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My phone vibrates on the floor and I clutch the sheet around my naked (and bruised) body, reaching for it and swiping it unlocked to see a FaceTime from Lilith.
“Child of Satan,” I answer her, flopping back onto the bed until the feathers in my pillow curve around my head.
“Dracula’s bride,” she snaps back, moving her glasses down the bridge of her nose to stare at me with her unworldly eyes.
My mouth shuts and then opens. “Um… you know I hate how intuitive you are, right?”
She waves her hands around the place, and I hear Luna laughing in the background. “Monster brother isn’t here right now.” It has been good to see Lilith getting back to the woman we all met, knew, and loved. It’s like seeing color form back onto the cheeks of a corpse. She and Kyrin are great together, sure, but it’s too weird not seeing them with Eli.
“So, tonight is the night. I need help with what to wear.”
“Lilith!” I whine, sliding out of bed and dragging my sheet with me. Flicking on the light in my closet, I brush through the clothes that are hanging on the hangers, stopping at a pair of high-waisted jeans and a black crop corset. Hmmm. I could wear this, though. Might not be so ideal since I can’t fight in it properly, but maybe I’ll just carry extra weapons. “Okay, no, you are right. I think I’m doing jeans and leather top.”
“I want something slutty.”
“Yes, we know.”
“So…” She places the phone on the floor and a leather jumpsuit fills the space. It looks small and tight but totally hot.
“Immediately yes.” My mouth spreads into a smile. “I love that. Are you leaving Noxy with Perse and Sass?”
She picks up the phone again and carries me to the kitchen. “Yeah. King is better today, but last night he was a mess, I heard.” Her drinking coffee makes me thirsty, and I quickly check the bathroom before heading down the stairs to the main living area and checking the kitchen too.
“Okay, so what happened?” I play coy to hopefully get some info, placing my phone onto the counter and moving to the fridge. Grabbing the OJ, I bring it back to the phone and unscrew the lid.
“Well, Keaton, wait—you know about Keaton, right?”
I swallow the cool pulp and wait for the acidity to settle in my stomach. “Yeah.” I fall backward against the counter and close my eyes briefly. “I know.”
“Really?” Lilith asks, with way too much excitement in her tone. “Did he tell you?”
I shake my head, tapping against the counter. “No, never. I got the hints he left for me over the years of him using me as his bounce back.”
She sighs. “Well, it’s about your memory. They took it really bad and coped the way they all do, in their own ways.” Lilith pauses, tilting her head and studying me. I hate when she does this because it’s as though she has a sixth sense. She can see through people. Their lies, their secrets, and the decayed skeletons they try to hide in their closet. “Man.” Her head shakes from side to side. “That man loves you more than love loves itself.”
“Lilith!” I seethe, for what feels like the fifth time this morning. I lean onto the counter with my elbows. “He doesn’t. He has just always known that I accept him.”
“What do you think love is, Cartier?” She points to me through the phone. “But that also isn’t true. You and I both know it’s a lot deeper than that.” The main door opens and closes, and I quickly swipe the call to hang up on her mid-conversation. I love Lilith with all of my heart, but goddamn, if she isn’t a beacon for trouble. She’s the worst thing that can happen to me too because I don’t need any more attention for trouble.
“Hey!” I grip the edge of the sheet and watch as Keaton makes his way toward me, his chest glistening with sweat. “Gym?”
He leans down and grabs me on the ass cheek through the sheet and I wince from the bruising, but smile up at him as I kiss him on the lips. “Yeah.”
“What, I didn’t fuck it all out of you last night?” I bat my lashes up at him innocently as he pours coffee into a mug and drops a scoop of protein powder and milk into it.
“No, you did… but they came back this morning.” His eyes darken from looking at me behind his mug, and I hold down my smirk. I wonder if he’s ever going to admit to me what he does.
Probably not.
I often wonder if I would tolerate it if it was from another man, say a civilian, not in Kiznitch.
The answer is always no.
Always never.
I wish I could say why I accept it from Keaton but I wouldn’t from other men. It probably has a lot to do with it’s just a Keaton thing, but I’d be lying. It’s a Kiznitch thing.
I place my OJ onto the counter again and reach behind his neck, wrapping my arms around him and leaning up on my tippy toes. “Can you stop being such an asshole to Jordan and Chris, please?” Distraction is the Band-Aid to pain.
