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“Wake up, Alex,” a man boomed.
Following his command, I forced my eyes open, shocked to see a dark street lined with shops. Attempting to regain my bearings, I blinked a few times to adjust to my new surroundings.
“Run,” he ordered. “We’ll give you five minutes… and then your pretty ass is ours.”
I glanced to my left, then my right. No one was there.
What the fuck?
Am I losing it again?
My fight-or-flight mode kicked into high gear, adrenaline coursing through my veins. Panicked, I bolted down the street, desperate to find my way home. Several sets of footsteps pounded the pavement behind me.
Breathing hard, they followed me into the heart of Beacon Bay. They were so close I could smell the mixture of their colognes. Bergamot, sandalwood, citrus, and a woodsy scent filled the air.
My legs ached by the time I rounded the corner, flying past the deserted storefronts. I raced down the sidewalk and blew past the hair salon, an indie bookstore, and two boutiques. The River Styx was at the end of the block, with its red and black sign dangling from the metal hooks.
Like it was taunting me.
All the Devils are here.
I needed a break, a second to refill my lungs. The men were on my tail, seconds from catching up to me, their footsteps growing louder. A group of drunken men staggered down the street toward me, dressed in dark jeans and short-sleeved T-shirts. One guy smoked a cigarette, took a few drags, then passed it to his friend, who pounded a beer.
“Help me,” I yelled. “Help!”
Their eyes flicked to me. Instead of rushing to my aid, they studied me with fascination. Evil smirks turned up the corners of their mouths, so terrifying but beautiful. I ran toward them, but as I approached, I got a better look at their faces under the lamplight. Their skin… it looked like… a fucking snake.
The Serpents.
My mouth dropped in horror as fear rocked through me. The tallest of the group had golden scales, another man had yellow scales with white chevrons. The dark-haired man at his side had greenish yellow skin, and the last one, the black mamba, had dark brown scales.
I attempted to turn and run in the opposite direction, but the men who followed me to The River Styx were only a few feet away. Except, they weren’t the men I thought were behind me. To my left were The Serpents, and to my right… the Salvatore brothers.
I closed my eyes, blinked a few times, but they were still there.
Four Serpents.
Four Salvatores.
Shifting my gaze between them, I sucked in deep breaths to calm down. My lungs worked too hard, the air draining from them with each shallow breath I took.Five, four, three, two, one…I chanted the words in my head, telling myself it would be over soon.
“This is all your fault,” Luca snapped in his deep, murderous tone. “You need to face it, Drea. Until you do, you’re stuck here… with us.”
“No,” I muttered. “I want to go back.”
He shook his head, giving me a sexy grin as he slid his thumb across his bottom lip. “No one is coming to save you, baby girl.”
Luca’s devilish grin twisted into a pained look that broke my heart. He staggered toward me and pushed up his shirt, revealing his chiseled abdomen. A knife slipped from his grasp and bounced a few times before it landed in front of me.
“Pick it up,” Luca ordered.
As I bent down, I noticed the S looked like a snake wrapping around the silver handle. The Salvatore crest. Luca carried the knife with him at all times. It was a gift from his grandfather, the last thing he’d given Luca before he passed away.
Hunched down in front of the knife, I glanced up at him. “Why?”
“You know why.”
I felt the knife’s weight in my hand and turned it over to study the snake handle.
