Team Changes by Erin R Flynn

12

After the morning of reconnecting with Kristof, I realized I wanted to do more of that and take a moment to see progress. I started right in my backyard of the coven. To the shock of everyone, I went outside and simply checked out the construction going on. Darius immediately came over, and while things were awkward, I listened as he detailed the plans to me.

People had run with my idea of the coven having rings that went around the castle. Right then, they were working on the super fancy apartments for those we trusted most but who wouldn’t live at the castle with us. The families of my knights and nobles not sworn to my court but were part of the coven. There was going to be a whole section for guest housing as well.

Because it was stupid to even attempt to allow any to stay over in the castle after the party. Well, most anyone. We all agreed on that.

But the apartments were super swank, with lots of space, the best soundproofing, and tons of amenities. If we were rebuilding, we were doing it right… For everyone, including the planet, so they were also working on the wind farm that would be outside of the protected coven if there was a problem. There were layers to our energy, and more, so we couldn’t ever be cut off from it.

And a massive array of batteries and extras Darius and Moon had plotted into the coven’s energy grid hidden under the street level. Awesome. They were really smart in the way they thought of all possible problems and handled it all efficiently, from waste management to water cleaning.

I felt tension I hadn’t realized was there ease a bit as I slowed down from all the crazy and centered myself on the path again. All the details and lists and hurrying around made me spin—and spin out—too often. I needed to remember to hit the brakes and see it all come together.

Something Kristof and Hope clearly noted as well from the looks they were sharing.

Next, we went up to Canada, and I checked out several of the outposts and got caught up. They weren’t long tours or all the details, simply seeing what I knew or had been a part of to take stock of the progress.

There was huge progress in Salt Lake City since so many were staying there. It was where most of Safie’s coven had settled for the moment and most of the visitors from the fourteen covens I had treaties with stayed. I hadn’t even been there in weeks since they hadn’t needed me.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” Llyod, a noble of Safie’s who had been passed down to her, greeted with a grin. He chuckled when I couldn’t even hide my shock at his greeting and took my hand in his, giving it a soft kiss. “I deserve that, and even harsh words from you, Princess. I was a bastard when we arrived here and started too much trouble. I apologize for that and much more.

“It’s not an excuse or an acceptable answer, but so much had been thrown at us with moving the whole coven and the condition of it. So much was tumultuous, and I couldn’t handle the idea of a new princess in charge of the people I cared for. I’m terribly sorry for that and how I behaved.” He glanced around and took in a deep breath. “Things are so different now and you’ve done that.”

“Glad it’s working out,” I replied as I pulled my hand back. There was so much wrong with what he said there, and the bullshit he was feeding me wasn’t worth even trying to get into.

And clearly, Petre felt the same as he moved up next to me.

“Good to see you,” Llyod greeted like they were old friends. “How are things? Are you adjusting well to your new role?”

“Have a nice day, Llyod,” he replied.

He acted like he hadn’t just gotten a brush-off. “You too, Petre. I’ll come visit you guys at the castle soon. I hear you get all the best treats there.” He winked at the vampire before bowing to me and heading back to what he’d been doing.

But that interaction reminded me I wanted to address who had access to the castle soon. We were still too open and all over the place, but soon I wanted to fix that. I didn’t like how just anyone we knew could be sitting at a meal to report in. I didn’t think they needed to be in our home—and near our growing coven tree—to report in or handle matters.

I couldn’t see Nora allowing such things, but her coven wasn’t spread out. Life was such a balancing act that I wanted to claw my face in frustration some days.

My shadow caught my attention, and I reached up to find a flower in my hair, noting that Petre seemed to be smothering a grin. I left it tucked in my messy bun and continued on the tour. Then we moved on to Albuquerque where I found another flower had joined the three that had been in my hair and I hadn’t noticed.

In my defense, I had a lot of hair and going on. It seemed every time Petre picked me up to blur us away, he had added a new one. I blinked at him, and then I was holding eight more gorgeous pink and orange roses to make it a dozen he’d given me.

