Chapter Sixteen
Crew
Acting vulnerable is easy when you’ve been trained to weaponize it.
She sees softness. Emotion. An aching gentleness that draws her in like heat from a candle flame. But she doesn’t realize the wax will melt until it’s already burned her.
Athens. My blood.
She doesn’t know that, of course. Not yet. And when she does, it’ll be too late.
I watch her from just beyond the classroom door, my head tilted, eyes narrowing as she glides across the floor like she owns it. Teaching. Laughing. Pretending this isn’t a goddamn graveyard of secrets.
The Devils haven’t been by in nearly a week.
Strange.
They’re usually wrapped around her like a noose. Wyck. Wells. Dash. The whole fucking brotherhood, possessive like she’s some queen on a blood-soaked throne. It’s pathetic. They crowd her like dogs circling heat. Makes me sick.
But their absence? Convenient.
The longer they leave her unattended, the easier it is for me to slip in, unnoticed. Earn her trust. Her confidence. Her soul.
And when the time comes, I’ll carve this whole rotten kingdom from the inside.
Just like he told me to.
A shrill voice breaks the moment. “Can I help you?”
I don’t turn right away. Let her wait. Let the silence crawl.
Then I face her. Cressida. Always nosy. Always clawing for leverage she doesn’t have.
“Not unless you want to trade uniforms,” I say, flashing my rehearsed smile. “Security’s a dangerous job for someone with such… soft features.”
She doesn’t blink. Doesn’t flinch. Just plants one hand on her hip like she’s ready to draw blood with it.
“What are you really doing here, Crew?”
She spits my name like it’s venom, but I smile. Good. Let her hate me, it keeps her close.
“What’s it to you, Cressida ?”
She closes the gap between us like a woman who’s confused hatred for desire. Her hand drops to my belt. The other drags over my chest.
“I’d like to know,” she purrs, her grip tightening just enough to tempt violence.
I lean in, mouth grazing her ear. “You really shouldn’t have done that.”
In one motion, I twist her arm behind her back and slam her against the hallway wall. Her breath catches, a groan vibrating through her ribs.
“You play games like a Devil,” I whisper, “but we both know you’re just a pawn.”
Her head tips back into my shoulder, voice low. “Then use me.”
I press her tighter, watching her writhe.
But I don’t drag her down the hall.
I don’t unbuckle.
Because I don’t need to. Not right now.
Sex with Cressida? It’s a transaction. It’s control. A leash I tug when I need leverage or silence.
She’s nothing like Athens.
Athens is a locked vault I’ve been picking with bloodied hands. Everything about her is wrong, her laugh, her warmth, the way she looks at me like I’m someone worth trusting.
She shouldn’t.
I’m not here to love her.
I’m here to destroy everything she’s wrapped herself in.
“Stay out of my way,” I growl, shoving Cressida off me. “Or next time I won’t be gentle.”
She adjusts herself, lips swollen, eyes narrow. “You’re already not gentle, Crew. Just remember who knows what skeletons are in your closet.”
“Mine are buried deeper than yours,” I snap, walking away without another look.
Let her stew in her bitterness. Let her think she’s still relevant.
She’s not.
Not to me.
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
When I see the name flash across the screen, a chill slices through me. It’s not fear. It’s command.
The Elder.
I slide my thumb over the answer icon and raise it to my ear. “I’m in,” I say without preamble.
There’s a pause. Then his voice, low and lethal. “Good. Keep playing the fool. Get her alone. We’re almost there.”
I hang up.
And as I look back toward the classroom door, I imagine her face, soft, trusting, hers.
Soon, little darling.
Soon you’ll understand exactly what blood betrayal tastes like.
And I’ll be the one to feed it to you.