Page 157 of Drown My Sorrow

Shivers break out along my spine.

“If you insist.”

I reach out and take Kelly’s hand while we watch him stalk from the room. He doesn’t even stop to talk to the few people who try to talk to him.

Bailey reemerges and stands there, rubbing his chin.

I glance at him, wondering what’s going through his head, but judging by the dark gleam in his eyes, I don’t want to know.

Bailey doesn’t scare me, no, he’s too much like the Daane for that, but he makes me wary. He doesn’t play by the same polite rules as the rest of the Raines, and I don’t know if he has any allegiance to anyone else but himself and anarchy.

“Okay, now we go out and see if we can sway their minds,” Ezy murmurs.

The three of them wade into the throng of people while I stay at the fringes where I belong.

There’s a feeling that I can’t exactly place. It’s annoyance and aggression, like I’ve been listening to someone scratch their fingernails down a chalkboard for too long. It’s a buzzing in my ears that is giving me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I had the same feeling when I came home and found my mother gone.

“My mother would come home drunk from the pub and would tell me she wished I’d died and not my sister or father. She would say it while she was crying, and she would mean it.”

Bailey reappears by my side.

“I knew she meant it. I could feel her intent, and it’s the same with Typhor. He’s not going to go quietly.”

“No, but if he did, it wouldn’t be as much fun, would it?” Bailey snickers.

I get the impression that he’s as stressed here as the rest of us.

Shale passes me a drink from the other side. “He won’t hurt you.”

I want to argue with him and tell him you can hurt people in lots of different ways, but I keep my lips pressed together, watching all the beautiful people circulating.

“Come with me,” Shale murmurs.

Shale makes a motion with his hand, and when I glance to the left, I find Kelly making a beeline towards us.

They lead me to a section of the room and then simply step behind the wall. I gape and then walk around, finding a thin area that is almost perfectly concealed for someone to escape through a doorway.

As soon as I’m in, Kelly grabs me and moves me up against the wall, face first. I can see everyone.

“Look at them out there having a wonderful time.”

“Let's make it so you can have a wonderful time, too,” Shale murmurs.

My dress is unzipped and thrown away. Then my panties and bra.

Shale mouths the back of my neck.

“Hands on the wall, Omega.”

I lift my hands and put them on the wall.

“Good. Now keep your eyes on everyone.”

Kelly moves behind me and lifts me on a step. I gasp as now I feel like everyone can see me from the stomach up. And yet, excitement sizzles in my blood.

Kelly fingers me, pressing his long digits in.

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