Where had he been hiding them?

Where had he gotten them?

I smelled them and felt my cheeks flush, wanting to ask, but we weren’t going public. He’d done it all on the side where only Moon would have noticed since he was my guard as well. I said “thank you” so quietly I couldn’t even hear it, knowing he still would, and let them guide me to where we were going.

I got to check out the progress with the second hospital opened and talk with a few of the docs on what they needed. I admitted that none of it made much sense to me, but they promised things were going amazingly, and everyone was taking lots of time to help them amidst all they were doing.

Well, that was nice to hear.

I promised the children’s hospital was being brought back online soon, and people were working on getting more power up to cover them all. For now, a lot of it was makeshift as that settlement had really been in dire straits and humans were so much more fragile than we were.

I was confused as to why we went down the block until I saw several of the humans we’d been fishing with yesterday. Petre filled me in that most of them had taken the plane directly to Albuquerque to start helping. That was what they were doing too. They were getting several fast-food restaurants cleaned up and ready to be fixed to help with feeding everyone.

I was shocked to hear they were going to do it since a few of them said they had worked in fishing and would want to again. That lead guy who I had talked with most was the one who answered with a shrug.

“I’ll sit at a fucking meat grinder for the rest of my life if it means my family and all of us have food and can get real medical help.” He let out a slow breath. “You guys scare me. Your friend Maggie was right yesterday, and I wanted to be armed so I was protected against you. Vampires are the monsters in movies and books, not the good guys. Werewolves are more animal than man.

“All of it was fiction and legend, but it’s all I’ve ever heard. Fucking zombies ended up happening in my lifetime, and no matter what we call them, they weren’t good guys. It’s too much to also accept you guys don’t just want us for food. Not so fast and after finding out. I need more time than that, but I need my family to have food and be safe from the monsters I know are monsters.”

His chest was heaving at the end of that and I felt bad for him. He was trying and exhausted, having shouldered too much for too long.

I knew that feeling too well. I ignored when Moon moved to block me and went over to the human, reaching out and patting his arm. “It is too much. You don’t have to accept it today. We’re not asking you to. Fuck, I shot Darius when he first showed me, and I am a vampire. Take all the time you need and process all of this, not just us.”

“Then what do you want from us?” he demanded, his voice cracking. “Nothing is free.”

“No, it’s not.” I gestured to what they were doing. “We just want this. I want you to not hurt the people I love because you’re scared just like you want your people safe. That settlement was festering fear and crazy. That’s dangerous for us, and we should all be done with that after what we’ve been through. The apocalypse showed us what really matters. So just help and we’ll help too.”

I shrugged. There really wasn’t much else to say, and I simply kept repeating myself in varying ways. But sometimes that was what it took to get the message through. Sometimes you had to drill it into thick skulls that they worried about the wrong things or focused on bullshit that didn’t matter in life.

So I could repeat myself a few more times if it helped cut through some of that.

We left, and I decided I wanted to actually enjoy my pool and take some more time to sit with everything that had happened. I changed into whatever two-piece someone had put in my closet, carefully put my roses in a glass of water next to my bed, and headed downstairs.

Except I was grabbed around the waist and brought to the bar instead.

By Cerdic.

Okay then, so we were doing… Whatever was going to happen with us.

Oh, and I could smell a distillery’s worth of booze coming out of his pores.

Awesome.

He blinked at what I was wearing and then frowned when I pulled away. “What were you about to do, love?”

“What do you want?” I whispered as I actually moved to the seat adjacent to him.

His frown deepened as he pushed his messy curls back from his forehead. Normally, they were styled and sexily messy… This was just messy. “What do I want?” He didn’t say it as a question really, more parroting me before taking a gulp of clear liquid that I assumed was vodka from a bottle. “What happened with my father and you?”

I did a double take. Of all the things I thought he would ask me, that was not one of them. “What?”

“Tell me what he did,” he said, his tone firmer.

