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Sandy once said the devil comes at night.
She wasn't entirely wrong.
The place Chiara dragged me to had none other than filled with the worshippers of him. With a club named Wild Nights, everyone was depraved for something, even me. Dressed in a black halter dress that was probably my sister's, I couldn't wait to get this show on the road.
"Why are we here again?" I asked, twirling a lock of mine. Goth wasn't exactly my normal go-to look but with the extra piercings and heavy makeup, I was nailing it. Besides me, Chiara was also in a black dress but it was more modest and at the same time screamed attention. I never understood how she managed to mix them both.
"They hold auctions every Sunday. Usually, for things that are illegal to process. Kiam thinks we'll get our book here."
I snorted. "He thinks?"
Her eyes brightened in amusement. "He knows. Before starting to work for me, he was a regular here. He's seen things, trust me."
I couldn't but it didn't hurt to pretend a little.
"Welcome everyone!" I heard a man in a suit holler. He looked dashingly handsome if it was even a thing. Unfortunately, that also meant he was from a species that I currently hated a little. Vampires.
"Today's auction is all about how you feel to get the thing you desire. We have lots of dark objects here today. Some of them are collected from walking through hell and heaven. Some of them are stolen-" He winked, getting screams of approval. "And some of them are for sacrifices meant for greatness. Let's start!"
The curtains were raised, revealing a beautiful artifact. It's not the book but I still wanted to admire it. The bidding also started and holy hell, they were all bathing in money by the way each zero was added without thinking.
"If you didn't notice before, I'm kinda broke." I let Chiara know. "How are we going to bid?"
"Let me worry about that." Fine by me.
I waited, watching people literally bleed their souls to get the objects they wanted. I never understood the need before but now I knew. Why those sisters would do anything to get a word from the devil. Why Sandy would take my blood to hide from the Volkios and their reaching.
Right at that moment, my phone rang.
I didn't pick up, didn't found any meaning to.
But when it kept ringing two more times, I finally took pity on it. "It's three am in the morning. Shouldn't you be busy cursing someone or something? Why are you annoying me?"
I heard a grunt of disappointment. "Hilarious. Seriously, where are you?"
"You know it," I whispered. He always knew where I was, didn't he? "I'm not coming back."
"Like hell you aren't. I don't have enough patience, Lana. Where the fuck are you?" My whole body shivered at his tone. I blamed it on the excitement around me.
"Wild Nights." I cut the call before he could say anything else. Because I knew exactly what I would see if I turned. True to my thoughts, I found him lingering just barely a few feet away from me, his eyes glaring a hole in mine.
Chiara must have noticed where my attention was cause even she turned, raising an eyebrow at the new addition. "Who is that?"
"Problem." I deduced, walking to him before he could. As soon as I was near him, he took my wrist, breathing in my scent.
"Fuck, Lana! Do you have a death wish or something?"
"Must be." I agreed, letting him take me in for once. Sooner or later I had to pull away. Always. "What are you doing here?"
"You know why I am here." Mikhail's silver eyes seemed to cut through me in a glare. He's still pissed and rightfully so.
"Heard a few news lately. Lost the interest to live anymore." I let him know vaguely but to my surprise, he relaxed against me. "The game is over. It doesn't matter if Byron gets punished or not. I'm turning myself in."
"No way in hell I'll let you do that. You hear me? You're not going back to that place."
"Stop looking at me like that." Why was he looking at me like that?
"I'll look as I want." His gaze was heated. "If I wasn't pissed at you, I'd say you look hot enough to fuck here. Goth suits you, my psycho beloved."
I wanted to slap him in the face at the same time make good on his words but then I heard the man call for a book and immediately my gaze went to Chiara. The book in his hand was coiled with snake-like markings and I couldn't stop the feeling that it was more important than Chiara let me know cause the bidding started in an urgency I had never seen before.
"Eight thousand." A bulky guy from the front seat row barked.
I heard Chiara call out. "Ten."
"Twenty." Someone added from the back. Fuck.
"Can I know why you are so interested in that thing?" Mikhail asked, fidgeting with his cuff-links. He was also in a back suit which was a new touch but his hair and eyes were making him stand out like a sore thumb.
I couldn't help but rasp. "Can I know why you are so interested in me?"
"Touché."
"Fifty hundred." Someone around me raised her hand. Quickly trying to think of something, I blurted out.
"Two Million."
Mikhail raised an eyebrow at me, almost grinning. "Damn."
