“Mmm?”
“Thanks.” My eyelids fluttered shut, too.
“Dude, what the fuck is she doing on top of you?” Hemlock’s voice shattered the moment.
My eyes flew open, and I watched him stumble over from the hall.
His hair was a tousled mess, and his normal spicy bourbon scent mixed with more booze. He only wore a pair of sweatpants, showing off all of his tattoos again.
Chaos magic whipped around him, and that wolf he seemed so keen on summoning leapt out from his tattoo.
The large wolf snarled and barked, its chaotic energy feeding on my reaction.
Skel’s fingers bit into my hips as he opened an eye. “Dude, fucking stop with that. She’s high. Don’t scare her.”
Skel's protests were a distant echo as Hemlock’s wolf drew closer.
Hemlock’s hands curled roughly around my upper arms as he jerked me from Skel's grasp and off his lap before pinning me against the cold window.
The wolf stood behind him, growling at me.
“What are you doing?” His nose brushed mine as his alcohol-drenched breath fanned over my lips. “Was your bitch of a roommate right? Are you trying to fuck us?”
“Of course not!” Anger flooded me, but the fae magic thrumming through me made it to where two or three Hemlocks were in front of me.
“Oh yeah?” His bleary red gaze dropped to my lips. “That why you were straddling Skel…in this flimsy little nightgown?”
“Don’t kiss me,” I blurted, panic scratching at my throat.
“Don’t what?” he mused, leaning even closer. “I can’t hear you. Speak up, brat.”
Blinking the haze of the high away the best I could, I moved my palms between us and pushed his chest, hard. “I said, don’t kiss me!”
He stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and landing on his ass. His glare bore into me. “Kiss you?” He tossed his head back with a chuckle. “So what, Skel’s good enough for you, but I’m not?”
“Skel was helping me!” My throat seized as pain spread from my vocal cords through my larynx. “I wasn’t trying to sleep with him, and I didn’t kiss him. I’m not interested in anything like that!”
“Yeah, I guess I should’ve figured that.” He ran a rough hand over his jaw. “I mean, that fucking wrap on your thigh isn’t exactlysexy.”
Embarrassment streaked hot through me as I ran my fingers over my wrap. “I…I wasn’t trying to be sexy.”
Dex stepped out of the shadows and between Hemlock and I, his lips curving into a sinister smirk. “Ahahaha the fuck, guys? Are you messing with Pandora without me?”
Dex's sudden appearance splintered fear into my heart, his laughter echoing through the common area.
Everything from tonight seemed to press in around me, suffocating and heavy.
My eyes stung with heat, and tears spilled down my face before I could stop them.
“Why?” I croaked, voice crackling with pain. “Why are you messing with me all the time? I haven’t done anything to you!”
“Don’t be such a stuck-up brat, and then we won’t mess with you,” Hemlock slurred.
Dex moved closer. “Fuck, your tears are so pretty.” His head tilted as he sniffed the air. “Are you high?”
Fear coiled in the pit of my gut, and a cold dread washed over me as his shadows curled around him.
I knew I was high, under the influence of fae magic, but the lines between reality and nightmare blurred as I stared at Dex.
