North and I are sitting on her couch, Pack in the seat at North’s side and Oreo in my lap. We’re waiting…patiently… for Juniper to come out of the bedroom.
It was silence on the walk here. Cold, chilling silence. Not a look or glance in our directions.
I can’t stop bouncing my heel on the floor. Promising not to leave has me restless. There were more sprites on the way home than I could count, more shadows in the trees than I’ve ever seen. I want to get out and burn my mark on every street and building.
However, we’ll deal with all of it later.
Right now, my main concern is her.
It’s another hour before the door to her room opens.
Both of us stand. My heart is in my throat as she strides toward us, her sweatshirt hanging off of her shoulder and nearly exposing the top of her pillowed tits, pair of fuzzy socks scrunched down around her ankles, leggings snug.
She pauses in front of her television and folds her arms over her chest, sitting into her hip as she peers between us. I suddenly feel exposed watching her take us in. She holds all the cards, every breath of my life and North’s. If she tells us to leave and that she never wants to see us again, I’ll end up back in my mother’s prison for the rest of eternity because any second free without Juniper feels worthless.
“Show me,” she says.
I blink, and North switches the weight on his feet.
“Show you what?” I manage.
“The statues at the bar. You’re telling me those aren’t depictions of what youactuallylook like?” she asks, brow lifted. “Show me.”
North and I look at one another.
“Are you sure?” North asks.
“I’d like to see the monsters who claim to love me,” she replies.
Chapter 23
Juniper
My heartbeat is pounding against my ears as I watch the two strip down to their underwear.
Not just because they’re beautiful already, but because with every piece of clothing that falls on the floor, I see them shift into something… otherworldly.
Taller. Muscles more pronounced. Blaze turns around, and I see the curved spikes coming out of his forearms. His tattoos shift from distinct murals to blacked out hands and areas around snowflakes on his arms. Trees branches stretch up his torso, and what looks like smoke and more snowflakes spreads to his neck. Claws stretch from his long fingers. A thin black line wraps his face, cutting through his eyes. Even his jawline appears sharper.
And when he turns around and runs a hand through his hair, long and crooked black horns appear atop his head.
I lock my legs to keep from falling. However, as I peer him over entirely, I realize it isn’t just tattoos on his torso. He’s scarred.Heavily. I can see the cuts, the rips in the blackout, the pink raised stars and burn marks?—
As if he was tortured for decades.
The scars make me want to run to him. Still, I’m fixed where I am, and as I turn my attention to North, my feet turn into lead.
North…
Fuck. The horns in his wavy blond hair are similar to Blaze’s, except instead of only having the tall ones, he also has a set of ram-like horns that curl around his ears. His tattoos look like jagged pieces of ice and crystals spreading. And his eyes…
His eyes are entirely black.
I almost stagger backward into the tv.
“Demons,” I breathe.
North smirks, a long fang showing when he curls his lip. “Like we said.”
