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“Arden. Good to see you again,” Beast replies, twisting in his seat and holding his hand out for him to shake. Standing either side of Arden are two men, both of whom are extremely attractive in a lethal kind of way. Lethal like a panther before it pounces, or a shark before it bites. All three have a large butterfly tattooed on the front of their necks, the colourful wings wrapping up and around their Adam’s apples but that’s where their similarity ends.
Arden takes Beast’s hand and shakes it. “These are my brothers, Carrick and Lorcan,” Arden says, presumably more for my benefit than Beasts, given he already knows who they are.
“I’m Pen,” I reply, looking between them.
“The girl who dances for Grim?” the man to Arden’s left responds, Carrick. He’s taller than Arden by an inch, broader and his eyes are darker than Zayn’s. So black they look almost demonic. He cocks his head to the side, his light-brown hair reaching his shoulders. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”
“That’s right,” Beast confirms, and I can’t help but notice how he angles his body slightly in front of me.
“You killed The Collector for this one…?” Lorcan asks, he looks at me unimpressed, his strange grey eyes flicking over me briefly. The colour of his eyes matches his silver hair. I can’t work out if it’s dyed or natural, either way I don’t fucking like him. Any of them actually. They’ve got a weird vibe.
“Yes.”
“And you want to know what we’ve heard?”
“Tom told me you were in town. I figured if anyone knew about what they’re up to, you would.”
Arden nods, accepting a drink from Tom who’s returned to his spot behind the bar.
“The Masks haven’t left the castle, that I do know,” Arden confirms.
Beast’s shoulders relax. “Good.”
Carrick snorts knocking back a three-fingered shot of something dark brown, rum maybe? “The Masksneverleave their castle. Doesn’t mean to say you’re safe. Far from it. I suggest you keep your head to the ground and eyes sharp. Watch your backs. The Masks are their father’s sons, after all.”
“Got it,” Beast replies, his jaw clenching.
Lorcan settles his stormy grey eyes on me before flicking his gaze to Beast. “Don’t underestimate The Masks, they’ll steal from you what you hold dear the most.” A prickle runs down my spine at his words, at the look he gives us both.
Silence stretches out between us, until finally Tom speaks. “Well, it’s probably time you got Pen home, yes?” he says pointedly.
Beast nods, reaching for me. He places a hand firmly on my lower back. “Yeah. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.”
We leave the pub and get into Beast’s car. I turn to look at him, my mouth popping open. “I have so many questions.”
“None of which I can answer, but I can tell you this.TheDeana-dheare legends in the Irish community. Some would even say they’re gods.”
I snort. “Gods? I’m pretty sure they’re humans like the rest of us. Made of flesh and bone.”
“That’s not something I’d like to test out,” he mutters.
“They seem to know a lot about The Masks…”
“They know a lot about everyone. Grim and I included.”
“Do you believe what they said?”
“Every word,” Beast replies before putting the car into drive and pressing the accelerator.
“Should I be worried?”
“No.Youshouldn’t. It’s me and Grim who need to keep our eyes open and our ears to the ground. I shot Malik after all.”
“Beast—”
“Pen. We got this. It’s gonna be cool, okay?”
“Okay,” I mumble, not convinced in the slightest as I pick up my mobile phone and call Xeno as promised.
