habit of looking at the floor.
“No, honey,” Cleo hushed him sweetly.
“Andrew, it’s very kind of you,” Camila said. She was trying
so hard to be patient with him and Cleo. “But I can’t let you roam
around the upper floors. It’s a female-only residence.”
“Can I have Barb bring my stuff then?” Cleo asked.
“No.”
• 270 •
Better Off red
“Why?”
“Cleo, your family is going to want your things.” Camila
suddenly stopped pacing and her brows knitted together as she
stared at Cleo. “Just say it. Get it out now.”
“Thank you for saving my life. But…” Cleo tilted her head
back, staring blankly at the ceiling. She tried to keep it together, but
she couldn’t. Several ragged, deep breaths puffed out her cheeks and
then the blue tears bubbled over, sliding down the side of her face.
Quickly, she looked back down and started wiping them away. She
took another breath and more tears came. “Can I even say good-
bye?”My throat ran dry and somehow I managed to hold my own
tears back. So did Benny, but I could feel her shaking, her leg
trembling against mine.
“There are ways, but, Cleo, I need you to wait. I am sorry.
You’re too emotional and you’re too strong,” Camila said.
“When then?” Cleo wiped her nose and fixed a steady
expression on her face. “When can I tell my mama I’m sorry for
leaving her? When can I tell my daddy that I love him?”
“When I know you’re under control. When I know I can trust
you to deal with humans carefully so you won’t accidentally reveal
yourself.”
“How much more under control do I need to be? I didn’t hurt
Andrew at all. And my powers are all in fine working order.”
“You shifted?” Camila frowned.
“Yeah, last night. He likes to bottom sometimes.” Andrew
blushed and suddenly became very interested in the glasses lining
the bar. That didn’t hide the fact that his blush ran all the way down
his neck. I glanced back and forth between Cleo and Camila. They
were sharing something, something that Cleo accepted reluctantly
as she rolled her eyes and leaned back further into the chair. Camila
went on.
“You have access to the account. You can have whatever you
want, but let your family clear out your room.”
“Fine. Can he borrow the car? I’d like to let him grab his stuff.
Faeth just brought him this shirt.”
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reBekah WeatherspOOn
“Sure. Here.” Camila tossed the keys to the Range Rover across
the room. “You can have the car.”
“Sweet. Thank you. What else?”
“You need two more feeders. If you’re going to stay here, and
you’re more than welcome to, I’d prefer if they were female.”
“So would I. Do I go out and find them or—”
“No. The sister-queens are letting you choose among the girls.”
Cleo’s gaze flashed to Benny’s face, her eyes narrowing.
She looked away just as quickly, but even Andrew had caught the
tense glance between them. I swallowed nervously and reached for
Benny’s hand. She yanked it away.
“Okay,” Cleo said to Camila. “Well, I don’t want to step on
anyone’s toes. I’ll let them decide who.”
“Excuse me.” Benny stood and marched out the door. I was
surprised when it gently clicked shut instead of slamming.
I turned to Cleo “What did you just say to her?”
“I told her to go fuck herself.”
“That was unnecessary,” Camila said.
“Then she shouldn’t have let me in!” Cleo shouted back. “Did
you hear her?” she asked Camila.
“No.”
“She was blocking me till the fucking second you said I could
choose. This bitch said, ‘she’s ready to feed me whenever I’m ready
to take her.’ She is happy about this shit.” Cleo waved her hands
up and down her stomach. “She’s fucking happy I died just so she
could have me the way she wanted me. Listen, I’m grateful to you.
I’m glad my face isn’t extra crispy anymore. And Andrew told me
I’d be missing an arm, but I didn’t want this. She did.”
“And this is what I’m talking about. I need to know you won’t
do that with someone in your family or someone in your mother’s
congregation you don’t get along with. The human mind is fragile,
Cleo. You can’t just mess with it whenever the mood strikes.”
“Okay, whatever. My bad,” she said. She started stroking
Andrew’s bald head. He and I both exhaled once our vampires
started to relax.
• 272 •
Better Off red
“So I’m on ice for a while. Fine. Is there anything you need me
to do?” Cleo asked.
“Just lie low, please. Don’t go where people will recognize you
until I know you can hold a different form. And I would like for
you to stay away from the girls until your feeders are chosen. They
will sense your power and your need and they won’t know how to
deal with it. And please, feed the boy and let him get some sleep.
Andrew, we’ll talk more about work for you later.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Cleo moved to stand and Andrew followed, immediately
moving out of her way. Then Cleo walked across the room and
hugged Camila.
“You should apologize to her,” she said quietly as they embraced
“I will when I’m better under control.” Cleo stepped back. “So
we’re like sisters now?”
