It reminds me a little of their cabin compound. But the cabins stand side by side, their roofs covered in fallen leaves, a few windows boarded, others busted through.
“Used to be a kid’s camp. There’s a central fire pit, rusted-out picnic tables, and what might have once been a bathhouse. Forest creeping in. But plenty of space.”
No, my gut tells me. It’s too similar. We need a fresh start. I don’t want this place following us.
Once I shake my head, he swipes to the next. It’s a hollowed-out church on a windswept hill, with sun-bleached siding and tall, arched windows—some still holding shards of stained glass. A small cemetery on one side and a rustic barn on the other.
I shake my head again. “Sorry, I’d rather not trespass on some poor ghosts’ grounds. And the church…well.” I shrug, not needing to explain why I want no religious reminders.
Jude nods, scrubbing a hand down his face like he’s kicking himself. Vincent tightens next to me.
“Fuck me,” Jude mutters.
“Fuck us,” Vincent echoes.
“It’s okay,” I assure them, leaning my head on Jude’s shoulder. “Just show me the next.”
The final image loads slowly, as if the tablet knows it’s saving the best for last. A massive log cabin ranch stretches across a rise in the land, paint sun-faded, windows clouded with dust, but it’s still standing strong. The barn behind it leans slightly but looks like it’s been waiting for hooves and hay again.
To the east, it’s a vast forest, perfect for Raphael’s hunting grounds.
To the west, there’s a rocky outcropping, the ocean glitters, wild and silver beneath a gray sky.
“This one’s near the edge of a coastal reserve,” Jude points out. “Good cover, but you’ve got high ground. You can see everything.”
“Storms get wild now and then. But it’s sturdy. And the barn’s big enough for livestock,” Vincent points out. “The power lines were cut a long time ago, so it’s fully off-grid. Quiet. Isolated.”
“You can hear the sea from the porch,” adds Raphael.
I glance up. We share a moment of clarity. Because he already knew what I wanted before I did. My lungs take in fresh air. Well, musty mine air. And nod with a smile. “That one. It’s perfect. I want a big house for all of us to share. No more separate cabins. Just rooms close to each other.”
“It’s settled then.” Jude turns off the screen and kisses my brow. “We’ll start packing and moving out tomorrow.”
“Soup’s on, everyone,” Rory grunts.
Seth wakes up at that, and I laugh, sliding out of the bed and making my way over to him. “I thought they were stovies.”
He smacks my ass, and I yelp, but he doesn’t expect me to smack him right back.
None of them will expect what I want to do after dinner, something I’ve had whirling in my thoughts for the past week while I’ve been waiting to heal. Not just something I want.Something I need. A last farewell to this place. Resolution. Closure.
And taking back what was stolen from me.
“Why are we here, Briella Darling?”Seth asks.
It’s been a few hours since dinner. We played a few games and watched a movie.
Now, my five kings are gathered around me in the dungeon. My damned monsters. My chains. Raphael locks eyes with me as if understanding what I am planning.
So, I circle my gaze around them, one by one, until I brace myself and finally reveal, “I want another initiation.”
Their jaws drop. But not Raphael’s.
Rory’s vein throbs in his neck. Vincent’s jaw clenches like iron. Seth’s eye twitches. And Jude’s lips have parted.
Before any of them can have an aneurysm, I hold up my hands, cutting in, “It doesn’t have to be as intense as the first. It won’t be the same. It can’t be. We’re different now. I’m different. But I want it. I need it. A slate wiped clean. We’re leaving this place and never coming back. The blood, the pain, the screams…everything washed away in one night.”
Raphael steps toward me first, closing the distance in two strides. My breath hitches as he gazes down at me. The hunter/killer in him makes my soul melt. When he cups my chin, I almost buckle, but I pour the strength of a queen into my body, standing tall, unshaking before him. Okay, a little shaking.
