Her big, darkened eyes mirror the lights glinting all around us as she nods with a devious smile.
My soul itself shakes with worry for her.
She’s too young. Too small. Too fragile.
Focus on your breathing, a manic reminder urges from deep at the back of my mind. But the words fade away before I ever fully process them.
“Let’s prove it,” the tall, beautiful, and destructive man calls out to a heckling crowd.
The way he walks alone is like a predator. He walks with the threatening grace of a jackal circling its prey. His ebony horns are demonic in appearance, but he doesn’t seem like a demon. He’s too pretty.
What are you?
I take a step forward to confront him. The fear slamming through my chest is what really gets me moving. I’m hurdling up and catching the nearest bar with a resounding screech that carries on through the night as I leap from one to the other to the other until I’m as high up as the pretty golden mechanics will allow me. And then I lean out, my boots nearly flat against the side of the pole as I crane myself over the watchful Carnals.
The nights I danced nearly naked for filthier men than these beasts have all led me here, huh? I guess the saying is true: if you work hard at your job, it’ll pay off eventually.
“Maybe you should prove it yourself.” I smile down at the man who now has his attention and sights fully on me. Ivy stands behind him. Forgotten. Safe. “Who the hell are you to decide who has to perform for us tonight?!” Laughter and cheers support my words, and I can’t help but smile even more. With that, I spring out to a new bar as effortlessly as an animal swinging through vines. At the last moment, I swirl around the pretty pole and arch my back hard as I look at him upside down.
I wasn’t prepared for my lungs to forget how to function though. The most alluring black eyes shimmer with a bright glint of gray shining within. A galaxy of beauty shines in the depths there.
My boot squeaks as I nearly lose my footing from the rod I’m anchoring myself to. The muscles of my right arm are strung with a nice tension from how far out I hold myself. Long black hair hangs like a thick rope from my hair tie. I feel like a black widow ready to quietly descend down upon this riotous man.
I’d eat this fucker whole for picking on my little sister.
“And who,” his hand lifts high and with one long finger, he strokes the edge of my jaw, “are you?”
“Come play and find out,” I whisper, my smile sharpening viciously at the corners.
This is what I have to do to divert bad, bad things from happening to her. It’s no trouble. The opposite, really. My dark little heart loves it right now. She loves the thrill of possibilities.
Breathe, I’m reminded.
And I remind that reminder to fuck right off.
Jesus. My voice of reason is a real fun-times-cock-block tonight.
The stranger’s own amusement shines in his starry eyes. Eyes no monster has any right to have—like a little bit of heaven has found its way into hell... The spiraling, black horns peeking through his messy, pale hair are a proven point of that.
“Come down.” It isn’t a request. It’s a cruelly laced command.
Once more, my heart leaps with excitement.Will we fight? Fuck? Both? No one knows. And that’s the entire appeal of it, isn’t it?
Sigh.
Maybe it’ll be romance. Or maybe it’ll be murder. But either way, my heart will be pounding in the end.
My fingers loosen, and casually, I slide down the pole. The gaze that narrows on me is still playful. Still mischievous.
But darker.
“Tie her up,” he says on a rumbling bark.
My lashes flutter as my eyes widen. A gasp carries round and round and round. Nervous, excited laughter chases after it. Some Carnals have the good sense to step back from the crowd that’s now closing in on me. Some leap off of the carousel entirely, choosing not to partake in whatever the midnight hour will bring. Ivy is one of the smart ones.
And that’s the only calm that eases my nerves.
My gaze doesn’t focus on her, but I see her all the same. I don’t draw attention her way as she scurries off of the spinning platform with two other girls at her side.