Chapter Thirty-Three
BLISS
Amelia shifts her head from side to side, examining her hair in the mirror. Dericia and I have her sitting on a chair in front of the floor-length mirror in our bedroom. She’s perched there impatiently. “Do we really need any more sparkle?”
Dericia snorts in amusement, grabbing another thread of the silvery hair tinsel, as I section out another thin piece of hair to attach it to. “We’re almost halfway done,” I assure her, but she just groans.
“I’m so bored,” she complains.
“Well then, let’s talk,” I say.
Her eyes light up. “Do you have some tea to spill? Any more random sexual encounters?”
Dericia hands me another piece of tinsel.
“No, I haven’t had any more sexual encounters, but I do have some tea.” I point at my sister’s reflection in the mirror. “I’ll spill on one condition.”
She arches her eyebrow in question.
“I’ll tell you my tea, if you tell me what the fuck that was with Evan earlier?”
Amelia looks down to the side, avoiding eye contact and fiddling with her rings. Dericia went after her yesterday, but Amelia refused to say much.
“What do you want to know?” she responds evasively.
“Well, for starters, I know you met him a while back, briefly, but you said you didn’t really hang out with him.”
“I don’t know him at all,” she responds slowly.
“Then why did you react like that?” Dericia asks, looking for another spot in Amelia’s hair to add more tinsel.
Amelia makes a non-committal noise and stares fixedly at her hands.
“I guess I’ll just have to save all this tea for myself.” I drop Amelia’s hair and start walking to the door.
“Fine!” Amelia rushes out.
I stop and come back to her side.
“I’ve never really talked to him. Like, I mean, I’ve seen him around and stuff. I was introduced to him after we opened for them, after the show, at the bar.” She goes silent for a moment. “My bond was activated two years ago, so I wouldn’t have seen it then, when I met him before.”
Dericia and I both draw in a breath. “He’s your mate?” Reese asks.
Amelia just nods. Dericia’s hands are still in her hair, as if she’s totally forgotten the task at hand.
“So remind me why that’s a bad thing?” I finally manage to ask. I know she wants to focus on her music right now, but I never thought Amelia wanted to stay un-bonded forever.
“It just, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
My music is finally taking off. And I’m happy.
I don’t want to be tied down to someone.
I’m free right now and I don’t want anything to change.
” She meets my gaze in the mirror. “And I like sleeping with different guys. It’s fun. I don’t want to give that up.”
Reese goes back to adding more tinsel. And I stand there kind of speechless. Is it some cosmic joke that my sister who loves casual sex found her one true love and me who hates it and needs a partner hasn’t?
“Sorry, Bliss,” Amelia says.
“Why are you sorry?” I meet her gaze in the mirror, frowning.
“I know you want your bondmate, but I just don’t want this. To be honest, I don’t think I ever have.”
Dericia snorts a laugh and we both look at her, confused. “Sorry,” she says, her hand going to cover her mouth. “It’s just, I don’t think it would matter, even if you did want to be mated to Evan. Based on his reaction, he definitely didn’t like this little plot twist either.”
Amelia grunts, crossing her arms. “I don’t get what his deal is anyway. He should be feeling fucking lucky. I’m a catch. Like, what does he have to complain about?”
Dericia and I both grin, rolling our eyes at one another. “Why do you care about his reaction when you claim not to want the bond?”
“Whatever,” Amelia says, waving her hand dismissively. “Spill your tea now, Bliss, or I’m never telling you anything ever again.”
I only smile wider at her empty threat. But spill I do, telling them how I found out that the other guy who’d come over with Simon was Wrath himself and he’s the one that went down on me.
I don’t feel guilty telling them this since we’ll all be stuck on tour together for six weeks.
I also share how conflicted I am over how he’s been acting.
They already know about how he made fun of me when we were volunteering in the maze together, but I fill them in on all the rest—well, except for the part where I still need to steal his tears.
And now that I know who he is, I’m that much closer to getting them, aren’t I?
A thrill goes through me at that realization.
I still feel conflicted about stealing from him, and manipulating him and Simon.
Pisces started out being rude and mean, but he held me last night.
Let me cry all over him. He might have been about to tell me who he was before the maze—I specifically think “the maze,” and not “the body”—but obviously he hadn’t gotten the chance.
“I still don’t like him,” Amelia says. “Maybe this tour is a bad fucking idea.”
