“Are you ghosting me?”
The question is accompanied by a kick to my side, a poke, and a subtle shove, tumbling me out of bed.
I fall to the ground with a thud and I groan as I sit up, then glare at my deranged cousin.
Landon grins and makes a rectangle with his thumbs and forefingers. “Perfect expression. You’re art material, Cray Cray. How about you model for me?”
“How about you give up asking me that?”
“Not when you could change your mind.” He sits on my bed—the one he kicked me out of—and stares down his nose at me. “You didn’t answer my question. I sense ghosting vibes.”
“Shouldn’t it be me who senses those?” I stand, punch him out of my bed, watch as he falls down, then sit so that I’m the one staring down at him. “You’ve been stalling for the information we agreed on.”
“Not the face, you bloody sod,” he curses while smiling. “And I wasn’t stalling, I was just piecing the puzzle together to form the bigger picture. I can’t reveal anything until all the pieces are where they’re supposed to be.”
Ever since we were kids, Landon and Eli have been obsessed with chess and have done everything under the sun to win. They’ve gone as far as challenging Dad, Uncle, and Grandpa Jonathan. As in, the strongest chess players we know.
They each managed to win against both Uncle and Grandpa—the latter, I think, because he let them.
Dad remains the reigning champion, though.
They also never win against each other. In fact, Eli and Lan are still playing a game they started years ago.
Landon, in particular, has always viewed the world as his chessboard and the people in it as his pawns.
Me included.
And while I don’t give a fuck about that as long as I get what I want, something’s been bugging me since the fire.
Lan watches me carefully before he throws his weight on the bed across from me. Once he’s sure I won’t kick him, he smiles like a creep.
“I’ve been thinking,” I say.
“Oh? How did you find time for that between the excessive sleeping and eating enough for an army?”
“Were you behind the fire that burned the Heathens’ compound?”
“Haven’t you heard? They’re blaming it on the Serpents. Nasty bunch, those ones. Venomous, too, last I checked.”
“Did you set them up?”
“Do I look capable of such satanic acts?” When I remain silent, he grins. “Fine, I am capable of that and more, so who knows? If events can be falsified, why can’t the truth?”
I spring to a standing position and haul him with me, nearly choking him with my grip on his collar. “I don’t give a fuck about your plans, or lack thereof, but you will not, under any circumstances, put Annika in danger again.”
His face turns blue from the lack of oxygen, but instead of fighting, his grin widens, turning proper monstrous.
I release him when I’m on the verge of strangling him to death. This fucker is abnormal, and if I hadn’t let him go, I would’ve probably killed him and he wouldn’t have moved a muscle.
It’s not that Landon isn’t violent, he is, but that happens on his terms, not anyone else’s.
I honest to fuck have no clue what Dad sees in him and why he chose to personally nurture him. He’s deranged.
And that’s saying something, considering my and Eli’s character.
Landon falls on the bed, that creepy permanent grin still plastered on his face. “How would you have had the chance to be a Prince Charming if she hadn’t been in danger?”
“So you were behind it?” I reach out to him again and he ducks and rolls out of bed.
“Once was me being courteous, twice and I’ll fucking kill you, Cray Cray. We don’t want Uncle Aiden sad, now do we?”
“I mean it. Play your games far away from what’s fucking mine.”
My lungs burn with the words and how true they are. Annika is mine. She was mine long before I even considered it, and I’ll fuck up anyone who attempts to hurt her.
No, I’ll destroy anyone who causes her discomfort. That’s enough to land anyone on my shit list.
I’m not sure where this obsession with her will lead, but I’m committed to seeing it through until the very end.
Especially after the semifinals fight last night.
I was thinking of ways to chain her to me, but she went ahead and got on her knees for me. To Remi’s horror, I’ve never been interested in getting head before, but the moment Annika put my cock in her mouth, I turned into an animal who’s solely driven by primal instinct. And when she let me face-fuck her and swallowed my cum, my beast soared to the surface.
Landon circles me slowly, taking his time with the act. “I thought you were no longer interested in pain, but it seems you’ve found a permanent purging outlet. As I thought, Annika Volkov is the reason you’ve been absent from our bonding time. Is that interesting or what?”
