The Marriage Game

In Which Camila is Severely Annoyed

"...and it's ridiculous for us to go on some risky, aimless quest because the fucking princess had a nightmare." Finn crossed his beefy arms across his chest and scowled at Camila.

"It wasn't just a nightmare. As..." She didn't want to say his name. "...Your leader saw, the dream produced an extreme physical reaction that commonly occurs in instances of magical tampering with the mind. What's ridiculous is-"

"Just stop talking. It's boring. I'm bored." Finn craned his neck to look at the kitchen. "Why can't you go away so the rest of us can figure out a plan without you pretending to know what you're talking about?"

Camila clenched her hands into fists. They were only an hour into the meeting and she'd been shut down, talked over, and disrespected more than she had in her life. She was sure that if you looked closely enough, you could see smoke coming out of her ears.

She opened her mouth to explain—yet again—that Dragomir wanted the Heart of Catalina and that they needed it to bargain with him, but the silence had already dissolved into a cacophony of raucous laughter and bad jokes.

Camila sighed.

She hadn't mentioned that she needed the Heart to save her parents. Given the Vindicator's hatred for her, she imagined saving the King and Queen was the least of their priorities.

"Quiet."

Declan's voice cut through the noise like a knife. The moment the word left his lips, the conversation halted.

"The Heart's in Missouri. Zora, can you get us a flight leaving tomorrow?" The words weren't angry, just bored. Even so, not a single one of the Vindicator's met his emerald gaze.

"...How many tickets?" Zora asked. She kept her head lowered.

"Let's do five. Anyone have a problem with that?"

There was a chorus of mumbled no's.

"I have a question." Camila raised her chin and stared Declan straight in the eye. "Who's going?"

"You, me, Zora, Anders-"

"And if I don't want you to come?" The words slipped out, hard as steel.

"Then I'd wish you luck getting my people to help you." His expression didn't change. Declan kept his gaze fixed on a spot on the wall a bit to the left of her head.

"If you let Alex and I go-"

"I'm coming, Camila. Your other option is sitting in a cell for the next month, so choose your next words wisely." His voice was low. Angry.

She glanced at Alex. In the bright sunlight streaming in from the massive windows, his wounds looked even worse. Alex shrugged, as if to say it didn't matter to him.

"Fine," she spat. "Who else is coming?"

He clenched his jaw. Then, as if it hurt him to say the words, he said, "I suppose that- vampire of yours can come too."

Camila nodded. At least Alex was coming.

"Alright." Declan rose. They were all still seated and Camila had to crane her neck to look up at him. "Take a couple hours. Finn, I want you to handle dinner. Everyone else, clear out."

Obediently, the Vindicators shuffled to their feet and filed out the door. Zora winked at her before going, flashing her bright white teeth in a smile, but no one else acknowledged Camila.

Camila huffed. Thank Goddess she'd only have to deal with Anders and Declan on the journey. She wasn't sure she could handle all of them. Alex had wandered into the kitchen, pacing back and forth. She took a step towards him

"Camila?" Declan blocked her path. She found herself face to face with his muscled chest. He wore a forest green shirt that matched his eyes and some irrational part of her brain wanted to sit, sigh, and stare dreamily at him for the next hour. "Can we talk?"

Then she remembered Alex's swollen eye. His arms. The thin cuts in his raggedy shirt.

"Honestly, Declan? Now is not the time." She sidestepped him.

His hand closed around her elbow. A wave of heat pulsated from his touch, moving in waves up her arm and down her wrist. "Please."

"No-" She started to speak.

He interrupted her. As if her words had no meaning, like her voice barely mattered. After an hour of men speaking over her and laughing at her ideas, Camila had had enough. "If you want this to work-" Declan said, taking a step closer.

"I said not now!" She ripped her arm away. "Get out. I will talk to you later."

Camila glared up at him. She was angry, frustrated, but she couldn't look away. His eyes were an endless pool, an emerald void. His mouth was open slightly and her gaze dropped to his lips. They were pale pink, slightly chapped.

She shook herself, trying to clear her mind. "I will talk to you later," she repeated.

"I'm sorry," he tried. "I screwed up again."

"Yeah, you did. And we'll talk, but right now you need to leave."

With one last backwards glance, Declan exited the room. Camila breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the soft click of the door shutting.

"That looked like fun." Alex winced in sympathy. He stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the marble counter.

"Oh, so much fun. A little backup wouldn't have hurt, you know." She walked over to him. With her werewolf hearing, she could hear the faint squishing noise as her tennis shoes met the clean tiled floor.

Alex shrugged. "You looked like you had it handled."

"I suppose he's my mate."

He frowned, leaning forward with concern in his eyes. "That doesn't make him your responsibility, Camila."

"It does a little bit. I can't imagine he'd have agreed to help us without the mating bond. I'm the best one to deal with him." She sighed. "It is weird though. Like I'm mad at him, but at the same time, I can't really think straight around him."

Alex nodded—a small dip of his chin—but didn't say anything. Camila couldn't tell if he was fed up with hearing about Declan, bored out of his mind, or fascinated and waiting to hear more.

His expression was utterly blank. Not hostile, but guarded, maybe, if she had to guess.

"So, uh," Camila cleared her throat, eager to change the subject. "Let's do this blood drinking thing!"

Anyone have a guess on how the blood drinking thing will go! Painfully awkward? Sweet and sexy? Gross and weird? Other? 

As always, thank you for reading. It always makes me smile that people are reading, especially this far in--thank you! 

-Harley