by R. Scarlett
“What?” Tina’s eyes widened to saucers.
Stella’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank god!”
“Tina, come sit down,” Molly instructed, guiding her friend into the living room decorated with her parents’ plaques and awards in medicine and the sciences.
Molly sat down on a plump purple couch with both girls.
“Tina, he’s not a good person,” Stella said, taking Tina’s hand in her own.
Tina frowned. “He’s not a gentleman, but that doesn’t make him a bad person. You said you didn’t end up sleeping with him, but if you changed your mind and you’re interested, I’ll back off.” Molly knew Stella had given Tina a small explanation regarding what had happened between Pearce and her, but obviously not enough to warn Tina off.
“Have you slept with him?” Stella questioned, dropping Tina’s hand.
Tina shook her head. “No, actually. Remember, new Tina? We just talked the whole night, cuddled a bit. He was sweet.” Tina fidgeted with her blouse. “He wanted to know about my life. My goals. No one asks me about that stuff. I told him about being nervous to go back to France since my grandparents passed away, and he offered to accompany me.” A wetness built beneath her eyes and she blinked it back, looking away.
“Don’t, Tina,” Stella said, voice sharp and hard. A hatred for the demon bled through in her stare, in her words. “You deserve someone so much better.”
“Why? What’s so wrong with him?”
Stella glanced at Molly and took a deep breath. “I went to a party with him and he gave me something—some drug—and left me. I woke up in a random bedroom, and this strange guy was about to…I don’t know…” Stella pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. “Molly and Tensley came, thankfully. Pearce is just not a good guy, okay?”
Tina’s olive skin grew a shade paler. “He did that? Oh my god…”
“Yes he did,” Molly confirmed, smoothing some of Stella’s hair back.
Tina nodded, smile fading. “I just really liked him, you know? I thought maybe he was the one…”
Because he manipulated your hormones and feelings, Molly thought. As silence ensued, Molly felt unsettled about how easy it was for Pearce to turn on the charm, to trick humans into trusting him.
“Okay, okay,” Tina said, wiping away her tears. She stood, and Molly noted the baby blue apron tied around her waist. “I attempted to make some quiche, so let’s go eat it.”
Tina walked away, leaving Molly and Stella to exchange concerned looks.
They chatted the afternoon away, talking about school and parents and Molly’s potential trip to Paris. Tina vowed she’d come visit, even with her fear of flying.
It was when Stella was in the restroom and Molly was gathering her stuff to leave that Tina spoke hurriedly in her ear.
“Molly,” she whispered, her chestnut eyes pleading. “Do you think there’s something wrong with me for liking him?”
A lump lodged in Molly’s throat. She steadied her voice before she spoke. “Sometimes we can’t help how we feel; sometimes we’re cursed to be drawn to the wrong people.” She offered a weak smile. “But Tina, please stay away from Pearce. Stella’s right. You deserve someone amazing, someone who’s safe to be with.”
Tina nodded softly. “I’ll stay away from him.”
They embraced and Molly left, her chest painfully tight as the words replayed in her mind: Sometimes we can’t help how we feel; sometimes we’re cursed to be drawn to the wrong people.
Molly was cursed, cursed to be drawn to a beast, a monster.
She was cursed because she was in love with that beast—and she didn’t want it to go away.
But beasts, she’d learned, were never meant to be loved.
MOLLY STOPPED MID-STEP as she opened her apartment door. There, in the darkness, stood Tensley Knight.
Her heart swelled and her breath caught; four days of silence, and now he stood stiffly in front of her. She shoved back her sweaty bangs, exhausted from her long jog through New York City’s bustling streets.
Shadows played along Tensley’s clenched jaw and chiseled, steel-cut cheekbones, his lips pursed in a straight line.
“Tensley,” she whispered, afraid he was simply an illusion that would vanish into the darkness.
She stepped closer, but abruptly stopped when a familiar warning whipped harshly across her flesh.
A warning of aggression.
