59. Chapter 59
Arwen
Asharp rap at the door jolts me upright. I blink, disoriented, taking in the unfamiliar room: sunlight streaming through massive windows hung with dark silk, a fire still crackling in the hearth.
Where am I?
What is this place?
The questions form, but it doesn’t settle into anything solid. It floats unanchored. None of it means anything to me.
Then it comes back. Vex.
A warm feeling settles over me. I’m safe. He’s here somewhere.
The door opens before I can push the thought further, and an older woman steps in, dressed in servant’s attire.
She isn’t him. Disappointment sinks into my stomach.
Her eyes move over me, taking in every detail, the way someone appraises a piece of property. There’s no greeting in it. And beneath the flat assessment, she seems almost uneasy.
“Mr. West says I’m to ready you for company,” she says. The words chase away the rest of my disappointment.
My love wants me with him.
Excitement sparks through me, and I follow her instructions without question.
Time passes in fragments. There are mirrors. Fabric. Hands adjusting things. I don’t resist, even when a small part of me registers discomfort I can’t quite explain. It doesn’t matter. If this is what he wants, then there is nothing to question.
When I finally see myself, rich crimson fabric hugs every curve of my body before ending far high on my thighs.
My reflection looks almost exaggerated. The neckline dips dramatically. The fitted bodice pushes my chest upward in a way that makes me feel exposed despite being covered.
Every time I move, I’m convinced something is about to slip out of place.
I instinctively think to adjust it, to pull it down, to fix the way it sits—
The servant clears her throat, and the thought stops halfway through forming. If this is how he wants me, then this is how I am meant to be. Anything else would be wrong.
I don’t touch it again.
The servant leads me through a maze of elegant hallways until we reach a drawing room. My steps slow at the threshold, excitement and anticipation taking hold of me.
When I step into the lavish drawing room, my eyes immediately seek him out. The rest of the world fades into the background as my attention locks onto him completely.
He rises from behind his desk as his gaze moves over me, inspecting my body. Every inch of me lights up beneath his wondering eyes. Heat rushes into my cheeks, and I become painfully aware of the way the dress clings to my body. His eyes linger on my bare legs.
A pleased smile tugs at his mouth as he comes closer. “You look edible, Angel.”
The words send a strange ripple through me, pleasure and unease tangled together. His hands settle at my waist, and the contact makes my spine shiver.
The grip on my hip tightens as he pulls me closer and leans in until only inches separate us.
“I want to devour you,” he murmurs.
His breath brushes across my face, and the scent hits me instantly.
It smells wrong—something rotten and sour that makes my stomach tighten in a sudden, violent twist.
The revulsion surges through me, and I want to pull away, to turn my head. Step back to create some distance. The reaction is so immediate that it shocks me. Confusion follows right behind it.
No.
That reaction doesn’t belong here. This is my Vex.
The man I adore more than anything. The man I’m lucky enough to be standing in front of right now.
Safe thoughts return like something placed carefully back where it belongs.
I am where I’m meant to be.
A sharp knock interrupts the moment. The sound pulls my attention, even though I don’t want to look away from him. Something in my chest tightens at the interruption, a faint irritation I don’t understand.
He exhales harshly through his nose as his expression darkens with annoyance.
“Soon, Angel,” he whispers, his voice smoothing over whatever tension had been there a second ago.
His thumb brushes my side once before he releases me. “Right now, we have company.”
Losing his touch feels disappointing. I watch him move toward the door, my attention fixed entirely on him, even as something small and restless stirs beneath the surface of my thoughts.
The door opens and a woman strides inside. She has striking red hair pulled back from a severe face. Her black dress is elegant, ending just below her knees.
Everything about her looks controlled. My reaction is instant.
I don’t like this woman.
She doesn’t smile or greet anyone. Instead, she turns her attention on me. Her gaze drags over me in a slow, assessing sweep. She wears something like mild disgust on her face as she surveys me like I’m a piece of furniture up for auction.
The hate pours out of me, and I don’t understand this feeling?
I’ve never seen her before. Why would I hate her?
And yet something inside me bristles, the hate growing stronger the longer she looks at me. A horrible thought flashes through my mind.
Is she trying to take him from me?
The idea sends a burst of panic through my chest. Is that why I hate her?
“Arwen,” Vex says, and his voice shifts as he comes back to me, sliding his fingers through mine. The simple contact calms something inside me. “This is my sister, Amaya.”
His sister!
The realization should change everything. She’s family. I should want her approval. I should want to make a good impression. If she’s important to Vex, then she should be important to me.
I need her to see that I’m worthy of him.
So why does it feel like every instinct in my body is screaming at me not to trust her?
Amaya continues circling me, and the sensation makes my skin crawl. I do my best to keep my expression pleasant.
