Chapter 33 Aniyah #2
Alic’s gaze snapped to mine. His eyes narrowed slightly like he was trying to decide if he’d heard wrong.
Heat rose in my cheeks. I didn’t want to admit it, but I couldn’t deny it either. I just looked at Ras, who was sending another text, until he put his phone back in his pocket and offered me his hand with a smile.
“I already texted everyone to meet us on the thirteenth floor.”
“W-wait… W-what? Right now?” My voice came out in a full-on squeak as I looked between the two of them, eyes wide.
Ras nodded so enthusiastically you’d think this was the best idea he’d ever had. Alic, arms crossed, cocked a brow. “Is there a reason why not?”
“Um, hello?” I flailed a hand toward the door. “We kind of have an event happening! Like… right now!”
Ras and Alic shared a look, silently glaring at each other for a beat before turning back to me in eerie unison.
“This is the perfect time,” Ras said smoothly, pulling me to my feet. “Everyone’s distracted.”
“And,” Alic added, his tone cool and practical, “this is the safest the club has ever been. Extra muscle. Your family’s in town. No one is going to mess with us tonight. It’d be suicide.”
Damn it. Alic’s logic was annoyingly solid, and that only made my heart slam harder against my ribs.
Did I really want to do this? Did I want to face this now?
I bit down on my lip as doubts swirled, spinning tight and fast inside my head. The tattoo on my back pulsed, a not-so-subtle reminder that whether it was today or tomorrow, this was coming. There was no dodging it. Not with them. Not with myself.
I closed my eyes and repeated Tata's words in my head: We’re not cowards.
Also, if the worst happened, if this blew up in my face, my family was just downstairs. I'd have backup. Love. Fury. Reinforcements.
If I was ever going to cover all my bases, this was the moment.
I opened my eyes and gave them a small nod.
Ras instantly lit up, grabbing my hand with an excited tug. “Perfect! We’ll get everything sorted, bond complete, and then we’ll be together forever.”
As we headed to the elevator, his optimism made my lips twitch into a smile.
Gods, I hoped he was right.
The ding of the elevator was a warning bell, signaling one final moment of calm before I had to face them all and find out if any of this was real.
If what they said they felt for me was more than just lust and hope masquerading as love.
Stepping out felt like a choice. I was walking toward a truth I couldn’t undo. Maybe, just maybe, they weren’t mine. Maybe they were just fragments of sweet, torturous moments that would haunt me for the rest of my life.
When I saw Maso, Van, and Lucus waiting at the door to the room Van and I had used before, a quiet ache twisted inside me. I’m going to miss them.
Before I could drown in that thought, a large, warm hand grabbed my arm and yanked me to the side.
“Hey! What the fu—”
Alic glared down at me, eyes sharp. “What’s going on?” Was my spiraling really so obvious?
I yanked my arm out of his grip, jaw tight. “Nothing. Let’s just get this over with.”
I turned, about to stomp off, when his voice, steady, threaded with something raw, froze me mid-step.
“Aniyah… please.”
The sound of his voice rooted me in place. A lump formed in my throat.
“Don’t push me away.”
Like I wasn't in control, I slowly turned. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t annoyed. He looked… broken. An emotion I never thought I’d see from him—anguish—was carved across his face.
He stepped in close and flicked his chin toward the others. “You can do whatever you want with them. That’s between you guys. But with me…”
His massive hand gently cupped my chin, his thumb brushing across my bottom lip. My tongue darted out to taste him before I could stop myself, and he stepped even closer, putting us chest to chest, crowding me in a way that made me feel safe instead of trapped.
“I’ve lived beside you for so long, never letting myself hope,” he murmured, his head hanging. “Never believed that someone like me, a failure, could ever reach for someone like you without being turned away.”
His voice cracked, a whisper of pain layered in every syllable. “I never told you how I came to the Rossey clan. How I was cast out. How badly I failed.”
Something inside me cracked wide open. His pain mirrored mine so perfectly it stole my breath.
So, I told him the truth.
“I know,” I whispered, and his whole body froze. “I’ve always known. Nova told me before she ever sent you to me. About your life in Faerie. About the princess. About her death.”
I reached up, cradling his jaw, and lifted his face so he had no choice but to look at me.
“But I didn’t care. I saw you, and I wanted you. That was it. None of that mattered.”
His suspicious eyes snapped to mine, searching, probably thinking I was saying it to soothe him. I smiled, but it was bittersweet.
