Chapter 4

FOUR

INDI

Chaos. I'd walked into complete chaos. That was the only word I could use to describe breakfast at the Vauntero Castle. When I came home to see my sister, I never thought this was where I'd end up staying. Nor did I think Torren would be so comfortable among the chaos, but she herself was chaotic, so it kind of made sense that she'd be so comfortable here.

The dining room table stretched down the center of the room. Food covered it from one end to the other. The room smelled amazing with all the baked goods, but I didn't know which was made with blood and which was okay for me to eat, so I sat there just taking it all in.

The King paced back and forth along the length of the table with one baby strapped to his chest and another to his back. They slept peacefully as he swayed back and forth. He grabbed a bagel off the table and began to eat as he walked.

Drusilla, the Vaunteros eldest daughter, looked up at him from her seat. Her hair fell in neat curls around her face. "Do you think it's a good idea to eat over them like that?"

Drusilla's four children surrounded her. The Vauntero genes were so strong it was difficult to tell one from the next. They all had dramatic midnight hair and dazzling sapphire eyes, not to mention each one was just as beautiful as the next.

The King chuckled and took another bite. "It never hurt you."

"Dad, you didn't," she chided him.

"I've been a father for more years than I care to count. If I never ate while I was holding children, I'd have wasted away and died, then you'd be short a few siblings."

Drusilla wrinkled her nose. "Nice, Dad."

"Guess you won't ask next time." He winked and took another bite as he continued his pacing.

Three more kids ran straight at the table and jumped into chairs. The table shook as they reached for the plates. They each laughed as they piled their plates with all kinds of deliciousness. Torren sat just across from them, happily chatting with Nash by her side. They sat with one plate between the two of them, sharing pancakes, some strawberries, and a muffin smothered in butter. I'd never seen her so happy. She never stopped smiling, even as Vaunteros huddled over them or reached through them to get to the doughnuts. They just ducked under whoever was reaching past and continued whatever they were talking about.

A small toddler ran into the room screaming and wearing nothing but underwear. The Queen raced in after him. Her long inky hair streamed out behind her. "Wade!"

The toddler gave a loud giggle and turned to run around the table. Constantine, who had barely moved, stuck his arm out, catching the small child without dropping his cup of steaming hot coffee in the other hand. He barely moved as the child flailed in his arms.

The Queen sucked in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "I think I'm getting slower."

"Why am I surrounded by children at this time of day? Shouldn't all of your young spawns be tending to their studies?" He took a sip of his coffee.

"It's Sunday." Drusilla rolled her eyes. "No school on Sunday."

Queen Zenobia marched over to Constantine and grabbed little Wade from his arm. "You used to be this age."

"I hardly think you remember that." He took another unbothered sip.

She swatted the back of his head. "Still your mother."

Constantine barely flinched. He blinked up at his mother. "And the only living being who could survive something like that."

He was a slightly terrifying vampire with longer black hair and a beard that covered his jaw in scruff and made his sapphire eyes look even darker.

The Queen simply laughed and patted the top of his head. "And my memory is very long. I even remember when I still had to wipe your a?—"

"—Thanks, Mother. Everyone else wanted that visual."

She chuckled but moved away from him and took Wade over to an empty chair at the table, where she stood him up and pulled a shirt down over his arms. "Indi, how did you sleep?"

"Oh, I slept great," I lied. With a family so large, I expected there to be some kind of noise, but there was nothing. Damn vampires.I needed noise to sleep, like background ambiance to help settle my overactive mind.

They moved silently when they wanted to. The castle was too big, their rooms too spacious, the ceilings too high. I was used to sleeping in smaller rooms or even tents on my digs. Bigger homes just freaked me out. Not that I thought anything would happen on the Island, but in the human world anything or anyone could've been lurking around a dark corner. It made me cautious on a daily basis. So being in a huge room all by my onesie was not on my bingo card for any time at all. If ever I did settle into a place, it would be small like a cottage and certainly not a castle.

The Queen smiled at me, then winked. "You'll get used to it."

Am I that transparent? All I could do was return her smile as I picked at a muffin. My cellphone buzzed in my pocket. Normally I wouldn't text while I was eating with other people, but there was so much chaos around me that I didn't think anyone would notice or care.

