Date = 31 OctoberPlace = San Francisco (paintball place)POV - MelaenaA loud noise judders me to close my ears with my hands. It’s the siren signaling a win. Somebody grabbed a flag. I quickly look over, and then a big smile spreads across my face. Luke is jumping up and down, wildly waving the green flag through the air. I remove my hands slowly, letting them fall down my sides.We won!Jackson stops shooting his brother and Ilkay jumps up from his hiding place and slowly walks over to us with Enrique in tow.“Congratulations.” He intentionally hits Damion on his back, knowing it must hurt like shit. Then he sees the paint marks covering my front and his eyes turn dark. A cameraman is standing close by, recording our win. It must be the one lucky dude Kiara was talking about.“Who the bloody hell shot you like that?” Enrique seems angry and it’s ironic because just a few moments ago he was the one shooting at me.“Chloe went all out killer crazy … emptied her gun on her,” Kiara expl
Date = 31 OctoberPlace = San Francisco (Reaper venue)POV - DamionI think I fucked up again.How is it that I could swirl on two wheels at over 220 miles an hour around a track, but I can’t scrape together enough courage to speak to the one person who means the most to me?“We’re very proud of you, son,” Dad says. Mom just smiles.“Thanks. I love you guys to bits.”“Right back at you, champ.” My father winks at me and leads his wife to their table. They’re sitting with Uncle John, Dean, and some other high-and-mighties that in one way or another, form part of our team.I throw back the cloak of my grim reaper suit, feeling the material scrape against my bruised back, and sit down at my assigned spot at our table, next to Ilkay, all dressed up in bloody scrubs as a mad doctor.“Hey, dude,” Axel, a werewolf, opposite me says, “Nice body paint.” I look down at my exposed torso, professionally painted along with my face, to look like a skeleton, up to where it disappears into some black
Date = 31 OctoberPlace = San Francisco (Reaper venue)POV - DamionI swing her playfully onto the dance floor, turn, and come face-to-face with the 5-foot-4, heart-stopping, stubborn-as-hell beauty as we wait for the music to start.You hurt me you did … Several timesIt hurts to admit that we’re no different … I find it hard to commitBut you don’t even tryStill, I’m better with than without youI pull her tight. She closes her eyes, sucks in a breath, and leans into me — as if it’s an extremely difficult thing to do. Her breasts brush against my chest, her thighs to mine, and everything in between connects, as we slide over the floor.“Culture Code,” she says. “Did you choose the song?” A loose long blonde strand of her hair gets stuck to my stubble.“Yes.” I feel odd. And a fuckload of other things — breathless, anxious, hot, frightened, excited, arrhythmic, drunk, restless — but talkative is not one of them. As we dance, the tight black dress offers peek-a-boo hints of some red l
Date = 5 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Stanford) and San Jose (Santana Row)POV - Melaena“My brother was released from hospital this morning —” I break off and shake my head. Not quite right. I tighten my grip on the backpack I’m hugging tightly to my chest.“I fell my ass off right in front of one of the hottest men in the world, who just happens to be the dog trainer of the team —” Nope, even worse.“Prof, have I told you that you’re my most favorite —” No one likes a suck-up. Even if it’s the truth. Anne Jones, a lady in her fifties with the language skills of a 16-year-old, and the scorn of Dolores Umbridge when you get on her wrong side, really is my favorite professor.Why am I so tense? I was only 10 minutes late for class. I’m sure she’s not going to let me write out ‘I should not be late’ a hundred times with a magical quail. I rub my knuckles in anticipation, clear my throat, and knock on the door.“Come in!”I slowly open the door a few inches and peep around it. She’s on
Date = 5 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Inferno)POV - MelaenaA neon sign lights up above us. INFERNO. I drive around the building to the private parking area at the back. Inferno has three entrances … the front, for anybody … but being underage I can’t go in there. The club’s bouncers are extremely strict and thorough — even with me.Then there’s the VIP entrance on the side. To get in there you need to be a somebody … and not just any somebody … one of the very special somebodies that are important enough to qualify for a special disk. Without the disk, you’ll have to wait in line like anybody else.And then there’s the third entrance … the one I’m heading to know. This one requires another disk … the closed-circle one — for family and friends only. This disk opens a gate to a private underground parking area with a staircase leading straight to the VIP section on the second floor. The only area, except for the restaurant, where I’m allowed to go — yet.I park the car and Lucinda’s
Date = 6 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Paws and Claws)POV - MelaenaDamion took me home.The thought is trying to sink into my hangover tequila brain. At this very moment, it’s all working against me … the shame, the headache, the nausea, the lack of sleep, my annoying friend … and it all combines to leave me cranky and yearning for my bed.I’m contemplating turning around and running back to bed and never getting out of it again.And the sunglasses are not helping. The sun is so bright and the sky so blue, a pleasant wind blowing through my hair — I feel like punching the heartwarming day in the face, grabbing it by its ear, and beating the shit out of it until its heart is a little less warm.“You look like shit.” Of course, Kiara will disapprove of my current state. You would not catch her dead in public looking like this — jeans, a hoodie, and unbrushed hair bundled in a crow nest on my head, held in place with a clip. And no makeup.Too bad. She forced me out of bed this mornin
