by J. Kearston
We cut across the open grassland and head towards the outskirts of the forest closest to the mountain, where it’s at least thinner. We walk quickly, but there is no being stealthy. Wet shoes equals annoying duck quacks and squeaks, so anything within a mile radius is going to know exactly where we are. The best I can do is hope the noises come across as threatening instead of ridiculous, because I have no idea what’s been making the animals uneasy lately.
The faster we walk, the more stupid we sound, and eventually we’re all just laughing at our eventual, embarrassing deaths. We don’t even see any of the typical small wildlife I’m used to, and I’m a little sad I won’t get to show them. While things in the fae cities are fake, the things you find in nature are absolutely beautiful. Animals are honest, not needing to hide behind layers of deceit. And they are without a doubt every bit as magical as Dorian hoped this world would be.
I make a mental note to put it on the to-do list. Everything they’ve seen of this place has been depressing and horrible. I want to show them the good things too, like my spot on the cliffs. Because if they honestly believe nothing good can come from this place, where does that leave me in their eyes?
***
Rickon is leaning against the door to our house in the middle of the night when we get back. He doesn’t have any of his buddies with him, just like the last time when he showed up to deliver the summons. My heart drops, wondering if that means I was too late.
That day on the street, did I kill them? Have I seen any of those guards since? No, he wouldn’t have let something like that go; he would have had to tell my family if I killed his friends.
“What’s the point of having a house if you’re never in it?” Rickon snaps, looking ten shades of pissed off.
He rises to his full height at the sight of us and I feel all of the levity Lucien found earlier today fading away in an instant like it never existed at all. I swallow, trying my best not to look intimidated. Atlas is right, I can’t just let myself be a victim forever. Something has to change. I don’t know what and I don’t know how, but I want better.
I don’t want to live like this anymore.
The guys have shown me what life could be like. It’s a blessing and a curse because, while they make me feel honestly wanted for the first time in my life, it’s made me painfully aware of how horrible my life truly is. I don’t know how to escape it, and the last thing I want to do is drag them down with me.
They’re willing to fight for a girl that they’re only starting to know, to fight for each other. I’m willing to do whatever I can to protect them, yet I’m not willing to fight for myself? When these three humans are?
I want to be better than that, better than I’ve had to be until now. I want to give them a reason to look at me with something other than pity in their eyes.
“I’m not on house arrest, Dickoff. Now, what do you want?”
He looks at me appreciatively, ignoring Atlas’ warning growl. Eventually he scoffs, strutting towards me and I bristle. He narrows his eyes and holds a hand out expectantly.
“Tether check,” he states. “Make sure you haven’t tampered with them.”
I hesitantly step closer, nerves making my stomach flip as he inspects one hand and then the other. When he puts a hand on the collar of my shirt, I have to verbally remind Atlas to calm down. Rickon traces over the curves of the mark on my chest with his finger nail and when he gets to the center, digs in enough to draw blood and make it sting.
I hiss, stepping back. “Happy? I’m doing everything I’m supposed to.”
He licks the blood off of his nail like the twisted bastard he is. “If you have that much free time, you should spend it in the human hellhole instead. You’d think you’d know better than to hang around when you’re not wanted, little Lark.” He starts to walk away, turning to bark over his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be here, Cambria. I look forward to the three days I don’t have to look at you.” Then he leaves, without any confrontation or more hostility.
“Isn’t he a ray of damn sunshine?” Dorian drawls, unlocking the door.
Lucien puts a hand on my lower back to urge me inside. “Don’t listen to him, Cambria.”
Atlas notes the blood on my shirt, cursing a string of profanities in Rickon’s name. I actually smile, still unused to anyone being upset on my behalf.
We head inside and strip off our wet clothes, getting ready for bed now that it’s already close to dawn. “He’s right to a degree, it’s okay. I’m looking forward to going home.” I crawl into bed and am promptly pulled on top of Dorian to make room in the cramped space for the other two. “Hey, maybe I wanted the mattress today. Atlas, you sleep on top of Dorian instead and give me your spot.”
