"Get out," I tell him, but Mysterio is just standing there, tall and lean like a tree that could care less about the hissing winds - me, I’m the hissing winds - because it knows it will never get pushed down, "you're going to get yourself killed." Doesn't he have any self preservation? He should value his own life… I value mine, and if he's caught in here, Trent will kill us both. The longer he stands still, the more I realize how much my whole body is on high alert. I can feel the prickles of fear of being left alone here with him. Some of his hair has fallen out of where it's tied back and his muscles somehow seem more pronounced than they were five minutes ago. With thumbs tucked into his pockets, his fingers are tapping against his jeans and he makes this small sound, almost like a decisive grunt as his fingers still and the corners of his lips tip up revealing those canines that shouldn't exist in his human form. He looks deranged. Crazy on all counts with this attractiv
I want to avoid Mysterio's watchful eye so I make my way to the corner of my room where a chaise sat, but of course, his light blue hues drew me in to where he was now sitting on a chair of his own against the door. It's such an obnoxiously large chair that I’m not sure where he actually got it from. It certainly wasn't in here when we arrived, but there he is, draped over it like a lazy prince as he toys with a stick in his mouth. No. Not a stick, well, kind of, but a lollipop. A grape… freaking… lollipop I could smell from here. The sugar was calling my name, but of course, he ruined that too. "Like what you see?" I yank my devious tongue, which was licking my lips on its own accord, back into my mouth as the heat in my cheeks is making it unbearable to even face him anymore. Do I like what I see? On both accounts, yes. Twisting the chaise around so that I could sit on it without facing him wasn't easy, especially when his low chuckle sounded at my expense, but when it was do
"Behave,” Trent half snaps at me as I toy with the edge of my dress. The slit in it is so high that half of my butt is hanging out as I sit beside him, but fine. If he doesn’t care how Corbyn is staring, then why should I? We have a driver tonight, and thankfully that means that I only have to deal with Trent and Corbyn because Brixton gets to ride shotgun with a fully tinted glass divider, making it private back here. “I’m just nervous.” I yank my hand from Trent's, where he is currently crushing my hand that he removed from my pulling at my dress. “Brixton was supposed to go over-” “He did,” I cut him off as his brows pull together. “I know the rules. Don’t speak to anyone unless you’re with me. Don’t leave Brixton’s side for ANY reason. Be cautious of my surroundings and tell you if something feels off because there’s no telling what, or who, will be here tonight. The rules don’t make me less nervous, I don’t know what to expect. It’s not like I get a genuine experience with ot
"A little obvious," Pierce's low grumble announces his arrival as he stands next to me, dragging his vision over my attire, "even for you." "And what would you have me dress as?” I keep my vision forward and voice low, “A bloodsucker? Perhaps you wanted me to put on furs and pretend to be your long-lost cousin?” My outfit was expensive, but nothing less would have been acceptable to a man of my stature. Are there any other Minerva’s owl descendants? No, but would anyone connect me with the Cartiers? No. I know my mask comes with risks, but some of us don't have the luxury of being overpopulated. He, on the other hand, could dress in all the half-rabid wolf masks he wanted without worry. Wolves were a dime a dozen and few people have seen his face and lived to tell the tale. “Ah, brother, you only wish you could have half the charm my furry ass does.” Charm. I tried not to scoff out loud at such a ludicrous thing for him to pretend to have. I may love him like a brother, we may hav
"Am I the cause of that blush, Devlin?" Corbyn asks as he puts some distance between us, spinning me with practiced ease before pulling me tightly against him. Trent won't care. He never cared about how close me and Corbyn used to be, but it's noticeable when Corbyn spends our entire dance staring directly at me. I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted, but his attention is unnerving, nonetheless. "For someone who can't stand to look at me, you sure are spending a lot of time looking." As soon as the words are out, I regret them. Corbyn likes to take care of me, dress me up like the perfect little doll. But dolls don't talk back. They sit perfectly at all times. They do exactly what you want, and only what you want. "Did you think you were allowed to come tonight for fun?" I blink slowly at him, unsure how to answer that. I know I'm here out of obligation, but does that mean fun is off the table? Apparently. He pulls me in even closer, whispering so softly I strain to
Making a scene would be childish. It would feel amazing but do nothing short of alert Trent to my disgust. No, I need to be smart here. What he'll see is sweet, hurt, loveable Devlin. What he'll get is his own personally curated nightmare. But first, I need to be anywhere that isn't watching them grope each other as if I don’t exist. The problem is that I am exposed here. The man to my left has already disappeared, but there are several men watching my every move. Predators - I’m sure, deadly - guaranteed, but Brixton follows closely as I make my way to the ladies' washroom. A cold grip on my wrist startles me, but not as much as the fact that I'm now outside and staring into the red depths of a handsome stranger's eyes. “A human,” he brushes the hair from my shoulder, “trying to hide amongst monsters?” He cocks his head slightly, his smile widening much wider than friendly as the two pointed tips of his teeth slip over his bottom lip. “A Vampire,” I whisper out, barely abl
Devlin is feisty under all of that calm demeanor and my cock is already constantly throbbing in her presence, but seeing her blood trickle down her neck and watching how she was with the Beta has it harder than it’s ever been in my life. The Beta is going to be more of a problem than initially calculated. I'd heard rumors of his personality changes and ignored most of them because when you're at the top, sometimes you have to be multiple people, but it's on my radar now. He has a soft spot for Devlin. He came out to check on her, even if it ended in insults, and she slapped him hard without immediate consequence, but he's going to pay for laying his hands on her. I'll wait until she's there to witness his fall. Yes, she’ll revel in it with me. I might be a monster, but values are important. Watching her struggle to compose herself is hard to watch, but comforting isn't exactly in my skill set. I was the person nobody could put a face to, the enforcer, the one the Cartiers tu
*** There’s no light, and no way to catch a glimpse of my surroundings when the darkness is never ending. I’m still under water, always under the water, but the weight of it is crushing my chest more than usual. My arms and legs are working together for once as the water glides past me, instead of feeling like a giant weight dragging me into the depths of the river. There're splashes of water around me and I reach out, desperate for my fingers to grip into the mud. As I’m pushed onto the ground, I still have to crawl my way out as the water continues to lap against me. My fingers reach ground that the water isn’t touching and I drag myself up onto the edge. Breath after breath, my lungs are still inflating as much as they can until I'm satisfied I can breathe normally. Scrambling from the edge of the water, everything is still impossible to see through, but I’m unwilling to test if something will drag me back under the water, so I walk forwards into the darkness. This is new