“Would you rather he’d’ve split his head open or fall on top of me when he collapsed?” She crooks her eyebrow, but we all notice the unconscious tapping of her fingers on his shoulder.
Roth takes a deep breath, closing his eyes to subdue his demon from rising. “Did anyone see you?” I don’t even bother trying to answer before she does.
“Well.” She turns to glare at me before locking eyes with him again. Seriously she’s going to get herself killed looking at people like that. “Before you ruined it for me I was actually pretty good at being invisible. So no, no one saw us.” Luther tenses and narrows his eyes, and Roth’s pupils dilate slightly. There’s no way she knows what Luther can do, right? The flash of her dancing, head tipped back with his hand around her throat and fingers between her thighs makes my demon rumble in my chest.
As does Luther’s. Well now, this just gotinteresting.
“Sweetheart, if that’s how you usually dance, I can guarantee you’ve never been invisible.”
Her cheeks flush, but it doesn’t temper her attitude. “You can fuck right off, thanks.”
“What? I’m just saying, it was fucking hot.” So is she when she gets all riled up. Like a hissy little kitten.
“How I dance is absolutely none of your business.”
“Who were you dancing with, by the way?” I ask, completely ignoring her. “I want to ask him what it felt like when you came on his fingers, and then cut off his hand so he can never do it again.” Her cheeks redden even further, but unlike me and Roth, she doesn’t notice Luther’s holding his breath.
“You’re a psychopath.”
“Baby girl, you’ve got me confused with Roth,he’sthe psychopath. I know it’s difficult to keep track since we’re all so devilishly handsome,” I smirk, wagging my eyebrows.
“It’s a shame your personalities are shit.”
The casual insult makes me laugh so hard I start tearing up. “You hear that boys? She agrees we’re handsome.”
“Of course that’s the only thing you heard,” she mutters, rolling her eyes, but stills when Roth’s measured steps echo in the empty room as he stalks toward her. Even under the weight of his foreboding stare, she tracks every movement.
Smart. You should never take your eyes off a predator like him.
“Did you like dancing with him?” he asks calmly as he crouches, peeling back Thane’s eyelids, and I’m relieved to see his pupils reacting normally to the light.
Nyx quirks her head. “I don’t know how you want me to answer that.”
Huh, maybe she’ll live to see another day after all.
“It’s a simple yes or no question. Did you like dancing with him?”
“Sure. Yeah. It was all fun and games until I realized he was out of his mind.” She responds with a hint of sarcasm.
“And did you also like his fingers in your cunt?” He asks in that ice-cold voice that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Fuck, even though I know what he’s doing, I don’t want to watch him crush her like he’s done to so many others. For the second time in as many weeks, my conscience whispers from the back of my mind like a fucking mosquito buzzing in my ear. She narrows her eyes, but unlike my psycho bestie, her voice is full of fire and fury.
Oh fuck, she’s doomed.
“Why don’t you askhim, huh?He’sthe one who left me half-naked on the fucking table and ran away after I got my shit rocked, asthatone can attest to.” She turns her glare to Luther for a split second, but wrenches her eyes back to Roth. “I’ve done nothing but try to steer clear of you since I was dragged here butyou,” she side-eyes me, “won’t leave me the fuck alone. And let’s not forget that you put your hands on mefirst.”
Wait. What the fuck? Luther and I share a look before turning to Roth, but the scary bastard is fixated on her. His lips curl into a smile that’s made grown men piss themselves, but it only seems to stoke her ire.
“Oh, pretty bird. I can’t tell what I want more: to put you in a cage so you can sing just for me, or break your wings so you can’t fly away. Either way, you—like all the others—remain atmymercy.” By the time he finishes, his voice has deepened into the dark growl of his demon. For fuckingonce, she does the smart thing and shuts her mouth as he reaches out to twist a lock of her hair between his fingers. “Who’s next, hm? Killian? He’s foaming at the mouth to get at your cunt. Or do you want Luther to ruin you? Because he would. He likes to break his toys.” She doesn’t answer, but her chest is heaving—I can’t tell if it’s in fear, or anger. Probably both.
But at Roth’s flippant tone, Luther tenses. Everyone thinks he’s just some brooding asshole. And he is. But I’ve known himlong enough to read his tells—he’s been twitchy about her ever since they started training together. He tried to get her naked after those Legacy bitches stole her clothes. He carried her to the Medical Center when that little shit Prosper knocked her out. If he isn’t already down bad for her, he soon will be. And Roth is using him to terrify her.
“Roth.” He turns those black fucking pools of Wrath on me, but after a beat, hums in resignation. His eyes trace the flush of her skin as he brushes her hair behind her ear, even as she trembles.
“Luther.” He steps aside as our gargoyle slowly approaches Nyx like she’s some cornered animal, and well, fuck. I guess she kind of is. His immense bulk nearly blocks her entirely from view as he leans down, but I manage to catch the way he locks eyes with her, how he’s careful not to jostle Thane too much as he scoops him out of her lap. And then, how she puts as much space between them as possible with her back against the wall. And I see that trademark coldness descend over his face when—whether he admits it to himself or not—he desperately wants her not to. Roth waits until Luther’s tossed Thane over his shoulder before leading them both out the door.
Left alone together, I want—fuck. I want so many things. I want to thank her for her help tonight. I want to tell her that my fuckhead friends aren’t really so bad despite the drug use, the threats, the beatdowns. I don’t want to lose whatever this is, where she insults me and I kind of like it.
When I offer my hand to help her up because she’s had Thane’s dead weight in her lap for the last twenty minutes, she scoffs and clumsily stands on her own. I shouldn’t have expected anything less, I suppose. Letting my hand drop to my side, I meet her hard stare with my trademark smirk. The one that says “I’m Killian Hastings, Heir of House Terra, second wealthiest of the four elemental dynasties and proud owner of the biggest dickthis side of the Mississippi.” Because that’s the only one people care about.
