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“You couldn’t even catch the sleeping bag, let alone fight me right now,” he teases, in full big brother mode now. Apparently, the protective man from the night before turns into a raging douche when faced with a sister who’s no longer incapacitated.
The cuff I wear on my arm holds a knife inside of it, easy to pull and fun to use. It’s always good to be unexpected, not that most people—men especially—expect the tiny, blonde girl in a pink skirt to be any type of threat. Hence why many of my weapons are hidden. Not to mention as girly as I can get them.
God, I hope there will be new friends. Any friends. I’m that pathetic. I love my brothers, but sometimes, having my insane little family be my entire world gets to be too much.
“Mom!” I scream. No one messes with my cupcakes. He’s going to pay, and dearly. “Start planning the funeral and break out the bleach! You’re down one kid, and it’s gonna get bloody.”
On the day of a teenager’s Revelation, they touch two magical artifacts—one from the Seelie court and one from the Unseelie. From there, we’re declared either Seelie or Unseelie, regardless of genetics, and our supernatural creatures emerge based on our pre-existing personalities.
My dad sits at the edge of the table with the twins located on the opposite end. Devyn, as always, looks like the black sheep he is, with his dark leather jacket, slicked back hair, and ice-cold eyes currently speared on the half eaten breadstick on his plate. My older brother glances up at me, nods once, and then turns his attention back towards his food, a furrow appearing between his brow.
Xander, sitting opposite his twin, has on a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that emphasize the golden flecks in his verdant green eyes. His hair is messier than our brother’s, though the dark color is more similar to our dad’s than our mom’s. He wears a gray sweater and brown khakis, the outfit better suited for the front of a classroom than a fancy dinner.
I resist the urge to fling myself at him and nuzzle his cheek. Yeah, it’s in my wolf nature to cuddle my family, but it’s in their nature to beat the shit out of me for it. Don’t cuddle your brother. Cuddle your brother. Don’t cuddle your brother. Cuddle— A grin unfurls on Xander’s lips as he watches the internal struggle in my eyes. After a moment, he dips his chin in the universal “get over here” expression, and I don’t need to be told twice.
While I revere women, family, and relationships, Kian spits on all three of them. He degrades women as beings he can fuck, he disrespects our family, and he believes the only relationship he’s capable of having is one made between the sheets—or in the bathroom, apparently. I don’t know if he’s an asshole or just too twisted to have a true connection with another person, but either way, I love and hate him in equal measure.
“I barely know the girl. Why would you think that?” “Because you were flirting with her?” His statement turns into a question as he continues staring at me with those wide, guileless eyes—eyes I used to be able to read with ease. Now all they do is conceal the monster he’s become, the monster that has hidden in him his entire life.
I’ll never understand my cousin. He can’t do monogamy, and I can never in a million years imagine doing polygamy. I plan to have the white picket fence life, a wife, and three kids. I don’t need other people butting into my relationship.
Fuck Kian. Fuck him to the deepest pit of Hades where he belongs. Fuck him to— A gasp is ripped from my lungs as the most enticing scent I’ve ever encountered bombards me—chocolates and strawberries and campfires combined. It nearly sends me falling off the seat. Holyyy fuck. My eyes widen as I scan the restaurant eagerly, hoping to find the source of the scent. Devyn, beside me, has gone rigid, his hand curling into a fist on the table. “Do you feel that?” Kian whispers, but before he can finish speaking, I’m already out of my seat and moving in the direction of the smell.
Who the fuck is she? And why the fuck was I so attracted to her scent?
Why am I not surprised that the first thing my dad says when we set our eyes upon the new house is, “I think this is far enough away for no one to hear the screams?”
The home is both rustic and modern, simple and stunning, and I can’t help but love it. It’s perfect for us.
I finally understand how Anna feels in Frozen. I might even burst into song like a dramatic ass bitch. But instead of, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” it’ll be, “Do You Want to Stab Your Brothers?”
“Let me guess.” A grin quirks up my lips. “You’re lost?” “How did you guess?” she asks in feigned shock, dramatically placing a hand over her chest. “Are you stalking me?” “Obviously,” I agree with another smile.
What year are you? Freshman? Sophomore?” She groans, lifting the books she snatched from me to slam them against her forehead. “Senior.” The word is so muffled, I’m sure I heard her wrong, my feet stumbling as I pause.
I assure you, I am a senior. I’ll be eighteen in a month.” “You’ve got me beat,” I tease her, hoping to bring a smile back to her face. “I’m the youngest of my friend group. I’d hoped I’d at least be older than you. Just my luck that I’m still the baby.”
Gage legit got me a bottle and pacifier for my birthday last year, and I swear he and Tristan laughed about it for months afterwards. If I didn’t love the two idiots like brothers, I probably would’ve found new friends.
Gage is a big guy, broad and muscled from his time in the gym. His black hair is spiked from him running his fingers through it, and a heavy scruff decorates his jaw and highlights eyes so green, they’re basically black. His leather jacket conforms to his muscular frame, somehow making him appear even more imposing and intimidating.
“Everyone runs from me,” Gage admits, crossing his arms over his chest as he straightens his shoulders, towering above her. Serafina cocks her head, tapping a purple nail against her pursed lips. “That just tells me what people tend to do, not what they should be doing. People don’t tend to run from me.” Gage snorts. “Of course they wouldn’t. What could a tiny thing like you do?”
“You sure she’s human?” Gage asks skeptically, his head cocked as he watches her retreat. “The wards repelled her. It’s why she got confused. She’s almost eighteen, so it’s not age related either.” It’s too bad, really.
