Echo Book 2

39. Brack And Abril Spade

I get back to daddy's house and remember I didn't feed Ohro. "Take Ohro a menu on the ship and tell him to pick something."

"Yes, ma'am."

Then I sneak in and sit by his mom. "Your husband is a vampire. We had no choice but to turn him. He wasn't doing well."

She turns and hugs me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You can go up when you're done eating. Ohro's with him. He's unconscious though." She runs out.

Malax sits beside me. "What was that?"

"They turned Ohro's dad. I told his mom. I don't even know their names."

"Brack and Abril Spade."

"Thank you. That helps."

"He made it?"

"Yep."

"That's surprising. They didn't think he would."

"That was his only chance. He wasn't going to make it as a human much longer either."

"True. Who made the call?"

"I think I did. They were asking for an older sibling but Ohro doesn't have any. He kind of froze, but we didn't have any options."

"They didn't want him to make the decision because he would have blamed himself if his dad died. His mom should have made the call, but she's not there either. She's in full shock."

"They all are. At least he made it."

He puts his arm around me. "Yea, that's all we could hope for. Did he say anything to you about money?"

"Yea, he asked me if he was going to work from my throne how much he would make. I said I didn't know. He said 1k a week would be good. He could pay the house payment and get some groceries. Is that good?"

"That's low for working for the throne."

"I told him I would give him 50k."

He spits out water. "A WEEK?"

Everyone turns and looks at us for a second.

I shake my head. "I told him I think I have to pay in gold. Our money is only good on this planet. He's going to get me a burger next time he goes out though."

"I tried to talk to him about money. He doesn't know. I guess the bills are backed up for his parents. What happened to his dad was so sudden, he had no idea how to take care of everything."

"Does my throne have gold?"

"Very little. Tim sent out a ping for it. We're mining it now. It'll be rich soon enough."

"Can Phade catch his parents up and pay the bills for a couple of months? The throne can pay you back."

"Yea. I'll talk to his dad when he wakes up. We're going to have to pay people more than 1k a week though. And you're right about the gold. We can't pay them in this planet's money."

"I don't know how much. Or how."

"Give them a bar of gold a year and tell them to make it last."

"Is that more than 1k a week?"

"Yes, babygirl."

I cuddle into his side. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Who works for the throne?"

"Kane, Mary, Rye, your sisters, their mates, everyone under them, and Zion, I guess."

"If they are making their own money with brains. I'm not paying them."

"Your sisters are making plenty of money with the brains. They mine gold with them. They even charge the kings under them to use the brains to mine. We could charge them."

I laugh. "No. It's fine. They can pay their own people. But I don't like the idea of everyone exploiting the brains to make money. Those are mine."

"It's not everyone. It's the kings. Victor and Tobias use them to mine. Kehlani put regulations on planets they could mine. It actually makes sense. Dracul and Frode are mining as well. But nobody but the kings are. They're also limited on how many mines they can have. But people like Kane, he has no mines. He's not a king though. So, he would need to be paid. Same with Zion and Rye."

"Are we paying Hunter?"

"I have no idea. Is he a guest or is he working for us?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"We'll figure it out. Once we get done with Oukrant, we'll have a meeting with everyone."

"That's a good idea."

Tim sits on the other side of me. "I'm sending everyone up now. Is Brack alright?"

"He made it."

"That's good. They were sure he wouldn't."

"Yea. We got lucky. We need to give Mary a room in our house."

"I'll show her that wing. There will be other people too. I'm sure she can design something in her downtime. We'll have to give her a room in our wing for now."

Tim wraps his arm around me. "I need a room or money. I'm not sleeping in the Phade parking lot."

Malax nods. "You can have a room in our wing. I'll call the builders tomorrow. They can make it how you like. I'm going to kick Rye out of that wing too."

We take Mary to my house and get her situated.

Then Ohro shows up. "I got your burger."

I jump up and down a million times then grab the bag and hug it. "I'LL GET THE MONEY FOR IT." I run up to the closet and grab the money out of 1 of my purses.

By the time I get back to the entrance, the boys are laughing. I hand Ohro the money and take the biggest bite.

He shakes his head. "They cost $3, and I can buy you a burger."

I shove it in my mouth again. "Mmm."

"How much did she give you?"

Ohro hands it to Tim.

"You gave him $3,500 for a burger, woman."

I nod and shove another bite in.

"You're going to choke."

I shake my head and run.

"She might need 2, Zion."

"I see that."

Malax motions for Zion. "You need to stay here too. At least until I can talk to your dad."

"I can go home."

"Your parents have to tell me that. Not you."

Tim nods. "If something happens to you, it's on us. Unless we get your parents to say it's ok. And they're both unconscious. So, for tonight, you're here."

Mary hands me some papers. "That's the plan for that wing."

"That was fast. They're like the resort rooms."

"Exactly. They sent me the plans. I took the kitchens out. You don't need 16 more kitchens in your house. But they have a living room that's separate from the bedroom. It works well."

"Very true. This is perfect." I hand them to Malax.

"I'll get the builders on that tomorrow. For tonight. You'll be in our wing, or you can go up to the ship. I don't know how busy Kane will be though."

"I can't eat anymore of this."

"I'll check the kids at her parents' house, then go to the ship."

Malax nods. "Assign Mary a shuttle and don't let anyone else use it. Unless she's with them."

"Yes, sir."

"Now nobody can take the damn thing. It'll always be where you leave it."

"Thank you."

Mary walks out and Eriska comes in. "I live here now."

I shake my head. "Why aren't you with your boys?"

"They summoned their ships here. They're sleeping in space. I need some space, but not that kind."

"They're each in their own ship?"

"Yea."

"Sneak into 1 of them and have dinner."

"I already ate dinner. I need pool time now. Without either of them."

"Fair enough. You know where the pool is."

Zion shakes his head. "I thought soulmates were perfect for each other?"

Tim laughs. "They are. But at the beginning, it takes work. It's 2 people learning to live with each other. Getting used to each other. Learning about all the stupid s**t the other one did."

Malax nods. "And she got hit twice at the same time. She's working through everything with them."

I give Tim a dirty look. "What stupid s**t did I do?" Malax and Zion crack up laughing.

"You didn't do anything, babygirl." Tim hugs me. "I loved you immediately. I tried to claim you that day."

I lay my head on his shoulder. "I guess all the issues with me and Tim were mine. He was an i***t who went after my sister."

"I'm sorry, babygirl. But I didn't touch her like that."

I sigh as loudly as I can. "Then I had to get over having 2 of them. It took me a while. But he held on."

"I'll hold on forever. I know you're mine."

Malax looks at Zion. "He's trying not to piss her off now."

"I noticed. Did you 2 have issues?"

"Yes. They were all Malax."

"Woman, you were a teenager. I had to keep my hands to myself. It was very difficult."

"He said he didn't like me."

"I said I couldn't like you because you were a teenager. But I did like you. It was a very difficult time. Now I'm getting indigestion. It wasn't a fun time."

"Then he burnt his ex's stuff in his backyard, so I wouldn't find out about it. But I have crazy stalkers, and they found out for me and he tried to lie about it. Asshole. I'm going to bed."

"Good night, baby. She was going to burn my house down if I didn't get rid of the furniture that day." They follow me up laughing. Then go into an empty room.