo seemed harmless.
“My little brother is recovering from his first heartbreak and also needs a fresh start,” Cash explained, spreading his hands before a smirk twitched his lips. “Although… getting him out of my hair will be just another thing I owe you for.”
“I’d say we’re even at this point, úlfr.” Max shook the behemoth’s hand vigorously. “Especially if you wipe the place clean for us…” His gaze drifted to what remained of Heather. “And take out the trash while you’re at it.”
“You got it, Luna.” Cash cracked his knuckles and up-nodded at his men, who immediately got to work. “We’ll burn the body this time, just to be safe.”
Max hesitated for a moment before nodding once. “Yes… to be safe. The last thing we need is another visit from beyond the grave.”
Ding dong, the witch is dead.
While the werewolves dealt with the “little crime scene,” we sprang into action, packing anything that fell into the categories of necessities, sentimental items, or damning evidence.
Luckily, this included my Star Baby Cosmetics supplies, our collective collection of Love and Rockets comics, and the entire rack of clothing from Damon’s brand new fashion line, named by me.
Gunslinger Goth.
We left our coffins for the cleanup crew to burn with Heather. Just as Max had said, there was already an extra large coffin loaded into the back of the hearse when Chaz pulled up—with enough room for all three of us to squeeze in together.
Hot.
While we still didn’t know where we’d end up after our road trip, I agreed with Damon. I trusted Max completely—trusted both of them—and I was pumped for the epic adventure that lay ahead.
And as long as the dead stay dead, everything will be all good.