He snorts. “Yeah, fat chance of that, beautiful. Before we head out later, no more putting it off; we’re getting a bigger bed for this place.”
“And Dorian gets the pleasure of buying,” Lucien points out, throwing an arm over his eyes.
The poor man sighs beneath me. “At least today wasn’t a total wash.”
“Why do you say that?” Atlas asks, sounding half asleep already.
I lay my head on his chest and close my eyes, completely exhausted.
“Because I get to use a hot chick as a blanket while you two are stuck with each other,” he jabs and wraps an arm around my waist.
Smiling, I nuzzle into him. Yeah, there are plenty of things that need to change, but this isn’t one of them. Robbing these three was the best choice I’ve made thus far.
Chapter 18
Lucien
I sip the last of my coffee before grabbing my keys, mentally preparing myself for the confrontation with my secretary that I’ll no doubt be bombarded with the second I walk through the doors.
Cambria and Atlas are halfway out the front door ahead of me when Dorian asks, “So now that the building is just getting the finishing touches, when’s the party?”
Cambria stops mid step to look at me in confusion so I elaborate. “The building the two of you are finishing up today was purchased by my company. It’s common practice when we do so to throw a party for the investors before it officially opens.”
Her eyes light up. “Are you going?”
A sense of dread fills my stomach. “It’s customary I make an appearance, yes.”
Atlas smirks. “And Lucien, the benevolent man, typically invites the construction crew from the project to look good as well. Don’t ‘ya, Luce?”
Cambria grins. “Why Atlas, that would include little old us at the boss’ fancy shindig.”
Dear god, no. This can’t possibly end well.
“It falls on one of the days we need to cross over, unfortunately, so looks like we’ll all need to miss out this year.”
I usher them out of the house, heading for my car a bit quicker than before and hoping they’ll drop it. The last thing I need is Cambria pulling something in this crowd like she did with Belinda. It could be career suicide if the rumor mill starts.
“We can shake up the schedule, don’t worry,” Dorian teases, knowing exactly where my head is at. “You’ve never missed attending one before. It would start awful rumors about your frequent disappearances, Luce. No worries, we’ve got your back!”
I pin him with a glare as Cambria skips over to me while Atlas waits at his bike. “I promise to be on my best behavior.” She makes some strange symbol over her heart with the promise.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” I finally admit cautiously.
Her face falls like I just murdered her puppy. “That’s fair, I just figured I’ve never been and it could be fun, but it’s not a big deal. We can stay home instead.”
Groaning, I catch her hand as she starts to turn away. I pull her back to me and use my other hand to tilt her chin up. Her eyes are sparkling with amusement instead of tears, though she’s still sulking.
“You’re trying to manipulate me,” I accuse.
She bats her eyes. “Is it working?”
> I exhale a heavy breath. “A little.”
She grins, but I keep my face stern. “You can’t steal from any of the investors. Belinda will have likely already told them about me taking you in before we ever even arrive, and it will cause a lot of problems for me if you pull something like that,” I warn.
“I solemnly swear not to steal a single thing,” she vows.
Dorian was starting to pull out of the driveway, but stops to shout out his window, “Low bar, Luce, you’re leaving yourself wide open!” He pulls away and I mentally berate myself.
“No stealing, or any other criminal activity that could result in backlash for me,” I amend.
She leans up on her toes to place a quick kiss on my lips before sauntering back to Atlas and climbing on his bike. “No criminal activity, check. Want me to seduce somebody to get you a promotion?” My chest rumbles with warning, the very thought making me want to rescind our agreement and toss her ass back in the house. She winks. “I’ll take that as a no. Don’t worry Lucien, just teasing. A girl has to have a little fun.”