Her chest ached as the collar around her neck tightened. “Ten—”
“Let me speak,” said the dark shadow, voice gruff and raspy. It sent chills down her spine. “We will continue this arrangement separately for now. I will not need your assistance for strength; I will find it elsewhere.”
Each perfectly slow, pronounced word drove a knife deeper and deeper into her tightening heart.
“Tensley.” She continued to advance, but another, more powerful wave of aggression hit her like a storm, wild and fierce and deadly. Her wet eyes sought his in the darkness, but all she saw was more shadows and danger. “We can talk about this.”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” he snapped, a lion’s roar and snake’s venomous bite all rolled into one. His muscles bulged, twisting as he folded his arms and held his chin high. “You murdered one of my men. It’s treason—”
“But it was before! It was before I really knew you, when I was confused—”
Tensley’s eyes flashed. “It’s treason. You murdered one of my men and that is unforgivable to my blood, my loyalty, and my family.” Each word was a painful slap and she sucked in a cry, not wanting him to see her break, to see how he was slowly destroying her like he’d promised to so many times. The light from outside slipped against the side of his profile and she saw how vicious his eyes were. “The only reason you’re not dead is the blood in your veins.”
Not because he cared about her. Not because she was more than just a rare being he possessed.
“I was protecting myself,” she said insistently.
“Enough.” His voice sliced through her and she didn’t hide her wince. “Fooled me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, not fucking happening. You’re untrustworthy, a siren that’s been trying to corrupt me and trick me.” He tsked, shaking his head. “Find someone else to toy with. I’m no longer interested.” His angry tone twisted the knife deeper and cracked her open.
She wanted to say something, something to hurt him, but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. She simply stood stiffly, head bowed, lashes beaded with unwept tears.
She was too shocked to say anything. He had stripped her bare, worn down her walls of iron and steel, and she couldn’t hide. She was exposed to him and he was slicing her open, revealing her scars, and it wasn’t pretty.
“Goodbye, sweetheart.” He moved past her, vanishing into the shadows beyond her apartment. His utterance of the term of endearment had sounded ugly and sickening, not at all the same way he’d murmured it to her as he stroked her hair back or when he made her toes curl.
She sank to the damaged floorboards and let out tiny sobs, holding her torso. “It was self-defense,” she moaned, confident in her justification.
But why does it feel so terrible?
Because she’d hurt Tensley, hurt him so bad he wanted to cut her off.
Four days ago a beautiful monster had smothered her with adoration and kisses and craved her, wanted her, cared for her. Now, the cruel demon was back, and she’d unknowingly summoned him.
What could she do? What could she do to make up for everything that had gone wrong?
Molly didn’t know how long she sat sobbing on the floor, knees pulled to her chest.
When September showed up, she took Molly into her arms and rocked her.
“I let him,” Molly cried into September’s shoulder. “I let him destroy me.” The words sank painfully deep, so deep they anchored themselves in her heart. She wiped underneath her eyes and pushed off the ground. “It’s my own fault.”
September followed her into the kitchen as M
olly turned on the kettle. “Whatever it is, I’m sure you can explain. I’m sure it can be worked out.”
Molly shook her head sadly. “I tried. He doesn’t understand. He doesn’t want anything to do with me.” She licked at her cracked lips and hovered her hand over the handle of the kettle, selecting a teabag from her assortment.
“At least it ended before becoming something more?”
Molly looked up and her mouth quivered. “I slept with him.”
September’s brows nearly lifted to her hairline. “Oh god, Molly.” She ran over and again wrapped her long, freckled arms around her. “It’s okay.”
Molly shook, straining to keep her eyes open. She wanted to tell September she was in love with him, but she knew it was too painful, too precious to speak out loud. Everyone had told her he’d use her feelings for him as a weapon, and now, cradled in September’s arms, she was defenseless.
He’d destroyed her, and she still loved him.
How cursed she was.
