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Nightfall was coming again.
I didn’t want to scare her, but I did. Power and control were addictive. And I didn’t want to like it, because it made me sick. It made me Damon.
And with the way my goddamn stomach was flipping right now, it wasn’t funny or good or right how much I needed to constantly push myself over the edge to feel in control anymore. It wasn’t good how much I didn’t want to stop.
“I think you liked that,” she replied quietly, still staring out the window. “I think you enjoyed that.” My heart skipped a beat, and I turned away from her, following her gaze out the window. “If I did, I wouldn’t have stopped.”
And a Devil’s Night, so long ago, when a boy who used to be me hunted a girl who might be like Rika in a place that just might be that very same dark hotel out the window right now. But unlike tonight, he didn’t stop. He did something he shouldn’t have done.
Damon, I couldn’t imagine, had any secrets. He didn’t brag about his dirty deeds, but he never hid them, either. Will, the other member of our pack, didn’t do anything without backup, so someone was always aware of what he was up to. And Michael—our team captain, and the one I was closest to—hid only from those around him what he hid from himself. But me . . . I knew who I was. And I made a concerted effort never to let anyone see it.
The voice—a woman’s—came from somewhere close. Like the other side of the fucking confessional. I leapt up from my chair, the legs screeching against the marble floor. “No, please, don’t,” she begged, probably knowing I was about to rip open the door to the priest’s chamber on the other side. “I didn’t mean to listen, but I was already here, and you started talking. I won’t say anything.”
“There’s a story,” she started again when I didn’t move farther, “about The Pope Hotel in Meridian City. Do you know the place?” I eyed the screen, barely seeing her outline in the dark. The Pope? That multimillion-dollar waste on the shitty side of the river? I closed the curtain, taking my seat again. “Who are you?” “There’s a rumor about the twelfth floor,” she went on, ignoring my question. “It exists, but no one can get to it. Have you heard that story?”
“I’ll keep your secrets,” I told her. “No matter who you are.” “You are one of my secrets,” she shot back. “I’m trying to steal you, but I wish I didn’t want to.” “What does that mean?” Steal me?
“I’m just . . .” She paused, breathing erratically. “Just jealous.” “Why?” “Because you hunted her.” Her pale forehead leaned into the screen, and I caught a few strands of rich, dark hair. “Maybe I shouldn’t let you see me just yet. Maybe I should let you hunt me, too. Sounds like you’re good at it.”
I leaned back up, a smile tugging my lips. I was no longer embarrassed. Keeping my eyes on her, I pulled my keys out of my pocket and stuck the sharp one to my car into one of the holes of the wicker screen. Before she even had time to rear back, I tugged the key downward, ripped a slit in the screen, and pushed my hand through, catching her shirt in my fist just as she tried to escape. I pulled her forward and leaned in, smelling the wind on her skin and feeling how small and light she was. I barely flexed a muscle, holding her. “What makes you think I haven’t been doing that this whole
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“It’s Devil’s Night, and the night is young,” she finally spoke up. “Maybe you’ll find someone else to scare tonight.” I tightened my grip. “And if I want to scare you?” I felt her body shake with a laugh. “Then maybe I’ll be around,” she said playfully, pulling away. “Happy hunting.”
And suddenly, I didn’t want the same old shit tonight for some reason. I didn’t want him to be him or me to be me. I didn’t want to hide anything tonight. It’s Devil’s Night, she’d said. She knew what we got up to. She knew me. If she didn’t find me, I’d find her.
“Your hotel in the city,” I continued. “The Pope. It’s on my side of the river, and I’m interested in it. Quid pro quo. You give me something. I give you something. Is it for sale?”
And we both knew how Michael had handled his brother. The idea of doing the same to Damon—someone who had been a friend—made my stomach roll, but I would do what I had to do. To keep my friends safe. And to keep Damon’s goddamn mouth shut.
“Does she realize he’s not around to get in my way this time?”
She stole a few glances up, and then I noticed it. A small smile pulling at her lips and an amused look crossing her features, her shyness all of a sudden disappearing. “They’re far more of a handful than you are, Horsemen.”