I blinked down at my lap, shaken by this and realizing I was actually shaking, I was so upset. “Fuck you, Cerdic.”

“Fuck me?” he asked, not hiding his shock.

“Yeah, fuck you,” I repeated, my tone firmer as I stood. I stepped back when he did too, and he reacted like I’d slapped him.

Good.

“It happened to me. Your father did something to me, and you just bring me in here when you’re sloshed and demand the victim tell you? You don’t even ask if I’m okay, but you want to hear the details from me. So my response is a very firm fuck you.” I took another step back. “Actually, get out.”

“What?” he whispered, his eyes going bug wide.

“Get out of my house and do not come back until you are at least sober and figure out what the fuck is—something. I’m not going to have another husband destroy me by having to endure this alcoholic response. At least Darius was kinder and didn’t subject me to it and just abandoned me instead of pushing me to—get out.”

I left before I said more and something I couldn’t take back. I went to the pool and jumped in.

Except I forgot which side was the super deep end, and I still didn’t know how to swim… No matter how many times I’d asked someone to teach me for real. When my feet didn’t hit the bottom, I panicked and clawed at the water to get higher, screaming like an idiot and sucking in too much water.

And then I was out of the pool. Petre was fully dressed and soaked, rubbing my back as I coughed out the water.

“I’m teaching you to fucking swim,” he growled. “You’ve asked at least a dozen times in my presence alone, and I cannot take it anymore. If they won’t value you—I’m teaching you.”

I nodded as I coughed, taking several more minutes until I got all the water out and it didn’t burn. “I forgot what side was super deep.” I let out an ugly laugh. “I never get to enjoy my own pool and know which side is the bad one. Un-fucking-real.”

“Just keep swimming a bit longer, My Princess,” he breathed in my ear.

I shivered at the contact but then blinked at him. “This happened because I can’t swim.”

“It’s from a movie I like. Sorry, I forgot—sorry.” He gave the barest of kisses to my cheek before leaning away and peeling off his shirt. “I’ll find it and we can watch it tonight. Have something calm and nice.”

“I’m not sure what’s planned,” I muttered as I stared, wondering if I should wipe up any drool. Especially once he undressed further and ended up in nothing but boxer briefs.

He hopped in the pool first and picked me up off the ledge. “You know how to float and kick. You’re not a baby starting with nothing, but all the times are panicked and upsetting. We’re going to start over and with calm. It’s like walking, and the more you do it naturally, when you have to do it or accelerate to running, you’re balanced and able to do it.”

I nodded, thinking that made perfect sense.

Plus, I wanted more calm anyways.

We started with floating and then kicking while he held me. Then he worked with backstroke and more. It was easy and I liked it. I enjoyed the cardio, and Petre was a great teacher, patient and even.

“Thank you, Petre,” I whispered when we were wrapping up, my body pressed against his. “I needed this.”

“I did too,” he said after a moment. “Too much has been spinning. It’s nice to take the time to slow down.”

“Good, then you be in charge of that,” I chuckled. I laughed when his response was to have us out of the pool and wrapped in towels before I could blink. It was hot enough out where it didn’t take long to dry off even in the shade, and then I headed to change for dinner.

And have some hot kisses in the elevator with Petre.

“What should I wear to dinner?” I asked him as I pulled off my top. I dropped it in the hamper and then bent over to pull off my bottoms. I added them to the bin and glanced at him over my shoulder. “Want to help me pick?”

He groaned and joined me in my closet for some more making out before picking out a pale yellow sundress. It had long, flowing sleeves and a seriously short skirt. He even selected wedge sandals that he put on me, kissing my toes when he did.

“Really?”

He smiled at me. “I love your legs. I think all of you is ridiculously sexy, but I’ve never met a woman with more seductive legs than yours, Inez.” He licked his lips when I gave him a shocked look that he’d used my first name. “We’re here alone and you’re letting me pick your outfit. You’re Inez to me now. You’ll be my princess again when we see the others.”

