not a game

There was probably something inherently depressing about going to one of these things on your own, but it was a thousand times better than attending with an asshole you had to avoid for the entire rest of the night.

Mab swept her gaze over the crowd again as she worked her way through it, champagne flute in hand. The last one of these things she’d gone to, she’d run from her date halfway through the night. He’d already been handsy on the way in, seeing a date as an object to show off, one that was likely to put out at the end of the night if you pawed at her the right way. Fat chance of that. He should’ve seen her as the praying mantis everybody else did, just as likely to tear your head off as she was to let you mate with her. Fat chance of that too.

The champagne slid down easily, the canapes she plucked blindly from the buffet table and the serving staff that glided past with trays going down the same way. Grey Maddox hadn’t spared any expense and that probably meant she wasn’t going to find St. John here. His gilded days had ended at the same time her great-grandmother’s had, with the death of her great-uncle. Perhaps there’d been some brief hope that one of the Augustine’s would show up here, wearing their identity on their foreheads with a scarlet A for her to pick out.

Something had driven her to go after she’d seen the glossy invite pinned on the message board in Campbell’s bar, and to stay and it wasn’t just the free food and drink. Her mouth pinched as she looked again. Maybe this was proof that she was losing it the same way Chiara had in the end – taking cupcakes into a diner, dressing up in the black velvet dress and coming out tonight, lingering long after it was apparent she wasn’t gonna have a great time. Her great-grandmother would be proud, sanity stood in the way too much when it came to doing what had to be done.

Her fourth empty glass was set back on the tray of a passing waiter, a fifth gathered up. That was leaving a light hum in her veins at least. Still studying everybody she passed, Mab passed the dancefloor. She could almost imagine the feel of a hand at the small of her back, fingertips warm against the bare skin there – in a gentlemanly spot, not digging beneath the fabric in a way that would’ve left her burying her nails in someone’s arm.

Swallowing down a mouthful of the champagne, she tried to push the feeling away. It was just that Christmas was around the corner and she was no closer to getting back the people, the person that meant the most. Christmas was meant to be about the trees and the lights and gathering the people you loved around you and while Joseph was still out of reach that was never gonna happen.

The buffet table held her interest no more than it had the last time, but Mab still found herself back there, scowling down at the iced bowls of prawns and towers of sausage rolls. One more trip around and then she was heading out, there was no point in her wasting her time here alone.

Green eyes that glittered with the lights that sparkled over her narrowed at Tobi, the smile that quirked beneath sharp. Her eyebrows flicked up after a moment, a low hum slipping out of her throat. ”I figured that could wait ‘til tomorrow night, right when Santa’s meant to be dropping off their gifts. I guess he’s not heading your way this year, Tobi. Unless you’re looking to get yourself off the naughty list before then.” Her gaze slid past him to the crowd behind him, her expression softening. It wasn’t entirely his fault the vampire had gotten away, it wasn’t Cassie’s either. ”Didn’t think I’d see you somewhere like this. Did you find yourself some date with deep pockets?” Or he’d just picked up on the invite the same way she had and had figured free champagne and food couldn’t be that bad, even if you had to dress up for it.

Tagged: TOBI PARKER * Word Count: 712

Forgiveness was for the weak and the powerless. If somebody failed you, even if they just disappointed you, the smart thing to do was crush them and toss them aside. The human version of a balled up piece of paper you’d written the wrong thing on. In any other town, during any other stop, that would’ve been Tobi. No second chances, no attempting to buy his way back into her good books, just one more dead supernatural – if he hadn’t somehow mustered up some real talent and had dealt with her instead.

With a smart mouth and a charm that definitely shouldn’t have worked on her, he’d started to slip past her shields though. Questioning it, she’d tried to pull those edges back together around the vulnerability, but something had left her soft. Mab tried for the high ground, lifting her chin, continuing to take little nibbles back at Tobi. What was it about this town and the people in it that had pried those shields open in the first place?

Even with her focus on Tobi, Mab could feel the music slipping over her skin – almost as palpable as a warm hand between her shoulder blades, sending a shiver down her spine again. Awareness of feelings that shouldn’t have had anything to do with Mystic Falls. Mab squared her shoulders, as though it would shrug the feeling off. This town had got under her skin – just the same as Tobi.

The corners of her mouth twitched, dimples appearing for a split second. Mab glanced back at Tobi and shook her head. ”I don’t know, seems to me like you’ve been putting in some work on getting yourself taken off.” Apologising to her, doing everything he could to try and get his missing sibling back so he could bring his parents some peace. You didn’t do those things if you were bad through and through. Tobi might’ve done a few bad things, might’ve cost her the peace she’d been looking for, but beneath the goofy surface, he was a good guy. And she was a sap for even seeing it.

