Sassy Embrace (Sassy Ever After #11)

22. Leigh

TWENTY-TWO

LEIGH

L eigh fumed as she marched through her front door in Blue Creek. Tristan and Barbara wouldn’t leave until they watched her get inside and turn the kitchen light on, which was visible from the street. That was the all-clear sign for them.

She did so and slumped against the wall with her arms crossed, brow knitted in frustration.

“How dare he,” she muttered to no one. “I can take care of myself.” She punctuated this fact by –reluctantly– getting herself ready to go to sleep. It was late, and she was determined to get back to work the next morning. She’d already taken two days off, and who knew if the clubs were still functioning without her. If she couldn’t be part of preventing a war between her and Claude’s people, she could at least continue working to bridge them.

Leigh brushed her teeth, washed her face, changed, and collapsed into her bed. The tendrils of annoyance were still cloying at her mind, making it difficult to relax enough to rest. But somehow, she managed.

She woke early the next morning and immediately got to work. The day was packed, moving from one venue to the next and taking stock of everything that went on in her absence.

A dancer at the Naked Wolfe quit without warning. She made a note to put out a job listing immediately. A group of tequila enthusiasts crashed the Sassy Wolfe, drinking them out of everything except the most expensive tequila. And their usual vendor was on backorder for three months. And at the Horny Wolfe, a pair of shifters got a little too into the mood and destroyed a loveseat.

And those were just the easiest issues to address.

“Shit,” Leigh whispered under her breath, writing down replace loveseat on her very long to-do list while vowing to never take another day off again. By the time she finished at the Horny Wolfe, it was long past dinnertime, and the sun was already setting. But she had one more stop on her tour.

Leigh got in her car and drove down to Embraced, hoping that maybe Claude would be there as well despite knowing he wasn’t. He was busy saving the day. Without her.

She parked, stepped out of her car while slinging her purse over her shoulder and walked toward the club’s entrance. Not three steps down the sidewalk, a pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders and wrenched her into the nearby alleyway.

Leigh stumbled, being caught completely off guard, and fell against a large dumpster. She frantically reached into her purse, only to feel dismayed when she realized she’d left her pepper spray in the car.

Finding no other options, Leigh turned to face her attacker. She found another woman with eyes wild and disheveled hair. Leigh almost put her guard back down, thinking this was some sort of misunderstanding or a run-in with someone needing help.

But then she got a better view of her assailant

“Kim,” Leigh said, choking on the name. “Listen, whatever’s wrong, we can talk this out.”

“Talk it out?” Kim laughed. It sounded deranged like acid hanging in the air. “My husband is dead, you mangy bitch. And your cozy little friends Aria and Trevan are to blame. And now, they’re sitting in my rightful place –my son’s rightful seat! And you think we can just talk this out?”

Leigh swallowed hard, feeling her back pressed hard against the metal container. She tried to assess her options but found them extremely limited. Mainly, she could try to run past Kim in the very narrow alleyway and risk being accosted again. Or she could stall for time and hope someone else would happen by to help her.

Leigh chose the latter.

“Yes, come on, talk to me. Tell me how you feel. It couldn’t have been easy losing your partner like that.”

Kim shook her head in disbelief. “No. No, it fucking isn’t. Especially when the assholes responsible stole my son’s birthright in the process. I should be leading the coven and grooming him for leadership. That is my right as the mother of the heir to the Southern Vampire coven.”

Leigh nodded, trying to fake a mask of empathy. “I understand, you must have had such big dreams for your son. Have you spoken about this to Trevan and Aria? Maybe they could work something out with you?”

“Work something out? My God, you really are a moron. What part of birthright don’t you understand?” Kim moved closer to her, taking one slow step after step. The closer she got, the easier it was for Leigh to see all the pain and anger swirling in the woman’s eyes. “No, there is no compromise here. I want our rightful place restored, and I want those two to suffer for taking it from us.”

Leigh shuffled to the side as Kim continued her approach, hoping to put whatever possible distance between the two of them. It wasn’t much.

“I had hoped to get the rest of the coven on my side, but it seems loyalty is up for sale these days, and at a really cheap discount. It’s ridiculous. No, Aria must have brainwashed them. Why else would they turn their backs on their true leader?

“Then I tried to reach out to that Holly Crane woman. I thought as a fellow widow, she might understand. That she would have the same taste for revenge as me. Of course, working with a wolf is incredibly distasteful, but there’s nothing I won’t do to get this power back.”

Leigh felt sweat forming on her palms, over her brow. Her breathing became more shallow and ragged as panic threatened to consume her.

“I’m guessing that didn’t work out the way you’d hoped?” Leigh asked, feigning ignorance. “But if working with a wolf is so terrible, what do you want from me?” She spoke loudly, projecting her voice in the hopes that anyone nearby might hear and come investigate.

“Indeed, you are my last resort, Ms. Rosario,” Kim said with a heavy sigh.

“Okay, well, the first step to getting help is admitting you have a problem. So why don’t we find you a therapist or grief counselor who can?—”

“I don’t need your help, you idiot! I have this.” Kim patted her coat pocket, a smile forming on her weathered face.

“Wha…what is this ?” Leigh asked.

“This is the inciting incident of the great vampire and wolf shifter war. I want my people to suffer, to know my pain. And I want them to blame Aria and Trevan for all of it. Their awful leadership will be at fault for the losses. And those remaining will reject her and come crying back to me to set things right.”

“I’m not helping you incite a war,” Leigh said through gritted teeth. “The wolves won’t play along with this plan. We’re trying to make peace here.” She flung out her arm, gesturing in the direction where Embraced sat.

“Oh, honey, you don’t have a say in this matter.”

“If you kill me, they’ll know it was you. Your plan will fall apart immediately,” Leigh yelled, trying to get through to her.

“You really don’t understand, do you? Sure, the wolves won’t help me. While in their right mind. But with the right incentive…” Kim reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe.

“No,” Leigh squeaked out, knowing damn well what must have been inside it.

“Yes. The designer drug,” Kim confirmed. “The one your leaders are so rightfully afraid of.”

She reached out and grabbed Leigh by the arm. Leigh fought back, wrestling herself from Kim’s grip and shoving her out of the way. She took a step forward, trying to make a run for it. But Kim grabbed her purse and wrenched her backward.

Leigh fell to the ground, her head hitting the hard brick under her. As the stars began to fade from her vision, she felt a pinprick in her shoulder.

“No…” Leigh whimpered again.

“Yes,” Kim said. “It’s time for you to show the vampire world just how savage and cruel you wolves really are.”

The effects were nearly instant. She began to shift uncontrollably, her human features giving way to her fur-covered form. Leigh struggled against a wave of nausea followed by a brutal, all-consuming hunger. She wanted to taste blood. She needed it, immediately. Nothing else mattered.

As Leigh struggled against the hunger gripping her mind, she heard Kim whistle. Slowly, as if born from the shadows themselves, other wolves began to emerge. They were unfocused, foaming at the mouth, and growling at nothing.

“Welcome to my army, Ms. Rosario,” Kim said. “Now, be a good little doggy, and go massacre that club for me.”

Leigh tried to fight it, she grasped at any lingering sanity she had left. But the rest of the pack howled in unison, and she found herself joining them. And when they ran down the alley toward the club, she did so too.

Ready to feast.