“I’m so despicable, so selfish, that my second thought after Nova told me was that I was glad that princess died.
Because it meant your tie to her, to that royal world, was severed.
It meant there was nothing to keep you from me.
Isn’t that awful? To be grateful for your shame and pain because it brought you to me? ”
I braced for disappointment. For disgust. For that inevitable flicker of judgment in his eyes, but it never came.
Instead, a slow, cautious smile curved his lips. His sun-warm gaze softened, and his face leaned into my touch. No words. Just a silent confirmation that he didn’t see me as monstrous.
He just saw me, and he wanted to get closer. To stay by my side.
At that moment, I realized that this had to have been hard for him to say. To admit he never thought he was good enough. And in return, I gave him the truth, as sharp and selfish as it was. He was brave… so, I would be, too.
The others needed to hear it. They needed to know why I was doing this.
A new breath of determination filled me, and I let my fingers trace the line of his jaw before slipping down to catch his hand in mine.
“Come on,” I whispered. “It’s my turn to be brave.”
His brow furrowed slightly, eyes filled with confusion, but he let me pull him forward.
I turned to the others and offered them a small smile. Swallowing the thudding of my heart, I opened the door.
It was time.
They silently followed me into the room, tension thick between them, eyes flicking to one another as if to say, What the fuck is happening?
“Before we get into all that…” Lucus peeled off his white mask and tossed it onto a chair like it offended him.
In the next breath, he was in front of me, moving faster than my heart could process.
His hands gripped my face, rough and full of pent-up emotion, his palms flush against my cheeks, fingers threading into my hair like he needed to anchor us together.
His lips ghosted over mine with the lightest touch, the tenderness in sharp contrast to the possessive grip of his hands.
“You have no idea how edible you look, darling,” he whispered, silver eyes gleaming like molten starlight, just before his mouth claimed mine.
His kiss was brutal, all hunger and dominance, consuming me until my knees buckled.
I bent back, curling under him as pleasure sparked through me, starting in my belly and spiraling low, the heat licking down between my thighs.
I wanted to let him rip this dress off and punish me for daring to wear something that stirred him up this much. Gods, I wanted it. Craved it.
But not now.
I pressed a hand to his chest and pushed, severing the connection. Our lips parted with a soft, wet sound, and his hands hovered in the space between us like he couldn’t believe I’d stopped him. A pang of guilt flared in my chest.
“Thank you,” I said gently, softening the blow. His arms dropped to his sides, but the heat in his eyes never faded.
“Look…” I took a breath, my words sticking in my throat like burrs. “I kinda… blurted something out to Ras. I didn’t think it would get to this point so fast, but…” I raised my hands, palms open. “I need to use my powers on each of you if I’m going to accept these… bonds.”
I looked at them all, one by one. “If that’s too much, if you don’t want to be seen like that, I get it. No harm, no foul.”
A lie. I’d absolutely scream foul, but I had a rep to keep. The chill, overly sexual, dangerously detached boss. I couldn’t crack now.
Ras stepped forward without hesitation. “I already told you, I don’t care what you do to me. I’m not leaving. Bond or no bond.” His grin was slow and wicked. “Besides, you let me use my powers on you. Time to return the favor.”
Instinctually, I wasn’t worried about Rasmus. In fact, my heart fluttered at his words. If he ended up truly wanting someone or something else, I’d be more shocked than anyone else in this room.
Lucus scoffed, arms crossed. “That’s it? Ugh. I hate agreeing with the demon, but fine. If this is what you need, let’s get it over with so I can get back to what I really want to do.”
His eyes went back up and down my body, and I almost laughed at the memory of how we met. Now that I saw him standing across from me, it felt like fate.
Van and Maso gave subtle nods. Their expressions said they didn’t fully understand, but they were willing. Trusting.
Then Alic. His voice came out rough, but his eyes were unwavering. “Whatever you need, I’ll give you.” Clean. Simple. Heavy with promise.
I didn’t give myself time to hesitate before I walked straight up to Alic.
Power built inside me, coiling like a storm just beneath the surface, dense, electric, and ready to strike. I closed my eyes. The air around us dropped into stillness.
With every breath, I pulled it in. Threads of illusion magic curled through me, sharp and intimate, filling every vein with a quiet buzz. My fingers twitched, then steadied, as the current pooled at my core.
Then I pushed.