“Erase whatever you’re thinking.”
“Oh? This is way worse than I could’ve anticipated.” He taps his lips with a forefinger. “Take my advice. Stay away from her and her brother and her whole fucked-up entourage. It’ll only screw you up.”
If he thinks that whatever the Heathens do would scare me away, he has no clue what lengths I would go to keep what’s mine.
“Want to go to the club? Vary your tastes?”
I shake my head. The thought of touching anyone but her makes me physically ill.
He shrugs, heads to the door, then stops and speaks over his shoulder, “Still don’t want to join the Elites?”
“No.”
“One of these days, you’ll change your mind. Oh, and you might want to check your phone.”
Then he’s out.
I lie back on the bed and retrieve my phone.
Usually, I do that only to find out if Annika has sent me any texts. She’s the type who likes to take pictures of all the little things she encounters in her daily life and send them over with ‘Isn’t this so cute?’ or ‘I wish I could take this home with me.’
They’re typically cats or dogs or any small creature.
So imagine my surprise when I find no text from her in the past…two hours.
Now, that’s rare.
Normally, she’d be demanding a date or she’d lure me in for a conversation.
Not tonight.
I scroll to the group chat that Remi insists I stay part of. I mute them whenever they start blowing up my phone with notifications.
Remington: Who wants to partyyy?
Eli: Don’t throw it in the house and you can do whatever you want.
Remington: But why? I have privileges in the house.
Eli: Not unless you want to put your balls in jeopardy.
Remington: Bloody hell, mate, no threatening the family jewels. I have a title that I need to keep alive.
Landon: You can always go to a club.
Remington: Be right back. Let me go get my spawn.
Brandon: Creighton’s sleeping.
Remington: Never stopped me before.
Brandon: Don’t wake him up. If you need someone to go with you, I will.
Remington: Awe, I just got tears in my eyes. I knew you were my favorite, Bran.
Remington: Don’t tell Cray Cray.
Landon: @Creighton King
Remington: I’m going to fucking kill you.
What the hell did Landon want me to see? Remi being a clown? Or the fact that he’s out to shag and has successfully dragged Bran along as a sidekick?
A notification appears at the top.
Landon: Forgot you’re a hermit.
Attached is a screenshot from Remington’s Instagram.
He’s posted a selfie where Ava, Cecily, and Annika are standing between him and Bran. And he has an arm around Annika’s shoulders as they smile brightly.
My favorite party people. Join us?
My fingers clench around the phone and wildfire spreads across my chest as I continue to look at her. And Remi’s arm around her bare shoulders, since she’s wearing a strapless dress.
So this is the reason she didn’t text me. Apparently, being busy partying is able to wipe her memories.
I text her.
Creighton: Where are you?
No reply comes in…five minutes. Which I spend pacing the length of the room.
When her name pops up on my screen, I lean against the wall.
Annika: Um, hi.
Annika: I mean hiiii.
Annika: Hi 🙂
Annika: That’s what people say before asking questions. Hi 🙂
Creighton: Are you drunk, Annika?
Annika: Nah, nope. No.
Creighton: Are you sure?
Annika: Uh-huh. Though I did have a drink.
Creighton: Only one?
Annika: Maybe two. I like drinking. I’m gonna ask him to bring me another.
Creighton: Who’s him?
Annika: My favorite drinking buddy, of course.
Creighton: Name.
Annika: You guess 🙂
Creighton: Remi or Bran?
Annika: Maybe both. Maybe it’s someone different.
My grip tightens on the phone and it takes all my control not to throw it against the wall.
Creighton: Where are you?
Annika: No, nope. I’m not telling you so you can come and spoil my fun. You prefer sleep anyway. Nightyyy.
I send her a few more texts, but she doesn’t even read them.
The little fucking—
I spring up, throw on a hoodie, and text Landon.
Creighton: Address.
Landon: That was fast. Can I bring popcorn and come watch?
Creighton: Address.
Landon: We need to work on your conversational skills, baby cousin. Here you go. Don’t murder my brother. Remi’s life, however, is all yours.