One corner of her mouth twitches. “She doesn’t seem like the rest of your mindless, obsessed idiots,” Amaya says flatly, as if I am not standing right here.
My spine stiffens as Vex’s grip on my hand tightens.
“She requires a little more work,” Vex replies. “But we’re getting there.”
A faint tension pulls through the room again, and I study Amaya’s face. And for reasons I can’t explain, I know with absolute certainty that if she comes closer to me, I might claw her eyes out.
“I don’t care,” Amaya says, already turning away and pouring herself a drink. “I don’t trust her to speak in front of her right now.”
Vex lets out an irritated breath and rolls his eyes.
“Fine. I’ll send her away. But you’ve seen her now. She’s under my control. I’m keeping her.” His arm slips around my waist possessively, pulling me a little closer to his side. “Even after he’s gone. She’s mine to ruin.”
Some distant part of my mind thinks these words should bother me. Instead, warmth blooms through my chest at the idea that he wants to keep me.
Amaya merely rolls her eyes.
“That’s not a problem, Vex, as long as she’s under your control,” she says before taking a sip. “We both know you’ll get bored eventually, and when you do, I’ll give her to Wicka. I promised her leftovers.”
The name Wicka hits my system like a splash of ice water.
Give me away?
The thought makes my stomach twist unpleasantly, but it all melts away when Vex turns his eyes back on me.
“Arwen,” he says, “please be a good girl and return to your room. You’re to stay there until I call for you.”
“Of course,” I say. “Anything you wish.”
I reach for his hand before I can stop myself, wrapping both of mine around it.
“I will miss you, my love.” The smile he gives me feels like sunlight.
I squeeze his hand one last time before releasing it and turning toward the door.
As I leave the drawing room, I can still feel Amaya’s eyes on my back. The sensation makes my skin crawl, though I can’t understand why.
Once I’m back in my room, behind closed doors, I try to grasp onto the feeling that’s been bothering me since I saw her.
Hatred.
It feels misplaced, like it doesn’t belong to me. I sit on the edge of the bed, forcing myself to stay still, to focus, to dig into it instead of letting it drift away like everything else has been.
Where is it coming from?
I close my eyes and search for the thought properly this time. I press my hand against my chest and try to examine the ugly feeling.
At first, there’s nothing but static, a dull fog pressing against my thoughts. Then something breaks through it—a girl’s face.
Short black hair with wide, terrified eyes. A knife pressed against her throat. Blood dripping down her neck.
My stomach lurches hard, a physical reaction that I can’t be sure belongs to me. I reach for the image, desperate to hold it in place, to understand it, but it fades away. Burning at the edges.
No—wait.
I push again, harder this time, forcing myself through the haze. My head aches with the effort.
Another image cuts in, replacing it.
A man this time.
Familiar in a way that makes my breathing pick up before I can even understand why. Dark eyes moving over me with heat. Tattoos spilling across his broad chest in chaotic patterns.
Heat blooms low in my body, sudden and disorienting. His tongue pressing against his lip as if he’s considering something, amused by it.
My breath hitches, a sharp little sound in the quiet room. A consuming warmth spreads through my chest, pushing back the fog in my head. My fingers curl into the fabric of the bedding, holding on to this feeling.
I cling to it.
To him.
And then, clear as a struck bell, the name echoes up from some deep, untouched place: Maddox.
The moment I think his name, everything snaps. My eyes fly open and the memories crash into me like a tidal wave.
Vex and Amaya. Gluttony. I’m in Gluttony!
The blow to the back of my head. Daphne.
My hands start to shake. I press them flat against my knees to stop it, and the shaking only moves up my arms instead. I can’t get a full breath. Vex did this to me. His craving mark power.
Panic explodes through my body. The craving mark lurks beneath it like a parasite.
I need to get out of here. Jolting up, my foot catches on the edge of the rug, and I stumble. I land hard on my hands and knees.
A hot spike of annoyance pricks at my temples. Then, just as quickly, it dissolves into a heavy, cottony static that muffles everything. The edges of the room soften, as if someone has smeared oil across my brain.
I shake my head, trying to blink away the blur.
What was I doing?
I sit back on my heels, staring blankly at the floor. There was something important. My brow furrows as I reach for it.
A blurry face flashes through my mind. Maybe a man? But the image dissolves before I can grasp it.
That’s not right. There is no other man. Not outside of my love.
Why would I be thinking about anyone else?
The very idea feels absurd. The ultimate betrayal. I press a hand against my chest, trying to soothe the lingering discomfort and steady my breathing.
There couldn’t be anyone else.
Vex is everything. I wonder what he’s doing now.
Is he thinking about me?
He’ll call for me soon. I just know it. I curl up on the edge of the bed and rest my chin on my knees, staring at the door like it might open at any second.