She would’ve laid money on his date seeing it. Women fell for that good guy shit, probably for the curly hair and golden retriever personality. Some probably would’ve fawned over that ridiculous jacket too. Mab snorted, shaking her head at him. ”That’d probably be a step too far. Nobody wants to be picking mouldy cheese out of their purse in a week.” Maybe it’d been Tobi’s idea to come tonight after all. He’d probably heard about the party and figured he could pick the buffet clean at least. Just a little bit opportunistic.

As he pointed out the date in question, Mab looked back in the direction Tobi was. Her brows hitched, a low hum rolling out of her as she sipped at her champagne and studied the woman. Prettier than she’d expected, definitely a couple of couple of points out of Tobi’s normal range. The guy with her wasn’t too bad either. Tall, handsome, too pale for her liking really though. Her gaze skittered away, trying to pick someone with dark hair and eyes out of the crowd. Nobody had her gaze pinning them though. ”In a place like this? Probably. I imagine it’d set the sprinklers off, that’d put an end to your grazing.” And to his date if the woman found out. ”Is that all you came for tonight or did your parents think you might turn your brother or sister up in a place like this?” She gestured around the crowd with her glass. Maybe it was a jab too far. The Wild Hunt weren’t exactly known for letting people go, once you were gone, that was it. You weren’t even a hollow in the pit of your loved ones’ stomachs anymore, it was like you’d never existed at all.

Tagged: TOBI PARKER * Word Count: 644

If her parents have lived, would she have ended up with brothers and sisters? From the little she’d heard about them they had been in madly in love once. Trying to leave had been all about being together, being happy without her great-grandmother’s shadow hanging over them. If they’d made it they might’ve had some white picket fence house in a town like this and a handful of kids. Without that shadow hanging over her she might’ve ended up the good kid instead of becoming an extension of that shadow. Mab doubted she would’ve been perfect, but most parents didn’t care if you weren’t. It was obvious that Tobi’s family had cared about most of their kids. She wouldn’t have been the Kai Parker though, that much she was sure of.

Faint amusement tugged at her lips. Mab studied Tobi’s face. He could fight the idea that he was a good kid all he liked, but he hadn’t run when his parents had been desperate to get their missing child back and that meant something. Maybe she would’ve run, maybe she would’ve done anything it took to get back someone she loved. Desperately trying to find a way back to them for the rest of your life was a torture she wouldn’t have wished on anybody – except perhaps St. John.

That pit she felt deep down in her stomach, the one growing like indigestion beneath her diaphragm, had opened up on the night she’d lost Joseph. Threatening to swallow her whole, she’d had to swallow it down for months on end until it subsided enough for her to be able to take just a single breath that didn’t feel full of him. Mab felt it again now and there was no way it was the champagne that was causing it, no matter how much of it she’d drunk. That same feeling of loss was creeping back, but it felt different this time, the longing not as touched with grief.

”It was that easy?” Mab huffed out a breath, her fingers tightening around the stem of the glass she held. ”A supernatural threat as dangerous as the Wild Hunt and you managed to get around it with some transportation spell.” She scoffed for a second before the sound dried up in her throat. It was the same sort of thing her great-grandmother had relied upon for years – people seeing her as too big a threat to even try standing up against her. The old bitch was probably so frail now that it would’ve just taken the swipe of a kanima’s tail to take her out. The mental image of it happening tightened up her throat until she was swallowing hard to clear it.

Mab swallowed the rest of her champagne to try and ease the feeling. The glass was set aside, the next nowhere near close enough now that they were tucked away out of earshot of the crowd. ”After Kai getting out, or them locking up their child in a prison world in the first place?” she asked hoarsely. ”You can’t beat yourself up for falling victim to something more powerful than you. People all over the town are going to have forgotten…” People.

It wasn’t her great-grandmother’s face that swam behind her eyes now. There was another. Dark eyes, a profile she couldn’t quite make out, but serious, so serious. Almost close enough that she could reach out and find him blindly. Mab’s brows drew together, her gaze locked onto Tobi like the man was standing there instead of him. ”What was the spell?” she asked, a desperate raw edge to her voice. ”If you can get in, I’m sure others can too. I can get in. I … I think there’s someone I need to find.” And it wasn’t that slippery son of a bitch St. John. That wasn’t who she’d seen. It was …

Mikey?

Tagged: TOBI PARKER * Word Count: 648