I didn’t consciously decide to climb on stage; my body just moved. I gripped the edge and pulled myself up. She stepped back, her smile never faltering, and slid her hand into mine. She tugged me gently, like a ribbon on my soul.
She turned, and I followed without hesitation even though I was a wolf, not a fucking puppy.
I fed myself lies to justify my acquiescence, but it had been a long time with no end in sight.She’s playing her part. Nothing will happen. Just go with it. Blend in.But I wasn’t blending in. I was unraveling.
Suddenly, I backed into something solid. Cold. My hands lifted, and metal clanked.
Chains.
I looked up and realized I was shackled, arms spread wide on a giant wooden X at the center of the stage.
Shit.
“Shhhh,” she cooed, pressing her finger to my lips. I tasted her skin, warm and soft. Instinctively, I licked, wanting to have more of her in me, around me, on me.
“I can tell you’re going to like this,” she purred.
Her smile could’ve stopped time. Rosy, full, and wicked.
“How do you know that?” I rasped.
She lifted my wrist to her mouth, kissed my knuckles, then raised my arm above my head.
“It’s my superpower,” she whispered. “I can tell exactly what someone craves, just by looking at them.”
My other wrist was taken. She kissed her way up my arm and across my shoulder, her mouth leaving sparks in her wake. My eyes rolled back.
Tipping my head back, I gave in for just a second.
Then, when her hand closed around my throat and squeezed, I knew I was in trouble.
13
ANIYAH
It had been four days, and I was still pissed, boiling, really. That kind of simmering rage didn’t burn out; it just kept feeding on itself like a cursed fire.
Poor Natalie practically pissed herself when she shyly asked if she could officially date one of the security guards. I snapped, barking something cruel about not giving a fuck who she screwed. The moment her eyes welled up, guilt slammed into me like a freight train. I had to apologize, gritting my teeth through it as I recited the policy and, yes, the fact that relationships had to be reported. So, technically, she had done the right thing.
But nothing about me wastechnicalanymore. I was all raw instinct and bad decisions, running on fumes and fury.
I was on edge, no,beyondthe edge. I’d jumped, and now I was free falling with claws out.
Every time I saw Alic, his face cold and unbreakable like carved marble, his eyes would turn my way, daring me to call out the pain and regret in them. Then all my emotions would run through me like a raging stampede. Anger. Pain. Sadness.Betrayal. I’d become a walking hurricane of vengeance in glitter and heels, looking for something to destroy, and unfortunately for him, he’d volunteered as tribute. That was the cost of being a traitor.
At first, I’d given him the ice queen in heels routine, leaving him behind like yesterday’s trash. Now, I was onto the cold shoulder phase. I wanted him tofeelhow insignificant he was, how small he'd become in my world. A part of me hoped he’d slink away with his tail tucked and beg Nova to reassign him, to crawl out of my orbit so I wouldn’t have to keep seeing those regret-stained eyes.
But he didn’t leave. Instead, he’d quietly followed me. Like some goddamn ghost of our past, he was too stubborn to die, tooloyal, and that made it worse.
His silence wasn’t weak or broken. It was patient. It waspenance, but I didn’t want penance. I wantedretribution.
That was when I decided to let the full brat come out and make his life hell.
I sent him out for food, only to toss it in the garbage and order him to go out again, then reject that too. Told him to bring the car around, claiming that I didn't want to walk the four blocks to the store, then left anyway, claiming he was taking too long. Every little chance to chip away at him, I took it.
When that wasn’t enough, I fucked with his work at the club. I called the IT guy, someone I normally left Van to deal with, and asked if we could scramble the cameras and fuck some shit up. Not permanently, or course. Just enough to create chaos. He was surprisingly helpful, giving me no pushback at all when heoffered to make a system of timed loop disruptions. I approved it without hesitation.
Even with all of that, Alic didn’t crack.
