Page 41 of Firethorne
I’d been tricked by the devil himself, and knowing that made my stomach roll.
As he reached the bottom of the staircase, every greedy eye in the room was on him. It was as if everyone here were his subjects, all pawns in his game, and he was the master.
He stood for a moment, like a model posing at the end of a runway. Then he dipped his head, but his eyes shot up, staring right at me with a dark, predatory stare that pinned me in place, making it difficult to breathe, move, to do anything.
I noticed people around us begin to turn and glare at me. Women looked me up and down, most with a vicious disdain that they couldn’t conceal. The men stared with appreciation they weren’t afraid to hide, until Damien strode across the roomto stand in front of me, and then, they turned away. They appeared to be afraid of him, like he really was the devil he’d come dressed as, or maybe they were just in awe. But I gritted my teeth, my jaw clenched as I prepared myself for what was coming next.
“Nice outfit.” Damien grinned wickedly, pointing to the six, six, six on my dress with the pitchfork in his hand.
Miriam folded her arms across her chest, unable to mask her fury as she faced Damien.
“And there I was thinking you were a man of your word and you wouldn’t play these games with us,” Miriam hissed. “I thought you weren’t going to be a part of...all this.”
His eyes stayed on me the whole time she spoke, an evil glint twinkling back at me. Then, slowly, he turned to stare down at Miriam and he grinned wider.
“And miss out on all the fun?” He cocked his head. “Now why would I agree to that?”
“You switched the outfits,” Miriam hissed, her eyes narrowing on him.
“She didn’t have to wear it, though, did she?” Damien retorted, and I couldn’t stop myself from snapping through gritted teeth, “I had nothing else to wear.”
“And it suits you,” he replied plainly. Then leaning closer, his eyes flickering from Lysander to the left of me, and Miriam to my right, he added, “You wouldn’t want to come dressed as a bland, dreary angel like they wanted you to, anyway. Why blend in when you can stand out?”
“She always stands out,” Lysander bit back.
Damien lifted his chin in the air. “For once, I agree with you, brother,” he replied, taking me aback. Damien didn’t do compliments, and I was sure he’d said it just to annoy Lysander. “But don’t we all look the part,” he went on. “You and Miriam in your matching halos.” He gestured to me. “And us, the devils,not giving a fuck what anyone else here thinks. We’re playing by our own rules.”
“Playing dirty rules,” Miriam sneered.
“I thought that’s what you preferred?”
Miriam ignored him, and turning to me, she said, “I’m sorry for my asshole cousin.”
“You can’t help who your family are,” I replied.
And Damien snorted. “No, you can’t, can you.”
I could feel Lysander growing tense beside me, and he took my hand and announced, “I think we’ve heard enough.” Then he turned to ask me, “Shall we go for a wander?”
I nodded.
Damien huffed, then barked back, “Taking her for another tour of the gardens,brother? What is it tonight? The scenic route to see the noose again, or how about the haunted lake? Maybe a bit of midnight skinny dipping with the ghosts in the water?”
“Fuck you,” Lysander hissed. Then, losing his cool, he got into Damien’s face as he sneered, “Maybe we’ll stop off at the wooden hut your mother used to lure my father to so she could fuck him.”
Damien’s jaw locked, a tell-tale muscle twitching to show Lysander had gotten under his skin.
“Be careful with those accusations.” Damien’s voice was low and threatening as he spoke. “Throwing out insults like that could get you into trouble.”
“Not if it’s true,” Lysander snarled back.
“Ah, yes. Truth.” Damien stepped back, plastering that killer smile he’d perfected so well onto his face again like nothing had vexed him. “That’s something we’re renowned for in this family, isn’t it,” he proclaimed with sarcasm dripping off his tongue. “We’re all about truth.”
“Whatever,” Lysander replied, his voice dull and lifeless, showing he’d had enough of sparring with Damien for one night. “The truth is, you’re boring me now. Come on, Maya, let’s go and get a drink.”
Damien chuckled to himself.
“Be careful, Maya,” he warned. “Even salt looks like sugar at first glance. And remember the saying... sometimes it’s better the devil you know.”
