“Hopefully,” he said, giving a smile that was probably meant to be charming, but was anything but.
Trista led the way out of the office, down the hall, and into the magnificent entryway without a word. When we got to the car, she said, “Thank you so much for helping with my little prickly problem. I suppose I didn’tneedKarma’s help in this instance, but the help of a couple of moms. He looked well and truly scolded when you were done. I have no doubt he'll come back like he said, but I hope he'll have more clarity on how the world works when he does.”
I nodded once at her and gave her a grin as I said, “Well, goodness knows I’ve got experience with troublesome boys, and here's hoping that if he comes back, he's older and wiser.” Travis had been a good kid overall, but that didn't mean his teen years were smooth sailing. Honestly, I thought any parent that said they didn't have issues with their kid as a teen was lying.
“Well, I appreciate it.” Then, she turned to the office where I could vaguely hear Dreven cursing. “If you ladies wouldn’t mind, I’m needed here. If you go the limo, our driver will take you anywhere you want to go.”
“Thank you,” I told her.
“Thankyou,” she said with a wink, then whirled around and headed back to Dreven’s office.
When Jeffrey suddenly exploded in through the front door, two big guys on either side of him, laughing obnoxiously. Trista immediately stopped in her tracks and turned back around.
“No,” she said, marching right back over to him and standing in the way of the three big guys. “They need to leave.”
Jeffrey rolled his eyes. “Just ignore her. She’s a bitch.”
But when they tried to walk around her, Trista blocked their path again. “Go home, boys. Whatever life Jeffrey promised you, forget about it. This place will only give you pain and misery.”
Jeffrey advanced on her, squaring off with the tiny woman. “This is not your business.”
“Bringing in new recruitsismy business,” she told him.
And I looked at the boys again, realizing two late that the two with Jeffrey were human. They also didn’t just appear to be young, they were young. High school boys being led into a vampire home screamed of danger.
Jeffrey smirked. “Dreven said we can use some more male energy around here. He’s given me permission to bring in anyone I think might suit our coven.”
“You’ve brought in enough children.” Trista’s voice held a threat.
Dreven suddenly appears at the door to his office. “Trista, get out of the way. I gave Jeffrey permission to bring these two in.” Then, he went back into his office.
Trista’s mouth pulled into a thin line.
But as they went to move around her, I came to stand in front of them. “Boys, Trista is right, you should go home.”
“Move old lady!” One of the men shouted at me.
I lifted my finger and pointed it at him. His eyes widened and his face broke out with the most severe acne I’d ever seen in my life. My mouth dropped open, and he turned to the mirror in the entryway and actually shrieked. “My face!”
Keeping my face expressionless, I told him, “you guys want a taste of this world. There’s your first taste.”
The other big guy started to shake his head and back up. “This wasn’t what you said it was, man.”
Jeffrey turned on him, glaring. “What, you a bunch of babies? You scared already?”
Now both men were heading for the door like they were being chased by dogs. The one I’d used my powers on shouted over his shoulder. “We’re out!”
Jeffrey’s gaze focused on me as their door slammed. “Do you know how long I’ve been working on those two?”
I moved closer to him, so our noses were almost touching. “Leave the young kids alone.”
He smirked. “You might be wrapped up in our little world right now, but soon you’ll be gone, and we’ll go right back to running things the way we always have.”
Dreven shouted for Jeffrey and his smirk fell away. Instead, he gave all of us one last glare, then ran for Dreven. As I watched him go, I decided that whether he was young or not, I didn’t like him. Not one single bit. Then, my gaze fell on Trista, and I caught a look of such disappointment on her face that it surprised me.
“You okay?” I asked.
Trista nodded slowly. “I’m working on changing things around here. It just might not be as fast as I’d hoped.” Then, she glanced towards Dreven’s office. “I need to go. Please, the limo is waiting outside.” I wanted to say more, but she’d used her vampire speed, leaving no traces of herself behind.
