Chapter 24
Joseline
My entire body aches. As consciousness drags me out of sleep and I roll over, my muscles scream in protest. Maybe I overdid it a little last night between photographing the band and shaking my ass at the club.
Or maybe it’s because I fell in the alley and then got thoroughly fucked by a demon—twice.
At the thought of Tobias, my eyes fly open. Even though I know what to expect, I can’t deny the tiny depression that sinks in my chest when he’s nowhere to be found.
Just like nothing happened, I remind myself.
That was the deal; I knew this was coming. Tobias and I are nothing, will never be more than nothing, and last night was just…
Better than it had any fucking right to be.
I rub the sleep from my eyes, clinging to the image of him lingering on the backs of my eyelids. With a sigh, I allow myself to relive it all.
Tobias saving me from the hellbeast and bringing us back here.
Me begging him to stay.
His searing kiss that lit up my nerves like a Christmas tree.
His unusual pierced cock that had me seeing stars.
His gentleness as he bathed me.
Him pulling me into his chest as my eyes closed and letting me fall asleep on him.
“Fuck.” The singular word echoes through the room, and I rub my hands over my face. I should have never asked him to stay, shouldn’t have begged for him to fuck me, but holy shit was it worth every second.
It’s gonna take a long time for me to forget any of what happened last night, and I can’t say I’m upset about it.
With a groan, I drag myself out of bed and pull on my bathrobe before marching to the tiny coffee bar near the door.
Absentmindedly turning on the Keurig, I run through my morning routine before hunting down my phone.
It’s still in my purse from last night, clinging to its last bar of battery. My jaw drops when I notice the time.
It’s almost four o’clock in the afternoon.
How the hell?
My eyes jump to the curtained window across the room where sunlight is creeping in through the gaps. I look at my phone again. There are a few missed messages from Niki.
Niki: Good morning, sunshine! You’re probably still dead to the world.
Niki: Still sleeping?
Niki: I’m obviously waiting so patiently to hear about how your night went.
Niki: Sebastian just told me Tobias took you back to your hotel?! Girl… I need answers.
I chuckle reading the message, wondering how much she knows. Would she assume Tobias stayed the night? Or is she just curious about the hellbeast encounter?
Deciding it’s best to keep that information out of text messages, I reply with something vague.
Me: Finally alive. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.
Me: Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in asap! Let me get up and moving.
Satisfied, I shift my attention to my morning—now afternoon—routine.
I order room service and grab my coffee before sitting down with my laptop, mentally running through my to-do list. I have a few things to take care of, including answering emails and posting content, before I head to see Niki.
Emails are the most boring, so I answer them first to get them out of the way. Then, it’s onto socials. I can’t work on editing Rhage’s photos because I left my camera on Niki’s bus, but I’ll get to them this evening.
As I pull up my main page, my eyes fall to the little red notification bubble in the corner, and my jaw falls slack. There are over fifteen hundred interactions on my page since last night.
“This has to be some kind of glitch,” I mutter under my breath.
Surely, there’s no way my page got that much traction. Right?
Clicking over to my page, my stomach somersaults when I see twenty thousand new followers. Since last night.
I blink, confused. That definitely has to be a glitch.
Forcing a breath into my lungs, I try to figure out what’s going on. None of my posts went viral all of a sudden, so that doesn’t make sense.
Then where did all these new followers come from?
I dig further, clicking on one of my most recent photos—where I can see there are forty-two new comments—and begin to scroll.
not_demure: We love a baddie.
rip.van.wrinkle: Thick thighs save lives.
eggplantboss: That tango gonna be horizontal later.
h0ly.h@nds: Tobias is one lucky fuck.
His name is like a punch to my stomach, and I freeze.
What the hell does he have to do with any of this?
I think back to the club last night, when he saved me from the handsy guy and joined me on the dance floor. Did someone see us together and think we were… together?
No. That can’t be it.
But a few more clicks has the answer staring me in the face. I’ve been tagged two hundred times under an image posted by a stranger.
