Page 4 of Iris
“Good lord, smile, Quinn, like your sisters. We can still find you each a rich Beta this Season if you do exactly what I told you. I’m sure Odessa’s caught the eye of Mr. Sagen… Oh, look, there’s Juniper Davis. She’s got a dishy son. And his limp isn’t noticeable when he’s seated. Come girls!”
Quinn’s older sisters, Phoebe and Odessa, follow the sweep of their overbearing mother, one tall and gawky, the other buxom and short, but both somehow managing to look down their noses as they pass me and Quinn. Unlike Quinn’s fiery red hair, their hair is dark and piled high with enough jewels to light up the night like beacons.
According to Quinn, her mom was mated once before—to an Alpha. They had a son together, but he’s off at college overseas, so I’ve never actually met him. I don’t even remember his name. After that ended, Mrs. Hyde mated with her dad for his money—Quinn’s words, not mine—and he brought her and her sisters over.
But that all happened when she was a baby, the whole blended-family thing.
What stands out to me, though, is the way Mrs. Hyde treats her youngest. Someone might say it’s because Quinn and her sisters are from a past relationship, but Mrs. Hyde seems to have no issues with Phoebe and Odessa. Just Quinn. With her, it’s different.
I don’t know why, but I’m not the only one who’s noticed it.
Mr. Hyde scuttles to the refreshments and helps himself. I lean against Quinn and we exchange looks. Together we say, “He’s only lame when moves.”
Our snickers draw a disapproving look from my mom and a glower from Heath.
I grab her hand. “Come on.”
Billy Myers steps in front of us and bows—actually bows—eyes on me, and says, “Iris, dance with me?”
“You’re supposed to use your mini, idiot,” I say, sidestepping him.
“I’ll write you in?”
I tug Quinn, and she almost falls as I find us an unoccupied dark corner. When we’re alone and out of sight, she keeps craning her neck, and I poke her.
Quinn looks at me. “You know, Billy?—”
“Is handsome,” I say with a roll of my eyes. “Who knew?”
“Anyone with eyes,” she says.
“I still see him with his finger up his nose when we were five.”
“Iris.” She turns to me. “That was then, and this is now, so…”
I glance at her and slide the small, potent bottle into my dress’s pocket. “What?”
Odessa drifts close. “Hiding?” she sneers. “You might be able to, Iris. But not with Quinn around. That hair is brighter than the sun.”
“Hear that, Quinn?” I say sweetly, wishing this wasn’t a dark-themed Season and this chick was wearing white instead of black. If I had something like wine or cranberry juice, I would suddenly become very clumsy. “The wallpaper’s talking.”
“God. I can’t believe you’re an Omega, Weed Girl.” Odessa preens. “I have more class in my little finger than you have in your entire body.”
“Is that what that smell is coming from you? Class?” I say. “And here I thought it was just your cheap scent blockers and some overactive sweat glands.”
“Odessa!” Mrs. Hyde’s screech leaps into life from across the room. “Come here. It’s important!”
She turns and sashays off, and instead of looking at Billy, Quinn sighs and stares at the ground. “No one’s going to matewith a redheaded Beta. Not even a mega rich one. The only reason we’re even allowed here is because of money. I just…”
“What?” I glance at her and at the room, and my heart sinks. She likes this, of course she does. It’s not her world because of what she is. So what, she’s not an Omega. That shouldn’t matter. Quinn’s always wanted to fit into something bigger than us. “This is boring.”
“No, it isn’t, not for you.”
“You know I hate this shit.”
Her smile is slow and a bit sad. “Because you can.”
“Well, I can’t pull out, but I can make sure I’m not one of the Monarch’s chosen. I’m sure as hell I’m not Luxe material.”
