Exile (Dance with my Demons #4)

by Steph Macca

In violence and corruption, I found an unexpected peace. An inferno of flames in an otherwise dark abyss—someone to dance with my demons.

For the first time since my mother died, I experienced love again—even if I didn't want it. Her vibrant light choked me, wrapping around my black heart like barbed wire, ripping me apart, until finally, she cracked me wide open. In my own personal hell, I found her. Avery. For the first time, someone saw me as more than their savior. More than a leader and someone to fear. She wanted to save… me. So now, it's only fitting that I should die for her.

We could have played rock paper scissors to decide who gets to marry her, even if I'd be awfully tempted to chop off their hands to win by default.

I can punch just as well with my non-dominant one—Ambidextrous overachiever of vengeance.

Except this time, it's different. I'm covered in my husband's blood. My husband.

And now, I'm sitting here, covered in his blood after he took a bullet from his own father to protect me. I want to kill him… lovingly, of course.

Lilydale promised to save me, even when I adamantly believed I was beyond salvation. But in a strange turn of events, I was saved. By Grey. By Theo. And by Damon.

"No, but she's his everything, Christopher. She's his reason to live, to fight. Just like she's mine. He has to be okay. There's no other option here."

They saw me as everything. Not the victim, not the familial killer, not the girl with mental illness… they saw what was inside and dug out the potential—the real me that had never had an opportunity to flourish.

"Maybe that can be your Christmas present," she murmurs. "A little murder goes well with mistletoe."

her before. I was incorrect to ever think she was weak. She's perhaps more dangerous than most in the asylum. No wonder Avery has such a hold on Grey—he sees that darkness in her. Theo as well. Her light doesn't just call to their darkness and compliment it.

I thought my family was messed up. Apparently, Damon's is on a whole other level. My parents abandoned me—a surprisingly better alternative than firing a bullet into my abdomen.

Patients in Lilydale all have one thing in common. Trauma. And with that comes forced personality traits. Untrusting, anxious, fearful.

love doesn't always need to go by the societal book and normal standards.

I have no idea why Rian is watching me. There's been something off about him since the day he arrived.

He's the violent brother I never had—slipping in easily with our little group of blood-loving lunatics.

I don't know why, but there's something about daytime that feels safe. Like the monsters can't harm you when the sun is out. Maybe it's because fear stems from darkness and the unknown.

Having something to lose makes you dangerous.

I only kill when necessary. A fucked-up version of Batman, I guess. Vigilante villain. Maybe I'm the love child of Batman and the Joker. That would be cool.

When people want to exit relationships, you see a lawyer. Not your dentist. Though, I suppose they are renowned for their oral skills.

"Fire is significant, Grey. It can mean rebirth." "Like a phoenix rising from the ashes?"