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“Mmm. Oh, I bet you do,” I said, leaning into his fantasy as thick as I could muster. Steering the conversation away, I said, “So tell me…do you come here every night chasing something, or just running away from it?”

He laughed as he flashed his practiced and calculated smile, probably the one he used in his work, weaseling his way out of something. “A little of both…life’s short. Work hard, play harder, right?” He leaned closer, the desire radiating off him. “What about you? What’s a girl like you doing here all alone?”

I’m always alone now, thanks to your friend, asshole.

I traced the rim of my glass delicately. “What’s wrong with that? Aren’t you here alone, too?” As my finger circled the rim, the water in the glass began to spiral into a tiny whirlpool. The curse’s magic had already seeped so deeply into my bones that I didn't even realize what had happened until Jake’s eyes widened in confusion.

“Did you see—” He blinked and shook his head, laughing it off. “I–I think that shot is really hitting me.”

I grabbed his chin, tilting his face to meet my eyes, asserting my dominance. “I can tell. Can’t hold your liquor, Jake?” I brushed my hair back, exposing the delicate skin of my neck and chest, making sure his eyes were on me. “Back to your question. Being alone can be nice. It gives me time to think and feel. Do you ever slow down long enough to actually feel anything?”

He scoffed at my question, dismissing it as if what I asked was absurd. “Listen, I'm not a robot or anything, but feelings are overrated. Seattle’s full of people drowning in them, and I’m not one of them.” He leaned back on the stool and spread his legs, claiming the entire space between us and forcing my knees aside like it was his right.

It took a lot of control for me not to do a multitude of things to his body, but I restrained my face and continued listening to him ramble.

“In my world, you either do the fucking or you get fucked, and I don't like not getting what I want." He paused, searching my face for approval and validation. "But... for someone like you—I'd show you whatever you want, babe." His eyes were full of drunken lust, and his hand gripped my thigh even harder.

Just like Preston, thinking you can take whatever you want.

The darkness around him pulsed even stronger, as his ego fueled its flames. The desire to devour his heart's darkness had never felt stronger, and I had to dig deep within me to control myself from plunging my hand into his chest. “You seem so sure of yourself,” I said, trying to hide the anger in my voice.

He leaned in closer to me. His words and hands felt predatory—just like Preston’s. Arrogant. Entitled. “Why wouldn't I be? If I want something, I take it. End of story.” He smiled smugly.

There it is.

The truth beneath all his charm and entitled arrogance was on full display. My head tilted as I dissected and examined him, as if he were some kind of specimen. I leaned in, my voice just above a whisper against the pulsing of the music. “And what exactly is it that you want, Jake?”

His eyes scanned my body, working their way up until meeting mine. “Tonight? You,” he said, caressing my leg.

The air was thick with his desire for me, and the bulge in his pants swelled. Under other circumstances, I might have liked that, but all I wanted to do was retch as I looked at him. But the worse he got, the sweeter his darkness smelled, and I couldn't wait to devour it.

“You know what's interesting about you, Jake?” I asked. “You seem to move through the world as if nothing can touch you. Like consequences don't apply to you.” My face didn’t move, just held his stare.

An entitled smirk spread across his face, and he stifled a laugh. “Consequences don’t matter, babe. Not when you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want. But, that's why I’m so fucking successful.”

Rot wrapped in an expensive suit.

My head pounded as the hunger roared inside me, and Jake’s darkness only grew the more he spoke. Of course, he'd do whatever it took. Just another man who took and took without any thought or regard for the wreckage he would be leaving behind.

You’re just like him, I thought.

I smiled softly. “I could have anyone here,” I said, dabbing myself with a napkin as droplets of sweat began to drip down my face. His eyes followed my movements as I pressed it into my breasts. “But that doesn't make them worth my time. A lot of guys think wanting something means they deserve it.”

The smugness in his eyes returned as a hint of annoyance crept across his face. “Well, it sounds like you just haven't met someone as determined or interesting as me. You need a man who’s not willing to take no for an answer.”

I sat silently as his words washed over me: A man who’s not willing to take no for an answer.

I balled my fists till my knuckles went white, and my jaw clenched so tight I thought I might break my teeth. Something I wished I could do to him. The smile on my face shifted from alluring to something violent and sharp. The hunger inside me was screaming now. The time for fun and games was over.

You’re mine.

My voice ripped through the music that pulsed around us, as if it had stopped completely, and my voice was all he could hear. “Let’s go down to the shore. Now.” The words lingered in the air, sweet and liquid, as they dripped into Jake’s ears, ensnaring his thoughts. His eyes clouded over in the familiar golden haze I’d grown to love. My seductive magic quickly washed away his free will—my voice the command, his body the obedient echo.

“Yes…let’s go, Evelyn,” he said, his voice entranced and distant. The invisible hook of my words had worked its way deep inside him, sinking further and further into his mind as I reeled him in. Everything that once was his was no more. His voice, his thoughts, his body—I owned it all.

Standing, I wrapped my hand around his wrist and pulled him through the sea of bodies dancing around us. He followed me without question or thought, the energy of the club receding like the tide. Spellbound eyes stared back at mine, as if I were a lighthouse among the fog that had shrouded his mind.

But instead of safety, he would only be met with destruction.