Chapter 5
GREYSON
Nineteen years old…
Ada was dressed in pink frills and expensive tulle—her mother’s poor attempt to hide the troubled girl beneath.
It didn’t work.
As the saying goes, like calls to like. From the moment Ada took my father’s name—my name—at the age of thirteen, I immediately recognised her dark soul. After all, it was a direct reflection of my own. Pitch-fucking-black.
Hence why I wanted to rip that shiny tiara from her head and slap that veneered smile off her face.
When I had departed for Bartholomew University barely a year earlier, I was loath to leave Ada behind. It was torture, knowing she had to fend for herself against our toxic, fucked-up parents, but I was driven by one goal: get us out.
However, once I stepped foot in that gothic black castle, I knew my life was forever altered. The medieval stone walls whispered sinister secrets, and the historical grounds formed the epicentre of all that was supernatural.
Each faction had its purpose, and each lineage held great power on the world stage. I sought to share it all with Ada the following year. Except, when I returned to my family estate, I soon realised I wasn’t the only one changed.
The Carmichael mansion was filled with all manner of powerful people. Stepmummy dearest had pulled out all the stops for her daughter’s eighteenth birthday. Yet, despite the excessive ballroom layout and overpriced champagne, what killed me the most was Ada’s dead eyes.
She remained in the middle of the throng, cheeks cherry and lips glistening, but she was empty inside. And no one seemed to notice or care.
I hadn’t approached her yet, preferring to watch from afar. I wanted to gauge my new opponent so I could pick her polished mask apart piece by glorious piece.
So when Ada slipped out the back door unnoticed, I followed.
I found her in the depths of the garden, hiding in the shadows behind overgrown hedges, head bowed before the statue of a grotesque gargoyle.
Her chest was heaving as she whispered under her breath.
“Who are you talking to?” I asked.
Ada flinched. “Fuck!”
“No kiss hello for your big brother then?”
Her expression soured. “Stepbrother,” she reiterated.
I slowly invaded her space, each step measured as I circled her. “Happy Birthday, Ada. Did you make a wish?”
“Grey, why’d you come back?”
I came to a halt behind her, her spine snapping ramrod straight as I lowered my lips to the shell of her ear. “I came for you, little rabbit.”
She shivered. “You shouldn’t have.”
“No?” I asked, pulling on the light pink fabric of the dress that was entirely out of touch with her character. “You don’t need saving?”
Ada swiftly turned, giving me her vicious gaze. It was the first spark of life I’d seen in them that night.
“Don’t act the hero, Grey. We all know that isn’t you.”
“Why the hostile welcome? I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
“Happy? You left me.” Her voice was clinical, severe, but the words still cut me to my core.
“I didn’t have the power to take you with me. I was desperate to find a solution to your nightmares and an escape from our parents. I’ve come back for you.”
“You’re too late,” she said, her tone both regretful and loathsome. “I belong to another.”
With that declaration spoken with such resolve, I had no control over my automatic response.
My hand whipped out fast, her head cruelly bent backwards as my fingers dug deep into her chin, the pressure surely bruising.
Ada stood still, her expression malicious. But her eyes told a different story—she was turned on by my dominance. Her rib cage shuddered against mine as anticipation thickened between us.
“You don’t belong to anyone but me.” I growled, utterly lost in my need to mark her. “And I’ll fucking prove it to you.”
I bent forward, capturing her bottom lip between both of mine. I suckled on that plump flesh for half a second and when Ada surrendered a chaste sigh, I bit down hard.
Metallic blood flooded our mouths, causing a cascade effect of wanton lust and need.
We ravaged one another. Teeth clashed, tongues fought for dominance, and fingernails tore at soft flesh and silk.
SLAP!
Pain ricocheted through my cheek as Ada stumbled backwards, her shaking fingers raising to her red-stained lips.
“You stole my first kiss,” she said, her expression igniting with fire and a newfound desire she couldn’t hide.
My insides roared with utter fucking possessiveness, confirming that I was ruined for any other.
“That’s not the only thing I’m going to steal,” I vowed.
Over the years, we had never explicitly acknowledged whatever it was between us, but the suggestion was always there. A certain knowing writhing beneath our skin like a slow-building toxin, infecting our very DNA.
But now that I’d had a mere taste of her—god—there was no turning back. I wanted to corrupt her body and taint her soul until she could think of nothing else but me.
As if sensing the immediate threat, Ada retreated a step. “Don’t.”
I pressed forward, mirroring her movements. “You feel it, too, don’t you?”
Ada’s face flashed with understanding until a mask of bravado solidified over it.
“It doesn’t change anything.”
“Oh, it changes everything. What are you hiding, little rabbit?” I tilted my head, gaze tracking over her.
Ada faltered. “Stop it, Grey. I’m leaving.”
“You can try, but you won’t get far.”
Ada scoffed, but before she could fully turn, I licked the taste of her life force off my lips, causing a growl to rumble from my chest.
“I fucking dare you to turn your back on me, Ada. I’m in the mood to hunt…”
Hearing the sincerity in my voice, she took me in. I was fucking feral, but what surprised me was her blatant need staring back.
“You’ll get bored, like you do with everything else. I saw you talking to Annika earlier. You go to Bartholomew together, right?”
“You’ve been watching me, birthday girl?”
“Like you’ve been watching me…Go be with her, Grey.”
I released a dark chuckle. Why was she trying to deny this? Us? Ada obviously didn’t understand the severity of my obsession.
As she went to walk away, I gave her one last warning, the unwavering truth. “Run as fast as you can, Ada. Because once I catch you, you’re mine.”