“Yes. But I’m older and more mature and better looking. I’m
going to let all this back talking slide for now.”
“Yes, ma’am. Here. I won’t be needing this anymore.” Cleo
reached behind her neck and unlatched her ruby necklace she’d
reclaimed from Dr. Fountain before she left the hospital. She pooled
the platinum links gently in Camila’s hand. “I’ll be back later.” She
turned to me with a casual nod. “Peace out, Ginge.”
My good-bye came out hoarse, but Cleo pretended she didn’t
notice.
After they were gone, Camila closed the door. She leaned back
against it, the necklace in her hand gripped in her tight fist. She let
out a deep breath that I could almost feel from across the room. She
looked at me and forced a grin, more apologies written all over her
face. “Come on, Red,” she said, nodding toward her office. “You can
pick out our new car.”
It was none of my business, but I wanted to go after Cleo. I
wanted to ask her how she really felt, without Camila’s influence
or without Andrew around. I wanted to tell her that I tried to say
something on her behalf before the ball on this mess had started
rolling, but I let her go. I met Camila halfway across the room and
• 273 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
slid my hand into her warm palm. There was nothing I could say to
make the situation better for anyone and there was nothing I could do.
❖
Camila made a few calls, and it was confirmed that her new
silver Mercedes G55 AMG would be delivered on Tuesday. It was
kind of weird and boxy looking, but I liked it because it was big like
the Range Rover. All I could think about was Cleo’s crushed and
burned Civic. The last thing I wanted to do was hop in a little car.
Camila liked it because it was expensive.
After our online shopping trip, she gave me some space to start
studying for my chem final. We had three days of class left, then
two reading days, which I think were for our professors to actually
write the tests. The Monday after was my comprehensive chemistry
exam. I had plenty of material to cover in a little over seven days,
but it was useless. I couldn’t focus.
Instead, Camila and I talked about Andrew. She wasn’t bothered
by having him in the house, but adjustments would be made. For
one, he had no job. He was twenty-three and had been living with
Moreland as her full time slave basically since he was eighteen.
He’d dropped out of college after a month. Moreland had found him
bed-hopping his way from meal to meal around Houston and asked
for special permission to take him as a feeder.
The term slave weirded me out a bit. I didn’t try to deny that,
but Camila explained that in Moreland’s situation, it simply meant
that Andrew, and the other guy Luke, were at Moreland’s disposal
twenty-four seven. Her other feeders had jobs and lives of their
own, but Andrew spent all of his time with her. Cleo didn’t have
the patience to deal with that kind of a pet, so Camila planned on
asking Andrew if there was anything he wanted to do—go back to
school, any skills he wanted to learn—and she would help him do it.
Otherwise, they’d give him some sort of job working for the sister-
queens. Idle hands and all.
We sat in her office chair, me in her lap, and for a long time she
was quiet. When I started to get restless under the weight of my own
• 274 •
Better Off red
thoughts, she offered to have lunch brought down. I wasn’t hungry,
but I did want to talk to Paige and Barb. I left Camila to make
some more phone calls and went upstairs. I found them in Cleo’s
room clearing out her sex toys and porn. We searched the place for
anything else her mother, the Reverend Cynthia Jones, might find
unbecoming of a good Christian woman. We didn’t find much, but
under her bed we found a few Polaroids of her and Benny kissing
the night of the Iota Halloween Party. I didn’t even know people still
used those old cameras, but it was obvious from the angle that Cleo
had taken them herself. Barb suggested I hold on to them for Benny.
I didn’t argue and brought them back to Camila’s apartment, hoping
that at some point Cleo or Benny would want them.
After everyone was back on campus, the sister-queens gathered
their feeders and told them exactly what had happened, about
Andrew and Cleo’s new role as a sister-queen in our bizarre family.
Danni and Amy broke down and sobbed when they heard the news
even though they understood that Cleo was okay. It was the accident
that bothered them, that bothered all of us. As Camila told them
about how we spent our Saturday night in the burn unit across town,
I knew they were picturing every horrible moment that had put Cleo
in that hospital bed and the horrible pain she had suffered until the
sister-queens were able to reach her.
I wondered where in the world Benny was. No one had heard
from her all afternoon, but she was back at the house in time for our
emergency chapter meeting at eight. Camila wanted us to meet as
a group, without the sister-queens, to decide who would feed Cleo.
They didn’t want anyone to feel pressured into it and they wanted
to give us a chance to say whatever we wanted to say without them
looking over our shoulders.
