Chapter 89
Chapter 89
F:
Getting ready for a party when you’ve just committed murder is weirdly grounding, Like, oh good, at leve have control over my eyeliner.
I stood in front of the mirror in a red dress that clung in all the right places–the kind of dress that said I’m dangerous and I know it. The fabric was silk, expensive, and absolutely not designed for fighting, which meant I’d probably end up fighting in it at some point tonight. That’s just how my life works
Alaric materialized behind me like he’d been summoned by the dress itself. His hands settled at my hipn warm and possessive, and his mouth found the curve of my neck with the kind of precision that angeset he’d mapped out every sensitive spot already.
“You look beautiful,” he murmured against my skin, and fuck if that didn’t send a shiver straight down my spine.
I met his eyes in the mirror, watched his pupils dilate as his hands slid up my sides, tracing the lines of the dress. “You’re trying to convince me to stay in, aren’t you p>
“Is it working?” His teeth grazed my shoulder, not hard enough to mark but enough to make his point.
“Not even a little bit.” I turned in his arms, smoothing my hands up his chest. He’d changed into something dark and fitted that made him look like walking sex, which was frankly unfair. “ But you’re absolutely not shifting and ruining this dress. I don’t care how good the sex is p>
His laugh was low and genuine. “Deal. Though for the record, the sex is very good p>
“Confident bastard p>
“You’re wearing that dress for me. I’m allowed to be confident p>
He wasn’t wrong. I kissed him slowly, taking my time, tasting the smugness on his lips and not minding it at all. His hands tightened at my waist, pulling me closer, and for a second I considered saying fuck the party entirely.
But then I remembered Tessa’s face. Her knowing eyes. Her casual what the hell are werewolves doing here like she was discussing the weather.
“Come on,” I said, pulling back before I could change my mind. “Let’s go see what kind of trouble we can find p>
Alaric sighed like I was asking him to walk through fire, but he followed me out anyway, which was basically love in vampire language.
The bar was everything I expected and worse–packed to the point of claustrophobic, music pounding so loud it felt like a second heartbeat, bodies pressed together in that particular brand of chaos that only happens when alcohol and bad decisions collide.
Flashing lights strobed across faces, making everyone look fractured and unstable. The air was thick with sweat, perfume, and something sweet and chemical that might have been cotton candy vodka. Every surface was sticky. Everyone was shouting to be heard.
12:09 Mon, Jan 19
Chapter 89
It was absolutely the worst place to have a private conversation, which made it perfect.
I scanned the crowd, looking for Tessa’s sharp features or anyone else who might be watching us, and thats
when I saw her.
Camilla.
Standing between two groups of dancers, perfectly still while everyone around her moved. Her eyes looks on mine, dark and empty, and my stomach dropped like I’d missed a step on stairs
I blinked.
She was gone.
Then she was back, farther into the crowd this time, half–hidden by bodies and lights. Same dead ware Samse impossible stillness.
Fuck. I she actually here or not?
Is it my hallucinations? Why is she showing herself to me?
“Sorin.” Alaric’s hand found the small of my back, grounding. “What’s wrong p>
“Nothing,” I said automatically, tearing my eyes away from where Camilla had been. Had been. Might hame been. Jesus, I was losing it. “I’m fine p>
“We should’ve stayed at the villa. His voice was tight with concern and frustration. This was a bad idea p>
“It’s fine,” I insisted, forcing myself to look at him instead of hunting for ghosts in the crowd. I just need a drink p>
He didn’t believe me–I could see it in his face–but he let it go, steering me toward the bar with one hand still possessive at my spine.
And that’s when Tessa appeared.
She slid into the space at the bar like she’d been there all along, leaning against the counter with her elbows like she was just another off–duty cop looking to forget her shift. But her eyes were sharp, tracking everything, missing nothing.
“Oh it’s you, Ms. Officer!” I smiled and her gaze dropped onto me sharply. It’s a gaze that definitely is asking me why I still haven’t packed and left.
