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As if on cue, she screams girlishly and laughs to herself before she carries on singing.
“The fuck is she doing?” Kai murmurs, sounding as though he isn’t quite believing his own ears. I can’t say I blame him. Cia isn’t just singing along, she’s adding her own theatrical sound effects for good measure.
“Doesn’t matter, does it? She’s happy,” Liam says, wearing a goofy grin like her happiness is feeding him.
He’s right, though.
“I don’t recall her being this giddy about a party before,” I muse, and that makes me annoyed. Cia should be living a life that gives her reason to laugh it up as often as she wants to, not trying to counter invisible enemies to stay alive. “I’m happy she’s able to have fun. In a perfect world, it would be a norm and not a rarity.”
The other two mumble their agreements and empty their beers in perfect synchronicity.
With Paris and Mary around, we can’t talk freely. Not unless we move away from the half-open door, which none of us are willing to do. And maybe it’s for the best.
Ever since Liam caught me and Kai up on where Cia disappeared to after she said she’d choose one of us, it’s raised more questions than answers, and my head is done trying to make sense of it all.
All that matters is that there’s someone who can challenge the Drákon seat of power, which I’m not convinced is a bad idea. When Cia officially marries Kai, it will become public knowledge that the next Leader can’t be either of us. Which will mean that if there isn’t anyone else, the Drákon name will be lost. And if Alexander’s death is coming, then it might be sooner than anyone is ready for.
While it shouldn’t matter what happens with the seat, I can’t just accept that, and I know Cia feels the same way. Even though I didn’t need to hear her say it, it was nice to have the confirmation that she, like me, sees it as a betrayal against my dad and everything he stood for.
“Are you ready?” Cia sing-songs.
As one, the three of us answer, “Yes.” and I turn so I can watch the door when she exits. My brain isn’t at all ready for what I’m seeing, and I’m immediately turned on and repelled at the same time. Cia is… disturbingly sexy, and gruesome to look at.
Her entire face is made almost porcelain white, and the makeup makes it look like her skin is cracked in a couple of places. Her lips look like they’ve been sewn shut, and her eyes are impossibly large. When she blinks I realize it’s her eyelashes that create that effect. Every time she blinks, the lashes reach much lower on her face than usual.
The corset dress she’s wearing is snug on her torso, but the petticoat skirt widens and when she twirls it’s riding up, which I guess explains the boxers she’s wearing with red lips across her ass.
She’s wearing thigh-high red and black striped socks that almost touch the corset dress in the same colors.
Liam whistles wolfishly, and Kai blows her a kiss while I study the corset. Her tits are pressed together, making it look like they’re about to spill out of the gothic looking dress. There’s something innocent about the way her hair is gathered in two pigtails, or maybe that’s just because I remember her doing that when we were kids.
“Wow,” Liam breathes, sounding awed.
“Are you a—” Kai cuts himself off, like he doesn’t quite know what to make of her.
I laugh and finish for him. “A living-dead doll.”
As if she’s been waiting for one of us to say that, she struts around with stiff limbs, really driving the point home. On a good day, I never envy her the mile-high heels she tends to wear, but definitely not tonight.
The thought barely registers before my eyes are drawn to the red shoes she’s wearing, more precisely, the bow on the toe part, and I remember a similar pair of shoes she used to have as a kid. They were shiny and made a ‘click-clack’ sound when she walked. Boy, did she love those shoes. She was absolutely devastated when they got ruined, and as a punishment—that she doled out for herself—for not taking better care of them, she refused to wear any shoes for two days straight.
Cia notices my gaze on her feet, and she lifts one foot, pointing it towards me. “These are like the grownup version of the red shoes I used to love,” she says, excitement palpable in her voice. “But these are so much better.”
“And why’s that?” Kai asks, beating me to it.
Looking smug, she declares, “Because I have five matching now.” Then she laughs, clearly embracing her hoarding tendencies.
After Mary and Paris take off, Cia inspects us to make sure our outfits are up to par—her words, not mine. Who knew my cousin was so into Halloween? I promise myself then and there that if it brings her this much joy, we’ll have to celebrate it with a huge party every year.
“You’re approved,” she says with a straight face, kissing each of us on the cheek, clearly liking our Dracula outfits.
Granted, it’s not the most ordinary, especially not when there are three of us. But why mess with a classic?
“Come on, Kai.” Cia pouts while batting her eyelashes at him. “Just one more dance, please.”
He can try to look indifferent as much as he wants, but when my cousin grins, I know she’s noticed the same thing I have. She’s wearing him down, and now that she knows this, she’ll be relentless.
“Ten bucks says he’s going to regret saying no.” Liam saunters up to me, tugging one leg up as he leans against the wall.