“HOW IS THIS a good idea?” Illya furrowed his brow at the women dressed provocatively in black lingerie, swaying their hips and giggling like schoolgirls in Tensley’s office.
Tensley grimaced and scratched out another location the Nineteenth Battalion had already searched. Again, nothing. No trace of Scorpios’ missing members. His eyes caught Gabel’s closed file and his hands curled into fists. He wouldn’t find a body; it was long gone, used for power by the hunters to keep up with demons. Just before he’d met Molly at her apartment, Tensley had sat down with Gabel’s parents and given them the news—keeping one very important detail out.
“Where the hell are they hiding them?” Tensley muttered. He didn’t want to think of the other option: that the others who’d been kidnapped were like Gabel, bodies turned to dust and used to empower those thugs.
“Tensley’s been a pussy all week since he ended it with Blondie,” Pearce said to Illya as he stroked the leg of one of the dancing girls . She rewarded him with a kiss and he roughly yanked her onto his lap. “Now he needs some new pussy to get over it.”
Tensley slammed his hand down on his desk and glared at the stack of books sitting beside it—first editions about Greek mythology he’d recently bought to surprise Molly with. Never fucking mind. He wondered if she’d notice he’d fixed that broken lock, too. “This is my office, Pearce, not a damn strip club.”
Pearce was too invested in the woman’s breasts to fight back. “Relaaaaax. Maybe even consider removing that stick from your ass.”
“I’m going to fucking kill you if you keep it up,” Tensley hissed under his breath.
Illya frowned as two women danced seductively in front of him. “He’s in his element right now, that’s for damn sure.”
Tensley shook his head. “He’s been dragging that damn friend of Molly’s back to my place every night. She’s attached to him at the hip.” When he’d first seen her around, brown eyes wide and curious, Tensley was shocked to see Tina with Pearce, but he figured Stella and Molly had told her what happened, and it was her choice whether to stay away or not.
“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Pearce said, licking the ass cheek of one of the girls closest to his face.
“Have you thought of talking to Molly?” Illya asked Tensley, making a face as Pearce banged his hands on several girls’ asses like he was playing the drums.
Tensley huffed. “No—”.”
He didn’t want to talk about Molly. Any trust they had formed had crumpled. She’d saved Lex, yes, but how could he trust her? If any of the members found out she’d killed Gabel, a treasured member of their society, Molly would be either killed or tortured for the rest of her life for that crime.
At the thought of Molly, his chest ached and his jaw locked under his hard clench. Could he trust her? She could betray him again. He couldn’t keep her close either. She was dangerous—to him, to his family, to Scorpios. He didn’t know what he would do. She was marked, which helped now, and powerful, but he wondered if a warlock could create another ring to keep her invisible to demons so she could live her own life without him.
His door slammed open and they all turned to see Mr. Knight, his eyes dark and piercing. “Leave.”
The girls scattered, gathering their things before slinking out the door.
Pearce waved goodbye with a coy grin. “Call me!”
“Pearce, that includes you,” Mr. Knight warned. Illya wasn’t even addressed, and it boiled Tensley’s blood as he watched both demons leave the room.
“I don’t have time for lectures,” Tensley said as his finger trailed along the map of New York City.
“The High Court knows.”
Tensley looked up at his father’s immensely tall figure and narrowed his eyes. “Knows what?”
His father’s snarl rattled the glasses filled with whiskey. “That you’re not engaged to a human. You’re engaged to a daemon.”
Mr. Knight’s words were like a stone to the temple. Tensley stood, shaking with rage. “Someone leaked it.”
His father nodded. “Yes. It seems we have a weasel on our hands.” He eyed the map and Tensley’s half-empty glass of whiskey. “That’s not the only reason I came.”
Tensley resisted rolling his eyes.
Mr. Knight handed Tensley a letter with a family crest—the face of Ares—stamped on the fold of the envelope. “Ares wants to discuss the deal.”
