Twisted Pretty Things (Shadows of London #1)

by Ariana Nash

I wasn’t just any latent. As an authenticator, I could see echoes of the event that had turned an item into an artifact.

I set the coin down on his desk, earning his raised eyebrow. The more I held on to it, the more the psychic energy leaked into my fingers and the louder the bloody thing got. The longer I held it, the more at risk I was of never letting it go and losing my mind to its whispers. Artifacts with their ability to boost psychic energy were tempting, and resisting temptation was a weakness of mine.

I’d grown fond of her grumpy ways like you grow fond of a Siamese cat you know wants to murder you but can’t figure out how.

Throw me into a warzone with psychic assassins, government-sponsored latent-sucking leeches, and I was in the zone, but stick me in a posh car with Kempthorne and I forgot how to brain.

“The dirtier an item, the hotter it becomes, and the harder it is to control its amplifying effect on a latent’s trick.”

“The next time you want to fuck me over, the least you can do is prep me first.”

Kempthorne’s real smile melted all the leftover ice in his glare. “I simply meant you’re worth more than any man there and you needn’t have felt uncomfortable.”

Tiny little thing. Pretty little thing. Twisted pretty thing.

This wasn’t a romance. It was two men trying to fuck away a whole lot of complicated shit, no strings attached. And I was there for it.

Bottom, top, I was game for anything. I did prefer to bottom, but only with serious lovers, which others had taken advantage of in the past, assuming I’d lie back and take a railing. “We’re not there yet, Hollywood.”

“Oh man, that’s one shitty night.” “Tell me about it. You ever been Tasered? Hurts like a bitch. I still can’t feel my balls.”

Take it. The pretty, twisted thing. Take it and own it and use it and light up London forever. Burn it all away. Cauterize a million wounds.

The screaming boy on the table, the boy who did not belong. The boy who was made.