“Are you planning on keeping me locked up here forever?” I yelled through the door. “I have certain responsibilities.”
I sighed and slid down the door. I’d been yelling on and off for hours to complete silence. Grim had locked the door when he left. The sun was rising now. A sliver of orange above the icy-blue ocean that lit the black sky iron blue.
I will memorize every part of you. Map your uncharted territory. Make it mine.
Last night Grim had been so different. So gentle. So…not us.My skin was still ablaze thinking about it.
But nothing ever changed between Grim and me, notreally.
I watched the sun rise and light the rusted Ferris wheel a blinding, blazing copper.
The problem with our love story was there were no monsters, no villains and evildoers. There was no fate to fightor dragon to slay.
Because the problem with our story wasus.
It had always beenus.
We were the monsters, we were the villains, we were wrong for each other.
Poison.
The real reason Grim Reyes and I never got together? It had nothing to do with which side of town we lived on. Deep down, we knew the truth. Our lips were coated in the same venom.
We’re your monsters now.
I banged the back of my head against the door, Wraith’s words spinning around and around.
Back.
I’m not letting you go. Ever.
Forth.
It’s a game. It has to be a game.
Back.
Grim was only a dark fantasy that throbbed between my legs. A nightmare I fell asleep to. There was never a time Ireallythought we could end up together.
Forth.
I’m not sure what game they’re playing, but I know the minute I stop playing, I’ll lose.
Back—
I fell onto my back as the door swung open. Raze towered over me, shirtless, his black tattoos upside down from my view.
“Do you have a death wish?” he asked.
I sat up, rubbing the back of my skull. “Yes.”
He blinked, then frowned, suspicious. “Time to eat, Barbie.”
I followed him through the hallway and down the stairs. With his back to me, his tattoo was fully visible. It was ablack horse just like Grim’s, but instead of a skull and scythe, the horse was surrounded by fire. The line work was amazing—but I wasn’t supposed to see this.
No one saw a Horseman’s tattoo and lived.
Downstairs, Raze led me back to the kitchen I’d caught a glimpse of the night before. With marbled checkerboard black-and-white flooring, a circular wood table, and appliances built into antique-looking wood counters and cabinets, it was both luxurious and oddly cozy.
