Page 107 of Dirty Little Saint

Jessamine cowers back into the shadows of the hallway. “There’s something wrong with the women of Ever Graves,” she whispers.

An uneasy feeling hits my stomach. But this chick has that effect on people. She’s so fucking weird. I can never make sense of what she says. I pinch my brow as I feel a headache coming on.

“What about the ravens?” I ask her.

She shudders. “The ravens are the devil’s children.”

What the fuck? I stalk toward the hallway, determined to get a clearer answer out of her, but my uncle stops me.

“Go get some rest, Val. You’ve been through a lot tonight.” Julian hands me my leather jacket.

I nod. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll come by later this week.”

The sky is black, without a star in sight. I slide behind the wheel and drive as fast as I fucking can through the woods. I roll the windows down to feel the wind whip at me. It’s cold and sharp, and it makes me feel something other than this hole in my chest that I have for that fucking disappointment of a father.

When I get back to Nocturnus, the lights are off, and the house is quiet. I slink up to my room, grateful to be back home. I kick off my shoes, strip out of my clothes, and slide into my bed. My pulse races when I feel her warm body inside my sheets.

“Maur…” I just want to bury my heart in her chest for safe-keeping.

She caresses my face. “Val,” she breathes. “My beautiful Valentin… you’re safe now. You’re always safe with me.”

I love this woman so fucking much. I gasp as I kiss her, thrusting my tongue deep inside her mouth. “Please fuck me, Maur. Fuck me violently and dark and hard. I need…”

“Shh, I’ll give you whatever you want, Frankenstein. We can drink, fuck, read poetry under the stars, fall in love…”

I rip her pants off first, then her top. “All of it. I want all of it with you.”

She lets me fuck her hard and rough. She begs me for more when I bruise her lips and thighs. She cries tears of joy, singing my name like it’s a holy hymn when I slam my cock over and over again inside her pussy and her ass. Until there’s so much cum and sweat that neither one of us has an ounce of energy left to give.

I collapse in her arms and fall asleep instantly, for the first time in my rotten life.

Maureen

“I think I’m going to stop going to balls. They’re bad luck.” I dip a sweet potato fry into the massive bowl of ranch the server reluctantly brought over.

“Maybe it’s just ball gowns. People always get stabbed when you’re wearing one,” Villette teases.

“Yeah, I’m like Buffy the Douchebag Slayer.” We both erupt into giggles.

It’s been a month since that fucking night at Graves Estate, but the nightmares still come every night. Especially for Villette. I moved her into Nocturnus House. It’s easier for us to all be together. We take turns running into each other’s rooms when one of us wakes up screaming.

“Any word from Libra?” Villette asks.

I nod. “Well, sort of. Her parents called Atlas. They said they got a text message from her saying she needed space and time off from school to figure out what she wants.”

“It’s weird that she hasn’t responded to us, right? Like I know the winter solstice was crazy, but she seemed fine right before she left.”

I’ve had an uneasy feeling about Libra’s absence since the first week of this semester. But there’s been no time to really deep dive into it. Now that all that shit with the elders is over with, and Nocturnus is ours, I need to try and track our bougie little friend down and make sure she’s truly okay.

“Very weird. That’s actually part of what I wanted to talk to you about. With the summer break coming up next week, I’m planning on going to Ever Graves. Figured I’d ask around about her there. Among other things.” I smile and thank the server as she sets two more glasses of wine in front of us.

Villette takes a big sip. “All of you are going?”

I nod. “Yeah, they don’t let me out of their sight… wanna come?”

Her eyes light up. “My parents are already expecting me to come home for summer. My papa is sending a car for me next Friday. So I’ll meet you there.”

We clink glasses and cheers.

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