“Shame,” he murmurs. “She has so much fire in her. I hoped maybe she’d really stand up to us.” But no human can stand against a supernatural. He doesn’t even need to finish the sentence for me to hear it.
For some reason, I think there’s more to little Miss Serafina than meets the eyes.”
One, don’t start a fight, but if you have to fight, make sure you finish it. Two, if you have to fight, make sure they bleed. Three, if you really have to kill someone, do it in private so it’s easier to hide the body.”
“You know, most moms would be telling me to make friends or not lose my lunch money, not reminding me that you’re happy to help me dispose of the bodies of my enemies.”
“I know it won’t be the same, but I’ve got to get used to being around people again. I can’t stay locked up forever, waiting for a cure,” I remind him gently, jumping down from the tall truck. Being short bites sometimes. Though it’s way easier to punch a guy in the junk.
“Seriously, kid, how old are you?” She snaps the words at me, her hands going to her hips. Ohhh. Is this my first mean girl? I honest-to-God get tingles in my stomach.
“Just because I wear what I like and what happens to look damn good on me, doesn’t make me a kid. It just makes you judgmental.”
Foster laughs before reaching out, tugging sharply on the handle. The damn thing pops right open, and I scowl at it. “Just have to have the right touch,” he tells me smugly. “Seriously? A misogynistic locker? That doesn’t bode well for my future here.”
There’s nothing more infuriating than knowing a bunch of teenaged girls are imagining you naked.
here.” “She’s here.” “Coming.” “She’s coming.” “…You know.” I snap my eyes open, confusion dancing within me, just as the door to the classroom is pushed open.
The shadows begin whispering faster and faster, their voices blurring together until I fear a headache will come on. But the one word I can focus on, the one they repeat in my head, is her name. Serafina.
Serafina is ethereal in beauty. I imagine gazing upon her is the equivalent of staring into the sun. It’s blinding, intense, and all-consuming, but you find that you can’t look away. You’d rather lose your sight than peel your gaze away from the brilliance that makes up Serafina.
Most girls would be overjoyed to be stared at by Kian Brummer. Even if the humans don’t realize my cousin is a powerful incubus, his popularity and sex appeal is still obvious, but it appears as if Serafina isn’t like most girls. She doesn’t even spare him a glance as she scrunches her eyebrows together, poring over the pages of our Economics book.
I always knew there was something inherently wrong with me, but this…this rage only confirms it. The thought of any man or woman touching Serafina makes me see red. I may be a monster, but maybe… Maybe the beast inside of me only lives and breathes for one soul. What the fuck does all of this mean? And where do I go from here?
Bad Sera. Every girl in class was lusting after that poor man. Last thing you need to do is get used to fantasizing about him and then let something slip. But he’d been so much fun to play with…
You know what people don’t mention when you get sick? Your sex life. As in, your nonexistent sex life, because you have overprotective brothers and parents who watch you like a hawk. Kinda hard to get some dick when you can’t leave the house longer than an hour without a member of your family freaking out and assuming you’re dead in a ditch somewhere.
Suddenly, he moves around the table and lunges for me, grabbing my arms to pull me towards him, and on instinct, I flip him over my shoulder, sending him crashing to the floor and following up with a knee to the chest. I pin him in place as I press my hand against his throat, barely holding back from slipping the latch on my ring. “Or you could just be psycho…” I declare, staring in shock at the boy who’s now beaming at me, his chest rumbling with laughter as he rubs his face against my hand as though he’s marking me. Yeah, I’m going to go with psycho.
Tristan is a fucking idiot. He practically has hearts in his eyes as he stares at Serafina with an adoring look that makes me equal parts nauseated and annoyed. Though… Though I can’t say I don’t understand his fascination with the striking blonde.
I know I was teasing her when we first met and I claimed she wasn’t scary, but the four-foot-something girl just flipped Tristan. Holy fuck. I think I’m in love.
Tristan is super…Tristan—happy and bubbly and friendly and generally everything I am not. Foster is more reserved than our hyper best friend, but he still tries to befriend others.
My frustration only increases when my magic seems…confused by her? I don’t know how else to explain it. It’s certainly perplexed, as if it can’t quite get a read on her ailments. Maybe she’s not sick?
What the fuck happened to our ex best friend? He hasn’t always been like this. Sure, he played the field a bunch when he was human, but the second he had his Revelation…he changed. Completely. It wasn’t gradual or anything like that. One second, the four of us were inseparable—coined the Four Musketeers by Tristan’s older brothers—and the next, he ditched us for his gaggle of women.
“He seems lonely,” Serafina says at last, finally pulling her attention away from him. “Lonely and sad.” Sad? Lonely? Kian? The thought is almost laughable.
Why is Xander tutoring the girl himself? He never, ever tutors students, always choosing to leave that responsibility to Foster.
Serafina smirks at him. “Ex-girlfriend?” she guesses, and he appears honestly confused. “No, why would you think that?” She shrugs, attempting to appear nonchalant and indifferent. Is that a spark of jealousy I see in her eyes? Why do I like that so damn much? “No reason. She just seemed really into you.” His face scrunches together in confusion, and I snort. Poor, oblivious Tristan. He’s not even aware that the half of the student body who isn’t in love with Kian wants to get in his pants.
I’m an incubus. Sex is as natural to me as breathing, I remind myself, trying to force my mind and body into agreement. When I’d been declared an incubus at my Revelation, most of the guys I knew had been beyond jealous. While our offensive powers are minor in comparison to other species, we have what everyone considers a perk.
They can’t see my curse for what it is. I’m public property. A piece of meat. I’d be the first to admit I’ve never been the brightest tool in the shed, but I always thought I was a nice guy. Then I found out what my soul was hiding.
