“We’ll find it,” she whispered like she could read my thoughts. “I promise.”
She wrapped her four-fingered hand behind the back of my neck and slowly pulled me closer. Then, with a roll of her hips, she placed her hand over my mouth and gently tugged me down to her level.
“How’s this?” she whispered as she gently made out with the hand covering my mouth.
“Better,” I mumbled as we pretended to make out, much softer this time.
Someone wolf whistled loudly, and a man yelled, “Holy sun god, isn’t that Aran making out with the shifter legion girl?”
I grimaced.
How hard was it to remember the name Sadie?
My best friend kissed me harder like she couldn’t help herself.
Personally, I thought she was acting crazy, but I just let it happen because we all had our breakdowns.
Seconds later, I was hugging empty air.
The crowd had parted around us.
“How fucking dare you touch our Revered?” Scorpius’s tone was deadly.
John and Luka had pulled Sadie away from me, Malum was on fire, Scorpius was trembling with rage, and Orion’s eyes were wide, pupils dilated as he stared at Sadie like he was fantasizing about hurting her.
Sadie was smiling like she’d won a war.
“You have one ssssecond to remove your handsssss from my mate before one of my ssssnakes bites you,” Cobra hissed as he sauntered forward.
John swore and leaped away from Sadie. A shadow snake darted across his skin.
Cobra flashed pointed canines. “One.”
“What’s going on here?” Jax asked calmly as he joined the growing group of testosterone-laden idiots. Xerxes flanked him with daggers drawn, and Ascher cracked his tattooed knuckles.
I sighed heavily because I wasn’t high enough for this.
“Does anyone have any demon brew?” I asked tiredly.
“Really?” Malum asked. The rug was on fire beneath him.
Luka nodded and handed me a bottle of demon brew. The twins settled in behind me, both tangling their fingers in my curls like they needed contact.
I relaxed back against them and chugged.
Intoxicants filled my bloodstream.
“What happened?” Jax repeated as the kings and the rest of his male mates bristled with aggression.
Sadie winked at me.
I chugged faster. Demon brew dribbled down my chin and mixed with the black makeup.
“I heard your mate,” Scorpius spat with disgust. “Making out with our Arabella.”
My stomach flipped over at the use of “our,” and pain streaked down my back. I tipped the bottle and took a long swig because I wasn’t intoxicated enough if I could still feel things.
The twins tugged on my curls like they were upset.
The song switched, and the new beat was more frenzied. The partygoers shrieked with excitement as they recognized it.
“Are you kidding me?” Cobra hissed out. “Of all the people in the realmssss, you wanted to kisssss her? What issss wrong with you?”
The anger exploded hot and fast. I slammed the bottle onto the ground, and it shattered. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I glared at Cobra. “She kisses you? Clearly her standards aren’t that high.”
Flames leaped higher on the carpet.
“You admit to kissing her?” Fire exploded from Malum’s mouth, and his silver eyes glinted with mania. “I can’t fucking do this.”
I shrugged. “Then don’t.” I took a step forward, but his arm shot out quicker than I could follow and slammed me back.
“There’s glass on the floor,” he said through gritted teeth. “You could get hurt.”
“I know, I put it there,” I drawled. “Stop trying to protect me.”
Silver became steel, and he growled, “Stop kissing this pathetic woman who is not your mate. We’ve forgiven you for the twins—but this is too far!”
“Since when have you forgiven me for the twins?” I asked.
“Everyone, calm down,” Scorpius snarled, sounding very uncalm himself.
He tried to step between us, but Malum breathed fire in his direction, and he stumbled back.
Ice crackled across my fingers, and the rug turned slippery beneath my feet. It expanded and extinguished some of the flames.
We glared at each other.
“We promised we wouldn’t be like this,” Orion whispered as he stared at me and grabbed Malum’s shoulder.
“I didn’t promise anything,” Malum said grouchily.
I tipped my head back and laughed. “I knew it—I knew you crawling and promising to be my hound was all a ruse. I knew the news story in the beast realm was just as fake as you—it’s all for show—you don’t mean any of it.”
I didn’t dare mention how he’d opened up about his past. It hurt too much to say.
Malum’s bronze skin darkened in the shadows of the party. A dagger glinted on his neck.
What had I honestly expected from a man who had “we conquered” tattooed on his skin?
White teeth contrasted with bronzed skin. “I meant every fucking word about serving you. I’ll fall to my knees a million times if it means you’ll forgive me.”
The music pounded between us.
With his eyes locked on mine, he suddenly slammed down to his knees. He was wearing only black training shorts from his workout earlier, and the rug was covered in broken glass.
Blood pooled beneath him.
I took a step back.
He smirked cruelly, like he still had the upper hand while impaling himself. “I will kneel on glass for you every day if that’s what you need to believe me. I’m serious about you, Arabella, but I will not stand by as you have a relationship with—that woman. She already took your virginity. She will not take you from me too.”
My jaw unhinged.
He picked up a piece of glass and slammed his palm down on it. “Is this what you want?”
“Stop it!” I begged.
“Do you want all of us to kneel?” Orion whispered as he and Scorpius moved like they were going to mimic Malum.
“Don’t!” Surprisingly, Luka also leaned forward like he was going to stop the quiet king from hurting himself.
I shook my head.
There was too much bloodshed.
Too much war.
Too much violence.
“Um,” Sadie said awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I think we should be honest. Honestly, I thought it was like the funniest thing ever, but now it’s feeling a tiny bit concerning. Side note—aren’t you guys in group therapy? It doesn’t seem to be working.”
“How do you stand to be around this imbecile?” Scorpius asked with genuine confusion.
John mumbled, “Finally someone said it.”
“Hey, don’t call her that.” I rubbed tiredly at my eyes. My fingers came away coated in black.
Symbolic.
Malum eyed a jagged shard like he was thinking about using it.
“Don’t you dare,” I warned.
“It was fake!” Sadie blurted. “I was just making out with my hand, also—we faked it in the shower. We’ve never had sex.” She shrugged. “Honestly, the thought makes me feel a little queasy because Aran is my best friend and sometimes romantic relationships end and the thought of ruining what we have is horrible.”
I grimaced because my friend was a rambler when she was stressed.
“Excuse me?” Cobra hissed. “Romantic relationshipsssss with me do not end. Ever.”