Brevin looked at me for a moment, and then nodded.
“She killed a Crow,” Lincoln added. “If that doesn’t deserve a seat on this council, I don’t know what does. How many of us would have the smarts to survive an encounter with not one but both the Crow brothers?”
Silence.
Finally Shadow spoke. “I made my decision. The House of Valencia will take over Constantine’s place. I have no doubt she’ll be able to grow the legacy of her family name in time. She already has by ending the life of the Black Crow.”
“Fucking crazy,” Brevin shook his head. “All of you are fucking crazy.”
“Now if we’re done squabbling, we have a lot of work to do. None of us are resting until we’ve hunted down Lucien and nailed his nuts to the wall,” Shadow said. “The Midnight Society does not forget nor forgive their enemies.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
I sat on the edge of the piano bench and allowed my fingers to dance across the keys while music flowed around me. At that moment in time, music was the only thing that made sense to me.
I closed my eyes and allowed my soul to shape the sounds, creating a haunting melody that melted away all the stress that had consumed me over the past few days. While I played I thought of Shadow—the sad and tortured man that he was—and crafted a song that was the epitome of him.
When I was finished and opened my eyes again, I saw Shadow standing at the foot of the piano, looking at me with affection.
“That was beautiful,” he said. “Is that one of your own compositions?”
I nodded.
“What’s it called?” he asked.
“Shadow’s out of his fucking mind,” I replied.
“Love the song, but the name can use some work.”
I stood up from the piano bench and wrapped my arms around his chiseled body.
“What the hell were you thinking putting me on the Midnight Society’s council seat? I thought you wanted to escape away from the entire thing, taking me with you.”
“I do,” Shadow said.
“Pulling me closer to the action isn’t really distancing us from the Midnight Society.”
“Do you trust me?” Shadow asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You should,” Shadow said. “You let me go down on you after all.”
“Hey, let’s not mix business with pleasure here,” I said. “Just because your mouth knows how to get a rise out of me doesn’t mean I have to agree to everything coming out of it.”
“I need you at the seat for two reasons,” Shadow said. “The first is having you closer to me means I can protect you from another assassination attempt. Second, I’m not entirely convinced that Lucien was the only member that betrayed us.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Despite Lucien hating my guts, he’s never had the balls to organize a direct physical attack on me—or those I care about,” Shadow said. “I’ve always thought of him as nothing more than a whiny bitch.”
“Well it looks like he’s becoming a dangerous bitch.”
“Maybe,” Shadow said. “But I also don’t think he has the cunning to orchestrate such an attack. I’ve known him all my life. He’s always been a spineless whelp. The only reason he’s even on our council was because of his father’s influence.”
“So you think there’s a second traitor?”
Shadow nodded. “With Abraham gone, I needed to fill his seat with someone I can trust.”
“So you’re using me once again,” I sighed. “First you were using me as a trophy girlfriend, now you’re using me as a trophy council member.”
“I’m falling in love with you,” he said.
I was taken aback by his words. Was he saying this just to shut me up so I didn’t protest anymore?
“Say it again,” I said, skeptical about the truth behind his words.
“I’m falling in love with you.”
Damn it. If he was lying to my face, I couldn’t tell.
He had me good.
“I’m falling in love with you too,” I replied.
“Aside from you, Calisto, and Lincoln, there’s no one else on the council I can trust.”
“Well that’s not bad, right?” I asked. “You have fifty percent of the council right there, not including Lucien who I’m assuming you’ve already kicked out of your little social club.”
“Can you pass your university courses on a fifty percent average?” Shadow asked.
“Well…no.”
“I can’t run an organization on that either. Failure for me means death.”
“I get your point,” I said. “So what do I have to do as a member of the Scooby Gang? Investigate crazy killers and assassination plots?”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Shadow said. “Between Lincoln, my sister, and I, we can uncover the entire truth behind this ordeal. In the meantime, just stay safe.”
“I want to help,” I stated.
“Are you sure you want to get involved?”
“Hell yes,” I replied. “You don’t need to put kid gloves on me. After all, I am the Crow killer, aren’t I?”
Shadow couldn’t help but smile. “That you are Aria; that you are.”
“First thing after classes tomorrow, I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” I said.
“You still plan on going to classes?”
“Damn straight.”
I could see the look of concern on his face. “It might be dangerous.”
“I still have my own dreams to fulfill Shadow, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let one assassination attempt stop me from graduating this semester. I refuse to be a coward.”
Shadow looked at me and sighed. “I’m not going to stop you,” he said. “But can I at least send someone to protect you?”
“If I say no, you’ll still probably have someone follow me anyways, right?”
“Yes,” Shadow said, just before adding, “Have fun at school tomorrow.”
“Can you at least keep the guy following me out of sight?”
Shadow nodded. “You won’t even know he’s there.”
“Good. Then I’ll allow it,” I replied. “I won’t lie, I’m a bit nervous.”