It takes me fifteen minutes I don’t have to arrive at the club. I step out of my car and head inside with rigid steps.
The loud music, shouts, and the fucking noise are similar to having a machine prowl inside my head.
I push through the wiggling, twisting bodies as they jump and sway and drink and snort drugs.
After some time of shoving people out of my way, I arrive at the top level of the club. I grab the railing and cast a glance at everyone jumping around downstairs.
The colorful lights dim my vision, making them look like a copy of a copy.
In the midst of the chaos, my eyes are drawn to a girl in a light purple dress. Her rich brown hair falls to her half-naked back.
Annika, Ava, and Remi jump together to the music and point at a corner of the room across from them. It’s where Brandon and Cecily sit together, watching them with smiles and a lot of shaking their heads.
The emotions from earlier heighten in intensity as I practically jog down the stairs and to where they are.
When I arrive, it takes all my restraint not to punch Remi in his aristocratic nose and potentially start a dramatic saga.
But I do barge into their circle and shove him away with my shoulder.
He stumbles sideways and barely escapes having his face smashed on the ground.
Ava is the one who notices me next, pauses her manic jumping, and nudges Annika.
The infuriating little minx is the only one who keeps swaying and wiggling her hips.
I grab her by the nape and pull her toward me in one swift go. Her back crashes against my chest with a thud and the scent of violets fills my nostrils.
A shudder slashes through her body and seeps into my system. No clue how I manage not to tighten my fingers around her neck and give her a red necklace.
Annika must feel the darkness radiating off me. Her pupils dilate and her fuckable lips part in clear invitation.
She goes still in my hold, and I’m addicted to the way her inner submissive knows when to lay low and not provoke me further.
It’s probably her survival instinct, too, because she knows this won’t end well for her.
I catch a glimpse of both Cecily and Brandon joining us, drinks in hand.
“Spawn!” Remi shouts over the music. “You made it! Wait, you willingly came here without me having to hound the fuck out of you? Who are you and what have you done with my favorite spawn?”
“OMG!” Ava holds her hands together, completely ignoring Remi’s speech. “You’re here because of Anni! This is too surreal to wrap my mind around. I can’t believe the traitor was totally keeping us in the dark about your relationship. I’m so wounded.”
“Yeah,” Cecily supplies. “She’s been ignoring us and changing the subject so we wouldn’t bug her for answers.”
“Right? I mean, what’s there to hide? They already went on a date! He even called her his in front of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Right, Bran?”
“Yeah,” he agrees. “I was there at the fight club and personally heard it.”
“Hold on. What in the actual fuck?” Remi gets in my face. “A date? You went on a date and didn’t tell me? And what’s with the ownership declaration when I wasn’t there? How am I your mentor if you don’t come to me in times like these? And I’m the last one to know? You bitches have conspired to kill me young, haven’t you?”
“We haven’t gone on a date,” I say.
Annika flinches in my hold, but she forces one of her loathsome fake smiles. “Yeah, it’s not what you guys think. No date.”
“Not one date. Dates.”
Everyone stares at me, dumbfounded, Annika included. The whole scene draws attention to us, considering we’re the only unmoving ones in the midst of the unfolding chaos.
“Wait. Dates?” Ava all but shouts.
“Plural, yes.” I stroke my fingers over Annika’s heated skin and stare between Remi and Bran. “She’s mine. If I find out either of you touched her, prepare to lose a limb.”
Then I spin her around and my mouth claims hers in a savage kiss. My arms envelop her waist like a shackle, preventing her from escaping my possessive hold. All she can do is gasp, open up, and let me feast on her.
She sways on her feet when I release her lips and I drag her out of the club while the other four stand there in stunned silence.
Annika keeps up with my steps, her expression still caught in complete bewilderment.
“Uh, are you sure that was a good idea—”
“If you’re in the mood to be able to sit at all tomorrow, shut the fuck up.”
Her lips purse and a tinge of both fear and thrill seep into her eyes.
It should only be fear at this point, because my plans for her exceed anything I’ve done before.