Atlas revs the bike and they disappear from sight. I scrub a hand down my face as I climb into my car, exhausted before the day’s even begun and already imagining the hole I’m going to have to pull myself out of after this.
***
“Fuck, Atlas is a lucky bastard,” Dorian grumbles beside me.
After dealing with Belinda’s screaming tirade, we decided it would be better if Cambria arrived with Atlas to the party instead of me. If she had shown up on my arm, the rumors would have flown out of control, and her showing up with all three of us was just asking for trouble.
“Not like you can’t dance with her, just don’t kiss her.”
Dorian gives me a withering look and gestures towards her emphatically. “How am I supposed to not kiss her looking like that?”
She’s clad in a soft purple dress, form fitting at the top and a short pleated skirt that flares out every time she turns. Atlas keeps a hand on her lower back possessively, shooting daggers at any guy that looks at her too long. But fuck, she draws the eye and everyone’s looking. With her outlandish hair, she stands out severely in this stuffy crowd as it is.
The construction crew cleaned up for the event in dress slacks and button up shirts, while the investors and company employees are decked out in their most expensive. Gatherings like this serve the dual purpose of also networking for upcoming projects and investments, and the more affluent you appear, the higher chance someone will want you involved.
“Besides,” Dorian continues, unable to take his eyes off of her as they start to scan the crowd looking for us. “I’m pretty sure that girl from accounting is going to try to seduce her away from Atlas the first chance she gets.”
I glance over at Cindy who’s practically drooling and chuckle. “You might be right.”
Cambria ends up catching sight of Cindy gawking and adds an extra sway to her hips, sauntering over and chatting for a while. The two of them flirt shamelessly and I bite my cheek, wanting to storm over there to publicly claim her as mine so the others will back off. I hate that that’s my first instinct, priding myself on being rational, but she just drives me crazy, this girl.
Cindy and Cambria end up swapping numbers before she finally tears herself away. Atlas takes her hand, dragging her to where we’re leaning against the wall, watching like a pair of stalkers.
“Planning to torture me all evening?” I ask coolly, taking a sip of my drink.
Cambria rolls her eyes. “I’d like to extend my inner circle beyond just Stella. You three are great and all, but it’d be nice to have other women to talk to, thank you very much. And Stella has been so busy with Jax, that she only seems to end up being free on the days we need to cross. Cindy’s sweet, and I promised the next time I come to work with Luce we’d do lunch. It’s a pain in the ass navigating all of the schedules and limitations we’re stuck with, but it’s worth a shot.”
Dorian grins. “You just want to leech out all of that adoration she’s throwing your way, don’t you?”
Cambria puts her hand to her chest indignantly, fingers brushing along my mark longer than necessary. “Well I do say, sir; I never!” She drops the act and shrugs. “I mean, it’s a bonus, yeah. But I really would like to have another friend that I can at least text if you guys are being annoying.”
I pass her a drink. “Oh, we’re annoying now, are we?”
She thanks me and takes a sip. “On occasion,” she teases. “I went from living alone for five years to suddenly having one of you up my ass every moment of every day. It’s a bit of an adjustment.” Atlas opens his mouth to speak and she laughs, slapping a palm to cover his mouth. “I walked right into that one.”
I have to fight the urge to reach out and trace the scarring on her chest. It’s on full display in the dress, all of ours are. I slide my hand into my pocket instead to hide my clenched fist, hating the lack of control she incites. She doesn’t even need to do anything beyond exist and she has me tied up in knots.
“You look gorgeous,” Dorian tells her, smiling and changing the subject.
She gives him a mock curtsy. “As do you, good sir.” She turns to me with a wink. “See? No ‘master’ and I’ve steered clear of Belinda. I can fit in with the fancy crowd if I try, so no need to look so tense.”
My lip twitches as I fight a smile. “You stick out like a sore thumb and you know it. Like a splash of color in a white room.”