I opened my thread with Liam and there was a message there. ‘ How was your first night home with your sister? '

I sighed and typed out a quick response. ‘ Well, she spent the entire night trying to set me up with every single guy in town, but the front runner is my ex-boyfriend that she doesn't know is my ex . . . so it's super awkward .'

Thomas and Jonathan ran into the room in a panic. Thomas held three backpacks while Jonathan held half a dozen lunch boxes. Both of them had wide, bloodshot eyes and their blond hair stuck out in every direction.

Thomas scratched the scruff on his face and skidded to a halt just beside Drusilla. His chest heaved with deep breaths. "Okay, I've got the backpacks ready."

Jonathan stopped behind Fina with a sneaker on one foot and a rain boot on the other. "And I've got the lunches."

Josiah sauntered into the room in a pink silk robe, pink fuzzy slippers, and a pink beanie on his head. He looked them up and down. "Jonathan, what are you wearing?"

He looked down at himself. "We're lucky I have pants on at this point. I overslept and forgot I had to get the kids ready for school."

Constantine cleared his throat. "I have been informed it's Sunday."

He dropped all the lunch boxes on the floor. "You've got to be kidding me."

Thomas looked down at the backpacks hanging from his arms. "But I got everything ready?—"

"And it'll be ready for tomorrow now." Drusilla winked lovingly at her husband. "Now you can sleep in a little more to start the school week."

Thomas groaned and dropped all the bags to the floor. He hung his head. "I could've used a sleep-in today. It hurts."

"I let you sleep in because you've been so busy lately." Drusilla glanced around at all the kids at the table. "So, so busy."

"But I didn't sleep in." His face fell, then he looked to his brother. "You ran in in such a panic . . . so I panicked."

Jonathan pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's gonna be a long day."

Fina giggled and shook her head. "I did warn you to ease up on the dirty martinis last night."

My phone vibrated in my hand, and I glanced down at it.

‘ Remind me what's wrong with the ex?' Liam asked.

I took a bite of muffin and tried to ignore the debate on what day of the week it was and whose fault it was that the brothers woke up on their day off. ‘ We just weren't on the same path in life, and it wouldn't have worked long-term.'

‘ Well, was the sex good at least? ' Liam sent the smirking devil emoji.

I bit my lip, trying not to laugh. ‘ That devil dick was the reason it lasted as long as it did. 'That wasn't the truth, but it was hard to explain all of the reasoning to a human.

‘ Well, then, maybe you should make another deal with the devil, ya know, for the holidays. ' He sent the laughing emoji. ‘ It's cuffing season, isn't it? '

‘ You did not just say cuffing season to me .' I started another message. ‘Besides it would never work.'

‘So the dick wasn't as devilish as you said.'

‘It was so good I almost got dickmatized . But our differences were too great to be able to resolve outside the bedroom. 'It felt wrong to play off the failure of my relationship with Will as simply as that, like it was a betrayal to him, but I couldn't tell my human best friend that I couldn't date a mortal long-term when I'd live forever.

Liam responded just as quickly as I hit send. ‘ At least it's not Matt we're talking about . . . wait, it's not Matt, is it?'

‘NO, it's not Matt.' He wasn't wrong about that one either. Matt was bad news all around and Liam was the bestie who reminded me of that as needed.

‘ Thank God. '

I giggled down at my phone, and Torren's head snapped up and her eyes locked on mine. "Something funny?"

I shook my head and shoved my phone back into my pocket. "Just chatting with Liam."

"Make sure you tell him I love his book." She took a bite of a pancake. " Follow the Arrow is such a catchy title."

"I'll tell him." I took a sip of coffee and another bite of muffin. "So, what are you guys up to today?"

Torren bit her bottom lip and practically bounced in her seat. "Well, I was kind of hoping you and I could go wedding dress shopping today?"

I nearly choked on my coffee. "Today?"

"Yeah, the wedding is so soon," She tucked a lock of her teal hair behind her ear. "And it is kind of important."

"Of course." I smiled. "Let's do it."

I was happy for Torren, but this all felt so fast to me. Guilt ate at me. If I had been around more, stayed in contact more, or even visited more this wouldn't feel so sudden. Torren and Nash were soulmates. If ever there were a guarantee for things to work out, that was it. Plus, they'd been together for nearly a year now. The progress made sense. It was my absence that made it feel so sudden, and I had to deal with all my feelings for her sake.

"Great." She popped to her feet and grabbed a piece of pancake, then shoved it in her mouth. "Let's go."

