What on earth was I thinking? What was I, a seven-year-old, knocking on Bratt’s door because I was having nightmares? God, I was ridiculous. But he didn’t even bat an eye. He didn’t even make me talk my foot into my stomach, just held out his strong hand and let me into his room. Now I was in his bed. His huge, insanely comfortable bed. Holy crap, was this what it was like to sleep on a cloud? I’d never been on such a comfortable bed before in my life. I lay down and immediately felt cradled by the soft memory foam and pillowy cushioning beneath me. “You a back sleeper? Side sleeper?” Bratt asked. “Side. Is that okay?” He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “Marley, you know that not every question posed to you is done so to evaluate you, right?” he asked before handing me a pillow. “I just wanted to make sure your pillow was supportive enough.” “Oh, thank you,” I said, accepting the pillow and placing it under my head. He took the other pillow and chucked it off the side of t
“You better eat it before his face melts. Not a pretty sight, trust me,” he said. I took a couple of packets of raw sugar and dumped the contents in my coffee as Bratt set down some cutlery next to my plate. I stirred my coffee with my fork before cutting through a wedge of the pancakes and taking a bite. “Mmm,” I moaned. They were perfectly fluffy, delicately sweet, with a slightly crispy edge. “How do you do that? How do you get them nice and crispy around the edges?” “Butter,” he said. “The low smoke point helps the sugars caramelize. Some people don’t like it, but I prefer it that way.” “I love it,” I said, shoveling another bite into my mouth. I didn’t realize how hungry I actually was until the food started hitting my stomach. Wyatt had always made derogatory jabs when I ate too fast or too much. Little Piggy was a favorite of his. But Bratt didn’t seem to mind as I chowed down. He only leaned against the kitchen island and sipped from a travel mug. When I was nearly don
By the time the school day ended, I felt like a train had hit me. The day had been so long and chock-full of planning and talking. If I wasn’t telling Lana every single anti-climactic detail of my night with Bratt, then I was telling Paulette about the break-in. If I wasn’t doing that, then I was making arrangements with Bratt for the new equipment for the house—including him asking about colors for fixtures he supposedly already had. I didn’t like the idea of him spending money on me, but I tried my best to think of the numerous times he’d promised that he liked taking care of people. Still, Lana’s words—about him never working for free—made me nervous. I hoped I wasn’t writing a check I couldn’t cash. The kids were especially rowdy all day, too. It was a common thing after the first day of school. They’d gotten their nerves out of the way the previous day and were now fearless and confident that they had already learned everything. I’d always taken exception to the idea that teena
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I whined. “Paulette, how could you let me forget?” “Me? You’re the one who is always reminding me of what needs to be done! I could have sworn you knew,” Paulette said. “I’ve been a little distracted,” I said as I frantically labeled multi-colored folders with the names of my students’ parents. “By a hot shifter daddy who wants your gams?” Paulette asked. “By a scary shifter stalker breaking into my house,” I snapped back. “Right,” Paulette said. “Makes sense. Here, tear the list in half, and I’ll do the other ones.” It was lunchtime at POSHA, and the kids were all sitting out on the picnic benches with either their lunch boxes or the trays of lunch the school provided. We had approximately twenty minutes to get all of these folders labeled, stuff them with hastily written teacher bios, come up with an icebreaker game, and figure out what refreshments to offer our parents. It was parents’ night, which usually happened three or four weeks into the school yea
BrattMarley had insisted on going through with parents’ night. Regardless of how much I could see her fear on her face, regardless of how we could all smell it seeping from her pores, she refused to cancel.“Marley,” I’d said, trying to appeal to her sense of reason. “This is a very clear and horrible threat. You need to take it seriously.”She’d only shaken her head. “No, it’s impossible. You beefed up the security. You said yourself that people can only get in with a special code, and I haven’t given that code to anyone, not even Lana. They probably just took the photo the first time they broke in and saved it to try and scare me.”“Do you really want to take that chance?” Paulette had asked, and for the first time, I was grateful for her. I nodded my agreement. “Why don’t you just stay with me or Lana tonight?”“I think that would be a good idea,” I’d said.“Bratt, you were the one who told me that if I cave into these sorts of threats, it’ll only get worse,” she said. “I can’t le
Bratt could go fuck himself.Okay, maybe that was a little strong. But who the hell did he think he was? We’d just had a heart-to-heart about boundaries the night before, and now he was commanding me to let his buddy take me to his house. Trying to force me into taking advantage of someone else’s hospitality? He had no right. I could take care of myself.As we watched Bratt streak into the darkness of the night, I looked over to Paulette. “Don’t call the cops,” I said.“But, the wolf toy,” Paulette said. “What if it’s something serious, Mar?”“The cops aren’t going to do anything, Paulette. Trust me. I have firsthand experience with this. And the last thing I want to hear right now is how this is just a stupid prank, or field questions about my past or my family, or anything like that.”“But—”“Paulette, I am asking you, as my friend, not to call the cops. I’m asking you to respect me enough to listen to what I want.”Paulette frowned at me and set her phone down. “Marley, if somethin
