AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rose gave her a strange look. “I’d rather not.”
“You could put them in a stew and trick your enemies into eating people-meat.”
Rae groaned. Rose pulled a face.
“People-meat,” I echoed, wondering how I’d ever been scared I’d never be perfect enough to fit into this family. They were all lunatics, not a single one of them normal. It freed me to be wholly myself. “God, that’s disgusting. Please never feed me people-meat.”
Wyn put her pale hand in the air. “I’d also like to be exempt.”
“Same,” Rae put in, nose wrinkled in pure disgusted judgement.
“Luckily, I decided to be vegetarian a minute ago,” Rose murmured, shaking her head, rich chocolate waves dancing with the gesture.
I jumped when my phone vibrated, whipping it out of my pocket so fast that everyone looked at me. Disappointment made my heart flinch. “Jonathan’s spying on us,” I huffed. “He’d also like to pass on the people-meat.”
Cameo snorted. Then she crossed the rug and dragged me into a headlock. “Stop worrying about your husband, he’s a psychopath. Psychopaths don’t go to prison.”
“That’s worrying,” Wyn remarked.
“Is this… your version of a hug?” I asked the sharp, blonde woman.
“Yes,” Cameo agreed and let me go, raising an eyebrow when my phone vibrated again. “Don’t leave us in suspense, Vasilisa,tell us what it says. But I swear if it’s a discount for Pizza Hut, I will punch the universe in its ballsack.”
“Not that you’re worried about Damien,” Rae drawled, kicking her purple boots up on the coffee table.
“He’s out,” I read the two words Jonathan had sent in a faint voice, blood rushing to my head.
“Vasya?” Rose called when I rushed for the door. “Where are you going?”
“Car park,” I rasped, struggling for air. I threw open the door and asked Jonathan, “Come with me?”
“Saint would kill me if I didn’t,” he replied, giving a scowl to the mob that rushed into the hallway after me—Rose, Cameo, Wyn and Rae, and even the twins, their eyes bright with excitement even if they had no clue what was happening.
“We’re the welcome party,” Raegan said, giving Jonathan a look that dared him to cross her. He just sighed, slammed the lock button on the panel beside the flat and led us into the lift.
“You should hide the gun, Vasya,” he told me, casting a glance at the white-knuckled grip I had on my weapon.
Cameo snorted. “She’s fine. I’ll just knock out anyone we come across.”
“That’s what worries me,” he replied. He checked the lift was empty with quick, efficient movements and ushered us inside, taking up a position at the front so he’d be in front of us when the doors opened. I didn’t know what Jonathan’s actual job was for the family, but he was a good guard. Better than Lionel, I had to admit, and felt a pang of regret for the thought. I hoped he was healing well in Jersey. At least he had his mum with him. I wished I had mine right now.
“Stay out of sight,” he growled when we neared the bottom floor. “That’s an order, and one I’ll report to the King if anyone ignores it. I’m not fucking around with your safety. I still thinkyou should have stayed away,” he added, giving Rae and Wyn matching scowls.
“No chance,” Rae replied, incorrigible, her amber eyes bright with fierceness and a tint of mischief.
“Vasilisa needs us,” Wyn added, holding Jonathan’s gaze until he sighed and faced forward.
“You can call me Vasya,” I told them, my chest full of equal parts spiky panic that Damien wouldn’t be okay and gladness to have his family at my back, no matter how meddling and daunting they could be.
“Stay behind me,” Jonathan barked before anyone could reply, the doors of the lift opening with a whoosh. The ride was so smooth that I barely noticed we’d arrived; I waited for the jarring jolt of it stopping and it never came. Dad had had money all my life, but compared to Marshall money, it was pennies. That became clear with every week I spent as part of this family.
“Let me guess,” Cameo said under her breath. “That’s an order.”
Jonathan expelled a rough sigh, leading us out into the underground garage littered with cars and into a defensible corner. I scanned it for Damien’s, my heart clanging when I found it parked across from us, even though Iknewit was here; Jonathan drove us back.
My shoulders slumped. But Damien was out. He was coming home.
I shifted my weight at least ten times, running my thumb over the barrel of my gun, my stomach knotting tighter and tighter with every minute that passed. Jonathan wouldn’t let us leave the shadow against the wall he’d folded us all into, but every trapped minute wound my nerves tighter and tighter. Like a jack in a box, I would burst.
