26. Prudence
After coming back down to earth, cleaning myself up in a quick shower — which I banned Creed from joining — and getting settled back into bed, I waste no time getting right down to business. It feels more and more like we’re on a timeline now, a race against the clock to see who comes out on top, and I refuse to sit back and not take any action against The Celestials.
I clear my throat, catching Griffin’s attention. His arctic eyes hold me hostage and the small, tender smile he offers gives me the courage to just spit out exactly what’s on my mind.
“Alright, so… sticking together,” I begin, kind of awkwardly as I duck my head to hide my shame. I must have been in a low fucking place to consider leaving these guys, and I’m really not proud of myself now that they’ve yanked me firmly out of that depressed yuckiness. “What’s our plan? We can’t just hide here for the next year and hope the threat over our heads dies down. Especially knowing that The Celestials know where we are. I think waiting for their next move is actually driving me insane.”
Creed lounges back against the pillows like some Greek god, all his gorgeous muscles on show for me. He winks and bites his lip when he catches my gaze wandering, and if it weren’t for the ache between my legs from Griffin”s rough pounding, I’d be jumping on him for another round. But, you know, abused and thoroughly used pussy. She needs a breather.
Griffin rubs his hand across his stubble, glancing at Asher as if the two are communicating silently on the matter. Asher rubs a hand over the back of his neck while he thinks, and then he nods slowly at Griffin, which has me frowning and studying the two of them. Seriously, how do they do that? Some weirdo mind link, I guess.
Perched on the edge of the bed in a pair of boxers that are honestly obscene, his dark brown hair a rumpled, delicious mess, Asher turns his gaze on me. “Even though the thought of letting you near them again makes me physically sick… I think you’re right. We’ve already wasted too much time. We need to strike back at them, end things once and for all.”
Griffin nods while Creed narrows his eyes in thought. I can’t tell what he thinks about charging back headfirst, but what other choice do we really have? Hide, run, or go back and fight. As dangerous and terrifying as it might be, I’ll be choosing option three every damn time. I need to take my life back. I”ve spent too long being afraid of these people.
If everything ends in a bloody battle, then so be it.
“If we’re gonna do this right, we need weapons. Knives, guns, an endless supply of bullets. Maybe some grenades,” Creed muses casually.
I raise my brows at him. “Do you happen to know where we’d find such things? Because my usual weapons guy is out of the country at the moment.”
Creed frowns at me. “You have a weapons guy? Why is this the first I’m hearing about it?” He shifts in his spot, adjusting his dick while adding, “Fuck me, that’s kind of hot, Ember.”
I roll my eyes, though I can’t stop the smile that blooms on my face. “No, Creed, that was sarcasm. But please, do keep telling me how hot I am. I might reward you for your flattery,” I retort.
Griffin rumbles out a deep laugh and Asher pinches the bridge of his nose like he’s tired of us, but he snorts in amusement all the same when Creed nearly lunges forward and pounces on me.
Smacking the back of his cousin’s head, Asher says, “Alright, that’s enough. Let’s focus. We can ravage her all we want when we’ve got a solid plan of survival in place.” He arches a brow at Creed until he pouts and leans back again, giving up on getting his hands on me. Once satisfied, Asher rolls his shoulders back and looks around at each of us. “I might know someone who could get us what we need. So consider that checked off our list. But then what? Are we charging back to campus and risking innocent students’ lives in the crosshairs?”
My stomach drops at the thought. “No, absolutely not,” I blurt out, shaking my head. I won’t be responsible for any more lives lost. The only people who need to die are The Celestials, and I won’t feel a single ounce of guilt over it, either.
Griffin takes a deep breath, like he’s preparing himself for what he’s about to say. I watch as he steels his spine, sitting up stiffly and absently rubbing a finger over the scar across his neck. It makes me uneasy, knowing that every time he touches that scar, it’s a reminder of what his father did to him. I wish I could take that memory from Griffin and help him forget all about that betrayal, but I can’t.
We’re all just forced to live with our broken pieces, trying to make sense of the shapes we have left.
I sweep my eyes from Griffin to Creed, trying to read him and see how he’s doing. It hasn’t escaped my mind that Creed, my sweet, terrifying man, is struggling. I’ll need to broach the subject with him soon, but for now, it seems like talk of Celestial death has him focused enough.
“Midnight Mass,” Griffin murmurs, so softly that Asher and I lean in just a bit to hear him. With all eyes on him, Griffin swallows roughly and adds, “That’s when we’ll strike. During a Midnight Mass on the next full moon. All the senior members will be in attendance, and there shouldn’t be any stray college students around during the… the ritual, so… That’s our opening. I know where they”re hosted.”
Chills erupt across my skin. Midnight Mass? That sounds creepy as fuck. I hold my questions in for now, because the look in Griffin’s eyes makes me think this isn’t something he wants to go into detail about.
Asher looks at the calendar on the wall to our right, which conveniently has the lunar phases on it. He curses under his breath, swiping a hand through his hair. “The full moon is in eight days,” he tells us, sounding a little defeated.
I wring my hands together in my lap as I ask, “Will we make it in time?”
