Phantasma (Wicked Games, #1)

by Kaylie Smith

To those who’ve had to claw their way out of the dark and still choose to be a light in this world⁠— I’m proud of you.

The fact that the only thing in this strange quiet was hushed rumors surely meant something wicked was in the air.

Genevieve snorted. “That’s alright. I fucked his best friend on the back of the float as revenge.”

“Go home,” the stranger advised. “A house of Devils is no place for an angel like you.”

“A heart and a key would set me free,” it said. “But you should hope we do not meet again, angel.”

The feeling of his warmth making her want to linger in the dark despite knowing better. The way she had been desperate for him to know her name. The feeling of his invisible touch on her face…

“Angel, you have not seen even a modicum of what I am capable of,” he told her, his green eyes flickering down her figure

“I could make you utter things you never thought you’d possess the will to say just to get a taste of what I have to offer…”

“Don’t tell me you’re not going to fight back, angel,” a voice drawled somewhere above her. “Careful, or I’ll have to start believing you save all your moxie just for me.”

“Call her a name one more time,” he threatened, his tone bored but his eyes alight with mischief. “I dare you.”

Cade gawked at the sight of Blackwell’s tall frame, but his expression quickly soured as he spat, “Incredible, even Demons have whores⁠—” Blackwell grabbed Cade’s wrist and twisted his arm until he screeched in agony. “Incredible,” Blackwell echoed. “The audacity of men worth less than dirt.” A surprised laugh fell from Ophelia’s mouth, and Blackwell turned his face just enough to wink at her.

“Being too compassionate in a place like this is a mistake,” he warned. “Soft hearts don’t survive here.” “What kinds of hearts do?” He leaned down until their eyes were level. “Hearts with teeth.” He reached out and gently gripped her chin in his hand, rubbing the pad of his thumb across her full, bottom lip. She was frozen in place. “C’mon, angel, show me your teeth.”

“No. There is no before in my mind. I remember every contestant I’ve worked with, and every city we’ve traveled to, but nothing outside of Phantasma’s competitions. A shame, too. I feel robbed of my first time laying eyes on you.”

he has so much rizz

“Perhaps that is it. I was an immortal in my past life. A Vampire, maybe. I do like to bite.” He clacked his teeth together in demonstration before giving her a wink.

She buried her face into the crook of his throat. “You came.” “You called,” he answered.

“I think you might be the closest to heaven I’ll ever get,” he whispered.

She curled up beside the words and let herself cry. Shedding tears for her mother’s untimely death. Too sudden, too soon. Tears for the relationship with her sister she wondered if she’d ever get the chance to mend. Tears for the father she never got to know. But most of all she shed tears for herself. And the soft heart she would never have again.

Their kisses turned sweet now, lingering, the connection between them strengthening with each thrust of his hips, each ragged breath. It was something that transcended the boundaries of the living and the dead. He wasn’t a Phantom in this moment, nor she a mortal. And this was not a melding of their bodies, but their souls.

“In a different life, in a fair one, I would’ve kept you until my eternal soul withered away to dust,” he vowed to her.

“Firstly, let me reintroduce myself.” He dipped his head in a formal bow. “My name is Salemaestrus Erasmus Blackwell, Prince of the Devils. But you, angel, may call me Salem.”

“I love you,” she whispered. “I love you so much. You saved me. So many times, in so many ways, and it barely took you a week to change me so intrinsically. I may never be rid of my inner demons, but for this single sliver of time, whenever we were together, you made them quiet. I was able to hear myself for once. And I want you to know that I will gladly take on whatever this place is going to curse me with knowing you will finally get out of the Hell you’ve been trapped in for so long.”

“Devil.” “Angel,” he drawled. She kissed him then, long and slow, reveling in the little piece of heaven she saved from the dark depths of Hell.