Page 114 of The Devils They Are

Sleep has been hard to come by lately, but in Tai's bed, I took the best nap of my life. The only reason we ended up moving was to shower and join Mary for dinner—because fuck missing out on her awesome cooking. Soph seemed a bit bewildered to see me there—probably since I had just admitted to the whole school, well both schools, that I was banging Rylan. And now here I was, hanging out with her brother. Well… that's the story I went with. It's the tame version at least.

Not much gets past that girl. I was a bit worried how that conversation would go down, but whenever Mary left the room, Soph would make sexual innuendo jokes at the pair of us. So, safe to say she's notthatupset about it. If anything, I've given her enough ammo to tease me for the rest of the school year. I'm sure she'll bring it up tonight in one way or another, but that's a problem for near-future Bexley. At the moment, she's in my good books, so I'll let her taunt me, since she paid for my dress against my will.

I'm just hoping that she doesn't bring it up in front of Abby. I doubt she'd care or have a problem with it, but she's too innocent to be corrupted by my antics. And now I'm stuck picturing her and Arch in kink outfits. Fucking hell.

"Stay still. I don't want to get anything in your eye," Soph directs, tugging on my hair.

"This is going to be fixable, right?" I eye her through the mirror, tensing as she applies more bleach to the ends of my hair.

She raises an eyebrow, attention locked on her hairdressing skills. "Well, if your hair wasn't purple this would be a little easier. But don't be surprised when you love it," she says in a sing-song voice.

"I have the boxes!" Abby announces, strolling into Soph's private bathroom. "This is going to be amazeballs."

"Well, at least one of you has faith in me," Soph grumbles, making me laugh.

Abby stands beside her, playing with the other side of my head. "If she can make her ends pink, she can do yours too."

"I'm all about the pink bits," Soph replies with a grin. "Like someone else."

She meets my gaze in the mirror, biting her bottom lip to stop herself from cackling.

"Shut up,Sophie," I tease.

"Oof. Playing with fire. You're game to make a death wish while I'm applying chemicals to your head."

"I'm all about the thrills in life."

Dumping the box on the basin, Abby fluffs her hair with a smile. "Save some of that aggression for the dance, you pair. If I have any chance of getting Sagg on the dance floor, I have to make it there first and not be witness to a double homicide."

In the evening light, there's a slight charm about Willowbrook. Maybe because it's partially hidden by the dark and for a moment, I can pretend I'm not in hell.

The four of us walk into the auditorium, eyebrows raised at the in full swing dance.

Hundreds of red lights have been strung around, making the room glow eerily. Bodies are pressed together on the dance floor in the middle of the room while large circular tables line the walls. We manage to find a free one, sliding into the seats while music booms from the stereo loudly.

Black silk cloths lay over the tables, with red LED candles lingering in the middle. The entire roof is covered with floating balloons, their latex skin reflecting strobe lights that slowly project Bat signals around the room.

As soon as we sit down, I hear Abby turning on the charm, begging Arch to go dance. Cruella in her pink dress manages to persuade him in record time, and I muffle a laugh as his eyes shoot me a cry for help. The themed attire of the dance doesn't help his cause as I watch Cruella drag a terrified Magneto into the crowd of people.

Soph suddenly fans out her dress around her, nervously adjusting the bust. Instinctively, I glance around, amused when I find Parker standing in a dark corner, scowling at the crowd of dancers with a drink in his hand. Turning to her, I raise an eyebrow. "Are you getting turned on by Lex Luthor's presence?"

She freezes, eyes blowing wide. "I didn't do anything."

"Just go talk to him," I laugh. "Do you want me to take you over there?"

"Would you?" she whimpers. "I promise to fix your hair if you do."

Shaking my head, I stand, holding out my hand for her. She did a fucking good job, and she knows it. After lightening up the tips, she applied bright pink dye, before adding a few streaks of the same color throughout my head. It's not exactly Harley Quinn hair, but it's close enough. The multi-colored strands are tied into two pigtails and together, the colors are just chef's kiss. But this is her version of bribery, so I'm rolling with it.

Even though she takes my hand, I practically have to drag her over to Parker. He notices us coming, offering a tight smile.

"Bexley," he greets warmly before turning to my cowering companion. "Soph."

"Dance with the Evil Queen. Please and thanks," I say, yanking her arm forward to jerk her hand into his.

Before either of them can speak, I turn on my heel with a shit-eating grin and head back to the table. Only when I'm sat back down do I dare a glance, pleased when I see them heading to the dance floor nervously, like the two introverts they are. You'd think they were on their way to be sacrificed by the looks of horror on their faces. But despite being uncomfortable at the concept of whipping out some moves in front of their peers, their obvious attraction to each other seems to override it.

I scan the room curiously, checking out everyone's costumes when I pass a faceless body staring at me. I double back, snorting as I push off my chair and make a beeline for him.

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