I rush to the other side of the room, my hand coming to the handle. Twisting it, I feel it slip as I pull it open. In a matter of a month, my world has completely shifted. I don’t know what is right and what is left. Up or down.
Real or not real…
What’s crazy? I scoff a laugh.
God, everything is fucking crazy at the moment, but what feels the strangest is the fact that all this? Doesn’t feel so strange or crazy at all. It’s intriguing.
I look around, from the ceiling with roaring thunder and bright lightning, to the fountain in the center of the room, the water gently spurting upward, but then curling into a beautiful swan. Its head shifts, looking from right to left, its wings spanning wide and stealing my breath. I move closer, reaching out to touch the water droplets, but just before my fingers reach it, a harsh spray of water rises from the stone below, taking the shape of a snake. My heart beats a little faster as it shows its fangs. The swan sees it coming and flails, but it’s too slow, and the snake sinks its teeth into its neck.
I gasp, and then the water crashes back into the stone circle, slowly rising once more.
I blink and blink again, pressing my hand to my chest.
Get a fucking grip, London. It’s water, for fuck’s sake!
“Bad ass, right?”
I jerk around at the intruding voice, afraid of being caught wandering by the wrong person. But this is not the wrong person.
I glare.
Dark hair and blue eyes shine back at me. “Thought I told you to get comfortable.”
“I’m not very good at doing what I’m told.” I push closer until my chest is pressed to his abs, my head tipping all the way back to keep my eyes on his.
He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, his thumb coming up to run along mine. “Such a pretty human, you are…do you want me to kiss you, little toy?” he rasps. “Take you back to your room and fuck you ’til you can’t walk?”
I push up on my toes, stretching my neck, and he understands, giving me his ear. “I think it’s exactly what I need to relax.”
He groans, his hands finding my hips.
“It’s just…” I pause. “I’m not really interested in fucking someone whose name I don’t know, especially when I’ve already fucked his twin.”
Fake Knight tenses then flies back, eyes narrowed but mouth hung open.
I cross my arms, popping my hip out. “Don’t look so shocked.”
“Nah, baby girl…I’m fucking shocked!” He looks me over like I’m the fucking crazy one. “No one, and I mean no fucking one, can tell us apart. Not even our parents. That’s what these are for.” He lifts his shirt, flashing me his abs where a burn mark flashes opal. “It’s these or dipping into our heads when we allow it.”
A frown builds over my brow. First, because of what he’s trying to tell me, and second, dip inside their heads?!
“Oh my god, can you read my mind?”
His smirk is instant. “I could tell you, but I think it will be more fun for you to figure all this shit out on your own. You know, before we wipe it all from your mind.”
A strange sense of dread slithers down my spine, and I fold my toes in my shoes. “You can do that?”
“Don’t look so sad about it.” He chuckles and then cocks his head. “You know, this is kind of fun, having a Giftless here. It’s not like what I thought it would be.”
There’s that word again.
“Thought about kidnapping lots of people, have you?”
“Yes.” He smiles wider. “And I always imagined the way they’d run and scream, cry and beg for mercy. Done it a couple times.” He shrugs. “It’s always pretty entertaining, but your world is boring and illusions are nothing compared to the shit in Rathe.”
“Wait, so it’s normal for you guys to just kidnap girls?”
“We always put them back,” he says as if it’s totally normal and nothing more than a game they play when they’re bored.
But hold up…
“So—”
“No.” He chuckles, cutting me off. “We will not be putting you back. Or honestly, I don’t know what we’ll be doing with you. You’re kind of a freak of nature to us at the moment, but I know my brother enough to know your pretty little ass isn’t going anywhere until he does. You’re his favorite toy right now, his little doll, so where he goes, you’ll go.”
Favorite toy as in he has more than one? Do I care?
The heat in my chest says I do.
What a fucking fool you are, London. Falling for a possible literal monster. Uncle Marcus will be so proud.
I could roll my eyes at myself so hard right now.
“If I tried to walk past you, are you going to stop me?”
“Did Knight erase your door?” He lifts a brow, clearly already knowing the answer.
I ignore the ‘erase’ comment and shake my head. “Obviously not.”
“Then he doesn’t care where you go. It’s not like you can escape. He’ll find you no matter what.”
“I’m a hide-and-seek champ.”
“And he is made of dark magic.”
Not just magic. Dark magic.
Fuck my life.
Swallowing, I move past him and the hall widens, the wall at the end blurring before a door appears. I pause, looking over my shoulder.
The twin winks at me. “Figured I’d save you from the fate of walking down to find Mother having her afternoon drink. No telling what she might do.”
“Thanks, I guess.” I face forward again.
“Sin.”
“What?” I turn once more.
“My name.” He watches me closely. “It’s Sinner.”
I don’t know why, but I find myself fighting a smile. “Well, isn’t that fitting.”
His grin is devilish, and this time a low laugh leaves me.
Just as I reach the door, he shouts, “Careful, London. You can walk our streets, but don’t forget you don’t know our realm. Everyone here, even the Ordinaries, are superior to you in every way. You are the mouse. Everyone else is the snake.”
I don’t turn to face him.
I walk out the door.
Twenty-Three
Knight
My phone vibrates in my pocket the second I slam the front door closed, needing to put distance between London and me. I think. Did I want distance? Fuck knows what I want lately. Only… even as that thought passes through my mind, I know the answer to that question. I don’t want distance. I want her.
Her.
I want her.
I stare down at the news alert on my phone from Rathe Daily. Explosions have been reported from outside of a downtown nightclub. Unconfirmed reports are that it was a Deveraux Club and that there have been multiple fatalities.
“Fuck.” I shove my phone into my pocket as a portal splits the space in front of me and Legend steps out, nudging his head back in.
“Now. We gotta go now.”
I follow him through as we’re transported to city central, right outside Blood and Sugar. The city is crawling with bystanders, all watching the flames burn through the air and up to the dark night sky.
I don’t need to shove people out of the way because they part when they see me walking toward one of the chief officers. Can’t remember his name. Law enforcement are here to make everyone feel safe. They don’t mean shit to us and our family.