“Everything.”
Phantom and Matchbox emerge from the tree line, and I see it so clearly now. Matchbox with his gleaming horns and Phantom with his ethereal mist that clings to the edges of him. Talon’s fangs catch in the firelight and my neck tingles remembering the way they pierced my tender skin. A part of me knew it, but the truth still feels like a bolder being dropped on my stomach.
“So— how can I help?”
“We need to perform a ritual that would bind you to the three of us. I never considered the possibility that a bind between different species of monsters and a human would be plausible. But tonight, has shown me that it could work. I know you’ve only just met us, and you owe us nothing. You could walk away from all this and forget tonight ever happened. Or, you can have a home here and belong to us.” Talon says, walking closer to me until he’s blocking my view of the fire. From this angle it looks as if the fire surrounds him.
I worry my bottom lip. There’s no way I can even consider this. I have a life with my two daughters who I love more than anything. It might be a struggle, but it’s mine.
“I don’t think I can.”
Talon’s jaw ticks as he brings a finger up to tuck a rouge piece of hair behind my ear. “They would have a place here, Olivia. A life where they’d be provided for. Isobel and Jasmine would be protected and cared for.”
“What kind of life could they have here? No, I can’t. I couldn’t do that to them.”
“Well, if you don’t then everyone human on the grounds will die.” He responds. His demeanor is deathly still, conveying the seriousness of his words. “I won’t sugarcoat it for you, little ghoul. You know what we are. What we’re capable of. We are the creatures that ghost stories are made of. The monsters that haunt your nightmares. And we’ll kill every single person here, including you, if it means we can keep our home.”
“So, I don’t have a choice then?” I ask, feeling frustrated and exhausted. This whole night has been a series of what the fuck moments and I have no idea how to deal with any of it. I’m just a mom who was dragged out for a night of fun and ended up in a den of monsters.
“You have a choice, but we don’t have a lot of time. So, either be with us, or don’t.” Talon snaps.
“What does it mean to be bound to you three?” I ask.
“Your soul would twine with ours. We’d be soulmates, therefore rendering the contract void. The devil crafted it in such a way thinking that the loophole would never come to pass. That I would never bind myself to a demon and a ghost, let alone a human. But tonight has shown me the error of my ways. The possibility of more that only you can grant us.”
Heart racing and mind whirring, I watch as Phantom and Matchbox set the pyres alight. Could I really become soul bound with three creatures? They’re murdering those men right before my eyes, and what scares me is I’m not even flinching.
“They touched you without permission, little ghoul. They deserve their fate.” Phantom says, coming over to me smellinglike smoke. I should be appalled that the guys from the hayride are about to be murdered in front of me, but a sick and selfish part of me feels honored.
“You would do that, for me?” I ask, dumbfounded. Trent wouldn’t even take out the garbage for me, but these three have some guys tied up and lit on fire for daring to touch me. The thought makes me feel powerful. Cared for even in a twisted kind of way.
Fire reaches the men’s boots, and they start to scream in agony. A small smile forms on my lips and I know in that moment, there’s no going back.
“Alright. I’ll do it. But I need you to vow to never let any harm befall my girls. Swear it.”
Talon grabs my hand and pulls me to standing, body pressed tightly against mine. “You have my word.” He lowers his mouth to mine and seals my fate with a searing kiss.
The screams become background noise as I lose myself in the feel of Talon’s lips on mine. His abs brush my stomach and I feel his ribs inhale as his strong hands grip into the roundness of my ass, grinding me up against his length.
Fuck, I need to feel him in me again.
My pussy is already drenched with the anticipation of what they’re about to do to me.
Fangs pierce into my bottom lip as Talon sucks fat droplets of my blood into his wickedly handsome mouth. It’s both pleasure and pain, making me clench the inner walls of my pussy, desperate to feel the fullness only these creatures can grant.
“Lay her out in the circle.” Phantom says. Talon breaks the kiss and the fire burns brightly in his dark eyes.
“Are you ready?”
Truthfully, I haven’t been ready for anything all night, but I nod my head yes anyway. He lifts me into his arms as if I weigh nothing, carrying me over to a crudely shaped circle made withtwigs and leaves. Inside the circle is the shape of a pentagram laid out with large, gnarled branches. He sets me directly in the middle and produces a knife from his pocket. Each of the creatures kneel just outside the circle. Phantom, Talon, Matchbox, all ready to become bound with me. Distantly, I’m aware that the men have stopped screaming, finally succumbing to their tragic fate.
Talon opens up his pocketknife, the tip gleaming against the firelight.
“Give me your hand, Olivia.” He commands, and I do, knowing that this choice will change me forever. But I’d rather live and still be there for my daughters, then become another claimed soul of Nightmare Acres.
He grips my hand in his, palm facing up and drags the tip of the knife against my flesh in a sharp diagonal cut. Blood bubbles up to the surface immediately, dripping down the sides of my hand and landing on my bare legs.
He does the same to his hand, Phantoms, and Matchbox’s, then drops the knife in the dirt.
