Page 66 of Silk and Sirens

One she immediately messaged so I’d have her number too.

“Text me,” she murmured, biting her lip. “Anytime.”

She lingered a second longer, eyes glittering with satisfaction, then finally sauntered off into the thinning crowd with a sway in her hips that screamed invitation.

I watched her go until she disappeared near the VIP section. The moment she was out of sight, any fake warmth drained from my face.

Pathetic.

It wasn’t a coincidence. Vivienne Blackwater had zero reason to throw herself at me so aggressively, not unless someone had pointed her in my direction.

My thoughts drifted back to Aeris, something dark and possessive curling through my veins like smoke. If Vivienne was an angle planted by Selene, then she would know. Which meant she had not only failed to appear tonight, but she’d deliberately kept critical information from me.

Chapter 29

Aeris

“I told you, my favourite is the Spinosaurus,” Oscar said with the confidence only a six-year-old had. “He has big teeth, swims really fast, and is the coolest dinosaur.” My nephew’s eyes brightened when I nodded along, even adding my own admittedly lacking knowledge on dinosaurs. I bought him the T-Rex, which was apparently the wrong one, but made up for it with the fact it was remote controlled.

“Nah-uh,” August said, shaking his head dramatically. “The Kraken is the coolest dinosaur.”

Oscar’s little face scrunched up. “Krakens don’t even exist.”

“They do!”

“Nah-uh!”

August waved his arms around, almost toppling Oscar’s party hat. “They have tentacles and everything.”

I caught his little arm before the wild swing could connect with my face and pulled him close, dissolving his attack into a fit of giggles as I tickled his sides.

God, I adored these moments with my nephews. Each one felt stolen, precious and painfully fragile. They stared up at me with those huge, innocent eyes, completely untouched by the blood and shadows.

It made me want to wrap them in bubble wrap and never let them grow up. To protect them from the horrors of my world until my last breath.

“Come on, boys. Your mum wants you out with the others,” Darya said as she appeared, her own party hat skew-whiffed on the side of her head. She held Norh in her arms, clearly giving Brooke a break so she could concentrate on the fifteen five and six-year-olds she’d decided to invite. “Aeris, there’s someone at the door for you.”

“At the door?” I slowly came to my feet, feeling my face drain of colour.

Darya smirked, thankfully not noticing my panic. “A man.” With a wink she left, and I quickly made my way to the front door without knocking over a sugar-filled child.

“Caden?” My heart kicked hard as our eyes met, his usual cold, unreadable expression tightening something deep behind my ribs. I quickly glanced down the street, finding him alone. In a move that clearly shocked us both, I grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. He didn’t have time to stop me, because I was already stuffing him inside the tiny toilet, the door barely closing once I joined him.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed, trying to keep my voice down even as blood rushed in my ears.

Caden looked ridiculous in the tight space, his shoulders brushing the sides and his head having to dip against the slope. I was forced to tip my chin, my back crushed against the edge of the sink.

“I told you to meet me at Thorns. You didn’t turn up last night.” A muscle in his jaw twitched, something I only really noticed when he was super angry.

“I was busy.” I’d given Vivienne the invite while I spent the evening with Selene going over her new informant’s details, what she expected me to say, and what she expected me to do to gain the information she needed. “You shouldn’t be here.”

I don’t care if it unravelled everything, I would not let Caden Ackworth harm my family.

“If Selene finds out⁠—”

“She won’t,” he said, his tone neutral. “Unlike you, I’m careful.”

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”