The crowd went quiet but at the same time, I could detect a challenge in them. Now it wasn't the question of who got it, it was the question of who had more money. They needed to stroke their ego so they wouldn't hesitate to raise the amount. Not a second later, I heard another shout.
"Ten."
"Ninety." I heard a calm voice near me and my eyes widened. If it wasn't for him holding me I would have stumbled back with shock. The fuck was he thinking? Ninety Million? Did he even have that much to pay?
"Are you insane?" I smacked his shoulder, trying to see what his angle was.
"You want the book? You got it." He shrugged, watching if anyone dared to bid more. I could feel several eyes on us but no one raised their hands or said anything.
Sold.
"It's yours. Any rewards?" It wasn't an order, it wasn't even a question. I could pretend I didn't hear it but I stood on my toe, even with the heels I was lacking heights and kissed him. In front of Chiara. In front of the crowd.
In spite of the pain still in my heart.
It felt like even he knew that by way he kissed me softly. Like it's a goodbye. Closing my eyes, I let him kiss me like we mattered. Like we could have anything. And, like the adorable idiot he was, he didn't expect a word from me when we both broke apart. I watched with bug eyes as he walked slowly to the stage, talking to the man with a charming smile.
"Who is he?" Chiara asked with confusion and if my mouth wasn't wide open, I'd laugh at her face.
"Trouble. Definitely trouble."
ONE WEEK AGO
"You definitely just didn't call me trouble."
"Oh, shut it." I panted, trying to take as much breath as I could. When I thought of an escape plan, I thought it'd be more like Prison Break or La Casa De Papel. But this was hell, absolutely hell.
We were both covered in blood and ash. Shit, it's a miracle that the receptionist at the motel didn't even ask a question.
"You think they'll come after us?" I wondered, thinking of just what we left there.
"I would expect nothing else. You ok?" I hated how even now he seemed to care more about me. More than...
No. I couldn't afford to think about HIM. Not now.
Playing with the strap of the gown, I looked away. "I need to clean up."
His stare felt unnerving when he nodded. "Yeah, we both do."
He moved first, opening the bathroom to check inside. After he declared it was ok to enter, I only hesitated for a second before I stormed inside. I think I even shocked him.
"I-I need to pee if you don't mind."
He nodded, hiding his body with the shower curtain. "Be my guest."
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
"You couldn't just-I don't know, leave?" I sounded angry but I was already trying to pee without making it any weirder. Today was a hella worse day, I didn't need to make it any worse.
"I can't stand the smell of blood anymore." I heard his voice and the sound of clothes falling on the floor. Fuck, don't think of it, don't think of it...
The shower was on.
The curse left my lips before I could stop. "Motherfucker."
"Don't bring my mother into this." I imagined him scrubbing the blood with a grin on his face. "It's gross."
Wiping myself, I looked at the silhouette again. We came out of that hell alive but my heart couldn't take it anymore. He's dead, without knowing what I wanted to say. Without knowing that maybe there was a part of me that never wanted to let go.
"You're too quiet, should I be afraid of my life?"
I didn't laugh.
I didn't counter his insult with another.
Instead, I made my way over to him, whispering things that didn't make sense. "Can I come in?"
The water was running yet I could hear his breath change. His spell was the only thing stopping us from ripping each other apart but maybe that's what I needed. Pain that brought pleasure, not more pain.
When it took five minutes for him to react, my hope of his kind of drug died and I turned to leave but the curtain was opened, the pitter-patter sound of the water being the only thing in the small room.
He didn't say anything, he just moved a bit so I could walk in. I stared ahead as he took the helm of the gown and tugged, waiting for me to give him some kind of answer. I nodded, helping him get rid of the blood-filled gown. My heart was hammering inside but it was beating. I was still fucking alive.
"Kiss me."
"What?" He clutched the gown in his tight fist, those silver eyes almost glowing.
"Kiss me. Make me forget." Each word felt hollow.
"You know I can't touch you." Yeah and I was starting to get tired of it.
"I don't care. Either kiss me or kill me." I allowed myself to be really seen then, what he was going to do with the fact was completely on him. Whatever he saw in my eyes, made him curse. "Ekias tulius me kulu."
I felt all the hunger come back again but he didn't let me whimper for that. He made me whimper on his lips instead. In his tongue. I choked down any part of me that wanted to hurt him and let him hurt me instead.
With his teeth claiming my throat, lowering down and down until he was biting into my nipples with a groan. Staking his claim. Memorizing the shape for another night while I stared ahead, memories flashing over my eyes, too potent to ignore.