“I promise you, I’ll do everything in my power to protect you,” Shadow said. “It comes with the territory of being with me.”
He pulled me into his arms and held me while our lips converged. Our kiss was filled with an insatiable urge to satisfy one another. However this time it was my turn to please him.
“In that case, I’ll do everything I can to satisfy you. It’s one of the benefits of being my man.” I whispered seductively. I licked my lips as I slowly undid the buckle of his belt.
If sexual gratification could ease Shadow’s stress and take his mind away from his troubles for even just a little while, then I’d do whatever it took to please him.
“I’m going to suck you dry,” I whispered.
He closed his eyes as I dropped to my knees and ran my hands over his incredibly hard chest and abs, his muscles tightening and flexing under my touch and I felt powerful yet completely vulnerable to him at the same time.
Shadow pulled his shirt over his head while I undid his belt and tore off his pants and boxers. I caught my breath as he took a step towards me.
“Aria, I need you. I need you now.”
The conviction behind his words weakened me.
God, I will never get enough of this man.
I held his gaze as I took him in my hands. His full lips parted as I heard his breath hiss through his teeth.
The sound nearly undid me.
I ran my tongue along his hard length from the base to tip, swirling around the engorged head before I took him in my mouth. He let out a soft moan as his hands found the back of my head.
“Fuck, Aria,” he growled. His hips jerked forward as I fucked him with my mouth and his movements became more uncontrolled with every stroke, his hands fisted in my hair. And then suddenly I was lifte
d off my knees as he carried me effortlessly to the couch, throwing me down. There was no time to adjust myself and before I knew it, he tore my clothes off and was on me, in me, filling me. My knees hit his shoulders as he slammed into me.
I came instantly, the sounds of our union drowned in a sea of our pleasured moans.
Eventually we laid on his couch, my head resting on his shoulder, our hands intertwined.
The warmth of his touch made me happy, but also scared me. This secret society he belonged to, the world he lived in, there was danger waiting around every corner—assassins, serial killers, kidnapping, and torture. On the peripherals of this blossoming love was the hand of Death, who was biding his time before snatching us into his cold embrace.
“Hey Shadow,” I began. “Now that I’m a member of the council, can you finally tell me what the Midnight Society is really about?”
Shadow seemed to be drifting in between a state of awake and sleep. However, he still managed to reply to me.
“Not yet,” he whispered. “Not yet.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
I had fallen way behind in my classes, which I soon discovered after the lecture started. My professor had already made it into the Baroque period of classical music history, which was two hundred pages further in our textbook than I had last read.
I unleashed a loud groan, which could have turned Chewbacca on, turning a few heads over in my direction.
As the professor began droning on about Bach and his fugues, I couldn’t help but glance around the room to see if I could spot the tail that Shadow had put on me. It was rather awkward knowing that someone was watching my every move. What if I had to fix a wedgy, or something equally as embarrassing?
I glanced over Justin, who was watching me from afar. As soon as my gaze met his, he instinctively looked down, as if disgusted by my presence.
I didn’t like the feeling of having things unresolved with Justin. For two lonely years, he was my only friend, and I was still sentimental to that.
Why did he have to go and do something stupid like fall in love with me?
My attention returned to the lecture as I concentrated on taking notes off the board.
There was only two weeks left in the semester and I was determined to see it through to the end. With all the drastic changes in my life over the past couple of weeks, the university was the only connection I had left to the past life that I once knew—the path that I had chosen for myself.
I sat alone in the campus cafeteria, staring at my plate of cold fries and chicken burger. After the amazing meals I had while being with Shadow, University food seriously tasted like ass.
As I pushed around a fry into a puddle of ketchup, Justin snuck up from behind and sat down in the seat across from me.
“Justin!” I was so delighted that I almost broke out into tears. “I missed you.”
“Did you really?” he asked, skeptical.
“Of course you bonehead,” I replied. “I hated the way we left things since I last saw you.”
Justin nodded. “I’ve been a dick,” he said, “And I’m sorry. You just have to understand that it’s difficult for me to look at you right now.”
I nodded, suddenly feeling a morose ache clenching at my heart. “I’m sorry as well,” I replied.
“For what?” Justin asked. “For being true to how you feel?”
I had no response for him.
“I’ll always love you Aria, that’s never going to change,” he said. “Buy maybe after some time it won’t hurt so much anymore. You’re the most amazing person I know—that’s why I fell in love with you in the first place—and to have you completely out of my life would be the stupidest thing for me to ever do. But I just need a little time.”
“And then we can be friends again?” I asked.
“I really hope so,” Justin replied. “I just need to stop hurting every time I look at you. But I would like to imagine the possibility that I’ll be able to get over you one day.”
“You can smell my shit, if that’ll help,” I joked. “Whenever I need to get over someone, I just picture them taking a shit on the toilet and that knocks them off their pedestal. I’m offering you one better.”
