Ever Dark

Chapter 26

MIA

“I know what I want now,” I whisper into the dark room. “I’m ready.”

Nox towers over the bed, his red eyes glowing back at me. I see him for all his beauty, his black horns, sharp claws, and long ravenous tail. He may look like a monster, but his heart is more human than most. His depravity exists because of me. From what I have craved and needed from him for all these years.

I rest my cheek against his taut belly. “I want you with me always. It’s time for you to leave this prison.”

He caresses the back of my head. “I did not think I would ever hear those words from you, my love. Are you sure?”

I nod and nuzzle my nose against his warm skin. “Yes. You’re mine, and I am yours. This room shouldn’t contain us anymore. I want us all to be together… You, me, Bones, Aries, and Draven.”

“It will not be easy for any of us. You know that, right?” He cups the back of my head with both hands, his claws tangled in my messy strands.

“Nothing has ever been easy for us, Nox. But I don’t want to live like this anymore. And I won’t give you up.” There is no me without him. Neither of us knows a life without the other. I can’t imagine mine without him.

“You must make an oath at the Wishing Tree. A soul for a soul.”

“I know. I remember,” I murmur.

“Then you’ll go to sleep, and when you wake up, I will be there. Forever. As if we were never here.”

I choke back a sob. More curses, more bargains, and more ties that bind. But I can’t keep him trapped here any longer.

“Shhh, dark one. Don’t cry. How can I make you feel better?” He tilts my chin up. The look in his eyes is tender yet hungry. His forked tongue slithers out as he licks his lips.

I shake my head. “I want to make you feel better.” I wrap my lips around one of the heads of his cock and suck while I grip the other head tight in my hand.

He lets out a gravelly moan. “I don’t deserve you…”

His foreskin is as smooth as silk and saltier than any other I’ve tasted. I’ve spent many nights with him in my mouth but tonight feels different. It could be the last time we defile each other in this room. And I want it to be special.

I take a deep breath before pushing his other head into my mouth. The stretch of my cheeks almost makes me gag. I blink back tears, breathing deeply through my nose with both of his heads filling me.

“Oh, my dark one… You devour me so well.” His eyes roll back in his head as he rocks his hips gently back and forth.

His heads weigh heavy on my tongue, pressing all the way to the back of my throat. It stirs a fire in my belly, tingling my nub from the rawness of the act. This act of service I give him as a token of my love and adoration.

I gaze deep into his red eyes as I suck. Those red eyes I’ve painted a thousand times but which can never be fully captured on canvas. In the flesh, they are stronger, brighter, and more seductive. I wonder if he will change on the other side.

“Mia, my love. I am close. Pull back now if you think you can’t handle it.” He pets the back of my head softly.

I take more of him down my throat, determined to swallow every drop of him. I whimper as he twitches against the inside of my cheeks, the ridges on his cock protruding out with violent force. I relax my throat and tilt my head back as I wait for the devil’s nectar.

“Mmm. Alright, then.” He cradles my head, holding it firm between his palms as he jerks into my mouth.

His tail slithers around my body, finding its way between my legs. I gasp as it slips inside my pussy. I rock back and forth on it, trembling as it penetrates deeper, stimulating every nerve in my core.

A stifled moan erupts as the first gush of liquid shoots down my throat. I grab onto his waist, anchoring myself to him as his tail slides in and out of my throbbing pussy. I squeeze and release, coaxing my own pleasure as I milk him.

“I love how you worship me, dark one. So devout,” he praises.

I shudder as he shatters me, and I cum all over his tail. His words sound like a holy hymn to my ears. I lap up every drop of him until I’ve licked him clean.

He fingers my swollen lips. “Delicious.”

I kiss his stomach. “I like being on my knees for you.”

He lifts my chin. “You’re exquisite.”

We curl up next to each other on the bed. I don’t want to sleep yet. If the ceremony works, this will be the last time we are safe from the outside world. The last time I will ever see this room. As much as I’ve loathed it at times, it’s been in my head for so long, it’s hard to imagine it gone.

And if it doesn’t work, it will remain like this, yet half of my heart will always be somewhere else …

“Whatever happens will be. Don’t worry, my love.” He draws light circles on my back with the tips of his claws as I drape a leg over him.

“I know. That’s what scares me. Everything feels out of my control. Am I greedy for wanting you all?”

He chuckles, a rarity from him. “No, we are the greedy ones. We want to consume you every second.”

I sigh against his chest, hoping that there will soon be an end to this madness. We lie like this for hours, listening to each other’s breath and heartbeat. I didn’t think I’d ever find comfort like this again. Not from anyone other than the entity who has been shadowing my soul since the beginning. But now I have to let some light in. And this is the only way I know how.

I press my lips to his shoulder, kissing him softly. “I need to go back now.”