Zach on his knees.
Him sucking on my clit like I was a five-course meal.
With my head thrown back and tears in my eyes.
"Look at me." A voice cut through the memory, harsh, urgent. Oh, Lana. Didn't you know that it's forbidden to dream of the dead like this? Somewhere in my mind cackled.
"Just look at me," Mikhail whispered again, biting his lower lip in concentration. He spat on his palm, his hands sneaking down to where he ached most but his gaze was completely on me as if to say watch me burn for you.
Watch me torment myself.
The moment his hand found the hardness between his thighs, I hissed. I should be the one touching him, I should be the one staking a claim. But no...I was too busy trying to forget that I lost my chance. He certainly thought so as his fist went up and down, slow and fast, making me almost stomp my feet.
"Weeks." His grunt made me jump. "For weeks I have thought about you, fucked my fist while listening to her talk about you. Hearing about every crazy thing you have ever done."
A whimper left from my lips. The water was getting cold or maybe I was dying for something in me.
"Look at me, now. Completely unhinged for you and yet I see..." He trailed off, his voice low. I didn't want to know what he felt because fate forced him to. If that bitch wasn't involved...no, I couldn't think about that now.
"Mikhail?" I asked sweetly. "Let me help."
He laughed. "No."
Prick.
So what? I could take matters into my hands too. Giving him a sheepish grin, I widened my legs, letting him see me. His movement stopped only for a moment before he was barking orders. "Wider."
I did. Resting my back against the wall, letting water washing over my nub.
"Let me see how you pleasure yourself." He breathed out, his voice low. "Now, Lana."
Like an insane way apparently cause I didn't give him a show worthy of watching. I didn't go slow. I did hard and fast, licking my fingers and pushing them any way they fit. Even if that hurt. Even if that almost made him buck in his fist.
"Fuck. Turn around." But he did it himself, pulling my body flashed against him. The place was too small for the both of us and I could feel him behind me, hard and messy. Before I could make a joke about how he didn't even last to be inside me, I felt him shove himself with a hiss.
I think I howled.
Or that's what it felt like. Fuck, I missed this. I missed not caring about how loud I moaned. How much my mind screamed to let the world know why I needed this distraction. How I cried out with his flesh hitting me repeatedly. Godfrey Sanatorium wasn't exactly a place where we could just fuck our way to sanity.
No, they'd rather see us fuck our way to death.
"More." Clenching my teeth, I gritted out. I needed more. I needed that safe space. I just needed to forget Zach. I clawed at his back in desperation. "Harder, hard enough to hurt..."
"No." He went agonizingly slow, guiding my hips to meet his thrusts. Every inch felt like a punishment. Like I was dying all over again. I might have sniffled my cries or something cause he turned me around, swallowing every noise coming from my lips. Right at that moment, I came with a cry as if my body was holding on for too long.
As if I didn't just pass something in his mouth. A bluish mist? I watched with awe as he grunted, spilling inside me, marking me forever.
The moment was over.
I was filled with tears and cum.
Yet I couldn't stop shaking, my skin almost turning blue.
"Let me help." He grunted, taking a soap to wash the blood off of my skin. I didn't know what he was thinking but I let him help me. We cleaned each other without saying anything and then left for the bedroom.
For a long time, he just held me tightly that I almost thought he was asleep until I heard him sigh. "I didn't send him away because I hated him. Fuck, I do. I do hate that he has pieces of you that I'll never have but I guess what I want to say is...I'm sorry."
Despite the pain hitting too fast, I chuckled. "You're one weird fella, Mikhail. here you are, wrapped around the girl of your dreams, naked, and what you do? You bring up her ex that you killed."
He pinched my nipple in return, his voice sounding hoarse. "I'm serious. I could have done things differently but I didn't."
"There's no point." Why couldn't he just let go?
"But you still miss him, hate me for it."
I looked away. "Yes."
"Still love him?" He coughed, clearing his throat.
Maybe he just didn't want me, just maybe he wanted a little bit of hate too. So I gave it to him on a silver platter. "I loved him, with all my heart. More than I could ever try to love you."
I expected anger but he collapsed against the pillow instead. "Now look who's talking. Confessing she loved her ex more than anything..."
It was weird really. How he didn't exactly try to take me away from Zach, at the same time he fought to keep me with him, hard. Was it possible that he could accept both one day? Me and my madness? My love for Zach too? I opened my mouth to ask but found him passed out, his blond hair half covering his cheeks.
Le sigh.
Guess we'll never know.