Date = 6 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Mel’s house)POV - DamionBANG BANG BANG“Go left,” Logan shouts, “we’ll attack from two sides.” I move my man to the left.THUD I’m hit.“Fuck.” I duck my man behind an old car, trying to find the shooter.BOOM BOOM“It’s Sean … on that building,” I say.“Keep him busy. I’m going in.”I shoot to cover Logan so he can take out Sean.BANG BANG BANG BANG“Holy fuck!” Someone touches my shoulder.I jerk and crank my neck, at the same time pulling off my headset. It’s Mel. She’s home. My mouth moves into an automatic grin.Because of this planned game date, I was forced to leave her with that stuck-up trainer. The one that makes my gut turn. But now she’s here.Logan notices her “Wait, guys, girl in the house. I’m going to pause,” he says into his mic and then he removes his headset as well.“Hi, Sis, you’re home.” He says in the sweetest voice he can master.“What are you doing in my house?” she pries, crossing her arms. Her eyes are balls of fire
Date = 7 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Mel’s house) (Scoma’s Restaurant)POV - Melaena“Ouch,” I grimace as I lift the razor. Blood trickles from just below my knee where I nicked myself with the blade. I hate shaving my legs, but I hate waxing even more. Carefully I glide the razor over my knee, removing the last bit of golden hair. I rinse it away under the tap.Now for under my arms.I wipe the steam from the mirror and stare at myself. My intestines pull into a knot as I look into my own eyes, trying to ignore the message my ‘windows to the soul’ portray back to me. My deepest, darkest secrets; the ones I’m desperately hiding from everybody — including myself — I have more feelings in my right tiny toenail for the devil I hate, than I have for the guy who is picking me up later.How messed up is that? And what’s more, I want that devilish naked body sprawled over mine. That there is not just messed up, it’s juiced up crazy.And even worse is that the devil was right. I do want a
Date = 1 September (about 1 year later)Place = San Francisco (Grimm house)Melaena Blackburn = 21 years oldDamion Grimm = 22 years oldXamos = 1 year old (born 15 August the previous year)(You get to meet the little girls Leyla, Lili, and River in Book 2) (Ethan is Thalia’s little 10 year old brother)POV – DamionDamion: I’m sure that from lack of use, my sperm grew legs and looks like frogs instead of tadpoles! But it’s gonna be fixed before the night is over (winking-face emoji)(hot-pepper emoji)(eggplant emoji)I touch my crotch with a groan, abstinence from Mel is definitely not my thing. These last weeks have been torture, being in bed next to the woman of my dreams, and the closest I got to touch her was a hug. Fuck, a day without sex with Mel is a fudging long time, two weeks is a fudging excruciating fierce eternity … a month … that’s just plain torturing hell.These four weeks without sex were even worse than the six I had to wait after the baby was born.This no-sex shit
Date = 15 August (about 6 months later) = Enrique’s wedding (Book 2)Place = San Francisco (where the haunted house was)POV - Damion“Hey, son, where is Mel … she needs to get dressed?” Judging by the sound of her voice, Mom is panicking. Why is everyone so on edge? I mean, since we left the club Enrique phoned once … the other bridesmaids three times … and this must be Mom’s fifth call. Hell, it’s just a wedding. And not ours. And there’s still time.“We’re still at the building site …” I calmly explain … again. “We got what we came for.” And what we came for is a tiny piece of blue jewelry… for the bride.Mel got a blue angel charm to hang on her new sister-in-law’s bracelet today as her ‘something blue’. And apparently, it’s very important — a crucial part of the wedding. And that would be why we are back here at the haunted house construction site instead of getting ready at Inferno.“We’ll be there,” I pause slightly to calculate the time it will take us to get there, “in about t
Date = 14 FebruaryPlace = San Francisco (different places)POV - MelaenaI rush through the door of his house with my 3 followers to see Luke’s face lighting up from the exact sofa where the experiment took place.He jumps up and down excitedly before literally throwing me the next clue. Damn, will I ever get used to the Grimm boys and their wild ways? All 3 of them are over-energetic cocky bouncing blobs of sexy cuteness. I wonder how poor Haley manages sometimes. Does she ever get tired?I know for a fact that Luke got called into the principal’s office twice this week alone, and his brother was no better when he was in school. And as far as I understand from Alejandro’s stories, he too was the same.But right now the littlest devil’s naughty hazel eyes are waiting anxiously for me to open the envelope.I know you're hungry – go grab some food at the place where I declared my love openly for you in a song – and where you called my name. “Let me guess — we’re going to have lunch at