A soft whimper, almost inaudible, escapes from his lips. “Yes, my love. Sleep now.”

As I drift off, he recites his poem. The first time I heard it, I was afraid. But I didn’t understand what it meant. Not until now…

Down, down, down

Winter’s bony fingers pull me down

Night never ends

Sleep is forever

I wear the nightmare crown

Don’t make a sound

Silent as the howl less wind

Down, down, down

Back to his web again

Honeyed fingers, poisoned tongue

Sharpest is the kiss that feed s

There is no dream in which I’m from

Lost between the Wishing Trees

Down, down, down

Crushed by devil’s rocks

Bound, bound, bound

To an eternity of Nox.

I kind of like the smell of motor oil now, I realize as I sit cross-legged on the ground next to the 1962 Super Beetle that Bones is working on. Hunched over the trunk, he looks gorgeous in his grease-stained muscle tank. In the days when these cars were originally built, the engines were put in the back. Another thing I learned from Sister Mary, the mechanic, at the orphanage.

“She is such a classic. What are you going to do with her after she’s all fixed up?” I’ve always had a soft spot for this model.

He pokes his head out from behind the hood and winks. “What color do you want her to be?”

I nearly choke on my cherry cola. “Um, what?”

He grins as he wipes his hands on a dirty rag. “She’s yours if you want her.”

I bite my lip to stifle a cheesy grin. “Is that a trick question? I absolutely want her.”

“What color then?” He plops down across from me and steals a sip from my soda.

I salivate over the way his throat bobs when he swallows, glancing back and forth between him and the can. “Red. Cherry red.”

“You got it, mi amor. Mmm, this drink tastes like your lips.” He takes another sip before handing it back to me.

I fidget with a loose thread on my jeans, my anxiety building. There’s so much I still don’t understand. But I’m grateful my path has led me back here. To them . “What will happen to me?”

He leans back against the car and sighs. “You’ll be tied to him and this place forever. Cursed. Forbidden to enter the After. That’s the deal. He gives you Nox, and, in return, he gets to do whatever he wants with your soul.”

I peel back some of my chipped nail polish, making it worse. “That might happen anyway…”

He nods. “We’ve got you, either way, mi amor.”

“Whatever happens will be,” I murmur, repeating Nox’s words.

“That is the way it’s always been.” He kisses me on the forehead before standing up. “I’m going to get cleaned up, baby girl. Don’t lose that vial. It’s the only dose.”

I tap on the outside of my jacket pocket. “I won’t let it out of my sight.” I guess I’m going full macabre tonight, poison, sacrifice, and a blood oath. Just a typical Saturday night in Ever Graves.

Bones had offered to bring it to me at Harker Mansion, but I needed to get out of that house. I’ve been pacing the halls since I left Nox yesterday. There’s something about the smells and sights of Bones’s Garage that ground me.

“Thanks again. I’m off to go meet Lettie for a drink.” Hopefully, she doesn’t try to kill me for sleeping with her brother.

“Give her my love. I’ll see you later tonight.” He pulls me up from the ground and presses his lips to mine for a long kiss. “Mmm.” He licks his lips. “Sweet like candy.”

I feel my cheeks flush. I could kiss this man for hours if he’d let me. “Go, before you make me late,” I tease.

He flashes me a sloppy grin before charging upstairs.

I hop in my truck and head toward town, still giddy. Each of them knows how to distract me in their own way. Draven’s methods rile me up and make me want to break something in between ripping his clothes off .

Aries likes to wind me up like I’m his favorite toy, coaxing me to give in to my darkest kinks.

But Bones is just raw and pure. He’s a ferocious fighter one minute and a shameless flirt the next. Despite his past trauma and the ghosts that haunt him, I feel so much lighter in his presence. I hope I can convey that to Lettie in a way that doesn’t make her feel weird. I don’t have any siblings, but I can imagine you wouldn’t want your brand new friend dating one of them.

Lettie is already waiting for me outside of Duff’s when I pull up. I bounce out, happy to see her but also nervous to confess. She embraces me, and that warm sugary scent of vanilla surrounds us. How is this girl single? She’s gorgeous and sweet and always smells like freshly baked goods.

“Hey, girl. Thanks for meeting me. I have a lot to fill you in on,” I say on a shaky breath.

“I would never miss getting a chance to hang out with my new favorite girl in Ever Graves.” She winks as she holds the door open for me.

Happy hour at Duff’s is just as busy as late Friday nights are, apparently, but we find a table in the corner by the front window. We order two of the house specials, The Petite Poe, which is a flight of martinis made with Blackwell gin.

“Mmm,” I take a sip of the first one, a chocolate gin martini, and almost orgasm. Duff’s might not look like the kind of bar you’d find anything other than cheap beer in, but it’s a hidden gem full of premium cocktails.

