Page 59 of Grotesque
“Sweet Sorcha, will you come with me to Underland?”
Iran my fingers over the still throbbing cut on the back of my neck as I watched Corban order us a round of drinks. He had asked methatquestion, and I hadn’t been able to give him an answer. Instead, I had dragged him into the closest bar I could find and ordered two shots. Both of which I took for myself.
The idea of Underland – notUndalandas Rosaline had thought – of fae, sounded absolutely insane. Not that I knew much about it with how secretive Corban was. But if the realm was anything like him then it had to be incredible. Beautiful. Ethereal. Dripping in magic.
Yet I knew some things were too good to be true. That was the other side of the coin. Beauty was often a disguise to hide the ugliness and evil that lurked beneath. And I knew Corban wasn’t good, not even a little bit. I told myself that I’d only warmed to him in the first place because of howphysicallygood he mademe feel. How worshipped. It wasn’t until today that I’d felt the tug of other emotions, when he’d fawned over me. And why wouldn’t he fawn? I had given him something no one ever had.
I needed to learn why he had been cursed and the truth of what had happened to Rosaline. To Grandma Macky and everyone in between. I’d be an idiot to trust him blindly after all the games he had forced me into.
A woman’s shrill laugh from across the room jarred me from my thoughts. She was standing in front of Corban, nervous energy radiating off her ridiculously quaffed blonde waves as she prattled on about something. Hunger filled Corban’s gaze when he tipped his head down toward her, eyes narrowed. My heart lurched, but this wasn’t anything to be jealous over. The hunger reflecting in his eyes was pure animal, there was nothing lustful in his gaze. Corban wanted to eat her.
“Sorcha!”
Oh fuck me.I turned just as Corban’s head snapped in my direction.
Quint threw out his arms, his navy t-shirt stretching across his chest. “Hey.” He grinned. “It’s good to see you.”
Panic alarms blared inside my head. They were so loud I couldn’t hear anything he was saying. This was bad. This was really bad, and about to get a thousand times worse the moment Corban came over.
As if in answer to my rising alarm, a wall of jealous fury slammed into me.
“I see you got my text.”
I turned, scanning for the grotesque over my shoulder, but he was gone. The woman he had been speaking to twirled the straw in her drink. She swiped her free hand over a glistening droplet on her cheek, took a deep breath and looked up, blinking quickly like she was fighting back tears.
If Corban was the reason for her tears, she was lucky all he did was hurt her feelings.
“What text?” I licked my lips. Corban should have been impossible to miss. He was taller than everyone else here with a face that could have been slapped on the cover of every romance book ever published.
“I asked if you wanted to meet here tonight. Wait, you didn’t get it?”
I tugged my phone from my purse. Six unread messages stared back at me. One was from Quint, another from my friend Lauren back home, and the remainder were from my mother. I hadn’t heard my phone go off, hadn’t even felt it vibrate.
“I see it now,” I said, tucking the device away. “Sorry, it’s been a long day.” I looked past Quint, half expecting Corban to be looming behind him. Where the fuck did he go? I scratched at the back of my neck as I turned the other way.
“Oh, ok.” Quint clapped his hands together softly. “Look, I get you’re still probably mad. But since we’re both here, will you let me make it up to you? Drinks are on me tonight.”
The stale breath he blew across my face is what finally drew my attention back to him. Glassy eyes, flushed cheeks. Quint was drunk or on his way quickly to it.
“I have to go.” If I left, then Corban would be forced to follow me. If the locket really was an anchor, he would have no choice but to chase after me. I gave Quint a half-assed smile.
Someone yelled for Quint across the room. His brow furrowed and he waved them off, his attention fixated on me. “Are you really going to be like that?”
“Let it go,” I hissed.
Quint ran a hand over his face, a forced smile plastered underneath it as I made to move past him. I made it a single step, one that brought me to his side, when Quint’s smile faltered, hiseyes darting behind me.His pupils expanded and whatever he was about to say never passed through his parted lips.
A cool possessive touch slid around my waist, fingers digging into my flesh, as Corban pulled me back against his hard chest. “Who’s your friend?” He didn’t purr so much as he growled.
Quint stumbled back.
I’d known Corban would be angry seeing Quint, but the nausea that kicked me full in the gut was heinous. Vile and deadly. I was too afraid to look at him because by his tone, by his intoxicating power, it was clear he wanted to rip Quint’s throat out. No wonder he had let the girl be. Why bother with her when there was better prey to be had?
“Ah, t-this is Quint,” I offered. The words were dry in my throat.
What had I done? I’d unleashed a monster into Bristol, and here was Quint practically on a silver platter.
I knew that Corban’s threat from the other night – about slitting Quint’s throat – was no bluff. If I’d not played his game, he would have killed him.He would do it now if I didn’t get us out of here.
