The house is laid out in front of us, only fire and ice melt over each side, meeting at mid-point with sharp points and flickering flames.
Water sprays into the air, forming icicles in the night, just before they’re covered in a blaze, both evaporating into thin air.
“I didn’t think hallucinogens could make me see people turn into… what the fuck even is that? And is that chick sitting on a throne made of … fire?”
Justice chuckles, leading us up the windy walkway, so we do the only thing that makes sense right now and follow behind.
A damp wetness slides up my thigh, and when I look down, a light laugh leaves me. A giant dog peers up at me from below and I tap its thick mane of fur with the tips of my fingers.
“Lon, don’t move,” Ben whispers, an adorable panic in his tone. “There’s a wolf about to eat you.”
Ooooh, a wolf! The term Lycan flashes in my mind and I smile wide.
Yes, that’s what it is. Not a dog.
I bend forward to run my hand along its back, when Jus attempts to direct me away, but the glorious beast growls low in its throat.
“Lycans don’t make good pets.” He tugs on my hair a bit, and if I wasn’t so distracted by the fire pulsing through my veins, I probably would have thought more into what he just said.
“Challenge accepted,” I tease, running my fingers through its thick fur. It feels like silk against my hand, almost leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. The other Lycan he was chasing howls, and my new friend takes off, disappearing into the dark shadows beyond the house in a flash.
Sighing happily, I stand and shake my head.
“Okay, what the fuck.” I laugh. “This is some seriously game-changing shit you gave me, Jus. Did I just become a coke head? Consider me hooked.”
“It’s not just the drug. It’s … so, this place is built from illusions. There are, uh, machines and mirrors and high-tech shit you can’t see that make you see things that aren’t there. Think of it like…” he trails off, searching for the right word. “Like a virtual reality ride or set of a movie where all the CGI shit is projected for you to see. Yeah, yeah, that’s what it is.” Justice runs a hand through his dark hair, nodding at someone as we enter. I don’t bother to turn to look, because I am way too busy lifting my arm as I notice glitter fall over it from the ceiling above.
Ben pulls me in closer, throwing his arm around my shoulders to steer me through the madness inside.
Glitter smoke hovers above the dance floor, and the walls are made up of glass, allowing direct view into every room in the house. I turn to the left. Two girls lie on a bed that’s levitating in the air. Smoke swarms between them and the floor, and one of the girls turns her body around to face us, her perfect tits bouncing from the motion. A male appears behind her then, grabbing her from the front of her throat, drawing her naked body flush against his as the other girl—her little brunette friend—shuffles beneath the girl. She leans up, sucking her pierced nipple into her mouth. The guy squeezes the girl’s neck tighter, and my pupils blow wide as I watch in awe as claws grow from his fingertips. He digs them into her throat, and her lips part as she surrenders all control to the man—beast—at her back. He doesn’t wait a single moment, but forces her onto his cock. Her back arches as her pretty mouth falls open farther, but her friend below catches her moans with her own before I hear the sound that leaves her.
A sheen of sweat slicks over my skin as my thighs clench together. Just as I’m about to reach for Ben, movement catches my eye from another room, and there are three guys in one capsule. One runs his hands over the other’s abs, leaning down and sucking his cock into his mouth. Receiver guy buries his hands in his hair, tipping his head back as he allows the other to swallow him whole.
The third comes up behind the one doing the sucking, tipping out a bag of translucent white powder over his back, leaning down and snorting a line in one go while reaching behind his back, sliding his finger down the crack of his ass and massaging his heavy balls in the palm of his hand.
Shit.
So. Hot.
I almost feel like I shouldn’t be watching, but I feel the heat rush to my cheeks from the familiar heaviness of someone watching me. A flash of silver catches my eye and my body freezes as my gaze tracks the figure from the kitchen.
It’s one of the guys Knight was with at the diner. I haven’t spoken to him directly, but the way he stares back at me always leaves a bitter taste in the back of my throat. And now he just caught me perving on the exhibitionism in the glass rooms. I need to go back there.
Ben tugs my arm as he starts walking us into the living room, where more people are gathered. I don’t want to look too close, afraid of what I might find, so instead, I turn to Jus, desperate to change the subject to anything. Anything but the fact that he could be here.
“Hey, Jus, is everyone coming tonight from your school?”
“Mostly, yeah, but you might recognize a few people from yours. Usually every clique invites at least one…ah… outsider.” There he goes again, with the humming and hawing. It would annoy me any other day, but tonight I don’t care. Or at least I shouldn’t. Where’s that shit he gave me earlier? I think mine is wearing off.
I scoff. “Outsider? We literally live on opposite sides of a bridge. You’re being dramatic.”
Jus only chuckles. “Hey, I’m going to say hi to someone. Look around, have fun, but don’t leave with anyone, okay?” His eyes search mine, the depths the color of honey chocolate and cocoa flakes. Fuck. I am fucked up.
Ben and I nod enthusiastically, secretly squeezing each other because we are most definitely hoping to leave here with someone.
The moment he’s gone we start laughing.
I swiftly steer Ben toward the door a certain silver-haired boy slipped through, but before we make it halfway, we’re intercepted by a leggy blonde with green eyes and tits that would make Pamela Anderson weep.
In a flash, her hands are on Ben’s pecs and his body jolts slightly.
Frowning, I look up at him, but he’s smiling wide at the Playboy version of Barbie before him.
“Alex.” He smirks.
“Benjamin,” she purrs back and I kind of want to vomit because I know that tone. The sugary sweet tone of desperation.
Ben was right.
He’s getting laid tonight.
When I release his arm, he looks at me and only then does his mystery date Alex do the same.
She smiles at first, but then her head tips and she presses closer, her heels meeting my Chucks.
Wait. Is she about to kiss me?
I mean, I wouldn’t stop her if she were. Actually, maybe I would since she’s Ben’s happy ending tonight. I’m not about to join in on some kinky shit with my best friend. Love him, seen and appreciate the size of his cock, but I don’t want it anywhere near me.
Suddenly, one of her hands leaves Ben, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as she reaches up to cup my cheek, but before her palm can meet my skin, her wrist is caught mid-air.
All our eyes snap up to the guy it belongs to and my mouth runs dry. Crap.
It’s the other guy from the diner. The angry one with a darker shade of blue eyes than Knight but the same color hair and skin. The similarities … they can’t be a coincidence.