“Right?” Villette nods. “I knew you’d like these. Wait till you get to the lavender one. It’s transcendant.”

I giggle, almost euphoric to finally have a close female friend whom I can do these types of things with. I hope she never goes back to Raven’s Gate. “I need to tell you what’s going on. And I’m trying to find the right words…”

She puts her hand to her mouth, feigning a gasp. “Let me guess, you’re falling in love with my brother and his friends. Story of my life.”

I feel my cheeks heat. “Lettie, I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.”

She bursts out laughing. “Relax, it’s not the first time. My best friend, Maureen, is with my brother Felix. That one was a hard pill to swallow, but I got over it. As long as you and Bones are happy, I give you my blessing.”

I let out a sigh of relief, but I’m still uneasy. “Are you sure this doesn’t bother you at all?”

The one thing I’ve picked up about Villette is that she’s a people pleaser. She holds things back. No one can be that bubbly all the time. I worry that one day she’s going to explode from being so nice.

She squeezes my hand. “I promise, Mia. It doesn’t bother me. Bones has never had anyone except for Aries and Draven. If he’s letting you in, that means he really fucking likes you. And that makes me happy.”

“Okay, cool. I don’t want you to stop being my friend.”

“That will never happen. Now, what else is going on? I overheard Bones talking about the Wishing Tree. That place creeps me out.”

My stomach twists in knots as I gulp down the third martini, a sweet concoction of blood orange and honeysuckle. I might need three more flights of these to prepare me for tonight. “I’m bringing Nox here… Are you sure you still want to be friends with me?”

Her face slackens, and she downs another martini. “You mean your nightmare man? Bring him here, to our world?”

I nod and fidget with the stem of one of the glasses. I spend the next hour telling her the plan. I explain the oath I have to make, how I will be forbidden to enter the After, and the agreement that the guys made to stand by me. All in exchange for Nox’s freedom so we can be together. So I’m not tormented by my sleep anymore .

We finish our flights in silence. I can see the storm brewing in her eyes. Her expression is conflicted, her brow furrowed.

Finally, she shakes her head. “Fuck. I’m gonna need another round, chica.”

I jump up from the table to go order. “Yes, I’ll buy this time.”

Fuck. I can’t read her. She’s not angry, but the bubbliness is gone. Great. Maybe I’m going to be the one to make this girl finally unleash. I have that effect on people.

I return to the table and wait for Duff to set our drinks down. Villette and I stare at each other quietly until he leaves.

“Please, say something,” I plead.

She lets out a deep sigh. “We are from some fucked up families, aren’t we?”

I release the breath I’m holding. “Yeah. And from this cursed fucking town. But we are the ones in charge now. I don’t know much about your parents, but mine are dead. Aries’s are cut off, and Draven’s moved as far away as they could get. I have to take back some control of my destiny.”

“My parents are superstitious. They live here, but they keep to themselves. My family made a fortune in tobacco. They’ve never wanted anything to do with poison or ravens or ghosts. Especially after my brother Sonny died. I’m surprised they even let me go to Tenebrose Academy.” Her gaze is distant, her voice trailing off as if she’s forgotten that I’m sitting across from her.

I grab her hand. “Bones told me a little bit about that. I’m sorry for your loss.”

She shrugs. “I was a baby when he died, so I don’t remember him. I’m sad for my mother and my brothers, though, for having to carry the burden of his death. I grew up with that unspoken tension always hanging in the air. It’s suffocating sometimes.”

Everyone has their own shit to deal with. Their own burdens to carry. Being isolated for so long, I convinced myself that I was the only one suffering. That my problems were the worst. I feel shame for being so selfish.

“You don’t always have to put on a happy face, Lettie. At least, not with me,” I offer.

She flashes me another warm smile, but sadness pulls at her eyes. “I know. I sense that about you. Thank you.”

“Here’s hoping I don’t make this curse worse tonight.” I down the next martini in one gulp.

“No matter what happens, we’ve all got your back. You’re stuck with us now,” she quips. Now that the glasses lined up in front of us are empty, the knots in my stomach twist. I’m tempted to lick the rest of mine clean. Or order another round.

But the sun fading into the horizon reminds me it’s almost time to go. Draven, Bones, and Aries are meeting me at Harker Mansion. And soon, Nox will be there too. If all goes according to plan.

Villette squeezes me into a tight embrace, and I instantly crave chocolate chip cookies. “You’re going to be okay, Mia Harker. I promise you that. Cursed or not, you are strong, resilient, and come from a very long line of badass bitches.”

I laugh as we say our goodbyes, but a tinge of longing sits in my belly. I wish I’d known some of my ancestors. Once I pledge this oath, I for sure never will.