With a black hair tie, I pull my dark hair up higher on my head. If I don’t, the darkness will only leave the long locks in a tangled nest once I wake in the morning.
Ivy pushes her blonde hair behind her ear, and if we came here as friends looking for adventure, I’d tell her to pull it back into a tight bun. Maybe I’d warn her not to wear nice skirts like the one that’s blowing in the breeze now. Maybe I’d tell her not to get too close to the one man everyone here idolizes.
My fingers lift, and absently, I skim over the scar that lines the side of my face, the one my hair hides so easily. It shows very clearly now. But I’d rather show the ugly memory than deal with two days’ worth of ratty tangles.
One minute.
I stride toward her on large, rushing steps. I hear my name called over and over again on a hushed, angry tone, but I have to get to her.
Now.
Ink swirls in her eyes as I’m sure it does in my own. And the urge of the darkness inside turns her alluring smile into a leer. Bad decisions and deadly ideas are slashing through her pretty mind’s eye. It’s written all over her innocent face.
“Shit,” I hiss as I see the chaotic thing surfacing from within her.
I stumble up the steps, and when her eyes meet mine, a warm sensation of relief blooms within me.
“Ivy!” I say on a long exhale.
Her pretty face tilts slightly, and once more, alarm bells ring at the back of my mind, but I shut the window on the sound and take her hand in mine.
“Ivy, I—I don’t know why you’re here but—”
“Do I know you?” She smiles, and it’s only minimally eerie with the wells of blackness in her gaze.
Does she know me...
I blink at her.
What—What has he done? What did he do to her?
“I—"
A man strides up the few steps and stops before her, stealing away all of her attention with a handsome smile like the devil himself. Two black horns twist up from his pale hair, giving him a height no one can ignore. His messy locks hide his features from me, but the simple crowd of wide-eyed awaiting Carnals just behind him tells me all I need to know.
Initiation night.
I’m pushed back, staggering down the two steps, and I lose sight of her all together. The throng of people around me shifts. Dozens of arms brush by me, and I try to keep sight of her blonde head of hair in the crowd.
The Chosen, my sister included, abandon the steps of the castle and trail behind the cackles and howls of their elder Carnals. What will they do to them? How will they spark the wildness of the new audience who haven’t yet explored this chaotic kingdom?
Whatever it is, Ivy isn’t ready.
I take a single step before sharp nails dig into my upper arm.
“We’re going,” Ruiner seethes out.
A manic sensation tells me to laugh in his face. There’s an asinine urge to tackle his enormous body to the ground and shake my ass in his face until he submits to my erratic authority. I shove my hands down my face and try to get a fucking grip. I’ve got to keep control in this kingdom.
If I don’t, Ivy will pay the price.
“I just—”
My excuse slips out while someone else slips in. A slender man with eyes as white as his hair. A smile like jagged ice cuts up his lips, and he beams it directly at Ruiner.
“Did you think you could come back to the Kingdom of Carnal and my Lord wouldn’t know about it, Ruiner? The Brotherhood has missed you, my friend.” His hands are folded neatly behind his very narrow back, his posture stiff and formal. “The Sand Man has requested your presence.”
Ruiner’s jaw twitches hard, and he glances at me out of the corner of his cold blue eyes.