I click it, bracing myself for the worst—
The picture that loads is a shock to my senses, and all my thoughts turn to mashed potatoes.
There I am, pressed up against Tobias on the dance floor, looking back at him over my shoulder. His arms are around me, his hands grabbing my hips. It looks intimate, too intimate for two people who can’t stand each other.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Someone obviously recognized Tobias last night, and they’d assumed we were on a date. Which we weren’t. He was just my drink bitch, there to make sure no one took advantage of me.
This was not supposed to happen. We were both very clear that last night was a one-night stand, and that nothing would come of it.
But now something has come of it.
I groan.
So much for things going back to normal.
I’m curious if Niki has seen this shit yet. Knowing her, she probably has. I wonder why she didn’t ask about it…
A knock at the door makes me jump, and I hurry to retrieve my room service, even though I hardly feel like eating now. I’m too nauseous and anxious, wondering how much more attention the photo is going to get as the hours drag on. My mind wanders, crowded with questions.
Will we have to make a statement?
Will everyone let it go and forget about it in a couple of days?
Does Tobias know or care about the potential drama?
With my mind spiraling, I scroll through hundreds of comments, before I force myself off the laptop. I haven’t had enough caffeine to deal with this, and pictures will just have to wait. I force myself to pick over my sandwich and fries, sipping on my coffee until it’s almost cold.
My thoughts are scrambled. My insides feel twisted.
And the only thing I can focus on is how I’m supposed to tell Niki about all of this? Do I tell her I fucked her boyfriend’s bandmate? That it was the best sex of my life? Do I mention the magic butt plug?
She’s going to laugh her ass off about the whole thing, that’s for sure.
As if she’s reading my thoughts, my phone rings, and a picture of us on her twenty-first birthday lights up the screen with her name. With a deep breath, I answer and put the phone to my ear.
“Yes, it’s four o’clock, but that is too early for an interrogation,” I answer without saying hello. “He was just there to be my drink bitch, I swear.”
“Joseline?” The voice that answers is obviously not Niki’s. It’s lighter and a little higher pitched.
I check the phone again. Nope, that’s definitely Niki’s number.
“Who is this?” I ask, ice crawling up my spine.
“It’s Ashten, Daire and Steele’s girlfriend.”
I furrow my brows, trying to make sense of this phone call. Ashten is the adorable lead singer of Rhage’s opening band, Deviant Dolls, so I know who she is. I’ve seen her in passing, but we’ve never actually spoken.
Why the hell would she be calling me from Niki’s phone?
Unless…
“What happened?” I blurt. “Is Niki okay?”
Her hesitation gives me the answer I need, and I’m clamoring out of my seat searching for clothes before she even says anything.
“Niki is… not doing well,” Ashten says, though I hardly hear her over the pulse pounding in my ears. “The guys are doing all they can, but… you should come.”
“Right, I’ll be there asap.”
With trembling fingers, I order an Uber and toss the phone aside. I speed around the room searching for clothes, pulling on the first outfit I find: leggings and a baggy T-shirt. I don’t even bother with a bra. Grabbing my phone and purse, I tear out of my hotel room, speeding toward the elevator.
While I wait for the doors to ping open, I pace and curse under my breath, trying to get my panic under control. The fact that Niki didn’t call me herself is super alarming, but she seemed fine last night before I went out.
What the hell changed?
I know the half-demon baby is a threat to her life, and her prospects for surviving are slim, but the thought of actually losing her has never really sunk in.
I’ve always clung to the hope that she would be the exception, that she would be the one to survive this paranormal pregnancy, and that everything would be fine.
But as I climb onto the elevator and descend to the lobby, a much darker image clouds my thoughts. One that I’m not ready to face. One that will tear my heart in half and leave me with a gaping hole in my chest.
One I refuse to accept.
I’m out of breath from running by the time I hop in the backseat of my Uber, and I suck in several deep breaths. Everything around me seems to be moving in slow motion, not nearly fast enough for my liking.
If only Tobias was here to teleport me one more time.
I shove the thought of him away, and bounce my feet as the driver heads to the event center, hoping like hell I’m not too late.