Justin flashed me an awkward look. “You’re a strange girl.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I know.”
“I appreciate the offer to inhale the fragrance of your poop, but I think this is one wound that can only be healed by time apart.”
“But you’ll promise when you’re ready, you’ll call me right?” I asked, “And then we can hang out together like old times?”
“Whenever I get over you, I’ll call you,” Justin agreed.
I leaned back in my chair and smiled. “I can live with that.”
Justin looked at me with longing eyes, before rising from his seat. He was about to walk away but paused and turned around.
“You want me to smell your shit…really?” he asked incredulously.
“Hey, you should know by now that I always try to think outside the box.”
“Forget the box. You’re thinking outside of a different universe.”
“Call me soon,” I replied.
Justin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Goodbye Aria.”
I watched him walk away from the table, his shoulders slumped and his heart broken while tears streamed down the side of my cheeks and onto my plate.
“Take you for a ride honey?” Calisto said as the silver S Class Mercedes convertible pulled up next to me. I had just finished my counterpoint theory lecture.
“Calisto,” I said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“Shadow wanted to make sure you made it home safely,” Calisto said. “Since you don’t have a car, he’s worried that you might encounter some unruly individuals on public transit; people shadier than the usual pocket jerking pervert.”
“He really is the protective type, isn’t he?” I sighed as I opened the door to the car and entered.
“He sure is,” Calisto said. “You see that guy over there?”
My eyes followed the invisible line that her finger pointed to and zeroed in on a man serving sausages from a Bavarian-themed hotdog stand.
“The hot dog guy?”
“That guy is one of the Midnight Society’s most trusted killers,” Calisto said. “He can turn anything in his hands into a weapon, including those bratwurst sausages he’s cooking up.”
“Shadow is having me followed by the hot dog guy?”
“Well, not only the hot dog guy,” Calisto said as her head tilted over to a couple of mean looking sons-of-bitches hanging out in front of an Asian-inspired bubble tea stand. Their eyes were fixated on the two of us.
“Those guys are Society guys as well?” I asked.
“Well they definitely don’t look like bubble tea enthusiasts, do they?” Calisto laughed.
“Point taken,” I said. “Man, I’m suddenly feeling like I’m on the Truman Show, where every move I make is being watched.”
“It probably is,” Calisto said.
“I hate it.”
“Welcome to the lifestyles of the rich and dangerous,” Calisto said. “Let’s roll out before I’m tempted to grab a delicious looking fraternity boy and do some things to them that I’ll most likely regret the next morning.”
I nodded, as Calisto changed the gears on her standard convertible and we sped off from the University like a high end Thelma and Lousie.
I assumed that Calisto was going to take me back to the Tremaine estate, where Shadow was waiting for me.
On the radio, the rich and earthly tones of Regina Spektor were playing and I leaned back in my seat and decided to enjoy the ride. I still wasn’t used to being chauffeured around all the time, but it was nice that I didn’t have to endure a long subway ride back to the estate.
“My brother loves you, you know,” Calisto said, her eyes fixated on the road. “It’s been years since he opened up his heart to anyone.”
I could
n’t help but smile and felt my cheeks grow hot just thinking about him.
“He means a lot to me as well,” I said. “Honestly, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have met him. I guess it’s kind of funny how fate works.”
“Sweetheart, I’m glad that my brother ended up choosing you over all those power hungry bitches—even if it was meant to be a ‘fuck you’ to the entire organization,” Calisto said. “And I’m glad that he’s taken a liking to you. There’s something about you that’s very sweet; very innocent.”
“Something like a virgin?” I laughed.
“Yeah,” she smiled. “If you haven’t noticed by now, I tend to be a story teller when I’m schmoozing the scotch drinking, ass kissing fuckers. Someday, I’m tempted to tell them that sticking their thumb up their asshole is the key to eternal youth, just to see if they’ll try it. I swear they’re all mindless sheep that follow the trends.”
“You dislike the society as much as Shadow?” I asked.
Calisto shrugged her shoulders, while making a left turn onto ninth avenue.
“There are things I like about it—like my massive wardrobe and the luxury of going anywhere in the world as I please—but there’s a lot to it that I’m sick of as well.”
“Such as?”
“The politics,” Calisto replied without hesitation. “Aside from Shadow, there’s not a single person on that council that I feel like I can turn to whenever I need to talk to someone, get things off my chest.”
“You can always talk to me,” I offered. “I’m good for more than just a party.”
Calisto smiled and nodded.
“I’d like that Aria,” she said. “You know, I thought Shadow was being foolish when he named you to the council, but I’m starting to appreciate having someone on there that won’t stab me in the back whenever there’s a bounty on the table.”
“What about Lincoln?” I asked, deciding to slip in another good word for him. I watched Calisto’s expressions carefully.
“Shadow does put a lot of trust in him, but…” her voice trailed off.
“But what?”
“He was once a street rat,” she replied. “And you know what they say about street rats.”
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