“I like that,” I admitted. I bit my finger and rubbed the blood along his neck, smirking when he moaned. “I like sweet snacks with my movies.”

“I was thinking an assortment of cookies from the new bakery in Seattle.”

“I’d like that.”

“Me too.” He ran his hand up my leg and teased his fingers over my panties. “But I also want to taste something sweeter if you’ll let me, Inez.” He smiled at me. “Please, Inez? Will you let me lick you later, Inez?”

I nodded, leaning in and pressing my breasts against his face. “Why do you keep saying my name?”

“Because it’s beautiful and I’m happy I get to.”

I brushed my lips over his. “I want to hear you moan it while I suck you on my knees. I want you addicted and a mess for me.” I frowned, having a weird feeling of deja vu hearing myself say that.

He kissed my nipple through my dress and bra. “You told me that after your bachelorette party. You wanted me to be your stripper and hooker and to make me a complete mess for you. I am, Inez. I’m so desperate and addicted to you, I swear I am.”

I liked the idea of it so much, I knew he felt the wetness on my panties. Something about him made me want to make him a begging, whimpering mess for me. He was so calm and put together, sexy and chic, that I wanted him… Anything but and desperate for me.

“You liked the taste you got of me, huh?” I teased as I fisted his curls.

“I loved it,” he panted. “I need more of you. I ache for you.”

“Right answer,” I purred before sinking my fangs in his neck. I took just a tiny sip, which he loved, and I let him slide his fingers inside of me. Then I pulled away and watched as he licked them. “I am on the menu for dessert. For you, at least.”

And then I walked out of the closet, smirking when he moaned. Yeah, this was the way to enjoy my life and being with men. No more getting married and stupid commitments when we had forever. It was time for more fun and less stress.

Maybe it was shitty or crass, but I had the weight of a whole coven on my shoulders now. I was going to start worrying about myself more before I broke.

Apparently, no one else was going to.

Apparently, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I had dinner in my private dining room with Kristof sitting next to me and Darius down the table… Jaxon and Cerdic not even bothering to show up.

Expected, but painful.

It was after dinner when I was ready to have a movie night with Petre that I found out I was wrong about others worrying about my stress and breaking me.

“Can I speak with you a moment?” Hope asked.

I winced, giving her a guilty look. “I was hoping we could be done for the day and not—”

“We are,” she promised, clearing her throat nervously. She gestured to Maggie, Lara, and Trisha. “We’re worried. You more than needed some time off, but we think you need more than that. Will you try something we think will help?”

I glanced at Petre who gave me an encouraging smile, which made me wonder if he was involved. “Sure. What are we doing?”

“Somewhere with less ears,” Trisha cut in before anyone could answer. She looked behind me. “We need a few more guards for this, and to bring us. Please.”

Now I was really interested. Petre grabbed me while Vitor, Moon, and Sisay took Maggie, Lara, and Trisha. I did note Kristof snuck in the group and grabbed Hope as she was clearly the ringleader of this.

When we stopped, I glanced over at Hope in confusion. She hadn’t told anyone where to go and yet, we just went.

So where were we?

“We’re at Grand Forks Air Force Base,” she answered before I could even ask. She nodded when I flinched and bumped into Petre like I wanted to get away. “I know. I know you hate this place because of what happened, but it’s why I picked it. You need a way to start processing things, Inez. You need an outlet.”

Trisha cleared her throat. “And this is not just because of issues with tai chi. We wanted this before then.”

“We did,” Hope agreed, nodding. “You’ve said several times you don’t know what you like or did before. It bothers you. It makes you feel alone and petty when so much is going on. You’re not alone, simply the only one suffering in that way.” She gestured to the others. “We all have outlets. People need them. You need them.”

I let all of that sink in and nodded, glancing around the huge warehouse and still not understanding what we were doing there.

“You used to be fascinated by your power and gifts,” Trisha said when she saw I was ready. “Even if the reconstructing stuff weirded you out, my cousins told me how excited you always were. Now it’s a chore and work. You’ve lost the magic in your magic. The blood scares you sometimes, and you have too many days you’re just going through the motions.”

