Page 26 of Violet Moon
“But that’s half the fun of using another language — no one else knows what you’re saying.”
“Pari, come on.Tell me, please?”
Parisa’s cheeks were turning a rosy hue, visible even in the dim lighting.She poked Sera in the arm.“It means you’re special to me.”She poked her again.“Happy now?”
Sera grinned.“The happiest.”Her own cheeks flushed with warmth.
They stared at one another, neither moving or saying a word.The silence stirred up butterflies in Sera’s stomach and she longed to break it.
“So have you heard anything else from Alpha Clyde recently about their current situation?”The levity drained from Parisa’s face.Sera’s heart sank.
“Nothing new,” Parisa replied, tone sharp and leaving no room for further discussion as she sat back, away from Sera.When she spoke again, though her friendly tone had returned, the lightness of her words didn’t quite reach her eyes.“What else is new in the gaudy vampire house across the street?”
She’d do anything to have some of the brightness return to Parisa’s features.“Have I told you much about the coven’s newest vampire?”
“You’ve mentioned him once or twice.”
“Eugene is a lot like our Jo.Bright and bubbly.Charming to a dangerous degree.But he talks constantly and buzzes around Hugh, allegedly, like an overeager bumblebee.”
Sera relaxed as Parisa did.The mysterious tension in the air, whatever that was, wasn’t thick enough to cut with a knife anymore.
“I get why.Of everyone there, Hugh’s the least — how can I put it — vampirey.”Parisa pantomimed throwing a scarf over her shoulder and showing off the many imaginary jewels on her fingers.
“Oh stop now.They’re not all like that.”
“Clemente is.And so is every vampire he collected before the turn of this century.”
Sera suppressed a giggle.“He likes tastemakers.”
“That’s one way of putting it.Either way, glad the new one is taking after Hugh.There’s a couple of other good eggs in that nest to be sure, but the more vampires we can get like your friend, the better.So what’s the issue?From the way you said ‘buzzing’ I’m getting a hint of a deeper story.”
Sera threw her hands up.“You know I can’t tell you everything because Hugh and I promise to keep some of our secrets, but suffice to say, Hugh hates all the attention and yet he’s reveling in it, too.I can tell.I think he’s found something special about this new one.”She let her expression say what she didn’t want to voice.“He can read me like a book, sure, but it works both ways.”
“Is that how it works for us, too?”
“Hm?”
Parisa leaned in towards her.“Can you read me like a book,azizam?”
She felt herself growing warm again and took a sip of her drink so she didn’t have to answer, but it went down the wrong way and she ended up sputtering into her glass, little droplets landing on her nose on cheeks.
Parisa suppressed a laugh and patted Sera on the back.
Sera righted herself, and they started talking again, but Parisa’s hand lingered at her back for far longer than any mild choking could account for.Sera’s gaze kept drifting to the large, ornate mirror hung on the wall opposite them.Her Alpha was finally relaxed again with a drink in her hand and a more comfortable, less forced smile on her face.
Parisa was talking and she knew she should be listening, but Sera kept staring in the mirror.They fit together.Parisa’s legs were turned in towards hers, their knees bumping together whenever she shifted in her seat.If she could sit here with Parisa, could belong next to Parisa, then surely both of them would be okay, no matter what was going on.
“So there we were, completely covered in batter.It all reeked, by the way.Baking soda seems innocuous until there’s way too much of it and dough saturated with it is smeared across your face.”
Sera shook herself back into the present.“You’ve never told me this.”She chuckled, coming back to the conversation, but she kept stealing glances at the mirror.“Who knew you and Emmaline got up to such mischief?”
“Apparently when you’re gone and I’m left to my own devices, I go a bit batty.”
“I’m never gone more than a week.”
“When the Beta’s away, the Alpha will pl — nearly burn down the kitchen.I think I need you to help keep my head on straight.”
Sera watched in the mirror as Parisa shifted closer, her eyes trained on Sera’s skin in a way that made it tingle.Her pulse quickened and she gripped the glass in her hand harder.“I highly doubt that’s the case.You’ve been a pack Alpha for longer than I’ve been in that pack.You always have it together.”
