Talk Now.
Now, C.
Status, Now.
About backer.
New info.
Important Info.
Emergency.
Problem.
Danger.
You are in Danger.
Call your mom.
Call your mom, now.
Last warning.
I didn't understand that last one until I saw that one of the calls missed was from my mother. Oh, shit. Glenn tried not to talk to her whenever possible, so this must be serious. I was about to call Glenn’s number when a call came through. It was my mother.
I took a big breath of air before I answered it. “Hello?”
“Oh, my God, Celine. This is so like you. Purposely being a pain in my ass to get a hold of. You would think that with information like this, you would want to know it as soon as possible, but no. Not my daughter. Not the princess of sirens. She can't be bothered now that she is a policeman.”
I ground my teeth together, familiar irritation filling my bones the longer she speaks. I reminded myself that she didn't know that I was in the hospital with a gunshot wound, and I took a breath. “Mother. I'm sorry I couldn’t answer your call right away.”
“The queen,” she interrupted, “You didn't answer for your queen!”
I closed my eyes and tried again. “I'm sorry I didn't answer for my queen, Mother. It makes me the worst princess in the world.” I heard her sigh of agreement as she finally calmed down. Formalities like this made her more tolerable if I let go of my pride. “What could I possibly do for you?”
She let out a harsh laugh. “For me, you blew that chance when you didn't sing for your mate and produce siren royal heirs, but that's not why I called. I am trying to get Glenn off my back as he is calling me nonstop. Did you know that? Can you get your boss to lose my number unless it is information that affects the siren community as a whole?”
I rolled my eyes. “I will put in the request.”
“Anyways,”she continued like I didn't say a word,“It's about that vampire that is after you.”My back straightened as I gripped my phone harder.
“What do you mean? How do you know about him?”
She, again, scoffed,“You always think everything has to do with you, but, really, it's about me. Long story short is that I was a little wild in my youth, made friends in the wrong aristocratic crowd, and hooked up with James for a couple of months. He was bad news. He got hooked on my blood, and it drove him mad. So mad that he had some delusions about us and our relationship. That's when I called the CIA division when Glenn was a younger, hotter man, and he helped me put him behind bars, so James couldn't come after me. I returned to Siren Island and refused to leave to ensure I never saw him again.”
I was breathing fast, connecting all the dots as she rattled off her story like it was some silly thing from her past.
“Anyways, it looks like he got out, and when he tasted your blood, he was reminded of me. I will say I am a little disappointed in you, Celine. What kind of a slut are you to give blood to some random vampire? Very unbecoming of a royal lady.”
I hit my breaking point as I screamed into the phone, “Shut up! Just fucking shut up!” My mind raced with everything I had learned and everything I had experienced. If he was that old, he would be a very powerful vampire. Why did he not come for me yet? He had all that money and power, so why did he send Killian to do the dirty work?
“You little bitch! How dare you talk to me-”
“How dare I? How dare I,Mother?!” I could hear my voice shaking from all the white-hot rage I was feeling towards her. “You want to say that I’m a slut, except look at the mess you have put us both in? Because, what? You were a little lonely? A little wild and needed to blow off steam? So you fucking shacked up with a vampire and turned into a blood whore?! And you want to call me a waste? You want to call me a fucking slut? How pathetic.”
“I told him you wouldn't understand. That it wasn't worth warning you. You are obviously going to need to learn the hard way, like always, Celine. What a siren princess you turned out to be.”Click. She hung up on me, leaving me reeling from the fact that I was in this situation because she was so careless, and now that I was in this situation, she wanted to blame me for getting his attention. A vampire that was locked up before I was born and got out just as I was on this job. My skin felt like it was on fire as rage raced up and down my whole body.
