Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters #6)- Kristy Cunning Page 0,19

his face in the next instant, but I crash to the ground when I suddenly hear a violent foghorn blaring in my ears and see a race car speeding toward me.

It takes me a long second to realize that son of a bitch just somehow invaded my mind and sent me to the ground. It’s been a long time since he was able to attack my mind with anything less than something mild and subtle.

I push myself up, feeling dizzy from the onslaught of the abrupt, violent illusions.

“This isn’t Violet. Learn to tell the difference, Vampyre, or she’ll have you between her legs too easily,” Damien says as he drops Violet to the ground.

The woman before us morphs into the bitch I really am starting to hate. After this many years of loving her so faithfully, I’m starting to wonder if it truly was all a waste.

She smirks over at him. Not that he notices. He hasn’t glanced at her even once.

How could he have possibly known that was Idun so easily?

“I was trying to do you a favor, lover. Without you feeling as though you betrayed your precious girlfriend, since you’ve apparently grown monogamous in your old age. In case you haven’t noticed, I freed you from your curse so you could feed. Dorian is a dangerous problem you never would address. You can’t face him as you are. You need—”

“You called a meeting today,” he says without looking at her, his eyes staying focused on the mirror before him. “Amos’s House had emergency problems to deal with that took up almost thirty-six hours of his time and focus.”

Again, why is he bringing that up?

Why does Idun bristle?

He cuts his eyes to her at last, and the cruel smile he gives her is unsettling. I almost question if this is really Damien or not, which is a whole new cause for alarm.

“One of these days, you’re going to learn to stop underestimating me. In the meantime, sit down, shut up, and look pretty,” he tells her, before turning and walking off, eyeing the challenge card in his hand.

I’m genuinely baffled.

I’m also mildly confused by the distinct absence of any feelings toward Idun. There was a time that just looking at her set my blood ablaze. Now, I can’t stand the fucking sight of her.

“What’d you go and do to piss him off?” I ask her, my eyes narrowing with new suspicions.

She gives me a cold look, as a dark smile curves her lips.

“Doesn’t matter how many times you boys reject me. I’ll always be here, Arion. Eventually, Violet will grow tired of all the trouble you bring her. Surely you see that by now. Don’t get too attached, pet. And you may have to get used to sharing your House seats with Dorian, since Damien is going to be a fool who only feeds off the weak. Without me, he’s no match for Dorian. Consider that.”

She turns and walks away, laughing, as she starts stripping out of the baggy clothes. I cut my gaze away, jaw ticking, because I rather hate not knowing what’s going on.

She finally disguised herself as Violet. We knew it was coming and have been handling the paranoia.

She finally, finally did it, and Damien effortlessly made it a nonissue. How did he know that quickly?

Annoyed with this entire thing, I hurriedly go to join Vance and Emit, who’ve already taken a seat in the growing audience.

Damien’s father is here. What the hell is he—

Amos rushes in, taking a seat near the back, as though he also knew this was coming. How in the hell did he get here so fast? That’s at least a two or three-hour trip, even on the fastest jet he has at his disposal.

Trust me, I know all about their planes, trains, and automobiles by this point. Every detail.

He knew this was coming hours ago?

“What’s going on?” I ask Vance, since a few more semi-close Morpheous family members join the audience in the middle seats.

“I’m not entirely certain,” he says, his attention just as focused as mine.

“I don’t like this. Damien hasn’t fed enough to deal with Dorian,” Emit murmurs in a register barely above a whisper.

Damien stands alone in the center of the arena. He’s wearing the ring that bears his family’s crest—a piece of jewelry he rarely dons, aside from special occasions.

He’s still disheveled, since he came straight from Violet’s bed, and he doesn’t ever glance away from the door where Dorian should be.

“His phone was in the parking