“So, are we going to get her, then?” Michael probed. But I just stared ahead, thinking. She’d challenged me, hadn’t she? She’d made it a point to let me know who she was before she made her little escape with those assholes. To let me know she got me today only when she thought she could get away from us. I barely nodded, every muscle in my body tight as a rope. “I kind of want to scare the shit out of her first.”
She’d fucked with me today. Now I was going to fuck with her.
Banks. Jesus Christ. Six years ago, she’d more than piqued my interest. Today, she had been cold, eerily calm, and very collected. I remembered her far differently, though. She’d tried so hard to be tough that night, but those dark eyes and how they could level me, and those lips . . . Yeah, I remembered. She didn’t stay controlled for long.
“And I’m not sure which category she fits into,” I said, pointing the staff at Banks. “Every time I ask you a question, you look to her for the answer. It’s odd for a woman to have that kind of power, given what I know of Gabriel Torrance.” He glanced at her again, appearing to look for direction. She was the one in charge. Not him. That’s it.
it was amusing how little she cared about her appearance. So different from the women I’d grown up around, at home and at school. But my hands knew how beautiful she was. They remembered.
I almost laughed. Unlike Rika, Banks immediately went into survival mode in an unsure situation. While in enemy territory, take the vantage point with the fewest variables. Positioned in the corner, she needed to see only what was coming at her, not what was coming from behind. I’d been trying to turn that lesson into instinct with Rika for months.
“Do you still think there’s a hidden twelfth floor?” “I think you’re far too concerned with the secrets you know exist rather than the ones you don’t.”
She shrugged. “She’s young, healthy . . . What more do you need to know? She’ll please you.” I laughed quietly. Jesus Christ. “It takes a lot to please me,” I taunted. “Remember?”
She exhaled slowly as if calculating her next words as she folded her hands on the table. “I know what you really want,” she said. “You want to know where Damon is. You don’t want to be surprised. And right now, you’re a rat in a maze. You don’t know which way to turn, and you won’t see that you’ve gone the wrong way until you’ve gone too far.” “Meaning what?” “Meaning you’re the prey right now,” she shot back. “And once . . . you were the hunter.” I leaned forward, resting my forearms on the table again. “You want me to find him?”
“And when you wake up,” she said low, nearly whispering up at me. “You’ll realize how much everything around you sucks and how it’s time to get in the goddamn game, Kai Mori, and take some chances.” Goddamn her.
“Instead, my wedding present . . . will be you.” She whipped around, and I finally saw some emotion on her face as she glared at me. “I’m not on the table.” And I couldn’t help but smile down at her, my dirty mind finding the double meaning. “You work for me until the wedding. That’s the deal. Go and tell him my terms.” I backed away, suddenly very confident. “And you’ll find out that you’re exactly what I said you were. Toy or tool. Nothing more.”
I’d said that. Why had I said that to him in the confessional? And why had I taunted him on the road earlier? There was no way I’d be around or allowed to go anywhere tonight. Not on Devil’s Night. But finally being able to engage with him, I couldn’t stop myself. He was like a puzzle, giving the impression that there were so many things he wanted to say, but he struggled to get his words out. And then . . . every once in a while in that confessional, he showed himself. His real self. The monster my brother said everyone had inside of them.
is Damon her brother?
He wouldn’t like me, right? I wasn’t his type.
“Because eventually,” Marina continued, “there will be someone whose attention you do want.” And an image of Kai popped in my head. What did he think of me today?
But another voice spoke up, this one smoother and darker, sounding an inch away from me. “You said you wanted to be hunted. Right?” My breath caught in my throat. Kai?
“Every car made since 2002 has one,” he told me. “If that ever happens to you again, you know what to do.” I scowled up at him. “If that ever happens again, my crew won’t be as polite as they were earlier.”
But then, suddenly, Kai pressed into me, making me fall back into the trunk and land on my ass. My legs dangled over the side, and I looked up him, his long body blocking my escape. “Is that supposed to be a threat?” And then he leaned down, his vicious mask an inch from my face, making my stomach flip. “I was raised to be a gentleman,” he said, “but if you send other men after me, catching my interest will be the worst mistake you ever made.”