“We have to. We can”t wait another month to do this,” Griffin rasps, and Creed nods eagerly, like he’s just dying to spill some blood already.
I wait for Asher’s confirmation; he’s the one with the weapon connection. Tilting his head to the right, he finally sighs and nods, saying, “Fuck, it’ll be tight, but I think we can make it work. But we’ll have to leave tomorrow. Get on the road early if we want to make it to the guy I have in mind.” He peers at me, adding with a grimace, ”I hope your sister doesn”t mind us taking her car, but we don”t really have the time to sort something else out.”
”I”m sure she”ll be fine with it,” Creed answers before I can, rubbing his palms across his thighs, sweeping his honeyed eyes my way. ”She might even want to come with. That asshole fathered both of you, baby. What if Genevieve wants her own pound of flesh from him?”
The way my heart starts pounding at those words is concerning. Like, maybe I’m about to have a damn heart attack at just the thought of coming face to face with my father and the rest of those Celestial cunts again, let alone leading my sister into the fray when she”s managed to keep a low profile her whole life.
There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to go through with this now that we’re really planning it out, but there’s a bigger part that’s ready for justice. Hungry for vengeance. And I will get it, for my mom, for Annie, for myself, and for these guys and all they”ve suffered. Nothing else matters until we wipe The Celestials from existence. If my sister wants to help, then… I guess I can”t stop her.
“Tomorrow, then.” I nod and take a deep, shuddering breath, trying to expel the nerves racing through my veins. I can freak out once we”re on the road. But for now, there”s nothing to get all worked up about. It”ll be totally fine. I”ll just keep telling myself that.
Creed claps his hands together, startling the rest of us. “Time to make some fuckers bleed,” he cheers manically before leaning forward and slamming his lips to mine a bruising, but all too quick kiss. Pulling back, he searches my eyes, and then murmurs, “I’ll kill them all for you, Ember. For your mom too. Every last member I see, I’ll slaughter them until I know I’ve made the world safer for you.”
“Damn you, Creed,” I say through a breathy laugh. I cup his face in my hands and drop my forehead to his. “How do you always manage to make the most barbaric things sound so damn sweet?”
He chuckles, followed by deep laughs from Griffin and Asher. With an easy shrug, Creed tells me, “It’s only sweet because you’re a little twisted too, baby.”
And that’s something I can absolutely agree with. Twisted, scarred, and traumatized, but damn if these three guys haven’t slowly started to piece me back together.
“I guess I am,” I whisper to Creed with a smile before pulling back and looking at the other two. “Now, who’s feeding me? I’m starved after all this talk of weapons and slaughter.”
”And dicks?” Creed chimes in, all innocent and serious, though his eyes are alight with mischief.
My cheeks flame as I drop my lips open in mock outrage, ignoring the way Griffin and Asher start talking about how exhausted I must be after the dicking down I got. Assholes. I grab the pillow closest to me, launching it at Creed, and missing entirely when he ducks out of the way.
Creed barks out a cackle, getting out of bed to get me food and starts cussing Griffin out when my big teddy bear begins to leave for the kitchen too. “Goddammit, Griffin, slow your big ass down. I’ll be the one getting her something to eat. Don’t ruin this for me!” he shouts on his way out the door, following right on Griffin’s tail.
I grin like an idiot after the two of them. Fuckers make me happy, even at the darkest hours of my life.
“Prudence,” Asher murmurs, softly grabbing my chin and turning my face back toward him. ”I may not be as eloquent as my cousin,” he teases, his green eyes bright with something that has my stomach swooping. ”But I”m going to do right by you. I promise. I have a question, though.”
I nod mutely, my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth from the intense possession rolling from Asher.
He licks his lips and cocks a smile at me, asking in a deep, lethal voice, ”Do you want the honor of ending your father, or should I take care of it? Because once we arrive, I won”t leave that campus until his blood”s been spilled right along with my dad”s and Griffin”s parents… The people who brought us into this fucked up world, who failed us at every fucking turn, will be taken down to their knees by the kids they considered failures. It”s kind of poetic, don”t you think?”
”I do,” I agree softly, a shiver racing through me, and this time it”s full of heat. I knew I was twisted, but goddamn, hearing Asher speak like that has my pussy fluttering and begging for his attention. Get a damn grip, girl. Clearing my throat, I murmur, ”I don”t think I mind who, um, finishes him. If I have the opportunity, I want to do it, but if not and one of you gets to him first, then by all means, Asher… kill him.”
Asher”s eyes flare with a potent mix of heat and danger, and fuck me, it”s an intoxicating look. He moves his hand to the back of my neck, tangling his fingers in my hair as he growls, ”It”d be my pleasure, pet. But I”ll try to save him for you if I can.”
Before I can say anything, he tips my head back and slams his lips to mine. I gasp and moan while he coaxes my soul out with his tongue, unable to think clearly while Asher dominates me this way.
We break apart a few moments later when Creed crashes back into the room, carrying a plate piled high with leftover pizza from the other night. Griffin strolls in behind him with a bottle of wine, his arctic gaze catching mine with a promise of wicked things and a filthy smile pulling his plump lips up.
I think a round two is in my future. Might as well get it now before we all end up in prison for murder.