I raise my pointer finger at her. “We’re not backing out of this tour. I don’t care if Taser ends up mating with their drummer and Mist ends up rejecting him, we’re not backing out of this tour. It’s the big break Goddess’ Trance has been waiting for.”
“But we’ll have to deal with them for six whole weeks.” Amelia groans. “I’ll have to resist having sex with Evan for six weeks so that we don’t complete the bond, and uh—” she motions to herself, “—look at me. He won’t be able to resist and so I’ll have to do all the work.”
Reese and I laugh. “We’ll run interference,” I say.
“It’ll give me a reason to stay away from Pisces.
” Especially after I get his tears. Hopefully, I’ll be able to use my powers to make him think nothing of it.
It’s too much to hope that I could make him totally forget.
I’m not that powerful, even if I was fully recharged right before.
“I know how you can stay away from Pisces. You can spend your time keeping Simon away from me,” Reese says. “Talk about a douche.”
“What?” I ask, suddenly unsure of where this conversation is going. “Did I miss something? I know he was a little rude at the maze, but did something else happen?”
Reese rolls her eyes. “He’s the textbook definition of hot and cold. He’s either super nice to me, wanting to know all about growing up a kindred, or he’s acting like I’m dog shit he stepped in. I swear I was about to slap him the last time I saw him.”
“I’ll slap him for you,” Amelia says, grinning wickedly. “I hate men like that. Seriously the worst.”
My mind is reeling with this new information. I go over all my interactions with Simon. True, there was that time where my succubus flirting did not work. But that was just embarrassing, and not at all his fault. Then I go over every time I’ve seen him interact with Reese, which is very limited.
“Sorry, Bliss. I know you’re friends with him.” Reese pats my shoulder.
“Well, not for long if he’s been acting like that towards you,” I respond immediately. “You fully have my support in slapping him, but let me talk to him first?” Maybe there’s some sort of explanation for his behavior.
Dericia smiles at me with a bemused expression, like she thinks it’s a waste of time, but she’ll allow it. “I love how you always want to see the best in people, Bliss. Don’t ever change.”
Amelia makes a gagging noise. “Ugh, grab a yearbook why don’t you?”
Dericia and I laugh and hug each other. We throw our arms around Amelia too, planting kisses all over her. “Yuck, gross. Get off me,” she mumbles, even as she hugs us both back.
“I’m hungry,” Amelia announces as we finally release her, immediately standing up. “I cannot sit in this chair anymore.”
Dericia shrugs. “We can take a break.”
Amelia nods and looks at me through the mirror. “Plus, Bliss, you need to get ready for your date.” She grins.
A blush creeps into my face at the mention of it.
After Grim shared a little about the investigations and checked that I was okay, he asked if I wanted to meet him for a late lunch. Nothing fancy, just grabbing something from one of the food trucks and finding a little place in the grass to sit and eat. A little festival picnic.
“I’m pretty much ready, just need to change,” I say.
I couldn’t help but put on Wrath’s—no, Pisces’—hoodie earlier.
It was too cold and his overly large hoodies are the comfiest things ever.
A thought occurs to me, and I sniff his hoodie.
Amelia and Reese both look at me like I’m insane, but I take another sniff.
The hoodie doesn’t smell like Pisces. Don’t get me wrong, it smells good, but not as good as Pisces’ scent. I laugh.
“I think the Voracious Maw boys disguise themselves with cologne,” I explain to Reese and Amelia, holding out my sleeve for them to smell.
“That’s actually genius,” Amelia says, laughing.
We gossip a bit more as my sisters help me pick out an outfit.
About fifteen minutes later, I’m headed out the door, Dericia swatting me on the butt like she’s a coach and I’m a football player. “Go get him,” she says excitedly. I know she and Amelia want me to hook up with Grim.
Even though I fed off Wrath two days ago, I still feel relatively good. I know my powers will start to droop and I’ll need to do something soon, but do I do it with Grim?
I’m certainly not going to feed off Pisces again.
Even though I can’t help but recall how he felt, what his tongue was capable of.
I mentally shut out that memory and attempt to lock it down and forget about it. We are so not going there again.
Grim’s waiting for me by a food truck selling chocolate-covered strawberries with all sorts of toppings. He grins as he sees me, and I let him wrap me up in a tight hug.
He laughs into my hair as I tighten my arms around him.
He steps back and looks me up and down. “You look gorgeous, Bliss.” He gives my ribbon a slight tug. I found another white ribbon in my suitcase. Even though the last time I wore a white one I was attacked, I have higher hopes today.