Tommy
Didi’s hair is whiter than I remember, especially as the dim light flows over her perfect features. She’s prettier than I remember, too, if that’s even possible. Because my firefly was an image of perfection in my brain.
A few hours have gone by, though I’m not sure how many, but they were brutal for Didi.
Now we’re sitting cross–legged, facing each other in the middle of my bedroom deep in the basement, and she finally understands that I’m not going to kill her.
After a few minutes of having her alone, I pulled her wig off so I could see her.
She sensed something in this house…something ancient and powerful; she saw death in every shadow.
This house has secrets, lots of them. I shudder to think of all that’s gone on here over the years. My father lived here when he went to school, too—after he slaughtered Mary Swinton.
Didi rolls to her side and starts pawing at the beaded curtain like a kitten, laying her head on the pillow I put out for her.
She looks up at me, her eyes flickering as she stares at me curiously with a halo shining around her head.
The room’s colors are so bright, but my trip has mellowed, and now I’m just babysitting Didi for the rest of the ride. There is no coming down from an acid trip, there’s is only getting through it.
It comes in waves. One minute I see her, sense her all around me, and the next, I’m somewhere else entirely. My emotions are jumbled, and judging by the way Didi grimaces one moment, then smiles the next, laughing at nothing, she’s going through it, too.
I reach over and wipe a tear that falls down her face. “It’s okay, Didi. I’m here.”
My heart blooms having her in my room, and while she’s spent the entire night in shambles, I’ve spent it falling in love with her all over again.
I smile down at her, and she frowns and rolls to the side, watching me with the same fascination and attention she’s given those beads the past twenty minutes.
“Tell me what’s wrong?” she asks, propping her head on her elbow.
A pit rolls deep in my stomach. I grab her hand, rubbing the spot between her thumb and forefinger. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s perfect.”
She purses her lips, sits up slightly, and rubs her hand down my face, petting me.
I ease myself down to the floor beside her, and we both gaze up at the lava lamp on my dresser as it flickers. I gently trace my finger along her arm, and she turns, resting her head in my lap, her big, beautiful white eyes gazing up at me.
“You’re a terrible liar, Tommy.”
Didi has fallen out of the sky like an angel directly into Talia Vital’s sights, and I don’t know how to keep her safe. But Didi also killed Father Malcom and her mother.
Clearly, I have a type.
At least down here, it’s just me and her. Whatever Talia had planned for her tonight can wait. I locked my door when I brought her down here so no one would bother us.
“Why are your eyes so black?” she asks as she rubs her tiny fingers over my face. “Were you born in hell?”
And here I’m thinking she looks like an angel…
I arch my eyebrows and smirk. “My eyes are the same color they’ve always been.” She’s been asking me strange questions all night. Convinced I’m a masked devil. But she’s not wrong—every one of us is a masked devil.
She stares at me a moment longer and crinkles her nose. “Tommy?”
“Yeah, firefly?”
She turns away from me, and in a split second, she switches. “I wish I never met you,” she whispers.
Damn.
She tripping again. I can tell because she moans, and her body goes rigid. Whatever she’s seeing, it’s not pleasant, and I know firsthand how intense an acid trip can be. The first time I tripped, the acid altered my brain chemistry, and I was never the same.
Talia didn’t take it easy on me when she spiked my drink at breakfast a couple of months ago. The acid kicked in at track practice, and Bax, Remy, and I ran like we were spaghetti noodles.
I keep my arms wrapped tightly around her, and after a few seconds, her body goes limp. She shifts and moves her hand, landing it right on my dick.
What I wouldn’t give to experience Didi’s mouth on my cock again for just one second.
I’ve earned it.
I stare down at her gorgeous lips, and wonder if I unzip my pants and pull it out, if she would suck on it. She’s done it before.
After the trip, she looks at me, her eyes clear again. “Make it go away, Tommy.”
I rub her forehead and softly stroke her hair to ground her in reality. “Make what go away, firefly? What do you see?”
She lets out a small sob. “The pain… I can’t take it anymore.” Her face falls again, as it does every time she looks at me.
I see only darkness and pain, but she’s pure light. I have countless questions, countless thoughts, yet I remain silent. Nothing I could say would make any sense.
Her face contorts again.
“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” she finally asks me. “Shadowface. You and Remy both are.”
I swallow hard and consider my next words. To admit it right now is to betray my oath, the one I bled for.
“Yeah,” I admit. “But there’s more to it.”
“You kill people,” she says with genuine curiosity. “You burned that building down and tried to kill everyone inside. Talia killed her boyfriend, you pretended to kill me, and your parents covered everything up.”
I don’t deny it, although that wasn’t exactly our intention.
Chaos. That was the intention of burning Smith Hall down and observing the beauty that unfolds within it. That is also the reason Talia drugged every single person at this party tonight.
To watch the natural order that unfolds during times of turmoil.
“Does that scare you?” I ask her, and my eyes draw down to her lips.
She caresses me with her eyes. “Not anymore. Should it scare me?”
Talia is going to have a lot of fun with Didi. She will push her, test her boundaries to find her limit.
She’ll be her new obsession.
Talia doesn’t care about me, not really. Not the same way Didi loves me.
Talia is obsessed with fear—obsessed with studying it. She’s obsessed with the Codex and the generational trauma it brings, and most importantly, she’s obsessed with getting the Codex back.
She’s obsessed with Shadowface.
“Yeah, firefly. It should scare you,” I whisper. “You should have left when Remy told you to.”
She sits up and faces me, her hair falling in front of her face. Her tight body is coiled up in her flared jeans like she’s ready to pounce on me.
This is the sexiest I’ve ever seen her.
She bites her lip and maintains steady eye contact with me as she pulls off her shirt. Her small, perky breasts are on display for me, and I lose my ability to breathe.
My dick goes crazy at the thought of finally being able to fuck her the way I’ve dreamed since I met her.
Is this real? Am I going on a trip again?
Her eyes meet mine. “You and Remy don’t scare me. I’ll never be frightened of either of you.”
“You should be.” If anyone in this town finds out she is alive, it will be over for her.
Her pupils flare and her lips tilt upward. “You can’t kill me if I’m already dead.”
She has a point.
She pushes herself up and yawns, heading over to the bed and crawling into it. “I’m tired, Tommy. I just want to sleep now, okay?”
I run my hands through my hair. “Okay, Didi.”
A few seconds go by, and I can hear bumps and shrieks from outside. The entire place is filled with well over a hundred people tripping on acid above us.
I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m certainly not getting into bed unless she wants me there.
“Are you coming?” she asks as she turns onto her stomach to get more comfortable.
Hell yeah.
My dick is rock-hard as I rise and pull off my clothes and lie beside her in my boxers. She falls into my body, and I wrap my arms around her, wanting to protect her from it all.
She takes a deep breath, and her head falls heavily. I think Didi is asleep now, but she’s whimpering. I close my eyes and get lost in the bright lights and the electric guitar playing inside my mind.