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“Maven…if you’ve changed your mind and this is too much for you, I’m not going to pressure you—”
I’ve never been teased like this. I’ve always taken charge in bed—and hell, I still want to pin Maven down, bury myself to the hilt in her, and leave love bites all over her body so people know she’s fucking mine, but this? I want this even more.
“But I like seeing you so hard for me,” she adds, her voice turning liquid. “Good boy.” Good boy. Those words sink in and holy. Fucking. Gods.
She's the one calling the shots, and it's addictive. I am so fucked.
Me on my knees for Maven, head buried between her thighs so I can get high off her scent. Tasting her when she lets me. Her praise when I beg the way she likes. Her disciplining me when she sees fit before letting me worship every inch of her body. I want to hear that I please her. I burn with the need to touch her.
Pet? Oh, holy fuck.
Because I broke my promise. I'm hugging her to me.
I could stop fighting them. Make them mine.
“Ah, Miss Oakley! I see you’re still alive.” “Disappointed? Me too.”
Burning pyres? How deliciously morbid.
“Your friend’s all right, darling,” Crypt murmurs,
Death is hardly tragic, and one less shifter wouldn’t bother me in the least. But if someone hurt you by hurting your friend, I would bring you their head on a platter within the hour.”
“He boosted the dreamcatchers in there with more of his blood as well. Paranoid bastard.” That is just…annoyingly thoughtful.
before I can reach the steps, he reappears with someone else’s cell phone that he clearly just stole, holding it out to me with a grin.
I hear a shrill scream from somewhere nearby, and then Crypt appears in front of me with a now-unlocked iPhone and…blood splattered on his hand. “They resisted,” he explains casually, placing the phone in my gloved hand. “So I popped one of their eyeballs.”
That triggers a grin to spread before I can help it. “Very efficient.” Crypt goes stock still, fixating on my mouth.
“Boring. Pick a different threat.” A long pause. “Ex-fucking-scuse me?”
“Fuck me with a pitchfork, I thought you were a myth. Telum. That’s what they call you, right?”
“Are you still in Pennsylvania?” “Infernal hells, you’re really her.”
I let my voice steel into a calm tone I’ve rarely had to use throughout my life. “We just established that you know exactly who I am. And I know exactly who you are, Melchom.”
I don’t kill innocents. But he can’t know that. No one can know that, despite how fucked up I am, I still have that one rule.
I sigh. “Melchom.” He hisses. “Fucking devils. Stop using my name. What?”
“I’ll leave after you tell me where Maven is,” he grits. His head whips to the side, glaring at a spot on the wall where there’s…absolutely nothing. Crazy asshole.
And if you don’t know where she is, then…” He trails off, glancing sideways at Silas. “He’s about to attack your wall.”
When I saw that they would be in my quintet, I actually hoped things might eventually change. But if I want things to improve between us…then for now, I have to keep icing them out—at least until we’ve all bound our hearts to Maven. Until then, there are just too many things that could go terribly wrong.
🙄 miscommunication troupe is the worst. In this case. Miscommunication by omission
Baelfire has perked up. “That’s Maven’s next class? She’ll be there, then. I’m going with you, Snowflake.”
she looks back at me and…smiles. Smiles. My stomach flips. I swear on everything holy that she is the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Formulating a sentence around her is so damn hard, but I clear my throat and look out the window, hoping like hell that I look indifferent…instead of how I really feel, which is eager to give her anything in the world she wants.
Maven leans closer. “Tell me how to bribe you.” “You—” My voice wavers, and I swallow hard. You will never need to bribe me. Anything you want, it’s yours.
Admittedly, that’s a massive perk of walking anywhere near my rejected matches: they don’t let anyone else close to me. I’ll miss that when they learn to hate me.
Baelfire is staring at my mouth with laser focus. “Damn it, Boo. I want that.” “A smile?” “Your smile. I’ve decided that’s my new mission in life, so buckle up.”
I scowl at him. “You really do just pop in and out of existence like a case of bad acne, don’t you?”
He rubs his neck. “Nah. Silas is just paranoid. There’s no way in hell he’d ever admit it to anyone, but it’s getting worse, especially lately. He’s probably leaving so he doesn’t accidentally kill someone and tip everyone off about how unbalanced he really is. Doesn’t want to appear weak.”
I finish chewing and swallow. “Oh. Right. That’s disgusting.” Bael’s brows go up. “You’re taking another bite.” “Because I’m hungry.” Now, he looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “Strong stomach. You’re kind of a psychopath, aren’t you, Boo?”
Legacies naturally part in hallways now to make way for me since Baelfire is still snarling at anyone who gets close to me, and Silas and Crypt are no less terrifying.
The forest air is stirring with chill, spooky mist, and sinister fears that seem to delve under the skin like ghostly termites. I love it.
It’s Harlow, and four other legacies are with her. None of them are Sierra. Only five on one? I expected more. Maybe they have more friends hiding nearby. That would be fun.
But if any of you are threatened again, invite me to the party. I enjoy spilling blood.” The bearded guy raises his brows. “Damn. You sound a lot more badass than you look. Not that you look bad or anything, just…uh, frumpy.”
“Good chat,” I say flatly, turning to walk away before they think they can get chummy with me. “Don’t bother me again unless there’s someone to kill,” I add over my shoulder before retreating into the shadowy forest.
“She won’t go along with this idea. She’s been…difficult.” “Agreed. Isn’t she deliciously unexpected?” Crypt sighs.
“I can play very nice if she’d only let me,” I mutter. Everett snorts. Fine. Even I can admit that I sound like a petulant child.
Diabolical. She’s utterly vicious. Fuck me. A smile curls my lips, and my heart begins to pound. She intended to make us hate her, but now that I know she’s possibly as cutthroat as I am, she’s never getting rid of me. “Game on, my vicious little minx.”
Though the fact that she can ever sense me at all in Limbo is intriguing. Not even other incubi can see or sense me most of the time. Just another reason my darling is so fascinating.
We’ve already been over this, and he’s annoying me, so I shove him off the edge of the roof. His shouted curse quickly morphs into a guttural roar as scales and talons explode into existence in a blaze of blue fire.
It takes her a while to figure it out, and I laugh out loud at the way her cute little nose wrinkles when she accidentally sprays the ground with gas while shoving it into the car.
I am left in rapt fascination as Maven snorts, lips curling up into a dark smile as she pays for her fuel. She enjoyed frightening that man.
People are never more themselves than when they think no one is watching. Seeing that small glimpse into Maven’s true personality has me grinning more to myself
“You all planned this.” “Mostly, it was Decimus, but yes.” “And this storm…” She scowls. “Frost’s doing,” I confirm, further amused when she flips me off for laughing.
It takes a lot to make me lose control. I’ve been through too much to be fazed by little things. But they’re. Fucking. Getting. There.
They plotted together to manipulate my trip, forcing me to spend time with them. Trapped us all together, even though I’ve been making them miserable for days. It’s like they’re all fucking masochists and can’t get enough of me treating them like shit. Ironically, that would almost make the gods right about making me their keeper since I’m something of a sadist.
