My gaze catches pieces of them all.
“Falloir...”Julien.
My breathing hitches.
“She’s a fucking dream.”Ezekial.
My heart pounds.
“She came.”Kane.
I look down.
One look—that’s all I manage. The glance was meant to feign indifference, to suggest their presence barely touched me. But it’s a lie. A mistake.
Just one look, and I’m already battling my reaction to them, to their voices rumbling through my mind, strained and frayed, their control shattered from just one tiny look.
Have they always been this… this…beautiful?Have I always felt such an innate, visceral pull towards them? As though my body is hooked with a thousand unbreakable strings, all wound to them.
I grip the chair, clutching it as tightly as they clutch theirs—anything to ground me against this incessant pull. More invisible tendrils snake out, coiling around my body, tightening, helping me fight the overwhelming urge to just be closer.
With fake composure, and trembling fingers, I pull out my chair and sit.
“She’s going to destroy us,”Sai breathes.
“She’s out for blood,” Ezekial says, breath tight.
“She can have it,”Julien rasps.“Look at her…”
“Focus,”Kane snaps low.“Let her move first.”
Only now do I realise, I canhearthem… and they have no idea.
I fight the cruel smile threatening to appear; this changes everything.
But right now, I have to look up again. I have to show them I’m in control. That I’m not suffering the way they are.
So I do, and this time, I don’t look away.
It seems we’ve all dressed for a formal meeting. Each man is clad in a suit, tailored, perfectly fitting. All in black. All with their penetrating stares, their entrancing eyes—eyes that have haunted me over the last few weeks.
Sai’s the only one who’s ditched the jacket, instead, his black shirt is rolled up to his elbows, revealing more of his intricate markings. Did he do it on purpose? Most likely. My eyes wander over the vibrant lines that glow under my perusal, somehow sensing my gaze. When I finally reach his face, my shadows clench around me.
That expression. The aching, the longing… he somehow forms those feelings into one simple look. Mainly his eyes. So bright, painfully vibrant, a stark contrast to the black suits and room drenched in shadow. Brimming with emotions I want to drink—my fists clench beneath the table.
Remember the plan.
I do. I never look away from Sai as my tendrils loosen and begin their invisible descent. They lock onto him instantly, magnetically, like they’ve always been there. His eyes and markings flare, then dip into a darker hue. His lips part, chest rising and falling in soft, little pants.
He wanted to feel me so desperately? I’ll let him feel everything.
Next.
I listen to my darkness and turn to his towering companion who stands opposite Sai across the table. I already noticed that the two had been placed at the far ends, the furthest away, and I somehow know it wasn’t their choice—it was intentional. A part of me wishes I’d seen the argument I’m sure followed that decision.
Julien studies me with those deep, molten-red eyes.
Every part of me.