BRATT. “Marley, I’m fine,” I said, pressing a hand to my aching rib. “I’ve got some salve upstairs. I probably just got something lodged in there.” “Lodged in there?!” she cried, and I winced at the high pitch of her voice. An ache was growing in my head, pounding at my temples like a prisoner trying to escape. “Bratt, just how bad was this fight?” “I had to really chase after him, had to kinda barrel into him like a linebacker,” I said through gritted teeth. The second half of the stairs extending ahead of us felt more like a gauntlet than a little stride through my house. It wasn’t so much that I was in enormous amounts of pain, more that the adrenaline of the day was finally beginning to fade and emphasize my injuries. I could feel my lats trembling. Something was definitely stuck in there. Shit. With Marley’s help, I made it to my room. It still smelled of steam and soap from her shower. Even in my woozy haze, I couldn’t help but think of her as she rinsed the fear and trauma
I woke a few hours later to the theme song for Adventure Hour. It startled me. Everything felt too loud, too much.Groaning, I lifted my head from where I’d slumped down onto the couch. I tried to remember falling asleep, tried to remember how I’d gotten into Bratt’s house again. The details came back to me in a slow drip, my brain booting up after the stressful evening. I sat up fully and stretched my arms over my head.The remote was on the coffee table next to the abandoned bowls from the dinner Bratt had made for us. I turned off the television and grabbed up the bowls, carrying them into the kitchen and placing them in the sink. I checked the time on the stove’s digital clock—it was the early hours of the morning. I could still get a few hours of sleep before I had to get up for the day.I rubbed my forehead. I felt like I was forgetting something important.Then it dawned on me that it was Friday night—I wouldn’t have work the next day. The first week of school had put me throug
CILLIAN “You sure you wanna be doing this?” AP asked as he snuffed out the cigar in the ashtray. “I mean, this is kind of permanent.” “It’s already set in stone for me, AP,” I said as I chuckled at his disgruntled expression. “But marriage? Isn’t it enough that you two marked each other? Why you gotta go and get all traditional? Oh, wait, never mind. That’s just who you are.” “What’s the matter, AP? You don’t like my sister?” Aiden asked as he stood before the mirror, fumbling with his bow tie. “You all know what she did to me in tenth grade,” AP grumbled. I laughed. “Still can’t get over the fact that she kicked your ass, huh?” I laughed. “Ciara didn’t kick my ass,” AP insisted. “She cheated. There’s no way a girl of her size could fit that many pies in her little stomach. Losing that contest ruined everything for me.” “Didn’t you end up with Malia a few months ago?” I asked as I stared at myself in the full-length mirror. “Yeah, but I’m not one to settle. Everyone knows tha
“This is nice, isn’t?” Laya asked as we waited outside the Picasso. I couldn’t help but smile as Laya looked over the menu posted on the wall. “Really, when was the last time we got to do this with just us girls? It seems like we’re always stuck with one of the guys, you know?” “Never,” Sam said as she checked her watch. “Do we know when Melody and Kenzie are going to get here? I’m starving,” I said as my stomach started to grumble. “Kenzie said she’d be here around six thirty the last time I talked with her,” Sam said. “Isn’t that them over there?” Daisy asked. I turned my attention toward the walkway and smiled as Kenzie and Melody stepped off the escalator. “Hey!” Melody shouted as she rushed through the crowd. “What took you so long?” Laya asked as Kenzie threw her arm around my neck and gave me a tight hug. “Traffic,” Melody answered. “But damn, this place is nice.” “Wait five minutes and the Bellagio fountains will start,” I said as I released Kenzie to hug Melody. “I’m
CILLIAN “Holden,” I snapped. “Yeah, I heard,” Holden said as he scrambled to disconnect from the system. I pulled him away from the system and shoved him toward the door. We did not need to get arrested for trespassing. “AP, Laya! Torque, Hatchett!” I called over my shoulder, hoping they heard me. I spotted AP and Laya rushing around from the back of the house. Their shadows bobbed through the broken windows. “We’re right behind you,” Torque called. I took a moment to glance over my shoulder and take one last look at the destruction. Everything was so surreal. It was as if the place had been in a war zone. The stench of death lingered in the air, but I knew it had nothing to do with the Corpse Lily. I was smelling what remained of Colleen and Tippy. “Pick up the pace,” Torque snapped as he rushed by me with Hatchett on his heels. We made it outside, and I glanced to the west. The clouds of dust coming off the tires grew as my heart drummed violently in my chest. “Take the back
