I fisted my hands, glaring at his back, although I had to admit, he scared me more than the others did. “What are you doing here?”
He inhaled deeply, turning back to the window. “Trails upon trails upon trails,” he sang. “You don’t know it yet, but every trail leads back to me. A few stops along the way. First the daffodil, and then the mouse, and now you. It’s not your fault, althoughblame yourself if you want, who am I to restrict your fantasies of free will?”
My eyes narrowed, my tired mind trying to track and understand his strange way of talking. “What are you talking about?”
“Strength,” he said, turning to me. “Honor.Bravery,” he hummed, his eyes glowing like the devil’s. “Your survival means nothing to me, but I’ve seen this twice before, and I fear you might be the third. I’m rarely ever wrong.” He looked over me carefully. “You’ve challenged him, good, it shows good fight in you. Whether or not you survive is on you, darling little rose. But I do in see you…” his smile widened, “possibilities.”
My lip curled in a sneer. “Yourbrotherdoesn’t seem so scary to me.” His mask was terrifying. It covered every inch of his face except for a corner that was broken off on the right side of his jaw, just enough to show off a portion of his lips and the sharp curve of his jawline. It was porcelain and white. The smile reflecting sharp teeth with rosy cheeks, the mask black around his eyes, causing the blue to glow torturously bright.
He smiled, the look haunting. “It’s not my brother you should be worried about. It’s notmyfamily. Although, it would do you good to keep a healthy amount of fear when it comes to us. Just keep your eyes open, rose, keep those thorns sharp, and keep your dog close. Things are in motion that cannot be stopped and while your beating heart means nothing to me, I’m sure it’ll mean something to the mountains. It’s three years coming now, and I doubt it’ll end anytime soon. Watch the shadows, we aren’t the only creatures lurking.” He pulled out a pocket watch and opened it with a click. “Tick tock, midnight’s closing in.” He snapped it shut and gestured to my dog.
I watched him for a few seconds before ordering Lucy to step to the side, giving him space to leave.
I waited until I heard the door shut before I had Lucy searchthe house. When she was done, I finally locked the door, double checking every window and the back door just in case.
I snarled under my breath. “I hate your family,” I snapped to nobody in particular, and finally headed to bed.
~~~
June 21st, 2022
It’s been two weeks since I’ve seen either Everett or Evelyn, but I suspected their eyes had been on me since that first night, which was annoying to say the least.
I woke up and headed into the kitchen, only to pause, heart skipping when I found Everett standing at my island, bike helmet on, visor up, a look of disdain filling his expression.
He had chained me to a wall and put me through things most normal people could never be put through, so the fact that I was still in my pajamas, hair in a wildly messy bun, did little to detour the absolute irritation I felt at seeing him first thing.
Although I was slightly embarrassed that, out of all the mornings he hadn’t been here, this morning I had decided to pull on his sweatpants rather than keeping on my own shorts. But it was cold this morning and I didn’t have any sweats of my own, I rationalized. That’s the only reason I was wearing them. Theonlyreason.
Even so, I made sure my irritation was known as I walked over to my iced coffee maker. “What a great way to start my day,” I muttered, getting my things ready. I liked it more than I would ever admit. Starting the day seeing him was…relieving, but I had to come to terms with the truth of the matter, and that was enough to fuel my irritation. Enough to keep my guard up, to keep him at arm’s length, right where he needed to stay.
“It’s no better for me,” he replied icily.
“Then go take Evelyn’s job over and send her my way. Hertongue is far more advanced than yours, I’m sure her aim is too.” It was a lie. A flat out, bald face lie. In fact, I had just last night masturbated to him tongue fucking me. God, I had missed him.
I missed the fighting, the little smiles, his light-filled icy blue eyes. I missed his voice. More than anything else, I had missed his voice, but it changed nothing.
He laughed, causing my heart to flutter. “You will never cum for her like you cum for me,” he replied, causing my skin to heat up. “And we both know it.”
We certainly did.
“Someone sounds jealous.”
He scoffed but didn’t say anything.
I went through the process of putting together my coffee before I finally turned to him while it brewed. “If you weren’t being a creep the other night, you should know that your brother stopped by the day you two left.”
Everett straightened ever so slightly, his eyes flashing before he leaned back against the counter, gripping the edges of it. “And?”
So he didn’t watch me all the time, that was nice to know. Especially knowing how many hours I spent over the last two weeks with either my fingers or my vibrator in my pussy. “He said something about how all trails lead back to him and that I should be careful. Something about honor and bravery and strength. That this has happened twice before and he is always right,” I waved my hand dismissively and turned back to the maker, but not before I caught the way a muscle in his jaw feathered. Something about that bothered him. “He speaks in riddles, which is fine in writing, but I was too exhausted that night to decipher anything he was saying.”
I was glad it bothered him that his brother was here. It served him right for all the shit he put me through.
“Azrael is certifiably insane. You’d have to be the same tounderstand half of what he says.”
“Says the psycho stalker with a fucking sex addiction,” I muttered under my breath.
“He thinks he’s hunting something that doesn’t exist,” Everett went on, either not hearing or not caring about what I said enough to respond.