“Buy you a drink?” she asked, voice pitched just loud enough to carry over the music.
I studied her. She was in civilian clothes now–jeans, fitted tank top, leather jacket that probably had a badge clipped inside. Her hair was down, softening her features, but nothing about her posture was relaxed.
“Sure,” I said, sliding onto the stool next to her. Alaric stayed standing behind me, close enough that I could feel the heat of him, territorial and warning.
12:09 Mon, Jan 19
Chapter 89
Tena ordered two whiskeys without asking what I waxed, which was the confidwar & SAVERY MAN Probably both
When the bartender moved away, I leaned in How did you know? That we were wond
Her smile was sharp and entirely unhelpful. “You mean besides the chabond
The obvious, I repeated flatly,
“You move wrong. Talk wrong, Look at people like they’re prey instead of gears the cook a fog of her whiskey, eyes never leaving mine. Plon, you umell like deaths and sex, which is a very spent wheden
Well, Fuck
“ Dance with me, I said abruptly, standing up
Tema raised an eyebrow. I don’t know your
No, but you want to figure me out. I held out my hand, challenging, So come figure me out
She looked at my hand like it might bite her, which–fair–then a Alaric, who was dating disapproval o hard it was practically visible.
‘One dance,‘ she said finally, taking my hand
The dance floor was a mass of bodies moving without coordination, everyone in their own world, high on music and alcohol and proximity to strangers. Tess moved into the crowd with me, and we fell into the rhythm –close but not touching testing boundaries, watching each other
“Why are you here?” I asked, loud enough to be heard but not enough to carry
“Could ask you the same thing
Tm on vacation.
Right. The kind of vacation that leaves bodies in front of your villa
“That wasn’t—” I started, but then someone slammed into Tessa from behind, hard enough that she stumbled forward into me.
A woman, blonde and drunk, looked Tessa up and down with the kind of vicious assessment that meant. nothing good. “Watch where you’re going” she sneered, then laughed. “Though I guess that’s hard whem you’re built like a fucking man. What are you even doing on a dance floor? Shouldn’t you be lifting weights or something?
The music kept pounding Bodies kept moving. But everything in my immediate vicinity went very, very still
Tessa’s jaw tightened, her hands flexing at her sides, but she didn’t respond.
I stepped between them.
12:09 Mon, Jan 19
Chapter 89
“Walk away,” I said, voice pleasant and deadly.
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The woman laughed again, louder this time, turning to her friends like I’d just told the funniest joke. “Oh my god, are you serious? What are you, her girlfriend p>
“Walk. Away.” I didn’t move, didn’t smile, just held her gaze until some of the alcohol–fueled confidence started to crack.
“Babe!” she called over her shoulder, and oh good, we were escalating. “Babe, come here! ”
A guy shouldered through the crowd–tall, broad, probably used to intimidating people with his size alone. He looked between his girlfriend and us, and I watched him make the calculation that he was bigger, therefore right.
“Problem here, ladies?” The condescension dripped off every word.
I smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.
“Yeah, actually. Your girlfriend’s being a cunt, and you’re about to make it worse.” I tilted my head, letting my eyes go cold. “But hey, if you’re bringing your boyfriend into this, I’ll bring mine p>
I didn’t look back, didn’t need to. I could feel Alaric moving through the crowd behind me, a shift in pressure and temperature that meant predator incoming.
The guy’s face flushed red. “What the fuck did you just p>
“I’d think very carefully about your next move,” I interrupted, voice dropping low. “Because I’m really, really hoping you give me a reason p>
The blonde grabbed her boyfriend’s arm, suddenly less confident. “Babe, let’s just p>
But he was already puffing up, ego bruised, surrounded by his friends and too drunk to recognize the danger standing in front of him.
Alaric’s hand landed on my shoulder, a touch that could have been gentle if not for the barely–contained violence in his fingers.
The music pounded. The lights flashed. Bodies pressed in from all sides.
And I smiled wider.
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