Igasped and shot up. The room was pitch black, and my heart pounded fiercely in my chest. “Hey, you okay?” Cillian asked as he shot up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Relief came over me when I realized I wasn’t dreaming anymore. I was safe and all was well. “Yeah,” I said. “Just a strange dream.” “Come here,” Cillian said as he lay back down. “Come sleep on me. I promise I’ll protect you from those bad dreams.” A smile drifted over my lips as I scooted down into the nook of his arm. He was so warm and comforting, it amazed me that he could banish the bad thoughts in my mind so easily. “What did you dream about? Or do you not want to tell me?” Cillian asked as he played with the tips of my hair. “It was weird. I was back at the sacred oak tree, and it looked sick, like it was dying.” “That’s not a good sign,” Cillian whispered. “But then the red fog came through and I was rescued by Preacher in a chopper.” “What, I don’t get a cameo in your dreams?” Cillian teased as he h
CILLIAN The gentle knock on the hotel door roused me from my sleep. Pins and needles plagued the arm Ciara was sleeping on. Carefully, I slipped my arm out from under Ciara’s head and nudged her to the pillow. It had been more than a rough night, and I couldn’t bear the thought of having the maid wake her. Slipping the sheets off me, I let my legs fall over the edge of the bed. Ever so slightly, I got up, keeping one eye on Ciara and praying she wouldn’t wake. As quickly as I could, I moved to the door and peeked through the crack. “Housekeeping,” the woman said. “We’re good,” I answered. Before she could say another word, I closed the door and exhaled. Ciara stirred, and I held my breath, hoping she wouldn’t wake up. She had been through so much; I just wanted her to get some sleep. “Cillian?” Ciara’s voice was tired and muffled. For a moment, I wondered if she were asleep or awake. Tiptoeing to her, I craned my neck to spy on her as she slept. A sensation of peace washed over m
Cillian growled in my ear, drowning out the clinking and clanging as we moved through the casino. It was amazing that we got anywhere at all with the way he refused to let me go. Every fifth step, I found myself caving to Cillian’s needs. “What if I took you right here and now?” His lips brushed against my neck as he spoke. My skin tingled as his hot breath caressed my skin. “You just want the hot waitress to watch us, don’t you?” I asked as Cillian pinned my arm over my head and kissed me. “No,” he growled and pinned my arm against the slot machine. The old woman playing at the machine gasped as she sent us a disapproving look. I flashed her a smile, wondering if she had ever experienced the kind of passion I had. “You’re the only one I need,” Cillian said. “The only woman who could ever sate me. Don’t you know that it’s only ever been you?” With my free hand, I grabbed his hair and jerked his head back. A small whimper escaped his lips, and it pleased me to hear his soft seduct
CILLIAN “Are we ready?” I asked as I walked into the Las Lobos Cantina where Torque and Blue were chilling at the bar. It seemed as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Of course, I knew where they stood when it came to Colleen’s safety, but I’d figured they’d be more excited now that we were so close to finally getting rid of the Raze. “Easy there, tiger,” Torque said as he patted the empty chair next to him. “Have a drink. We can’t do anything until we get word from Hatchett. He’s doing recon for us and will be back any minute.” I exhaled sharply, trying to ignore the itching in my limbs. It seemed as if a storm was coming with how much electricity was coursing through my veins. Sitting around and waiting had never been my strong suit. Frustration bubbled and brewed within me, but I wasn’t on my turf anymore; I couldn’t call the shots. “Fine, I’ll have a drink,” I conceded and marched over to join Blue and Torque. “What’s your poison?” the woman behind the bar asked. I tilt
Ilet out a heavy sigh as I stepped into my old office. It seemed as if it been forever since I was last here, yet everything was exactly as I remembered it. There were papers stacked on the desk that I hadn’t looked at in months, and a thin layer of dust covered the bookshelves. I moved around the office, reminiscing about all the things I had collected here. My heart drummed in my chest as I caught a glimpse of the picture I had of Cyrus. The pain nearly crippled me as I plucked the picture off my desk and stared at it. It was like it was another life. Everything from who I dated to what I did had changed. I was no longer Sia—that girl had died the second I decided to go back to Moon Valley. I just hadn’t realized it until this very moment. I moved around the desk and sat down. Running my fingers over the mahogany wood, I couldn’t help but think of all the times I had given orders here. How many lives had been saved because I had created this company? It was a noble cause, and some
CILLIAN The tension in my shoulders that had only just vanished returned in an instant, bringing with it a hellish headache. Just when I thought we were in the clear… I should have known something was going to happen. The echo in my bones rattled my consciousness. Ciara and I couldn’t get a moment’s respite. “What’s going on, Sam?” I asked into the walkie. “It’d be best if you came to the Crescent Falls Motel,” Sam said in a grave voice. “We’ll be there in five,” I answered and clicked the button three times before setting it down. “Well? How do you feel about checking this out?” All the color had drained out of Ciara’s face. The worry etched on her brow filled me with a murderous rage, but it was the devastation in her gaze that really ripped me to shreds. “I promised Colleen nothing would happen to her. I put her in the most secure room we have,” Ciara said. “How did this happen?” “The only way to get answers to that question is by going to the motel,” I answered as I grabbe