"Oh, now?" My eyebrows shot up.

She chuckled. "It's not like you have some place else to be."

"Fair point." I rose to my feet just as three more children ran into the room and jumped into the chairs around the table. They reached for the doughnuts and cookies all at once, and suddenly I was very okay with wedding-dress shopping. "Let's go."

Nash rose to his feet and pressed a light kiss to Torren's lips. "Have fun. I'll be at the hospital if you need me."

"Okay." We both walked toward the front door when it flew open before we could reach it.

Jimbo and Sal ran into the castle and slammed the door behind. Jimbo pressed his body up against the door and closed his eyes. He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out. He was the taller of the two with crazy gray hair, a bulbous nose, and an oversized raincoat. His feet were bare but covered in mud and leaves. "I think we lost them."

"I think so too." Sal nodded up at him. His gray hair stuck out in a puffy mess. He wore only an older brown suit coat and a light blue bathing suit with bright-yellow ducks on it. His feet were also bare and covered in mud.

My brow furrowed. "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing," they answered in unison.

"I don't believe you." Torren pointed toward their feet. "What's with the mud?"

Sal puffed up his chest and pressed his hand to it. "Would we be up to no good?"

"Yes," my sister and I said at the same time.

Jimbo gave Sal a sideways look, then turned back to both of us. "Anyways, what are you two up to?"

"We're going wedding dress shopping." Torren beamed excitedly.

"That sounds like an excellent idea, doesn't it, Sal?" A wide, mischievous grin spread across his face.

"Oh no you don't." Torren pushed past the two of them to the front door. "We know how you two roll at that shop. Last year with the sirens? That spread like wildfire. I heard about that."

They high-fived and Sal snickered. "What can I say? I'm a legend."

I scoffed. "More like notorious."

Torren pulled the door open and motioned for me to follow her out. I hurried out the door, hoping they wouldn't follow us, but just as we got to the sidewalk, they came running out. "We need to fly."

I nodded and agreed with her. I jumped up into the air and easily turned myself into the pink parrot. One second I was me and the next I soared through the air. When I glanced to my side, Torren was right next to me flying as a little black bat with a tuft of teal hair on the top of her head. It was very Halloween of her, and it made me smile.

We soared from the castle down Main Street toward the bridal shop. In the light of day, all the amazing decorations were still spectacular. The spider webs were more visible. The pumpkins had a sheen on the outside of them that reflected the rays of the sun. Haystacks lined the street and storefronts. The trees were a dazzling array of orange, yellow, red, and brown. Children and parents hurried up and down the street on their way to the festival. The smell of candy, cinnamon, and burning embers from a fire filled the air. I could soar through the crisp, clear blue sky for hours on a day like this.

" There's the shop ," Torren said into my mind telepathically, jarring me from my thoughts.

I looked over and found she'd switched into a parrot like me. Mid-flight. I was so shocked by it that I missed her lowering toward the ground.

" INDI? "

" Shit, sorry! Coming! " I dove after her, tucking in my wings to catch up.

She dove down close to the street. I cringed, waiting for her to crash face-first into the sidewalk. But when she got closer, a bright light flashed and she was back to her human form, standing on the sidewalk waiting for me.

I dropped down beside her, quickly turning into myself. "That was well done, Tore."

Her cheeks heated and tossed her long hair over her shoulder. "Thanks?—"

"No, I'm serious." I gestured to the sky. "You shifted from bat to parrot mid-flight. I've never seen you do that. And then that landing? Good job."

She bit her bottom lip as her face turned even more pink. "Nash and I have really been working on it. It's just when I panic that I kind of lose control. Or when I'm startled or spooked."

I threw my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my side. "We all have our moments. Come on, let's find you a dress."

We turned toward the door, and when I pulled it open for her, the bell above the door gave a little ding. Inside, the carpet was a soft pink color. The rest of the store was two steps up, like the seating area was for an audience and that open platform was where the bride would stand and show off her dress. Rows of dresses were spread along the walls. Torren dove right in. She pulled dresses to the side like she was hunting something very specific.

Then she started pulling dresses off the racks and throwing them over her arm. "I like this one, and this one, and oh, I'll try this."

"Is there anything specific you want to wear? Or are we just, you know, flying by the seat of our pants here?"

"I'm just gonna let the universe decide the right dress, you know? Like a BOOM moment." She grabbed another dress. "So, start picking dresses."

