NECKLACE OF DEATH
Disconsolate (adjective): dejected, downcast.
DAY 22, HOUR 3
The men snored loudly in the dark room.
As per usual, their testosterone-addled brains, overinflated senses of self-worth, and general delusion allowed them to sleep peacefully after a long day of disturbing everyone in public.
I was not so lucky.
Because of them, I’d seen things I could never forget.
At the mall, Malum had picked out a pair of expensive skull earrings and put them in his ears, which normally would not be concerning.
However, normal people had their ears pierced before they tried on earrings.
He hadn’t.
The jeweler had gaped in horror as Malum waved his painted nails and grinned in the mirror. He’d said that he’d take the skulls while blood rolled down the sides of his neck.
Then Scorpius had sniffed the air creepily and sauntered over. He’d fingered the bloody jewels in his mate’s ears and had immediately demanded a pair for himself, then he’d stabbed them through his lobes in solidarity. And since all men were lunatics, Orion didn’t want to be left out, so he’d also pierced himself with a pair.
At this point, I’d had to walk away from them out of sheer embarrassment.
Now, lying in the bedroom, I shuddered thinking about how they were still wearing the bloody earrings.
The worst part—skull earrings and painted nails looked good on them. The accessories went well with their tattoos.
Sun god I’m screwed.
Snores echoed as I tossed and turned.
A blizzard raged outside. Wind howled and rattled the window and door, while snow somehow slipped through cracks and drifted inside.
Flurries swirled inside the room, and the flakes gathered on my face.
The men slept peacefully.
I shivered.
Wide awake.
Luka’s arm was hanging over the edge of the bunk above, and my right hand was reaching up, tangled in his grasp. My fingers tingled from loss of circulation, but I had no urge to pull my hand away.
I had bigger problems.
The jewel of death pulsed against my chest like a heartbeat intensifying.
The vibrations increased like the stone was trying to burrow underneath my skin and crawl into the emptiness that plagued me. I wrapped my left hand around the unnaturally warm stone.
My fingers buzzed from the force, and my forearm twitched.
Something was happening.
Maybe the Necklace of Death was trying to live up to its name and kill me?
Light suddenly exploded from the necklace.
I squinted as the new brightness burned my eyes.
The wooden bunk above my head was illuminated.
My breathing was loud and strangled as ice spread from my fingertips. It crawled across the bottom of the bunk that hung close to my head and coated it in a blue sheen.
Someone snored loudly across the room, and it startled me. I swallowed a scream.
My nerves were electrocuted from stress, and the cavernous hole inside my soul was expanding to consume my existence.
The jewel vibrated against my heart, and then there was an odd snapping sensation inside my sternum. Snowflakes swirled.
Everything went dark.