A waiter walks by with flutes of champagne and she grabs two, frowning. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” She downs one glass and sets it on an empty tray, sipping the other slowly. “You saw my apartment when you met me. So you can see why I despise all things pristine.”
I hone in on her nervously fisting the skirt of her dress, giving herself away. She’s clearly deflecting, but this isn’t the time or place to interrogate her for it. Instead, I tip my head in acknowledgment before hiding my scowl. Victor breaks off from the group he’s speaking with and approaches us. He doesn’t even bother to mask the frequent glances he shoots in Cambria’s direction either.
Victor has always been my biggest problem before Cambria. He’s hinted at my past on several occasions, noting how pristine and perfect all of the paperwork is; not a speck of anything out of order. One mention isn’t suspicious, but multiple is a huge fucking red flag that he’s been digging to find any sort of dirt he can use against me. Add in the fact that he’s my company’s biggest competitor, and he’s a perpetual thorn in my side, more so than the fae beside me.
“Lucien,” he greets warmly, stretching out his hand in offering.
I shake it politely, accustomed to the political song and dance. “Victor. So kind of your niece to invest in the project. What a lovely surprise that was to discover.”
He chuckles, eyes as dark as his brown hair catching the light while he shifts his gaze to Cambria. “Looks like I’m not the only one with a few surprises up their sleeve. I hear rumor you have a ward of your own now?”
My jaw tenses for only a fraction of a second. “Friends with her family and she found herself in a bit of a spot, though she’s old enough to be on her own. She just needs some stability until she gets her life in order. I would be remiss not to help.”
Victor clucks his tongue. “Lucien Avrell doesn’t do ‘friends’, or so I’m told. Though I can see why you would offer a pretty thing like this a place to stay.”
I put a hand on Dorian’s shoulder before he can do something stupid, knowing he’s thinking about her boss at the club making a similar insult. “Is there something I can help you with, Victor, or did you just come to pry into matters that don’t concern you?”
His eyes flash with interest and I know he won’t let this go, that he’ll keep digging until he finds something damning. I wouldn’t be surprised if he staked out my house to try and catch evidence to toss to the tabloids like the shark he is.
We’re going to have to be more careful from now on. We’ve bee
n so focused on the conniving fae, we haven’t given enough concern to the threats humans pose.
“I must not give you enough credit, Lucien,” he persists anyway. “You must be some friend indeed to introduce her to your ‘associates’ here,” Victor continues.
I’ve never had any issue before brushing him off, and he typically leaves of his own accord when he sees he can’t get a rise out of me. But now, with Cambria, it’s personal. She’s a chink in my armor that wasn’t there before and Victor can sniff out that weakness like a bloodhound, planning to exploit it until he can finally land a blow.
“If you’ll excuse me, Vincent was it?” Cambria interrupts coyly.
He frowns, correcting her. “Victor.”
She waves him off, pretending to look contrite. “Right, of course. Anyway, as I’m sure you can imagine, I feel terrible about how much of Lucien’s time I’ve taken up recently. I’d hate for you to commit the same folly and feel just as repentant; it’s a party after all. Perhaps you’d rather dance and allow Mr. Avrell a night to enjoy himself as well?”
My nostrils flare as I fight to demand just what the hell she’s thinking, anger simmering ready beneath the surface.
“Of course, let’s,” Victor purrs and Cambria, bless her heart, snorts.
“As you recall, I have a date for the evening. I should have simplified my wording. I was suggesting you go find someone to dance with and let us all enjoy our evening without your barely veiled sniping.” She takes a slow drink from her glass, blinking up at him innocently.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt the desire to kiss her as fiercely as I do in this moment.
Victor’s eyes harden, turning to me. “You should consider teaching your friend how to speak to her betters.”
Dorian opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it. “As soon as we encounter one, I’ll pass the word. Goodnight, Victor.” He storms off and I have to hold back a grin.
“That shouldn’t have been nearly as hot as it was,” Atlas states, and I have to firmly agree.