“You . . .” I stammered. “You won’t do anything.” “Like I didn’t do anything to that girl in the shower?” he challenged me. “You think I’d go to all this trouble to get you here just to let you go?” Maybe. Yes. Okay, no, but . . . “You see, I don’t like being teased,” he continued,
“Say what?” “That you only want me.” “I’d rather lick an ice cream cone of razor blades,” I gritted out. He smirked. “You let me touch you in the confessional booth today. You liked me touching you.”
“I see you around, though,” I explained. “My bro . . . my mom cooks for the Torrances.” I swallowed, my throat like a desert. That was a lie. Marina wasn’t my mother, but it was the explanation we decided to give people, since my father didn’t want anyone outside the house to know who I really was. Neither did my brother.
“Have you ever even been kissed?” I kept my mouth shut, but I knew that was answer enough for him.
His long arms blanketed mine, my hands resting inside his. “You fit me like a shirt. It’s a perfect mold.” I smiled to myself, feeling a blush heat my face. “For now,” I said. “I’m done growing, but you’re probably not.”
“This is my first confession,” he said, telling me what to say next. I inched in, our lips nearly meeting as I stared at his mouth. “This is my first time.” He sucked in a breath. His eyes dropped to my mouth, and he placed my hands on my thighs, threading his long fingers through mine. “Jesus,” he growled under his breath.
“He kissed me on the neck first,” I confessed. And Kai threaded his hand into my hair, taking the hint as he gently pulled my head back and out, his lips on my neck, slowly nibbling. I released a breath, closing my eyes. “I liked it when he did that.” “You know those boys . . .” he scolded, kissing and biting me up and down. “They like the sweets too much. You have to be stronger and resist.” “And if I like the sweets, too?” I moaned, feeling my skin tingle. “Was he the first man to touch you?” Father Kai asked. “Yeah.” He groaned.
“I didn’t mean to push you, okay? I’m an asshole,” he said. “I don’t want to seduce you in here. You’re different.” “Different how?” “I talk to you,” he replied. “And I like talking to you. That’s rare for me.”
Looking up, I saw Damon at Kai’s side, his stare meeting mine. A wave of nausea hit me. He looked calm, but I knew better. His slightly open mouth closed, and his jaw flexed. It was a subtle gesture, but I knew the signs. My brother was never calm. If he wasn’t having it out with me now, he would eventually, and I wouldn’t see it coming.
He was keeping up pretenses. Outside of the house, I wasn’t supposed to know him. I was a ghost. He didn’t want me to have friends, and he didn’t want his friends to notice me. If anyone knew I was his sister, they’d question why I didn’t go to school with him, dress as nicely as him, or go to parties with him. And if anyone knew Gabriel Torrance was my father, they’d question why I wasn’t treated like a daughter.
“Oh, you’re off-limits, all right,” he growled Kai’s words back to me. “I should rip off every single piece of clothing on your body right now. Everything I’ve given you. I told you all women were selfish, lying cunts. He doesn’t get to have you, and you don’t get to have him.” He bore down on me, the liquor on his breath wafting through my nostrils.
You’re going to screw me over, and if you do, I will kill you. Do you hear me? I will fucking kill you.”
“You can’t take him away from me,” he said in a low voice. “And he can’t take you away from me, either. You understand?”
But he just laughed at me. “You’re such a dumb shit.” He pinched my chin, nudging my head and forcing me to meet his eyes. “What’d I tell you? There’s pawns and rooks and knights and bishops, but only one queen.” He smiled playfully. “We’re a pair, Nik. Everyone else comes and goes, but you never escape blood. Blood is forever.”
“That way you get to see what he doesn’t want you to see.” His smirk disappeared. “Who he really is.”
I tipped my chin up at his sarcasm. “He doesn’t want me for . . .” I breathed out, hesitating. “For that. And if he does, he’s not getting it.” Kai might very well want me to wait on him hand and foot, but my father had other ideas. In his head, if Kai was demanding me in particular, then he wanted me for nothing less than a little fun. And he wasn’t fucking getting it.
