Sure it was. But she said nothing to him. It would do no good to point out that the house belonged to another. That the house was keeping his own flesh and blood safe and, more to the point, he was fucking dead and didn’t need the house any more than Millie did. Her brother was a moron, plain and simple.
As she willed herself to the house her niece lived in, she thought of all the times she’d envied her. Vinnie had had her shit together even as a kid, but she’d never been one to rub it in her face. And she was pretty sure, now that she thought about it, the reason she’d hated her so much was because she’d been so kind and good hearted. But not anymore. Millie found herself wanting to get to know the woman she’d become, but knew it was too late for that as well. Millie not only envied the girl her life of the living, but what she’d done to get there. Millie, like her brother, had not saved any money, made any kinds of preparation to keep safe other than her crypt, and, unlike Vinnie, Millie had had no one love her but her brother, and even that had been iffy. Even her mother had told her never to come to her again, and she’d not. Not in centuries, and now she was also dead and gone.
Vinnie would be there, in one home or another that her parents would squat in when they’d be kicked out of a place, just doing things that no kid should have been doing. Paying the bills, making sure the staff was all paid as well. And she even got herself up and ready for school. And back then, it wasn’t as big a deal to have your kids attending school as it was now. And she had Hugo.
Hugo was a shifter, or he had been. When he showed up at the house one day, his body beaten and starved, Vinnie had taken him in and kept him safe. It was years, of course, before she became what she was today, a vampire, but he’d never left her side. Not for anything. Millicent had tried to lure him away and into her bed, but he’d never strayed from Vinnie once, keeping her safe in more ways than just from harm. The shifter had been her shoulder to cry on and someone that Vinnie could talk to when her parents were out doing whatever it was they were doing. Mostly not taking care of their child.
Millie was standing in front of the house, far enough back where she could see it but not into it, when she saw the young man she’d heard about. Steele was there as well. You couldn’t be a dead person without hearing his name all over the place, but she was more interested in the man with him, the mate. Millie watched him as he moved about, his lean body bent pulling weeds or whatever from the yard.
Mitch Riley was also a force to be reckoned with. He was not nearly as strong as Steele was, but he could be lethal when he needed to be. There were times, and she was sure the rumors were true, that she would find herself wishing that he’d find Horrie and deal with him. Take him out of the picture so she and even Vinnie could be safe for the rest of their days. So Millie had been laying low, not doing things that would bring attention to herself to bring his magic to her. And now this, this thing that Horrie was demanding she do for him.
She found she didn’t want to do this for Horrie. Not just see if she could get in the house, but do whatever it was he would want of her once she got in. She was sure whatever it would be, it would not get her in the good graces of Vinnie’s new mate or the necromancer’s that could destroy her very quiet death. Standing there, she tried to think how she could get out of it short of leaving this realm.
“Can you get in?” She nearly screamed when Horrie spoke behind her. “Did you even try or are you just standing here looking at the trees? Sometimes I wonder how we were ever related. You are the dumbest person I’ve ever had the misfortune to be blood to.”
“As do I. Every single day, Horrie.” He, of course, took that as a compliment. “I haven’t tried, as I’ve only just gotten here. And with the fact that Steele is there, I’ve thought to wait until I can try without getting my ass zapped. You do know who that man is, don’t you? And the things he can do to one of us if he wanted to?”
“Yeah, I know who he is and what he thinks he can do to the dead. Fucker. He needs to learn his place.” Millicent started to point out it was his place to take care of the humans, but she only nodded. Sometimes it was just too much to deal with Horrie, especially when he was like this. Why had she never noticed that before? “Get your ass to trying. You think we can wait around on you all fucking day?”
She reached out to see if she could get in. And when she tried again, she got the same results. She was blocked as well. Millicent was giddy with the knowledge and turned to her brother to tell him so when she saw her niece. Christ, who would have ever thought she could come from her parents and look the way she did? Not her, certainly.