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I’d grouped him in with Sadie, but there was a problem. I was bizarrely aware of the fact that he wasn’t a woman; he was an extremely handsome six-foot-five supernatural assassin.
“You branded me a fucking slave because you thought I was weak and pathetic. Or did you already forget? Or do you just get to decide my character when it fits into your little agenda?”
Some relationships require a lot of patience and forgiveness. Sadly, I’m not a good person and I don’t care.
“I still thought the queen would be prettier.” I made a mental note to throat punch whoever said that.
“Don’t fall apart now.” He flashed his dimples and whispered, “It will ruin our street cred.” I choked. “What street cred?” “Exactly.”
I whispered in John’s ear, “At least we’re not named Corvus Malum. Talk about a mouthful. His mother must have hated him. I think the name Mitch suits him better.” John furrowed his brow and asked, “Why, Mitch?” I smirked. “Male bitch.”
If I wasn’t a raging heterosexual, we’d totally make love.
She wiggled her chest in what was supposed to be a shimmy but came across as an uncontrollable tick. Competitors glanced over at her with raised eyebrows. “Stop it,” I mouthed. Sadie shimmied faster and mimed thrusting her hips sexually in my direction.
Mentally, I was a slut. Physically, I was terrified of intimacy. Spiritually, I didn’t like men. I was confused.
Sadie stared at my hair, then at my face. A wide grin split her cheeks. “I thought you’d never ask. Since you’ve given me makeovers, I’ve been wanting to return the favor.” “Please, we both know I’m already perfect-looking,” I said seriously. “Meanwhile you had a unibrow when we first met.” Sadie laughed. Who was going to tell her I wasn’t joking?
I didn’t care what Dick said to explain himself. You didn’t whip a child for the greater good. There was no such thing as casual abuse. He hurt her. Violently. Repeatedly.
It took me a moment to register that he mumbled something else under his breath. “If anyone looks at your naked body, I’ll kill them.” “What?” I whispered. “What did you say?” John flashed his dimples and patted my head. “Almost done, Aran. Just hang in there a little more.” That wasn’t what he said.
Now that I was staring at them, men were kinda ugly.
She’d agreed. We’d both tasted it. And there were repercussions to my ownership.
In my periphery, Malum lunged for me, but Orion held him back. I didn’t mistake his action for kindness. Scorpius sneered something about me being the problem. Obviously?
The man next to her grimaced. “She’s clearly not well. How embarrassing.” I was tired of pretending to heal, I was going to start traumatizing everyone back. I blew a cloud of smoke in their direction.
“Oh yes, I can practically taste the increased humidity in the air,” I said sarcastically. “Very concerning.” “You can feel it too?” John asked excitedly. “I thought the dew point was higher lately, but I wasn’t sure.” Sometimes it was hard to be a good person.
Last time I took a man seriously, I lost my will to live. Yes, it was my tutor when I was a child. No, I still had not gotten over it. My personality traits were: (1) spiteful, (2) bitch.
I gulped the refreshing water, grateful for a distraction from the devils. I choked as I inhaled too fast. “Aw, there’s my special girl. Can’t even drink water correctly,” John said as he patted my head like I was an idiot.
Pulling my hoodie up over my head, I tied the knots around my chin so I looked like a gnome.
“Don’t tip your chair back like that,” Malum said as he furrowed his brow. “You’ll break your neck.” I tipped back further.
“To cracks!” He clanked his bottle against mine. “Crackalack,” I responded smartly. “On my back.”
“So,” I said conversationally, “how does it feel to be in love with and mated to the prettiest person in all the realms?” Ascher beamed. “Aw, I’ll tell Cobra you said that.”
My woozy brain changed the subject, and I asked both of them, “Have I told you about my back crack? Like a sidewalk crack but spinal.” Cobra plucked the bottle out of my hands. “You’re cut off.” I gasped.
stuck my finger in his face and said, “You aren’t my friend, father, or captain. Sun god, you’re barely a member of this team. Yet you think you can interfere with my personal life?” He took a step closer. His breath smelled like spice and demon brew as he said, “I never said you couldn’t call me Daddy.”
I snorted with laughter. Stumbling as the room spun around me like a top, it took me three tries to open the door. When I finally slipped inside, I gave the wall a high-five. Pride filled me. I’d done it. I’d done the impossible. I opened the door.
Physically, I was hideous. Mentally, I was worse. Spiritually, I was a slut.
Objectively, it was a nice body. Subjectively, immediate smash.
He arched an eyebrow tauntingly. “My best friend doesn’t sleep on the floor.” Something intense flickered in his eyes. “You sleep in my arms.”
“What does the Greek symbol ligma stand for?” I raked through my knowledge of the Greek alphabet. I couldn’t recall anything. “I don’t know. What?” John’s smile was blinding. “Ligma balls.” My eye twitched.
Xerxes whined. “Totally.” I choked on a sob. “Doing fine.” I endured. Time crawled forward, and my mind wandered as my body suffered. Intense internal debate culminated with one poignant realization: kittens groomed themselves, so Xerxes had most likely eaten his own butt at some point. I grimaced as he continued to lick my face. This was the last straw. “Okay, I’m clean,” I snapped when the little white face got way too close to my lips for my liking. It made a small growling noise of distress. My vision wavered, and I almost collapsed as a thick chunk of glass lodged in my shoulder. “Fine,”
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You could see it in their eyes—wide and clear. There were no shadows. You could see it in their actions—the angel competitor had a fifteen-foot wingspan of crystal wings to protect herself with, yet she’d killed the others so she wouldn’t have to suffer.
“P-P-Please, it’s not that big of a deal. W-We can talk about it. No one was hurt.” “False,” Luka growled. “You will be hurt.”
Sadie’s momentum pulled her over the side of the post. At the last second, her claws stopped her progress and hung still. She clawed herself up and plopped her fluffy white ass down. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she delicately licked her paw. She delicately stuck out her hind leg and licked her privates. No one ever accused her of being classy.
Sadie gasped on a watery sob. “I just want to read smutty books and have family dinners. Maybe stab a couple of people who deserve it and call it a day. Not lead a war.”
“You will let us care for you,” Scorpius said darkly as he massaged his throat then lunged toward me. His fingers wrapped around my throat and slammed me back against the mirrored wall. It cracked beneath me. Personally, I was not feeling pampered, cherished, or protected. Who was going to tell them?
