Cobra smirked as he revealed, “In every species that has fated mates, the body knows before the mind does. I couldn’t take my snake back even if I wanted to. Our shadow snakes recognize our fated mate before we do. It left my flesh forever to live on hers so I’ll always know where she is and if she’s in danger. I’ll always be around to protect her.”
“Sun god.” I pressed the demon brew bottle against my chest and leaned back against the wall. “That’s so romantic.”
Ascher stared at Cobra with wide eyes, and he rubbed at his chest. “Fuck, man.”
“So beautiful.” I smiled. “Sadie deserves it.”
She had four men absolutely devoted to her, and I couldn’t imagine anything less for my best friend.
She deserved it. She was sunshine in darkness.
I guzzled more brew.
In contrast, I was the abyss within the darkness.
Cobra arched his brow at me. “A phenomenon you will probably never experience, because you look like you’ve been hit by a car. On a good day.”
“Burn,” I said as I nodded and took another drink.
He was right. I looked like shit and was completely unlovable.
Ascher frowned at Cobra and said, “I know you didn’t mean that. Why would you say that?”
Cobra made a petulant face.
My woozy brain changed the subject, and I asked both of them, “Have I told you about my back crack? Like a sidewalk crack but spinal.”
Cobra plucked the bottle out of my hands. “You’re cut off.”
I gasped.
Then I smiled and said, “I think it’s scoliosis.”
I turned to the overflowing bucket of demon brew bottles that was on the floor right next to me—that was why I’d chosen to stand in the corner in the first place—and grabbed two.
“Do you have tape or glue?” I asked Ascher. “I saw a bootleg human movie about a challenge and want to try it. I need you to stick these bottles to my hands.”
Cobra pinched his nose. “This is not my problem. Where’s Sadie?” he asked Ascher. “I thought you were with her.”
Ascher moved to avoid a dancer who careened out of control into the wall where he’d been standing.
He shook his head and said, “Aran and I were talking to her, but then she said she was going to quote ‘jump Jax and Xerxes in public because they’re too private and need a little public ravaging.’”
“What?” Cobra’s jaw dropped.
“Get it, girl!” I yelled into the crowd as I held both bottles up in a salute to Sadie, who was likely having sex with two of her mates in a corner somewhere.
She inspired me.
Cobra reached for my hand. “Give me one of those bottles.”
“No!” I snapped. “Get your own, snake boy. I bet Sadie chose Xerxes and Jax because she didn’t think you and Ascher were man enough to touch her in public.”
“Excuse me?” Cobra’s jaw clenched as Ascher pushed away from the wall.
I nodded. “Yep, she told me so.”
And just like that, I was standing alone in the corner. “You’re welcome, Sadie,” I said to no one. Best. Wingwoman. Ever.
I cackled at my intelligence.
Sadie had actually complained that Cobra and Ascher were too eager to touch her in public and that Jax and Xerxes were too respectful. Now, thanks to me, she was going to be having sexual relations with four aggressive shifter men in public while the guitar riffed and a male singer screamed.
Sun god, I was such a good friend.
Turning, laughing to myself like I was slightly （very） unstable, I was surprised to find Luka leaning against the wall a few feet away from me. He was actively ignoring a group of students that were all trying to touch and talk to him.
I waved and smiled.
He frowned.
I rolled my eyes and mimed shooting myself in the head to show how much I loved the party. For a split second, his eyes twinkled in the dark, and I swore he wanted to smile.
A man bumped into me.
Luka’s frown deepened into a harsh scowl.
“Sorry,” the random partier said as he spilled alcohol over me.
“No worries, sun god bless your family.” I gave the stranger a friendly salute. “May you all die young and never know the gods personally.”
He gave me a weird look and pushed through the crowd.
I scoffed; people just didn’t know how to take a blessing these days.
Tacky.
This generation had no class.
Leaning back against the wall, I tipped my head and opened my throat. The demon brew burned deliciously.
When I released the bottle with a burp, the sea of limbs and gyrating hips parted, and I glimpsed the kings.
Malum sat in the wingback chair with a girl’s head buried in his lap. His sweatpants were around his ankles, and his shirt was pushed up to expose bronze abs.
I made a mental note to never sit in that chair again.
Scorpius and Orion stood on either side of the chair and flanked him. Multiple girls crawled all over them.
I inhaled smoke.
Malum’s fingers were tangled in blonde hair, and he pushed a woman’s head up and down on his lap. His expression was bored, and he looked like he was uncomfortable.
As his Adam’s apple bobbed, pain streaked down my back.
A weird mix of emotions churned my gut, and suddenly it was hard to breathe.
Since I’d saved Scorpius, the kings had been acting different. They weren’t nice, but they weren’t as antagonistic.
I took a gulp of demon brew.
Breathed unevenly.
A dull ache pulsed between my legs. John held me reverently and told me softly to lift my hips. He slowly entered me.
There was a fluttering sensation in my lower stomach.
Pain streaked down my spine.
My sight line to the kings disappeared as the music changed and students pressed closer together. Hips and chests locked. Hands and lips exploring.
Everyone coupled up.
Suddenly, I was suffocating. The heat was intense because there were too many bodies in too small a space.
Sweat streaked over goose bumps.
Reaching down I tucked the front of my sweatshirt up into my sports bra, and I sighed with relief as coolness hit my abs.
I leaned back against the vibrating wall.
Sank into the shadows and concentrated on figuring it all out. “It” being getting drunk.
I was an overachiever.
A few seconds, maybe minutes, potentially four hours later, I squealed with delight as men joined me in the shadows.
“You have blue hair.” I pointed to the three little fake fae men who stood in front of me. It was kind of weird that they pretended to be a different species. It was also adorable.
They were so cute when compared to my teammates.
Short and skinny.
Complete wimps.
We stood at eye level, so they were barely six feet tall, and I just wanted to pinch their cheeks.
I could easily take all of them in a fight, which made them great friend material.
“For our queen, we’d do anything,” fake fae man number one （he’d told me his name twice now, and I’d ignored him both times） fell to his knees and kissed my hand.
Aw.
I loved that devotion from him. Finally, someone recognized my importance. I just wanted to give him a little platonic head pat.
“Let us serve you sexually,” fake fae man number two said aggressively.