“You have lost your fucking mind!” Roman whisper yells, running a hand through his dark, disheveled hair.
“We could all be buried balls deep in her sweet pussy by sundown tonight if you’d just sort your fucking shit out,” Jace bites back, and I stare at them wide-eyed, my mind racing a mile a minute as I process what he’s actually suggesting.
“You’re forgetting who controls us, Jace. We’ve seen how this shit ends, time and time again. If it’s not The Order, it’sKeith,” Roman chokes out his father’s name like it’s acid on his tongue, his tone shaky and defeated,and fuck if it doesn’t squeeze the breath right out of me.
Godfuckingdamnit.
I hate seeing him like this.
Roman has tortured himself for the past three years now, haunted by the guilt of pulling us into this fucked up society. It isn’t like that, though. Not for me. I would follow Roman and Jace to the end of the fucking earth, because no hell scares me more than a life where I don’t get to call them mine. We signed the possibility of having a somewhat normal life away in blood, and I’d do it again, and again for him, without a second thought.
I take a couple of steps forward until Roman is directly in front of me. I pull my mask off and look him in the eyes, so fucking blue, even with his features hidden in the dark. I raise my hand and press it against his face, and he leans into it before I crash my mouth to his, craving the reckless intimacy that only he can give.
He needs to know that everything is okay, that when his thoughts get too loud, we’re still here. No matter what comes, it's us and him.
Always.
He kisses me back with a hunger I feel all the way to my bones, his wet tongue exploring mine as he effortlessly takes charge.
He might bottom for Jace, but Roman is all about dominance with me, and I fucking love it. I pull awayslightly, resting my forehead against his, our eyes locked, and I can see the war he's fighting within them start to fade, bringing him back to what's most important.
“What is life without happiness, baby? If you keep torturing yourself for all that you think you can’t have, you’ll forget to appreciate all that you do. And right now, you have the chance to finally claim what is ours, without prying eyes. It’s time, Ro. You’re allowed to be happy.” I let my hand drift to the place on his chest, right above his heart. The whole time, his eyes never leave mine. Silence stretches between us, but I can feel his heart race beneath my palm.
“Okay,” he says after a beat, his voice husky and soft, and the night itself would not be enough to hide the smile covering my face right now.
“Yeah?” I ask because you can’t be too sure with him sometimes. Not with his father’s voice haunting him every minute of the fucking day.
“Yes. But we need to be careful,” Roman says, his brows knitting together, as if he’s already looking for a way out of it. Jace chooses this moment to approach us, his hands settling on each of our shoulders, and somehow, his connection was everything we needed.
“Let’s get this shit over with before the sun rises. If we’re quick, we might even have time to get some beauty sleep. We can’t have our gloomy prince over here looking like hell for our little darling now, canwe?” Jace says teasingly, which provokes a slight shove from Roman.
“Shut the fuck up. She won’t even know it’s us, so looks don’t fucking matter.”
“He’s got you there, love,” I add, putting my mask back in place before we quietly cross the street and break into the poor fucker’s home to send him to meet his maker. Not for justice or vengeance, but because we were told to. No more, no less, no questions.
CHAPTER FIVE
BAILEY
I’m in a goddamn murder house.
Metalcore music explodes from the towering speakers, each note slamming into me like a punch to the ribs, and I’m instantly reminded why I don’t attend parties. Blood-slick mannequins hang from the rafters, suspended by ropes and chains, wrapped in caution tape and cobwebs, swaying with the beat. The deep-red strobe lighting strikes in jagged bursts over the sea of costumed, dancing bodies, grinding and thrashing in sync with the music, and all I can think about is turning my ass around and walking out of here.
“Are you good, babe?” Sarah’s voice breaks over the noise, her arm linked in mine as we walk through thedrunken crowd, and over to the back of the warehouse where the alcohol is stationed.
“Yeah, I'm good. Just need a drink,” I lie, my voice hoarse from the world's most obnoxious smoke machine hidden somewhere behind all the Halloween props.
“Sarah. Bailey! You're here! Oh my God, you both look amazing!” a voice shouts from behind us, and I spin around to see our best friend, Kayda, or should I say,sluttyCarrie,covered head to toe in fake blood. Wow, she really went all out. Sarah and I decided on a couple's costume. I'm dressed as Harley Quinn, no, it has nothing to do with my ex, that's just an unfortunate coincidence, and Sarah looks like a total fucking knock out in her sexy rendition of the Joker. When I told her I wanted to go as the penguin from Batman, she almost kicked me out of her spare bed, which is where I've been sleeping for the past three days.
“Hey, girl. Sorry, we’re late. I didn’t want to come,” I say, pulling her into a hug, not caring if I smear fake blood on my costume.
“I’m sorry to hear about Harley. If it helps, I haven’t seen him around, so I don’t think he showed up,” Kayda says, her bloodied face twisting into a grimace as she hands me a beer, before filling one for Sarah and herself. I inwardly wince because I haven’t been as open with Kayda as I have with Sarah about what’s been going on in my life lately.
The truth is, I couldn’t be moreunbotheredby Harley or what he did with Chloe, but I spare her the details anyway. Now is not the time to burden her with that bullshit. I'm here to have fun,albeit reluctantly, and because I could really use the distraction. I’d much rather spend my night bingeing old-school horror movies, eating my weight in chocolate, and quietly drowning in self-pity while I touch myself to sexy men in masks, chasing after their next kill.
I haven’t been able to get what happened the other night out of my head, and it’s driving me fucking crazy. The way Colton owned me with just his fingers as I watched Jace and Roman fuck, only for Colton to turn around and push me away like I didn’t matter.
The worst part is, I know I don’t.
