10. Their Goddess
CHAPTER TEN
Their Goddess
“Drink some water.”
Deja sighed with relief as the cold liquid spilled between her lips and slipped down her throat. Tilting her head back, she finished the glass in one go before wiping her mouth. “Damn. Someone was thirsty,” Caleb grinned.
Grabbing her face between his hands, Jax checked her pupils. “She’s fine. You two, stay with her. Ian with me,” Jax said, wiping the corner of her mouth with his thumb.
Deja grabbed Jax’s hand before he could leave. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“To find a certain Reaper. Stay with Keith and Caleb. Don’t draw any attention to yourself. If anyone bothers you, stab them in the neck. Don’t slice. Stab. To the hilt,” he said, tightening her hand around his switchblade. Jax kissed the top of her forehead before walking off with Ian.
Leaning back against the counter between Keith and Caleb, Deja stared into the crowded warehouse that was bumping EDM as strobe lights bounced around the room. She noticed a few people staring at them and leaned toward Keith. “Do you know them?” she whispered.
“Nope,” Keith said, puffing on his joint.
“...then why are they staring?”
Keith smirked. “'Cause you’re fucking hot,” he said. Deja’s cheeks flushed with heat. Grinning amused, Keith waved down a bartender. “Two shots of whiskey.”
“I can’t drink, Keith. I’m still breastfeeding,” Deja sighed.
“It’s for the iron giant next to you,” Keith nudged. Caleb glanced at Keith just as Keith slid the glass across the table towards him. He opened his mouth to speak. “Just shut up and drink it,” Keith said before Caleb could protest.
Caleb smirked as he raised the glass to his lips. “...fucking asshole…”
Deja smiled at them, confused. “You guys have a really strange way of showing affection.”
Keith snorted as Caleb nearly spit out his drink. “I’m actually just trying to poison him. The more intoxicated he is, the less annoying,” Keith shrugged.
“He’s right. Alcohol is the best deterrence against stabbing him in the face,” Caleb said, slamming the glass down.
Deja rolled her eyes. “You say that, but all I hear is that you guys love each other-”
“Literally the opposite.”
“I’d rather fuck a cheese grater.”
Deja looked at them incredulously before bursting into laughter. “And what about you?” Keith asked.
She looked up at Keith and raised a curious brow. “What about me?”
“When are you finally gonna admit how much you’re in love with me?” Keith grinned.
Caleb smirked as Deja rolled her eyes. “Isn’t it obvious?” she asked.
“No, it’s not,” Keith said. “Explain it to me like I’m 4.”
Deja laughed. “Okay, Keith. Yes. I’m sooooooo in love with you,” she teased as she pulled away from the bar. “I’m gonna find a bathroom.”
But Keith quickly grabbed her arm, yanking her back towards him.
She looked at him, startled as he pushed her back against the bar, caging her between his arms. The look in his eyes set her on edge as he glared at her with uncharacteristic seriousness.
“Don’t fuck with me, baby girl…” Keith said quietly.
Deja blinked . “I thought we were just… joking-”
“I would slice my own throat if you asked me to and fight to stay alive long enough to hear you admit that you loved me, if that’s what it took,” Keith said seriously. “I don’t fucking joke about you.”
Deja’s eyes widened in shock. “Keith! What- That’s not- You’re insane-”
“Of course, I’m insane!” Keith laughed. “I’m fucking deranged when it comes to you! Have you not been paying attention? You merely look in my direction, and all common sense is out the fucking window! I know what you’re thinking: it’s just the sex.”
“It is just the sex,” Deja said.
“No! You’re wrong. I’m not just obsessed with you because you have godlike pussy.
I’m obsessed with you because you quiet the noise in my head.
You silence the demons that mar my flesh.
I wanted to kick the chair from beneath my feet and draw my last breath.
But then you barged into my life, and you fucked that dream up just like you fucked me up.
And so now you don’t get to carry on without telling me… whether you love me or not…”
Caleb caught the way Keith held Deja’s gaze. He noted the desperate look on Keith’s face and felt his chest tighten. He had only seen that look on his cousin’s face once before… around his mother.
Keith had always been a bit demented. Incapable of feeling or empathizing.
Because that’s how he was raised to be. The marks on his body symbolized the transition from pain to pleasure.
Where his body had become a canvas to display his hatred for the world…
and for himself. Caleb remembered how his aunt and uncle treated his cousins.
They each had formed their own defense mechanism.
Their own way of coping, shaping the type of Reapers they would become.
Jax… cold and heartless. Ian… apathetic and calculated. Keith… sadistic and unhinged.
