Not with fear. Withrage.They used her. Again. And this time, I wasn’t letting her walk into it alone.
Elizabeth
I hadn’t worn a dress like this since I was seventeen—and back then, it was combat-grade Kevlar disguised as couture.
But this one?
Oh, it wasdangerousin a whole different way.
“I cannotbelieveyou let me talk you into this,” Lillian purred, stepping back to admire her masterpiece. She held up a little mirror like she was unveiling a weapon. “You look hot enough to start a small war.”
“She’s right,” Mary said, finishing the last curl at the end of my hair. “Like, the kind of hot that gets people excommunicated.”
I turned to the mirror.
The dress was black. Fitted. Silk, maybe? Or sin? I couldn’t tell.
It clung to every inch of me like it had been made for my body and no one else’s—deep neckline, slit up the thigh, back nearly non-existent.
My hair was loose, falling over my shoulders in soft, chaotic waves. My eyes were smoky, my lips dark red.
I didn’t recognize the woman in the mirror.
“Are yousurethis isn’t too much?” I muttered, tugging at the hem thatrefusedto be any longer. “I feel like I’m going to get arrested.”
“That’s thepoint,babe,” Lillian grinned. “You need to be reminded that you are a goddess forged in fire.”
“Tonight’s about fun,” Mary added, snapping her compact shut. “No missions. No fathers. No Noah.”
My chest tightened at the name.
But I shoved it down. Tonight wasn’t about him.
So we grabbed our heels, climbed into Lillian’s car, and drove into the neon heartbeat of the city.
---- ??? ----
The club’s heat pulsed through the light.
The music throbbed through the floors. Lights flickered like lightning caught in glass. Bodies pressed together, laughing, grinding, moving like the world might end and this was their last song.
I was two drinks in, cheeks flushed, limbs finally letting go of the weight I’d carried all week.
Lillian and Mary were dancing close by, but I’d drifted into the music—head thrown back, body swaying like I belonged here.
A guy slid up behind me. Tall. Sharp-jawed. Handsome in a too-confident way.
He didn’t say anything, just smiled, wrapped his hands lightly around my hips, and started moving with me.
And for once, I didn’t stop him.
Didn’t flinch.
Didn’t think.
I just moved.
Grinded.
