Page 100 of Dance With A Devil
Of course she did.
“Thanks,” I say tightly, jaw flexing as I take in the sight of her resting against him. My girl. My fucking Little Fox.
“I found her earlier,” I add, voice rough. “Curled up on the damn floor. Crying. I didn’t even notice the storm until I heard her.”
“She’s been through hell,” Karter replies, not even looking at me. His eyes stay on her like he sees something the rest of the world missed. “Dreams still got their claws in her.”
My palms go slick. I wipe them down my jeans to hide the shaking in my hands.
What was she dreaming about?
Whatmemoriestore her apart?
I don’t know how to fix this. I don’t know if I even can.
“She needs Gaia. Josie.” I finally admit, words tearing out of me like confessions I was too stubborn to speak. “She’s trying to hold it together, but I see the cracks. What if my father poisoned her so deep, she can’t crawl out of it? What if she’s already too far gone?”
Karter sighs. “Then we drag her back. Kicking. Screaming. Bleeding if we have to. That’s the deal, isn’t it? We take care of our own. And she’s ours now.”
That last part,she’s ours,lodges somewhere inside me. Not because it isn’t true.
But because it is.
“She’s the beginning,” he continues, voice lower now. “The piece that’ll set everything on fire. We change everything with her.”
I look down at her. Peaceful now. Breathing even. Hands curled like she’s clinging to something good for once.
She doesn’t even realize she’s already the storm that’s going to break every goddamn thing wide open.
“It’s almost morning,” I mutter, exhaling hard. “We should try to get some sleep. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I’ve set things in motion. Halloween party. Next month. Baker’s Field Mill.”
Karter glances up. The smirk on his face is sharp enough to draw blood.
“Time for the Devils to come out and play, huh?”
I give him a look.
He howls anyway. Loud as hell.
Then remembers himself. “Sorry.Fuck yeah,” he whispers this time, the smirk twitching at his mouth.
I shake my head, exasperated, but not really. We’re all unhinged in our own ways.
Karter shifts, settling back against the headboard, and Athens doesn’t move an inch. Still draped over him like she belongs.
I look away, until something tugs around my waist.
Her hand.
Even in her sleep, she reaches for me.
That one small pull undoes something brutal inside me.
I turn back, and she’s smiling.
A real one.
Soft. Safe. Like we’re enough to keep her from falling apart. And maybe we are. Just maybe.