As Caleb watched Deja’s finger trace a hardened scar on Keith’s clavicle as Keith shivered at her touch, he realized… she might just be the one to undo the curse of violent self-hatred their parents had bound them in.
Slowly exhaling, Deja looked into Keith’s eyes. His unwavering gaze set her body on fire. He looked like he wanted to kill her and worship her at the same time. His lip tight, his jaw tense, waiting for the next words to ignite his combustion.
With a tilt of her head, she smiled warmly. “…th…tha gaol…a-agam…ort…?*”
Her pronunciation was off, and her voice was quiet, but it didn’t stop Keith’s heart from leaping into his throat. Deja squealed as Keith abruptly grabbed her by the throat, slamming his lips into hers. He clutched the bar so tightly a piece of wood snapped, and Deja nearly collapsed beneath him.
“Keith, you’re gonna crush her!” Caleb laughed. Deja gasped for breath when Keith finally released her lips before he was suffocating her again as he picked her up to sit her on the bar. His hands slid up her skirt as he bit down on her lip.
“Keith, wait! Wait!” Deja laughed as he pushed her back onto the table. “Oh my god, Keith!”
“Tha gaol agam ort cuideachd! Am pòs thu mi?*??” Keith groaned into her mouth.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” she laughed.
“He asked you to marry him,” Caleb grinned. “Psychopath.”
Deja’s eyes widened. “What?! Keith!” she said, finally pushing him off.
“I’m kidding. I’m kidding,” Keith chuckled. “I’m not. Fuck, baby girl, you don’t even- I’m about to- I wanna kidnap you and elope in Roselyn’s name. Make love to you for like 3 months straight and give Clo-Clo 6 brothers and sisters.”
“That’s not how that works, Keith,” Caleb laughed.
“Fuck off. I’m planning our future,” Keith grinned, burying his face into Deja’s neck.
“Keith!” Deja laughed, pressing her hand against his chest. “Down boy…” Licking his lips, Keith finally pulled back as Deja hopped off the counter. “I’m gonna use the bathroom,” she said.
“I’ll come with you,” Keith said, following her, but Deja pushed him back again.
“You’ll stay here,” she laughed. “I’ll be back.”
Standing next to Caleb, Keith sighed, watching Deja’s ass as she walked away. “She drives me fucking insane,” Keith muttered, running his fingers through his long blond hair. “God, I fucking love her…”
“You’re already insane,” Caleb grinned.
Keith smirked before his smile fell. “...you think she meant it?” he asked. Caleb saw Keith’s face lose color as worry etched across his features. “About… about loving me…” Keith finished.
Caleb gave him a rueful smile. “Yeah… I think she did.”
Deja sighed, frustrated at her lack of panties as she cleaned herself up. She heard women talking just outside the bathroom stall.
“Think you’ll let him fuck tonight?”
“Maybe. I’m more interested in his brother.”
“You whore.”
“What?? He’s cuter!”
Deja waited for them to leave before stepping out of the stall into the empty bathroom. Washing her hands, her mind raced back to Keith. The look of sheer joy on his face when she admitted that she loved him made her stomach bubble. That she could make someone that happy…
Keith was like seasoning. He added so much joy to her life. He made her laugh. Made her feel beautiful. But most importantly, his love was pure and infectious and one she didn’t think she’d crave, but… she did. She craved him. She craved all of them.
It was a feeling she didn’t expect, but one she wanted to indulge in. To be so loved and fiercely protected by men who instill fear in others was… intoxicating.
A noise from a stall snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked in the mirror, but there were no feet in any of the stalls. But she heard the noise again.
She was in the clutches of 4 deadly Reapers. It took more than mere noises to scare her.
As Deja wiped her hands, she heard something fall and noticed a skull mask on the floor in the stall near the exit.
She froze as a pair of dirty boots slid down until they met the floor, and a gloved hand picked up the mask.
Reapers were known to wear masks, but there were so many ravers in the club wearing masks, she couldn’t tell if it was a Reaper… or a raver.
Grabbing Jax’s switchblade, she cautiously approached the stall. She kicked open the door and swung her blade, but stopped just before slicing a half-naked girl who was sitting on top of her boyfriend, perched on the toilet lid. “Oh my god!” the girl screamed.
Deja’s eyes widened, quickly pulling back the blade. “I’m- I’m s-so sorry. I thought-”
“Are you crazy?!” the girl blurted. Deja awkwardly chuckled before quickly exiting the bathroom.
She searched the crowd for Caleb and Keith when she noticed a tall figure standing in the corner wearing a black hoodie and a white, skull-faced mask with a metallic jaw.
But it was the unnatural white eyes that unsettled her.