Again, I nodded, not able to argue with any of that.

Hope took back over. “We want to change that and give you an outlet. You may hate it. It’s fine if you do. Really, I don’t want you to worry about the time we spent setting this up or anything. We were glad to have an easy, relaxing job, and it was nice to get to know Vitor a bit. The drivers all got a calm shift and—we enjoyed it. Even if it doesn’t pan out, someone will utilize this.”

I nodded until part of what she’d said hit me, glancing over at Vitor. “You were in on this?”

He nodded. “Having an outlet is the only thing that kept me remotely sane in the Darbandi coven.”

“What do you do? What’s your outlet?”

He seemed shocked I cared enough to ask and then smiled. “I would love to show you privately. I was hoping to set up a workshop here and get into it more than hiding it at the coven. It would be nice to… Change would be good.”

I nodded, glad everyone was so hopeful, finding ways to do better. Which made me want to do the same. “Okay, what do I do?”

Maggie came over to me and grabbed my hands, clearly having been holding back her excitement. She pulled me with her further into the warehouse. “So it’s glass. We asked Vitor to help us find tons of colored glass and turn it into energy beads. We checked out places that were destroyed even and found great stashes.”

“She means unfortunately, many galleries were destroyed, either from corrupted or crazy weather or any of the many reasons things are in shit condition when we find them,” Lara explained. “We were bummed the art was ruined, and Maggie made a comment that it was a shame you couldn’t rebuild that too. And then we realized you could.”

“Except that’s not what we want,” Hope interjected. “We’re not asking you to replicate art. We want you to express yourself.”

I couldn’t hide my shock as Maggie still pulled me along. “I was thinking of maybe seeing if I liked to color, and you guys are talking about pulling glass art out of my ass?”

“Not out of your ass,” Lara drawled, but then smirked. “That would have to hurt like a bitch.”

“You’re a bitch sometimes,” Trisha chuckled. “No, and—there’s no rules here, Inez. We want you to skip coloring like kids because you have this amazing gift. It’s seriously fucking cool. Appreciate it. Run with it. I’m honestly jealous. Even if you hate glass art—fine, we try something else. But damn, time to enjoy you’re so cool.”

“Agreed, but there is a place I want you to start,” Hope said gently as she took my hands from Maggie as we stopped at the middle of the warehouse. There were several worktables set up and industrial lights hooked into huge batteries. She gave me a gentle smile before reaching out and petting my hair. “You have a piece of glass art in your house.”

I flinched from her and went to pull my hands away, but she held on with her one. She was stronger, but also I didn’t want to fight and either of us get hurt and she knew that.

“I know,” she whispered. “I know you’re hurt—it hurts. You look ready to cry every time you see it. And it’s in the foyer of your house, what should be your haven. It’s not… It’s upsetting for us who love you.”

“He built me the castle,” I whispered, not fighting the pain for once and letting her see how much it all killed me. I still loved him so much, but I didn’t want to.

“I know,” she rasped, petting my hair again before leaning in and kissing it. “But you loved that fixture. You saw it over everything else and wanted it in your life. Take that back. Make one yourself, Inez.”

“Make it with different colors because you can,” Trisha added. “Maybe a different shape, and we’ll find someone to do the lights for it.”

“Or you could start smaller,” Maggie suggested. “Something not as scary as a big chandelier.”

“Screw that. We go big or go home,” Lara argued.

I actually agreed with her. If I was going to try this, I wanted to go big and feel that amazement again at my power.

And I wanted what Hope suggested. I loved that chandelier, and it was the first time I’d stopped and appreciated something I’d seen. Darius and the memory aside, I knew I liked it and wanted one. I hadn’t experience that a lot… And I wanted to take that moment back and make it mine instead of ours.

Maybe I needed to.

I wasn’t sure, but I was going with Lara’s advice. Go big or go home.