Date = 14 FebruaryPlace = San Francisco (different places)POV - MelaenaSuddenly the looming darkness of the house we’ve just stopped at is not that dark anymore.I know the things and lives we’ve lost here will always leave a hole. My hand rubs over my tummy. But the sadness will go away … we all have a bright future ahead … a wonderful happy one.I will help every San Francisco boy to find happiness and a love that can heal them. A love like ours. But knowing my boys it’s not going to be an easy task.A red fire truck from Station 34 is parked next to the house and the men are standing around as if they’re waiting for us.“Can I have the keys to the car?” one fireman asks politely. Alejandro hands it over, knowing that he must be working with Axel.“I’ll make sure to get it back to your place.” He walks away and I’m not sure how we’re going to get back to my place, but it seems that at least Kiara’s car will make it there.I walk through the weathered door to find Jackson sitting o
Date = 14 FebruaryPlace = San Francisco (graveyard)POV - MelaenaI shift my legs into a more comfortable position where I sit on the freshly-planted green grass covering the small heap of the grave site, and then I place the red flowers against the newly erected marble tombstone. A few tears roll down my cheek and I wipe them away anxiously with my hand. I didn’t know it was possible to feel so devastatingly sad losing someone you didn’t even truly know. Fudge jackets, it’s so unfair.Hatred for Harry, for Darren, for Lucinda … for the whole fudge-upped Brown family … boils through me. But most of all I hate my grandfather. How can one person be so cruel? Even after Alejandro explained that Alexander must have been a psychopath, someone without any feelings, I still can’t comprehend it totally.I put my hand against the cold stone that’s now the only indication of the life that was lost and buried deep in the earth underneath. And for what? Revenge? Money? Power?And in the end, Harr
Date = 23 JanuaryPlace = San Francisco (UCSF Mission Bay Medical)POV – MelaenaLike a black-and-white movie in color, I see Kiara smile at me, holding a picture in her hands. I don’t want to look at it, but I can’t seem to look away. Her mouth moves but no words come out. A blob on the gray picture starts beating in rhythm with the noise in my ears. A heartbeat. A baby. My baby. Damion’s baby.Beep! Beep! Beep! I open my eyes. A green light blinks … on; off; on; off.It’s bothersome. A turn signal. The car rolls, tumbles, crashes … the indicator light flashes alone in the darkness. The air is voided with sound. I scream for help but it’s only in my head, no sound escapes. Through the shattered window I see a man standing in the shadows, like a ghost, watching … his face locked in terror, his gray eyes filled with guilt. It’s dad.Beep! Beep! Something drips on the bonnet of the car like single drops of rain. Blood. My father is standing next to the wreckage, his face full of pain,
Date = 21 January (late at night)Place = San Francisco (UCSF Mission Bay Medical)POV - Damion“Get Dr. Burden on the phone, now!” My aching head lifts a fraction from my knees on hearing Doc Barney’s voice. He is standing at the nursing station a few feet from my chair. Something in his posture alerts my non-functioning brain as he takes the phone over the counter.“Dr. Burden? Doc Barney from ER. Melaena Blackburn is here — level 2, your name is on her chart and listed as her main care provider. Anything I need to know?” He rambles the information off.He looks confused and surprised, pouting his mouth.“Neh!” he shouts out in shock. Something is off.His eyes that land on me, accusingly, mixed with confusion and worry, confirm the dread that sparks through my body. A spark that, at this point in time, I wish would electrocute itself and die out because I’m done. I’m so fucking done.I want to shout at him, but my tongue is stuck to the top of my mouth and all I can do is stare back
Date = 21 JanuaryPlace = San Francisco (Haunted house)POV - DamionGuppy winks secretly at me before he slams the door of the van closed. They’ve handed me over to two other gang members, looking like Homer-Simpson-twins. I adjust my hands behind my back slightly, making sure the loose ropes don’t fall off prematurely and ruin the plan. Turning my head to the right I give the guy my cockiest lopsided grin, the one that makes girls weak in the knees and wet between the legs. Guess it won’t have quite the same effect here though.I watch as the van drives off, and my smile turns slightly sinister. I hope the meeting between the boys and our new allies works as planned.But even though I know they’re ready to infiltrate the house at any moment, I’m not totally relaxed — I have a bad omen about all this. I need to play my part collectively … no place for errors. I need to create a distraction so the boys can move in secretly. It’s probably the only advantage we have …“So do you guys wat
Date = 21 JanuaryPlace = San Francisco (Uncle John’s house)(Opera House)POV - Damion“Let’s get ready, guys,” Uncle John shouts as soon as we walk through the hermetic sliding door of the underground bunker.Uncle John shouts out orders at the people working down here with some sophisticated equipment any spying agency will kill to have … all part of Blackburn Inc. Jesse goes to a high-tech computer area to get acquainted with the other nerds who are going to help track us.“Guys, grab some clothes,” Logan points to a large walk-in room filled with tactical clothing — in black, navy, gray, brown, camo, and dark green — complete with every possible extra you can think of. We quickly suit up.“You all know that the company created this new tracking device. You spray it onto the skin and it leaves an invisible tracker that makes it possible to locate the person for at least two days. It’s some next-level outer-space shit this,” Logan explains, walking around the room spraying all of us