Page 67 of Sleepless Beauties
My lips tremble, but I shove a stiff smile in place.
I turn, and swiftly but casually stride out of the room.
“Vega?” Zavia calls after me.
I walk faster.
“Vega?”
And then I’m running.
Her yell echoes after me, but everything passes by in a streak of dark blurring colors. I don’t even consciously think about where I’m going.
I just run. I keep going for so long that the stuffy warmth of the house falls away, and cold night air kisses my face.
Damp grass flicks along my ankles as I walk, slowing my pace the moment gray stones come into view. Hundreds of them are spread out before me beneath the light of the full moon.
One of them belongs to Kyra now.
She’s buried here in a used grave. She’s been laid to rest among so, so many forgotten tombs.
But ultimately, she’s all alone out here.
My heart is so warm it feels like fire within my chest. That warmth falls low and hard as I think about everything Kyra went through without me. Without anyone by her side.
I thought I came here searching for her killer. Maybe I was really searching for her.
Like I should have done two years ago.
My knees give out and hit hard against the wet ground. The breeze picks up, but no matter how much it flings my blonde hair across my face, I can’t see anything except the darkness surrounding each and every pale stone.
“Get up, Miss Vega!” A deep tone commands.
I blink away the wetness in my eyes, but I remain seated in a heap of too many regrets.
A smooth shoulder bumps against mine as he slides down against my side. And then the Demon Prince is also kneeling in the dirt beside me.
“You didn’t kill her,” he whispers.
I shake my head slowly and a wetness splatters over my cheeks. I peer up at the heavy gray clouds hanging among the bright white moon.
“But you know who did.” I feel him staring at me. “You’re powerful, Miss Vega,” he whispers manically against my hair.
A shiver shakes through my core as his hot breath trickles down my neck.
“You know who killed her,” he repeats as he pushes back my hair behind my ear and whispers intimately, like an ocean breeze caressing my skin. “So get up and fucking annihilate the man who hurt her! Who hurt you.”
My feet push up and I’m standing just as the rain pours down over me. It soaks through my dress and even the deluge of cold water doesn’t cool my burning flesh.
I look up at the dark sky. The beauty of it is all around me, but I can see is him instead.
Aston sits on the roof and watches over me like an angel who knows what sin I’m about to commit. He knows me deeply. I feel him in my mind like a calming thought among all the chaos.
He feelsgood.
He’s the encouragement I need right now. Even as I turn toward the front house and spot a true monster within the night.
Rival Royale comes forward out of the darkness like a shadow coming to life. He holds something sprawled across his arms. His black suit is stained with a darker color across his chest and sleeves. That’s because he’s covered in Acessa’s blood.
