Page 32 of Illusory

Crossing the kitchen, I pulled open the fridge door and searched for something that wasn’t expired or completely covered in mold to eat. Spotting some bread at the back of the top shelf, I surmised that it looked more or less edible and then grabbed two slices from the bag along with a jar of peanut butter before kicking the fridge door shut with my foot.

“Need a hand with that?” asked a honeyed voice from the doorway.

11. WHEN DARKNESS COME CALLING

Of course, I knew it was Dominic even before I turned and looked at him. The sound of his voice had all but imprinted itself into the very strands of my DNA, long before I’d bothered to pay attention to it. As per his usual, he was wearing his signature, all-black attire and crooked grin, standing with his arms crossed along his chest as he leaned against the door jamb like he’d been there all along, patiently waiting for me to notice him.

As if Dominic Huntington could ever go unnoticed, but that was completely beside the point.

The point was, I hadn’t seen or heard from him since he’d walked out on me last night and while I had to admit that he looked particularly mouthwatering from my current vantage point, I refused to allow myself to feel anything but slighted at the sight of him. The asshole hadleftme. Walked out on me when I’d needed him the most.

Of all the people I’d expect that from, Dominic wouldn’t have even made the short list.

Then again, that was allbefore. Before my birthright decided to bust out of my back in the form of two feathered appendages. Before his emotions had been shut off by his maniacal sire.Before…when I knew exactly who he was and how he felt about me. Lord only knew where the two of us stood now.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. All-Nighter,” I greeted sourly as I dragged my gaze away from him and tossed the bread and peanut butter jar down onto the kitchen island. “How nice ofyou to grace me with your presence.”

Okay, so that probably wasn’t themost matureway to start the conversation, especially since I wasn’t even sure whether I was dealing with regular Dominic or emotionless Dominic, but it was late, and I was still pissed off as hell.

“Mr. All-Nighter?” he echoed, sounding wholly amused by the nickname, which wassonot the sentiment I was going for. “Did you come up with that all on your own, love?”

I cut him a quick glare from over my shoulder. “It was a tossup between that and dickhole. I’m starting to think I should have went with the latter, though.”

His smirk pulled up into a full-bodied grin. “Is that right? Pray tell, what made you change your mind?”

“It just feels more fitting now that I’m standing in the room with you. Don’t you think?”

“It does have a certain ring to it,” he agreed.

My lame attempt at riling him up really wasn’t having the effect I was going for, and it was only making the tightness in my chest feel worse. “I’m really glad you find this all so amusing, Dominic,” I said as I plastered on a wintry smile. “I was honestly worried you may have lost your humor right along with all your other feelings, but lucky for us, that emotion seems to have been spared.”

He touched his palm to his heart, feigning hurt. “Hitting below the belt, are we?”

I supposed that I was, but I wasn’t sure how else to get my point across. He’d left me without so much as a phone call or text, only to show up twenty-four hours later like nothing happened—likewenever happened—and I was definitelyway inmy feelings about it. As much as I wanted to demand an explanation from him, to demand that he tell me where we stood, I was just too much of a chicken to come right out and say it.

Because what if he didn’t love me anymore?

What if his feelings for mehadchanged?

I could handle a lot of things—bad news, bad prophecies, even a pair of big, black feathered wings. I’d take it on the chin and roll with it, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to handlethat. Not yet anyway. I haven’t had enough time to build that kind of wall around my heart yet.

I met his eyes again, searching for something recognizable. “Where have you been?” I asked softly. As small and pitiful as my voice had sounded, I’d hoped a direct question might yield a better result from him.

He pushed off the wall and slowly prowled toward me, looking like a fine piece of art set to offer itself up to the highest bidder. Something inside me wanted to sell my soul for a taste, but I rammed that slutty bitch back down into the murky depths of my belly. “Why? Did you miss me?” he asked coolly.

The cavalier manner with which he spoke to me—looked at me—sparked something angry inside me. “I bet you’d just love that, wouldn’t you? Me sitting here all night, pining for you while you’re out doing god knows what.”

“Not hardly,” he said, slowing his stride as he passed behind me.

My body shivered at his proximity, yearning to fall back into his arms and let his darkness consume me as it had so many times before. It had always been easier that way with Dominic—better. My darkness rising up to meet his, tit for tat, like a game of chess that neither of us were ever going to win.

But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction tonight.

“Well, good, because I wasn’t. I managed to do just fine today without you.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second.”

“Better than fine actually. I did amazing.” Okay so thatwasn’treallythe truth or anything close to it, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him know that.

---