We’re all gathered outside on Luke’s porch—waiting. Our masks glow through the darkness like a beacon welcoming Will to his death.
“What happens after this?” I ask my Devil in disguise the question that’s been plaguing me all evening.
“We leave,” he says firmly as if it’s just that simple.
“How, Garett? I’m dead, remember? I can’t just hop on a plane to Mexico and use Brody’s credit card to book a room at an all inclusive.” I realize my tone is rising and my voice sounds high-pitched and desperate, even behind the plastic of the mask, but I’m fucking freaked out.
“You will never need to use his money or his name ever again. You’remine. Not his,” Garett growls as he spins to face me. He brackets his arms around me, caging me against the railing of the porch. “Mine and only mine from now until the end.”
“Why me?” I whisper so quietly that I doubt he can even make out the mumbled words beneath the plastic.
“Did you know that in Plato’sSymposiummen and women were not born separate, but rather as one being—neither male nor female, but both? Zeus split the humans in half, causing us to forever be unwhole, a being constantly searching for the lost other half of their soul—their soulmate.”
Tears prick my eyes for reasons I can’t truly explain as I listen to him talk. I shake my head, unable to form words.
“From the moment I saw you, my soul recognized the broken and jagged pieces of you that fit so perfectly together with mine—two halves of a severed whole. You’re my soulmate, Princess. And it doesn’t matter what name you go by because in this life and every existence after, my soul will eternally seek you out,searching for its mate.”
A choked sob escapes my lips and I yearn to rip the mask off and kiss him. I want to run away and leave the death and destruction hanging in the cold night air around us far behind. Because he’s right. I feel it too, despite the logical and reasonable part of my mind that says soulmates are not real. But just as his soul recognizes mine, mine seems to recognize his. Despite the darkness and the pain, I can’t seem to pull away from my Devil.
I’m his and he is mine. And maybe that’s all that ever truly matters.
“I have a new identity for you—a new name, passport, and plane tickets. They’re in the glove box of the car.” His large hand comes up and wraps around my face, forcing my gaze on his glowing red eyes. His tone is so serious that it sends a shiver racing down my spine. “If something happens to me, you grab those and you run.”
“What do you mean if something happens?” I ask as my heart rate picks up, my pulse thundering. “You said this plan would work. You said we’d all be free—”
“If something goes wrong, I want you to run. Promise me, Ali?” His fingers dig into the side of my face, holding me captive. Tears spill down my cheeks, burning my skin beneath the purple glow of my mask.
I try to shake my head but he holds me tight. “I can’t do this without you,” I choke out. “I don’t even know who I am anymore and where would I even go? And—”
“Stop.” His sharp tone snaps me from my spiraling. “You are smart and fierce and fiery. I did not fall for a weak woman. I fell for a monster disguised as a princess; a wickedly intelligent and beautiful creature who is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You are strong and will continue to be strong with or without me.” He brings the forehead of his mask down to lean it against mine. The bright lights mix together, nearly blinding me.
“Thank you,” I whisper to him as I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him closer. His smoke and pine scent wraps around me, comforting me. “Still, please don’t die. I may notneedyou, but I want you.”
He lets out a small chuckle that has some of the unease in my chest unfurling. “You’d just miss my cock.”
I shrug before pulling back slightly. “I mean, it is a nice cock. And I’ve barely gotten a chance to truly experience all the ways I can use it to get off.”
His chest vibrates as he lets out a small growl. “Careful, Princess, now is not the time for me to have a hard on.”
“When we make it out of here and find our next place, I think I want you to drug me again,” I tell him the secret fantasy that’s been nagging at me for the past few weeks.
He pulls back slightly, clearly stunned by my request. “You want me to drug you? And fuck you?”
I nod as my cheeks flush beneath my mask. “I think I like the idea of being completely vulnerable and at your mercy. Yours to use however you want.” I creep my fingers and eyes up the exposed ink of his arm as I speak, unable to meet his gaze even with the masks on. “Maybe you could even film it and we could watch it back together.”
I know it seems fucked up—to want to be drugged and taken advantage of and then watch it, but I’ve been reading up on rape-fantasy kink, and psychology says it’s actually very normal and healthy as long as practiced in a safe way. A lot of women have this type of fantasy—some, like me, use it as a way of coping with their anxiety and overthinking, others use it as a way to cope with trauma and take back their power. It’s harmless and healthy when practiced safely. It’s not about pain, but power. And sometimes, there’s a lot of power in willingly giving up control.
“Fuck, my Sleeping Beauty.” Garett grabs my hand andplaces it on his crotch. His hard cock pulses in my hand through the fabric of his pants. I can feel the area between my thighs dampen. “Feel what you do to me when you talk like that?”
I’m about ready to say fuck the plan and let my masked monster chase me through the woods until he captures me and fucks me in the dirt when a sound pricks at my ears.
“He’s here,” Luke says as the sound of tires against gravel grows louder.
Garett pulls away and I spin to face out toward the front again. A blacked out SUV creeps down the driveway slowly. The windows are too tinted to see who’s inside, but I can tell by the way Luke cocks the gun he’s holding that he’s pretty sure it’s Will. We’re all armed—Garett and Luke have several guns. Liv has a wooden baseball bat covered in sharp nails slung over her shoulder and a collection of sharp instruments inside some sort of case that made me exceptionally uncomfortable. Celeste also grabbed a bat, but hers is made of metal. And I grabbed a machete that was lying in the back of this weird weapons cabinet. No idea what I’d do with a machete, but it looked terrifying, so I figured maybe it would just scare Will off from attempting to bother with me.
The black SUV comes to a slow stop in front of the house. Garett and Luke both point their guns at the parked vehicle. Seconds inch by slowly as we wait on baited breath. And then the doors swing open—not one, but both. Two men exit the car. From the driver’s side, Will emerges, his dirty blond hair slicked back and a smug smirk on his face. A second man exits from the passenger side. We expected him to bring someone along, a guard of some sort, but nothing could have prepared me for the face staring back at me.
His gaze hones in on me, a sinister smile curling at the corners of his lips. He rolls up the sleeves of his blue button down shirt slowly and deliberately as the two men walk acrossthe gravel, stopping just at the bottom of the steps to the front porch.
