Better Off Red (41 page)

“Our Cleo comes from an extremely loving flock, but they never would have accepted her as a demon. Her only choice was death.” He stopped then, and looked over at Camila. Gently, he tucked a longer, spiky lock of her hair behind her ear. He was testing me, not my love for her, but my patience with him. I swallowed twice, waiting.

“You never tried to share the truth with your family, did you, my Ginger?”

What the fu—

“No. Of course I didn’t. I thought it was against the law. And so did she.”

He sighed wistfully. “If only she thought to ask. Again, her only thought was of her Ginger, and sometimes those sorts of thoughts work against you.”

He had to be kidding, but I knew he wasn’t.

“You’re saying I could have told them?”

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“I am saying, my Ginger, now I am afraid it is too late, and one day you may feel the sting of that regret. And when you ask that I cast Camila from your sight, the pain of losing you as a result of her own selfishness will be far greater than any punishment I could hand down. Our Camila will wish for death, and I will not grant it.”

“Please. I love her and I still want her, with or without my family,” I said.

“And what will we do about them now, my Ginger? Linda and her Fredo and Todd. You are probably wondering.”

“I am,” I replied. He was talking in circles. I had no idea what he was getting at.

“I will handle them.”

“How?” I gulped.

“That is not your concern, my Ginger. Our Camila has forced my hand. But you will know the outcome. In the meantime, you will not contact them. When it is done, they will reach out to you or they will bury your memory. Either way, I will not allow our Camila to make those sorts of decisions anymore.”

“Her punishment,” I breathed. “What would her punishment involve? Or is this all?”

“Many things and one only. She may no longer act as the Queen of my Alpha nest. She has made some grievous mistakes. She may be old to you, but she is still very young, and now I have seen, too weak and too immature to handle such a responsibility.”

Then I felt my jaw clench. I had a deep respect for our master, literally running through my veins, but Camila was my maker. No one had the right to insult her. Still, I kept my mouth shut. A slight smile returned to Dalhem’s lips as he moved through my mind.

“A perfect example. You love her, but you know not to speak hastily. You are very young, but you know when to exercise restraint.

Yet you know she was wrong. I can feel it, my Ginger. She went against your wishes.” He took a deep breath, completely for show, and squared his shoulders. He still held Camila close. “You will be queen.”

“But I’m younger than she is.”

He grew very serious. I’d challenged him just enough for one night.

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“The decision is mine.”

“I—Sorry. If I become queen, what happens to Camila?”

“That is entirely up to you,” he replied.

“So if I become queen, she can come home with me?”

“Yes, if that is what you wish. Her rank remains among the demon class. I would not have her weakened against others, but she will have no authority over the sister-queens within the confines of the house.”

“What about her feeders?”

“Again, that is your decision, but I am trusting you with my daughter.”

“I have to feed from Benny?” For some reason I didn’t like this idea. “No. I am trusting you to care for her. If you prefer that she continue on with our Camila, then so be it.”

“If I don’t want to be queen, then who will do it? What happens to Camila and me?” I asked. I didn’t want to leave any nook unchecked. I didn’t want Dalhem to catch me in some loophole when it came to my future with her.

“I don’t believe you will refuse me, but if you do, Natasha will reclaim Samantha. I will then set you up in another nest. You are independent, but you do not truly desire to be alone. You may remain near our Camila if you chose, but she needs to remain near me. Here. I will only permit her to live amongst my young feeders in the Alpha nest if you are with her. Her mate seems to be the only one to control her.

“Cleo is strong, but her recent behavior displeases me. I would pass the throne to Kina. She has exhibited excellent control of her power and she respects me well. I treasure her as I treasure all of my queens, but my Benita trusts you. Her mother and I are never far. Though, in an interesting twist, I find that I feel as all human fathers do. This is her first time away from home. I worry for her and I would like her to have you near. The other sister-queens cannot provide her mother and me with that sort of comfort.”

