“You caught that, did ya?”Swallowing as hard as she could, Vanessa once again tried to get the nastiness out of her mouth while hoping the Polar Bear with whom she shared her soul would take a hint.
Thankfully, Celeste did.
“If my senses are right…”
“Which they always are.”
“Which they always are,”the Polar Bear Sow sarcastically snorted.“Before I even saw that nasty little gris gris bag, my nose was burning. I just thought it was something in that cave. That hole in the middle of that network of tunnels had been freshly dug, but whatever came out of it had been there a helluva long time. There was burnt flesh and dried blood everywhere.”
“Yeah, I know.” Vanessa exhaled. “I sure hope whoever came out of there is okay.”
“Me too, but I sure wish he hadn’t left all those smells behind. They confused my nose. It wasn’t until I saw the gris gris bag that I realized what was really making my eyes water was the stench of overboiled cabbage mixed with a ton of regret.”
“Henbane?”
“Yep.”Shaking her big, white, furry head, Celeste grumbled,“And I missed it, right along with a whiff of skunk spray.”
“Not Rue?”
“Yes, Rue,”Celeste snapped.“Not to mention the foul stench of Devil’s Trumpet and the sting of Valerian Root.”
“None of that will hurt the baby, will it?”Instantly worried all over again and not trusting her own senses, Vanessa reached for the mind of her unborn child. Finding the little one’s heartbeat strong and the slow, steady sounds of the babe asleep, she breathed a sigh of relief.“Thank you,”she whispered to Celeste.
“Of course. Girl, you never have to thank me for doin’ my job.”The Polar Bear Princess reassured.“The first thing I did was push all the Magic I had in the tank into the protective cocoon we built around the baby the minute we knew for sure that you were pregnant. Sadly, that’s how Aamon was able to knock us out. I hadn’t built enough back up to deflect what he had.”
“And that’s also what took us so long to wake up.”
“You know it.”
Before she could form another word in her mind, the shrill, shrieking woman was snarling again. “You are fucking useless. I’ve always known you were useless. The only reason you’re still alive is because you’re mother’s favorite.” Then mumbling under her breath, she seethed, “But that old bitch can’t live forever. One day, not so very long from now, her senses will start to fail just like her legs have. Then I can put the bitch to sleep forever.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Aamon’s roar shook the windows.
“Wow!”Celeste breathes.“Asshole runs deep in the genes of this family.”
“Yeah, just another reason to keep playin’ possum.”
The fighting went on and on with no end in sight. No matter what Aamon said or how loud he got, his sister- if what Vanessa had heard was correct- was meaner and louder, and it didn’t stop there. After every screaming retort came the sound of more shattering glass, along with splintering wood and ripping fabric.
Then, just as the raging argument came to a crescendo, the door Vanessa was sure was not far from the foot of the bed opened, and everything fell silent. It was as if all the air had been sucked from the room.
Holding her breath, she hoped and prayed that whoever was entering would believe she was asleep and leave her alone. Finally, just when she was sure she would have to breathe or pass out, a low, raspy, feminine voice chastised, “Alright, you two, that is quite enough. Both of you made mistakes. Accept your part of the fault and move on. This screaming and tantrum-throwing is no way to welcome Vanessa to the family.”
“Welcome me to the family?”Vanessa gasped.
“No fucking way,”Celeste added.“Over my…”
The sound of stiletto heels hitting ceramic tile moved closer, cutting off the Polar Bear Princess as the smoky voice added, “You need to apologize to your Mate, Aamon.” Clearing her throat, she added with obvious derision, “For everything you’ve done up to this point.”
A shiver shot down Vanessa’s spine as just the tips of thin, cold fingers slid down her arm. “Isn’t that right, sister dear?”
“Let me outta here, Nessy. Just let me out of here,”Celeste seethed.“This bitch needs to be taken down. I need to set the record straight right here and right now. This shit needs to stop.”
“Let me handle it.”
Blowing out the breath she’d been holding, Vanessa slowly rolled onto her side. Looking nowhere but into the black eyes of the redhead sitting at the side of her bed, she pointedly ignoredAamon’s presence, right along with the other woman with auburn hair, and slowly batted her eyes with as much disgust as she could muster.
At first glance, the woman appeared to be nothing more than a reject from the Housewives of Appalachia. Fashion had always been something Vanessa appreciated from afar, but never really got into. Oh, she knew what she liked and didn’t like, and could even identify some of the more famous designers, but as for paying for apparel of that caliber, she was not a fan.
