Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood, #1)

by C.R. Jane

I was both relieved and upset about walking to class alone. On the one hand, it gave me a break from having to be so fucking cheerful every minute, but on the other, it felt lonely. Jenna had already given up on me. I'd already spent most of my life feeling that way, and it was an unwelcome emotion.

Instead, I soaked up the glimpse of a life I’d never have. The fairy lights strung over the yacht twinkled, and everyone seemed to be laughing and having fun. It seemed like a magical moment straight out of some teenage drama about rich kids’ existential angst—which happened to be my favorite kind of television. I would’ve liked to have been a part of it, actually a part of it, for tonight.

It seemed like I always belonged on the edges, pretending to be normal but never fitting in.

I knew how to flay a man into a hundred pieces...but I'd never really lived. I wasn't sure if an illegal underground fight exactly constituted "living," but it sure as hell felt like it at this moment.

Our eyes clashed and his smile dropped, because that was all I did now...dragged happiness out of everything around me.