“I’ll do it. And I’ll take Camila with me,” I blurted.

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“Excellent.” He smiled wider than before, flashing his tiger-sized fangs.

At that very instant, he took my breath, ripped it right from my lungs. He held Camila in the same motionless space, the two of us frozen as he took a piece of her mind and her soul and switched it with a piece of mine.

I exhaled sharply, feeling a new sense of power, different connections to not only all the girls and the sister-queens, but to Dalhem himself. The lives of forty-two humans and vampires were now my responsibility; Camila was my responsibility. If I failed them in any way, I had to answer to our master. The burden was immense, and it was mine to deal with. I was Queen.

“You grow accustomed to it,” he said. “We are done here. In thirty-six hours, you will receive a call and you will know the fate of your former life. Do not reach out to them, my Ginger. Mistakes can, at times, be mended. Certain harms can be healed, but nothing can be undone.”

“Yes, Master.” I didn’t know what else I could say.

“She asked for a life-bond with you, my Ginger. Did you know what that means?”

“No, Master.”

“Our Camila asked me for your hand-na’suul, but she asked to die once your human form passed on. I would not allow it. Now you must excuse me. I’m going to have a few more words with our Camila.” Gently, he stroked her soft black spikes away from her forehead. “Maybe you’d like to get better acquainted with your true maker.”

At that moment, an enormous man, taller than Rodrick, appeared behind the couch. He nodded once to Dalhem before he nodded to me, skipping the bowing and the praising. He was dressed rather plainly in a white T-shirt, a black leather jacket, and jeans. His long red hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. His thick red and blond beard was trimmed close to his face. I swallowed, gazing at him and reminding myself that this man was not my father.

“Seamus serves my sister, Caana. It was hard to locate him, but we did,” Dalhem said, then he nodded toward the door behind

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me. “There’s another sitting room right out there. Please take your time.”We stepped out of the room, but instead of making himself comfortable in a chair, Seamus stood across the small space, looking at me with his arms folded across his chest.

“Your name’s Ginger?” His Scottish accent was so thick I could barely understand him, but the deep, rhythmic tempo of his voice was oddly soothing. I could have listened to him talk for hours. He seemed to be in a little bit of hurry, though. The night was moving so fast, especially now, the moment when I wanted him to stay.

“Yes. Ginger Carmichael,” I answered.

He walked over to me and gazed at my face. He served another master, not Dalhem, and I sensed I was still important, but my power and rank meant nothing to him. I was just another young demon. I looked up, craning my neck to return his studying stare.

“Let me get a look atcha?” He gently grabbed my chin and tilted my head this way and that. “You’ve got the look of your mother.”

Yes, I did, in a way. I had my mother’s nose and the delicate shape of her face, but I had this man’s lips and emerald eyes, even his cheeks. And, of course, his thick red hair and his freckles.

“Are we related?” I asked outright.

“Yes. I’m your uncle. Your father, Ian, was my brother,” he explained, dropping his hand from my face. “Met your mother on a trip. I went home to tell my da I was going to marry an American girl. I would have made it back to her, but I was stabbed on my way to the pub the night before I meant to come back to Boston. My queen found me and changed me.”

He went on, not skipping a beat. “My worthless brother waited a year after my headstone was in the ground, then he came to America and found your mother. He won her and you were made. I tracked them down. Janet was pregnant with you and he was trying to beat the life out of you both.”

It was strange to hear my mother’s name spoken out loud. It had been so long. But for some reason, I wasn’t shocked by my birth dad’s behavior. The few men my mother had brought home

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had been abusive creeps. It was no surprise my father had been one too. Maybe the violent streak ran on that side of the family.

“So you killed him?” I frowned.

Just then Camila came through the door. I’d waited eleven years to hear what Seamus had to say, to even find out that he existed, but at that moment, Camila was all I could see. We were in each other’s arms before I could even blink, hugging each other tight, trying to breathe each other in as if our desperate embrace would keep the other from vanishing ever again.

