Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters #6)- Kristy Cunning Page 0,93

in backing down when you don’t have the power to step up,” she says, her eyes softer than usual. “We can’t control everything in life. The alphas should handle her. Not you.”

Staring at her, I can tell she’s just barely stopping herself from begging me to kneel to Idun.

“Even though she terrifies you, needles all she can needle, and takes lives for sport and petty agendas, you’d have me bend to her will? Even if it means compromising the integrity of Sanctuary after all this hard work?” I ask, as Anna props up and studies Shera.

Shera’s lips thin, and she reluctantly answers, “Even if you don’t like the way things are, that doesn’t mean you have the right to change it for what you feel would be better. That’s true for humans and monsters alike. Once upon a time, five gypsy families conspired to sacrifice another. All because things were unbearably brutal, hard, and suffering was just a way of life. Now monsters roam the earth and could end it at any given moment.”

“That’s heavy shit, dude,” Lela, the resident ghost stoner, says as she appears next to Anna.

“I’m looking forward to the vampire’s fun. This place is too grim lately,” Anna says in agreement with Lela.

“I’ll always make sure it’s my head on the chopping block. Not yours,” I assure Shera.

Her hands tremble, as she slowly adjusts her stance.

“You wouldn’t be the first to make that promise. The problem is, you can’t control who she goes after. The omegas. Me. The Simpletons. Everyone under this roof was marked a target after you barged into her home and made demands. The take-no-shit ball-busters make excellent heroes in an exciting story. Unless the trail blazer is humbled, because then it makes them the cavalier fool in a sad story, Violet. Remember that.”

With that, she turns and walks away.

“In other words, if you succeed, you’ve saved the monster world and you’re awesome. If you fail, you’re the fucking cowboy idiot who got everyone killed,” Anna tells me, as though I need Shera’s warning broken down.

“You really are all American, aren’t you?” the British ghost asks as she pops in and takes a seat on the railing next to Anna.

“And a total buzzkill most of the time,” Lela says with a dopey grin, apparently stuck in an eternal state of ‘stoned.’

“Only one ghost at a time can insult me. I’m too busy for this,” I say as I turn and walk down the hallway in the opposite direction Shera went.

“So, when are you putting on that ring from your Van Helsing?” Anna asks, as the other two ghosts fortunately leave, presumably to haunt someone else.

“I’ve got a lot on my mind, and now Arion is apparently preparing to seal the vampire-bride deal with the Monster Olympics. I’m rarely sure how one thing leads to another, but that’s become a typical day in my life.”

“You have four boyfriends with some insanely hot bodies. Sex better be on your mind, or you don’t deserve your vagina,” Anna interjects, as I round the corner to my sad little office.

“I’ve yet to tell Vance my suspicions about Margie. It’d be wrong to be thinking about sex until I find a way to bring that up,” I say on a tired sigh.

I smile when I see a very prettily wrapped present on my new desk. The old one was smashed at some point. Presumably, Dorian was knocked into it. That’s according to Anna, so it’s not a reliable source. For all I know, she somehow blew it up on accident.

Or on purpose.

“You’re a pain in my ass these days,” I decide to inform her, as I tear open the present from Arion.

She nods like she completely agrees. “But you begged me back and now you’re stuck with me.”

I open my mouth to argue that, but as I pull the top of the box off, my eyes go round and my mouth splits into a painful grin.

“Is it diamonds? Did the vampire send a box full of diamonds? I’d expect a box full of severed heads from him, but you smile about diamonds and not severed heads,” Anna prattles as she comes to poke her head over my shoulder. “Holy shit. You’re actually smiling about a severed head,” she adds in a dry tone.

I lift the large head out of the box, finding the body flatly folded underneath.

“Why are you holding an oversized tiger head with so much joy in your eyes?” Anna asks, looking between me and the