"A boom moment?" I started to pick through the racks. "What's a boom moment?"

"It's a moment when something is perfect. Like BOOM." Her arms looked like they were starting to be weighed down when a woman came from the back of the store.

I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Liam. ‘ Update: at the bridal shop and my sister has ZERO idea what kind of dress she wants, so she's intending to try every single dress on. I think she's got ten in her arms right now and we walked in thirty seconds ago. Pray for me.'

"I thought I heard someone come in —oh, Torren! Welcome. I was hoping I'd get to see you soon."The salesclerk had short brown hair that was cut just at her chin and looked smashing for her face shape. She wore an orange pantsuit that screamed boss bitch . . . with pumpkin earrings that said I've got a sense of humor . There was a touch too much blush on her cheeks and her lips were smeared in red.

"I was waiting until Indi got here. I wanted her with me to pick my dress." Torren motioned toward me."This is my big sister. Indi, this is Sally."

"Yes, I tower over her." I gave her a wave. "Hey, Sally."

"You're funny, Indi. Nice to meet you. Torren, give me those." She began to take the dresses from Torren's arms one by one. "Well, we better get these into a fitting room. No need for octopus arms, dear."

Torren's face turned a deep shade of red as Sally walked away with the many, many dresses. She shrugged and gave a heavy sigh. "At least no one ended up in a coma."

"I still can't believe how that went down. I wish someone had it on video." She'd told me late last night all the details of how Mateo wound up in the hospital and how it led to her life with the Vaunteros.

I tried not to laugh, I really did, but a burst of laughter escaped my lips. The second I started laughing, she too broke out into laughter.

She hunched over and grabbed my arm. "There was a crunching sound, and so much snow. And the deer were running everywhere. I can see it all replaying in my head in vivid detail."

We laughed.

The bell above the door dinged, then Jimbo and Sal tumbled inside.

Sal was sucking in deep breaths. "Who would've thought birds and bats could outrun vampires?"

Jimbo nodded. "That was unexpected."

"Oh no. Nope!" Sally hurried from the back. "You two! Out you go."

She pointed toward the door. Sal shook his head and chuckled. "Come on, Sally. We're helping."

She walked down the two steps toward them. "You are never any help in my shop, and these two have a lot to decide on."

Jimbo gave her a warm smile. "You like us, Sally. Really."

"No." Her eyes narrowed at the two of them. "I really don't."

Sal pulled his wand from the inside of his suit coat. "I can help."

"No!" she bellowed but it was too late.

Sal waved his wand and a shot of magic flew through the shop in a glittery mess. Dresses leapt off the racks and fake ghosts filled each one. They began running around the room in all different directions. I huddled closer to Torren as the fabric smacked against us. Some of the ghostly faces were silent screams and others were women who loved the dresses and swirled around like little girls spinning. Music began to play in the background, and my eyes widened.

Sally screamed and pressed her hands to the sides of her face. "OUT! NOW!"

But it was too late. Jimbo selected a ghost and began waltzing around the store in his trench coat and muddy feet. Somehow the mud hadn't dried, and now he was leaving dirty footprints over the squishy pink carpet. Sal began running around the store while Sally chased him in circles trying to grab his wand from him. She grabbed his wrist and more magic shot from the tip of it, filling the room with bubbles. Ghosts in wedding dresses now rotated through the bubblea and made them fly everywhere.

Bubbles seeped into my jeans and covered both of us up to our wastes. Sally leapt forward and grabbed the wand once more. Magic fired from the tip, and we both ducked as it soared over our heads and straight for the front door. Wind whipped through the shop and we both dove to the ground. Jimbo and Sal got caught in the heavy gusts and flew toward the door. The door slammed open, and they tumbled out in a mess of bubbles. They sprang to their feet outside the shop and danced around in the bubbles flooding out of the room.

The ghostly dresses all dropped to the ground, and Sally just stood there with a pile of bubbles on top of her head, looking shell-shocked. "It's always me."

I crawled to my knees, then sat back and looked at Torren. "At least this time it wasn't you."

She nodded with wide eyes, looking at the carnage of the shop. "For reals."

Sally pulled her cellphone out and hit a button, then held it to her ear. "Peggy, I need you. Now. Or any mage. Jimbo and Sal were just here. Please send help . . . This is . . . There are bubbles, Peggy."