I kissed her hard, and when I pulled away, I wiped her tears.

She was back to herself, but still on edge.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, baby. I’m fine.” She glanced over at Seamus. “I’m sorry.

I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Seamus looked at us both for a second before he answered me, acting as if my tearful reunion with my girlfriend had never taken place. “No matter. I was just telling Ginger what became of her father.

Yeah, I killed him. Right in front of your mother. She didn’t know what I was at first, but after I healed her, she made me promise I would never come near her again. I kept my word. I know I may sound a bit callous, but I loved her. Ian had no right to put his hands on her.” A muscle twitched in his cheek and I knew then he was telling the truth about his feeling for her. He still loved her.

Camila’s arm came around my waist. I gripped her hand against my stomach, more than willing to take her support. Whichever one of us was queen, I still needed her. She knew what I was about to say.

“She killed herself,” I told him.

“I’ve heard.” He turned his back for a second and stroked his beard. When he turned back around, all emotion was wiped from his face. “I’m glad I got to see you. You’re a beautiful girl, Ginger.

Probably the only good thing to come out of Ian, that piece of shit. I had best be going. My queen-mistress needs me.”

“I don’t—is there a way I can get in touch with you?” Seamus wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy, but if I never got to see my parents again, he was the only family I had. Him and Camila.

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“You’ve your cell phone on you?”

“Actually, no.”

“Here.” Camila held out her phone to Seamus.

He took it and quickly entered his phone number. “Your Rodrick’s been looking for me for a while, I hear. I meant to come see you before your next school term, but here we are. My queen-mistress has her demands, but you’re my niece. You just call if you need me.”

“Thanks. I—I will. Unc—Seamus, wait.” The word uncle felt weird to say, but there was one more thing I had to know.

‘“Yes?”

“You exposed yourself to my mother as a vampire, but you never wiped her memory right? And she never became a feeder?”

“That’s right.”

“And your queen-mistress let you live, but was there some other punishment?”

“Na, there wasn’t,” he said. “She knew I was saving the life of my love and my rightful wife. And the baby that should have been mine.”

He nodded once more, tight-lipped, and then he was gone.

I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a deep breath. Then I turned to Camila.

“Let’s just—I have a lot I want to say, but not here.”

“Okay,” she whispered hoarsely.

I pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her and we vanished through the night.

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Camila was drained physically and emotionally. I wanted her fed and rested, but the moment we saw Samantha trembling in Natasha’s lap, my focus changed. A new sort of trauma had just begun for Sam. Camila and I hadn’t been gone that long, but it was long enough for Sam to start thinking about what had happened in the library stairwell.

She was across the room, throwing her arms around me before I got out a single word of explanation to my sister-queens. I picked her up effortlessly and just as quickly, her legs went around my waist. Her emotions were all over the place, such a mess that it was almost impossible for me not to enter her mind. She was thinking of Greg, dead on the stairs. I had come to terms with his death the moment the asshole had shoved me. The most he’d ever been to me was a lab partner, and at the least, he was an insecure jerk who didn’t know how to watch his mouth. To Samantha, he’d been lover, tormentor, and her only human friend.

I sank to the floor beside the couch and held Samantha’s trembling frame to me, cradling her head against my shoulder. It was slightly awkward because we were nearly the same height and build, but with my sudden strength, she didn’t weigh a thing.

And even if she’d been heavy to me, I wouldn’t have set her down.

Greg had hurt Sam, but somehow I felt responsible. We had all shut Samantha out at the beginning of the semester, simply because of her brutal, rude honesty. Maybe if I had just given her a chance, if

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we’d tried to get to know her, she would have relied on us instead of Greg for support and comfort. I couldn’t take any of it back, but I could take care of her now.

Still holding Sam, I had a brief meeting with my sister-queens, my first official act as head she-demon in charge. They understood immediately that the shift had taken place. There was some confusion, but they all accepted me as queen, no questions asked, knowing they’d get the details when things were a little less crazy.