“Of course,” he said with a sigh. “Now that they know of her, they know what we’re capable of.” He sighed, rolling his shoulders as the tension built around his neck like a noose. “Fine. Schedule it as soon as possible.”
A rare, wicked smile quirked Mr. Knight’s lips. “We’re hosting them at our summer home in the Hamptons.”
“Fantastic,” Tensley hissed, loosening his tie.
“And they want to meet your fiancée.”
FUCKING HELL.
Tensley paused, scowling as his fingers pulled hard at the buttons at the top of his dress shirt, suffocating him. “She’s a liability.”
His father raised a brow. “She’s your fiancée.” Tensley went to argue, but his father lifted a hand to silence him and moved closer. “She’s the bargaining chip. She’s what they truly want from us. If they see the two of you together—that power—they’ll hand it over without question.”
End of fucking discussion, apparently.
Tensley fisted his hands to keep them from trembling. Trapped with Molly at his family’s home in Sagaponack, pretending to be a happy couple…it was his worst nightmare.
“Fine,” he barked. “I’ll call her. This weekend?”
Mr. Knight nodded as he stepped out. “I’ll see the two of you then.”
Tensley gripped the edge of his desk and snarled. “This is just fucking perfect.”
He palmed his phone and scrolled to find her number, bringing the phone to his ear as it rang. No picture—he didn’t need a reminder of her pretty, deceiving face. The face of the woman who not only had stabbed him in the back, but who had also killed one of his comrades. The woman he had marked and now wished he hadn’t because his beast still stirred for her, still craved her. He was such a fucking fool.
Clearing the thickness in his throat, he waited as it rang.
Just as he went to hang up, her soft voice breathed through the other side. “Hello?”
He swallowed. Then he swallowed again. “Molly.”
“Is everything all right?”
Fucking remember who you are and what she is—a siren, calling you to destroy yourself.
“I’m calling to invite you to the Hamptons this weekend.”
A pause. “Okay…?”
“My family is hosting the Boston counterpart to Scorpios this weekend in the Hamptons. We’ve been trying to negotiate for their territory. The High Court knows of your existence, knows we have a daemon, and now Ares wants to meet you,” he said, voice tight and to the point, leaving no place for any sort of emotion.
She grew terri
bly quiet on the other end.
“Look, if you don’t want to come, I can’t force you, but it would be a great favor, one I’ll return in the future,” he continued, frighteningly formal even to his own ears.
“Tensley,” she said so softly, he barely caught it. She hesitated, the lull in the conversation making his pulse quicken. “Okay.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing the tension from his forehead. Fuck, this girl. This woman. “It is—no one knows anything beyond the fact you’re a daemon. I’ll pick you up at your apartment at five on Friday, so be ready.”
He didn’t wait for her response, instead ending the call and slamming the phone on his desk. He needed to get a grip on himself. If he saw her in front of him and he melted at her presence, he’d be under her control. He would be so blind he wouldn’t see that she would betray him again, or even worse, he’d grow a heart for her. Fuck no. It was his rules, his game, and he’d make sure she understood that any chance of a romantic relationship was over. Their relationship would be purely business from now on. He’d get through the weekend and then avoid her until he knew what to do.
He had given her too much power over him and now he had to take it back. He’d strip her clean and walk away unscathed, back to his true nature.
That of a cruel demon.
EVEN THOUGH SHE’D already organized all her summer dresses and wedges and bathing suits, Molly was still frantic as five o’clock neared that Friday night.
Stella, Tina, and September all sat crammed on her bed as she went through each outfit, offering their thoughts about accessories to match.
Molly fixed the current dress she wore, wiggling her breasts around so they’d stop spilling out of the sweetheart neckline of her top.
“Stop fidgeting,” September scolded, swatting Molly’s hands away from her chest. “I’d kill to have your stripper tits.”
“Agreed,” Stella chimed in.
Molly glared at both of them.
“You need more blush.” Stella waved the brush in front of her face and Molly backed up. “And concealer.”