Camila didn’t try to cover up the fact I was there during Cleo’s
change, but I almost wished she had. When all the details were out,
I became the tragedy ambassador. The details of my relationship
with Camila were mine to keep, but something that involved the
chapter was fair game. I took my seat between Amy and Benny,
avoiding eye contact with everyone else. Barb started the meeting
before anyone had a chance to ask me what other details I knew.
• 275 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
“I’m going to cut right to it. We need volunteers. I’m looking
for freshmen and sophomores. I’m not trying to say it has to be, but
I know us seniors and juniors have a deeper connection—”
“I’ll do it,” Laura spoke up immediately. “Cleo is the coolest big
sister I’ve ever had. No offense.” She nodded in Kate and Jordan’s
direction, her nose stud gleaming. “But if she’ll have me, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you, Laura. Okay, I just need one more person.”
Things got awkward then. I expected at least ten clear volunteers
from the start, but no one else spoke up. As the seconds turned to
minutes, eyes started looking toward the floor. No one wanted to
part from their sister-queen prematurely, and I couldn’t blame them.
Official demon proposal and pretty emerald ring aside, it would take
a quarter horse to pull me away from Camila.
Finally, of fucking course, Samantha spoke up. “Benny. Ginger.
What the hell? You’re not going to volunteer?”
“Ginger can’t,” Barb replied before I did.
“Why?” Samantha asked.
the elevator is through the kitchen, hook a left into the pantry. If you
can figure out the code, I’m sure Camila would love to talk to you
about whatever is on your mind.” I could have kissed Barb, but that
would have required Samantha keeping her mouth shut.
“Well, what about Benny? You two were attached at the ass.
Daddy Dearest only want you feeding the best?” We all froze, waiting
for Benny to walk across the room and finally punch Samantha in
the face. But Benny stayed put. She gripped my hand, using me as
an anchor as she spoke in a tone that was eerily calm.
“Because, Samantha, Cleo doesn’t want me. She told me this
morning, in front of the queen and Ginger and her new feeder,
Andrew, who is quite polite. You’ll all enjoy him very much. She
told me that she didn’t love me anymore and she doesn’t want me
to be her feeder. Now, Barb has asked very nicely for someone to
volunteer.”
I looked over as Mel started mumbling in Spanish. I’m pretty
sure she was cursing. My Puerto Rican slang was as good as my
Japanese.
• 276 •
Better Off red
She switched to English. “I’ll do it. Tokyo loves Cleo. She
won’t mind.”
The entire room exhaled.
Barb went on with the meeting, giving us all preliminary
instructions on what we all had to do next. As far as the university
and the rest of the human world was concerned, Cleo was dead.
She now fell under the same jurisdiction as the rest of the sister-
queens. We couldn’t talk about her. Barb stressed this fact to Mel
and Laura. Slipping up and mentioning her in front of other students
might raise a few eyebrows. They would let us know when someone
from her family was supposed to come for her stuff, and if asked, we
were all expected to attend her funeral.
After the meeting, Laura and Mel were immediately ushered
downstairs to be bound to their new sister-queen. I wanted to talk
to Benny alone, but in the moment I turned my head to ask Amy a
question Benny disappeared.
• 277 •
• 278 •
Better Off red
Chapter sixteen
Cleopatra Joy Jones is survived by her mother Cynthia, her
father Barry, her three brothers Maxwell, 26, Stephen, 24,
and Nathaniel, 19, and her Sisters in Alpha Beta Omega Sorority.
The Chapter at 1444 Milson Avenue will be accepting condolences
on her family’s behalf. Donations to Types of Hope will also be
accepted in her memory at the aforementioned address and at
TypesofHope.org. Cleo was loved dearly by all who knew her, and it
is an immense understatement to say that, although she is no longer
with us, love will never diminish and she will never be forgotten.”
Ebony folded the university newspaper and let it flop onto the
cafeteria table. “Well, at least Sam knows how to write something
nice,” she scoffed. Everyone around the table agreed. We were all a
little surprised at the care she’d put into the piece.
I took another bite of my pizza and glanced around the
cafeteria. At every table someone was reading or talking over
Cleo’s obituary. News about her fatal accident had spread through
the whole university Greek association by Monday afternoon. By
Monday night, the bottom floor of Alpha Beta Omega was filled with
flowers. The MU-Times came out early Tuesday morning, complete
with Samantha’s eloquent tribute. It was a beautifully written article
highlighting her recent life on and off campus, but it just added to
the stress of pretending she no longer existed. Cleo’s funeral was
scheduled for Sunday. It would be a private family affair. In January,
a larger service would be held at her mother’s Baptist church in
Richmond, Virginia. We were all invited.
• 279 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
Benny was trying her best to deal with their messy breakup, but