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“Not a prison,” I mutter, but he hears me anyway and gives methatglare that could kill a man from fifty feet. Too bad, I’m no ordinary man.
Alistair’s face is a mask of fury, his blue eyes burning cold. “Where the fuck did she go?”
Before anyone can answer that, Damien receives a phone call. He growls something unintelligible and then sighs. When he hangs up, his face is grim.
“Sebastian, South-West, just spotted her at a party a few streets down. She arrived with Alex.”
“What the fucking fuck?” Alistair snarls. “What the fuck are you waiting for? Move!”
“Party crashers it is then,” Damien says, and even though his lips twist into a smirk, there’s no humour in his eyes. They’re calculating, like he’s already running through a thousand scenarios in his mind.
“This has disaster written all over it,” I snap. “It’s a catch-22. We can’t demand she never leave this house, but this... I don’t like it.”
“Let’s get moving, then.” The words come out curt, commanding attention as we stride toward the door, each caught up in our turbulent thoughts.
I remember the way Ever laughed earlier when I told her one of my stupid jokes, the sound was like music over the constant buzz of worry in my head. I’m falling for her—hard—and it’s more than just obsession. She is sweet, kind and funny, and her questions about paying her way made me melt. She isn’t some gold digger, opportunistic or not. She really needs to feel independent and not kept or, worse for her, I think, a charity case.
“Ever is too good, too pure for this crap. Jensen and his mates are pieces of shit. These guys will bully her, and she won’t have anywhere to turn.”
“No way Alex can handle this on his own. I don’t know what possessed me to leave these doors unlocked.” Alistair’s strides are growing increasingly difficult to keep up with.
“Let’s hope we’re not too late.” Damien’s words hang heavy, like a dark cloud before a storm.
My heart thumps erratically, not from fear but from a burning need to shield Ever from the world’s filth.
Her purity is ours to cherish, to claim, and any other fucker who thinks they can lay their dirty hands on her will be severely punished.
Fuck, I never thought I’d fall like this. Not justlust, not just this twisted game, but something deeper. Something real.
The party is close, its pulse throbbing in the distance, a beacon drawing us forward.
“Keep sharp,” I mutter, my gaze slicing through the night. “We find Ever; we watch over her, whether she likes it or not.”
Damien nods, a ghost of agreement in the dark. Even now, my skin crawls with the anticipation of what awaits at that party. But above all, the drive to protect Ever overshadows everything else.
Tonight, we’re the guardians cloaked in the velvet night, and nothing will stop us from keeping her safe.
The house looms ahead, a beast with a thumping heartbeat of bass and shrieks of laughter and chatter. We push through the door, and it’s like diving into chaos. People are everywhere, grinding, laughing, spilling their drinks. The air reeks of sweat and booze, and my skin prickles with the pulse of the music that’s way too loud.
“Damn,” Damien murmurs, his voice nearly lost in the noise. “This is a fucking nightmare.”
I spot a guy by the staircase, banknotes rolled tight, white powder dusting his nostrils. My fists itch to wipe the smug look off his face. I hate drugs—their grip on people, the way they wreck lives. It takes everything in me not to beat some sense into him, but there’s a bigger mission tonight.
Alistair’s gaze is on me, knowing my thoughts, and he nods when I stand down, his eyes cold as ice. Ben’s gaze flickers around, taking in the scene with asilent fury. We start moving, cutting through the crowd, too wrapped up in their own world to notice the predators among them.
“Check the corners,” Damien says, voice low.
We edge past dancers, our eyes scanning every flushed face, looking for that wave of blonde hair, those green eyes that shift like the sea. But it’s like she’s a ghost, slipping through our fingers. The longer it takes to find her, the tighter my chest gets, like a vice squeezing all the air out.
“Where is she?” Alistair mutters, his usual composure fraying at the edges. “She has to be here.”
“Keep looking,” I snap, shoving past a couple locked in a sloppy kiss.
We weave deeper into the crowd, dodging elbows and sloshed drinks. The desperation’s a living thing now, clawing up my throat. Ever is in here somewhere, and every second we don’t have eyes on her is a second too long.
“This is insanity. Split up,” I command, voice raw with urgency. The bass of the music pulses through the floorboards as I shove my way through the swarm of bodies. Sweat and alcohol fog the air, but all I can taste is the fear that Ever is in danger without us.
Damien disappears into the crowd. Alistair moves off without a word, cutting through the chaos like a ship’s prow through dark waves. People move for him, and it’s not surprising. He’s got that whole Duke thing working for him. Big time. Ben gives me a curt nod, already scanning the room with his sharp gaze.
