“Yes, really.”
I wasn’t his first. You’d think after everything we had been through, this part of ourselves belonged to each other, but you would be mistaken. Even when I had asked him to teach me how to kiss, he made me practice on my arm, keeping his lips at a distance. I still remember the look on his face when he stumbledinto our room in slow motion, wearing an expression that I did not put there. That, for once, didn’t belong to me.
I cried for a week.
“Since when don’t you have sex?” I asked, rubbing at the burn behind my calves, when a pair of joggers passed me with a smile. Assholes.
“Since my fucking soulmate left Seattle.”
I blushed, biting so hard down on my lip that tiny splatters of blood bubbled in the cut.
“Liar!” I called him, stopping again to catch my breath. This was it. This was how I would die.
“Why would I lie?”
“Thay.” I shook my head, veering toward the wet sand, hoping it would make a difference. “You can’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Call me your soulmate, but never touch me. Don’t have sex when I’m not around, then sleep with a harem of girls when I am. It’s shitty.”
Thay laughed, making my thighs do the thing that made me want to shove his mouth between them.
“Does that mean you’re going to fuck the guy that looks like me?” he asked behind a smile.
“Yes,” I bit back a laugh when he snickered into the phone. “Why? Do you want to watch?”
“Always,” he cooed, shutting a door behind him. “Look, I have to ask you a question, but don’t get pissed, okay.”
“What is it?” My stomach clenched.
“Did you notice anyone in the alley the night you banged Wolfe at the party?”
Wolfe: I need to talk to you.
Air filled my cheeks in a stutter, and I nearly ate sand.
The only one who could have known that I was out there was Lyla.
seventeen
Wolfe: Wallpaper Flowers
Everything in my life has to be just right. The pen on my desk. The clink of change I keep in my pocket to match my stride. The angle of Daphne’s photograph beside my bed so I can stare into her beautiful eyes whenever I rail Lyla from behind. All of it has a form, a place, and an outcome.
All but one.
The only person who has never been into puzzles is Threx.
I still remember the day he showed up outside the clubhouse in mismatched shoes. Even untrained, he was a weapon. The type of man who could get their hands bloody and sleep at night. You would think that virtue comes standard down here, but everyone has a line they won’t cross, and for Threx, her name was Daphne.
So I did what anyone in my position would do. I weaponized him, using his cold resolve to cast a net over what would become my inner circle: Jessie, Nathem, Blade, and Threx. All kings needed security, and Thayor Milo Gavros would be mine.
The only thing I didn’t account for was the pale star clinging to his arm, or her gift for humanizing monsters. It was dangerous and… intriguing.
Who would’ve thought a man like Threx had a built-in nightlight?
I mean, don’t get me wrong. We all had them from time to time, especially back then. A little something to take the edge off, but they never lasted for too long because nothing grows in the Underworld but pain and rot. Girlfriends came and went, and while there was never a shortage of naked, crawling things to sink your dick into, none of them mattered. But even I knew she was different.
