Page 59 of Vampire Visions

We talked about nothing in particular until we were sure everyone was gone but us, and then we gossiped. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed these guys until we were all together again, sitting around a table, eating the food Briggs had cooked, and laughing like old times. Having Jack and Grim with us didn’t diminish the feeling at all. They added to it.

“I have some questions,” Vaughn began hesitantly, “And you can tell me to get fucked if you don’t want to answer them.”

“Alright, shoot,” Briggs responded.

“They aren’t for you,” Vaughn told him. “They’re for Jack, Grim, and probably York, and they’re about Sloane.” His eyes bounced between the three of us, clearly uncomfortable with whatever was on his mind.

Jack sighed. “Ask, and we’ll answer as best as we can.”

“Where does all her money come from?”

Jack laughed nervously. “Well, she works her ass off when she isn’t out trying to save the supernatural world with you guys. The Kings have old money, too. Nate and Sam have been alive for well over six hundred years. Charlie is younger by three hundred, give or take, but his parents left him thousands of acres of land across seas. He’s passed it down through alias’ and still holds it. I mean, they’ve all done that with properties. They have so much shit between them, and whatever Amelia has floating around, that Sloane wouldn’t have to lift a finger for the rest of her long life.”

Grim grunted in agreement. “She runs so many businesses that I don’t know how she keeps it all straight. Franklin helps her with some of it. He’s like a live-in personal assistant. She has so many people on her overall staff that it’s mind boggling. Lo literally has a guy for everything.”

“What you guys are missing,” I began, “is how many jobs she actually has. Nate and Sloane co-own the club in Nashville, right? Plus a few others, and they share ownership of a couple dungeons and bars. Charlie and Sloane used to buy up land around the pack’s property. Before I went missing, she was talking to engineers about building eco-friendly subdivisions for the local shifters. She contributes to developmental growth in the Underworld too, but she doesn’t want any kind of recognition for doing it. She makes money from one business and puts it into others that help supes. She gives them jobs, affordable places to live, all that. She’s got a lot of irons in the fire, so to say, and she does it so she doesn’t have to depend on her parents at all. But they do things for her, and for Jack, that they’ve never been asked to do. Take Sloane’s house, for example.” I turned to Jack. “Didn't you have a nice apartment downtown somewhere right before I met Sloane?”

“Yep. I still own it.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t pay for it, though. The Kings have always treated me like their own child and never showed any kind of favoritism between the two of us. They bought Sloane and me both apartments when we moved to Nashville and put them in our names. She never lived in hers, just rented it out on a long-term lease and moved in with me.”

“Right,” I acknowledged, knowing all that information already. “So, the house that we’ve all been staying in was paid for and built by the Kings. When Sloane and I started dating a few years ago, she’d just moved in. It was empty, but she refused to let her parents furnish it, saying they’d already done too much. Every weekend that I was off work, we’d scour local stores and online furniture sites looking for things that she wanted to buy to fill the house with. It took time, and when I went missing, all the rooms on the second and third floor were still completely empty. A few of the other rooms on the main level were as well.”

“She did all of that on her own,” Jack commented, looking at me as he spoke. “She spent a month or more organizing the library to keep herself busy, then she moved on to the game room. She painted the walls, helped put down the flooring, and added all the little features herself.” He twisted his head to see the rest of the guys. “She's furnished that whole house without financial help, though our parents would have gladly given it. She's just that prideful and hardheaded.”

“But,” Grim cut in, “To really answer your question, her money comes from her. The Kings have helped to set their kids up, but Jack and Lo always find a way to pay them back for it, little by little. It was a big deal for Lo to purchase that pharma company because she did so with the help of Charlie. He won’t expect her to pay him back for fronting the money, but she’ll make it lucrative so that he earns his money back. She manages the King’s portfolios, like all of them, even Jack’s. Stocks, businesses, rental properties. She’s a wealth of knowledge, even if she never admits it. She’s also a spectacular leader, not just a boss. The only time I’ve ever seen her be downright ruthless is when it comes to big purchases. She’s one hell of a negotiator when she needs to be. Like, when she purchased her cars. I go with her just to watch.” Grim and I both laughed, knowing how true that statement was.

“What do you mean?” Briggs asked.

Jack answered Briggs. “She fucking loves that little Audi R8 coupe of hers. She heckled and flirted with the salesmen until she talked the price way down. All the cars that she buys are custom. The Audi SUV? It’s bulletproof, and I’d guess that the Nav is, too. She never gets that one out of the garage, though. This is probably the second trip it's been on in the eight months that she’s owned it.”

“Yeah, it had less than two thousand miles on it when we left Nashville,” Palmer admitted.

“Cars, weapons, and the hellhounds are where she splurges.” Grim held up three fingers as he made his list. “You won’t see her spoiling herself with shit she doesn’t need, and she won’t buy things that she won’t use immediately. Those hellhounds, though. They get the best of the best. She takes better care of them than she does herself sometimes, but they’re one of those things that brings the beast out in her. She tolerates Jack and Cronus’ rocky relationship, but that’s about it.”

“And weapons,” Jack sighed dreamily, ignoring the bit about him and Cronus. “I can’t wait for her to introduce you guys to Dolyn. His weapons shop is orgasmic. Occasionally, Franklin goes to the Underworld — to Stars, where Dolyn lives — and works with him on customized weapons for us. Sloane has killer armor waiting for her to pick up, and I’m so fucking excited to see the barb he made for the end of her tail… and I’m getting ahead of myself. Sorry.”

“How long has Franklin worked for her?” Stone inquired, looking as curious as ever.

“Six years or so. Before that he worked for the Kings. Why do you ask?” Jack narrowed his eyes at Stone.

Novak shrugged. “You know he’s kinda creepy, right?” Jack, Grim, and I snickered at him. Stone nodded his head silently, making me laugh a little harder.

“He’s Lurch,” Jack confessed. “Except he talks way more.”

Palmer widened his eyes. “What’s that supposed ta mean?”

Grim shook his head at the mage. “You know? The Addams Family?”

“That actually makes a little sense to me.” Stone acknowledged, the corner of his lips lifting in half a grin.

“So, while we’re talking about people being weird… Are we gonna talk about why you two have been acting so strange?” I asked Palmer and Vaughn.

Palmer looked away, glaring at the fence that boxed the small backyard in. He didn’t say anything, but the way Novak was studying him made me wonder if the vampire could hear his thoughts right now. We all knew something was going on with him. Palmer just wasn’t the type to openly share his issues. I looked at Briggs, and he gave me a single nod, telling me he’d talk to the mage when he could get him alone.

Vaughn hung his head for a moment before sighing. “Fine,” he acquiesced. “This mating bond stuff has made me question whether the feelings I feel are mine or not. I liked her before I knew she was my mate and before I knew the odd pull in my chest was a bond. But I can’t tell if it’s the bond making me want to be with her or if that’s actually how I feel.”

“It’s you,” Novak said simply, knowing exactly what to say to the fae. “Those feelings are your own. The bond may push your urges into a higher gear, but it doesn’t create feelings that aren’t there, Vaughn. I was hoping you’d figure that out on your own, but instead, you keep backing away.”

“Right, but how do you know?” Vaughn questioned Novak, rubbing at his temples.