Page 23 of Dirty Little Saint

Riot’s rage is palpable, soiling the air around us like a toxin. “How much time do we have?”

“A few hours or so?” Val shrugs.

Riot nods. “Then we better be quick.” He turns to me, his lips still coated in my juices. “You need another sigil.”

“It’s too soon, Riot. She can’t handle it,” Atlas pleads, his blue-green eyes bloodshot from what looks like crying.

That’s odd. That man usually thinks funerals are funny.

He still won’t look at me.

And I can’t resist another dig. “You clearly have no idea what I can or cannot handle, Atlas.”

He throws his hands up in defeat. “You’re right. I’ll shut the fuck up now.”

Val and Riot exchange an uneasy look.

I lift my chin with confidence. “I don’t ever want to feel powerless again. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Atlas groans. “You could die.”

I glare at him and hiss.

“I know, I know. You hate my voice right now.”

“He’s right,” Val quips.

Riot lets go of my hand so he can move behind me. He pushes my hair to the side and tilts my head, exposing the first sigil he gave me. “He’s also wrong. She’s Nocturnus. Our power is also hers.”

He turns to face me and gives me the same look he did in the clearing. He’s waiting for my consent.

I blow out a deep breath. “You know I’m ready. But I want to hear the truth about what happened last night.”

Maureen

Sitting in Valentin’s kitchen, I’m flooded with memories of that one special night we shared here. Back before I murdered Riot’s half-brother. Before all the things that I will never be able to shed, or be free from, happened. That night was the first time I’d seen Val smile. I haven’t seen him smile like that since.

As we sit across from each other now, every traumatic emotion he’s ever felt sprawls across his face. His father is a true monster, hurting him since the moment he took his first breath. Valentin isn’t scared of anything or anyone except Laurent Erebus. And he is currently on his way here.

I’m sandwiched between Riot and Atlas, my nerves shot. “Did you know they were going to make me touch myself in front of them? That they were going to lash me?”

Val’s nostrils flare as he white-knuckles the edge of the breakfast table. “No. That level of depravity shouldn’t have been inflicted on you.”

Atlas sighs. “Our rituals are sexual, Maur. I knew you were getting a new sigil and figured he’d parade you around a bit. But Val’s right. We wouldn’t have let you go down there if we knew how fucked up things would get.”

I take a long pull from the whiskey bottle that he passes to me. “I’ve played all your sick and twisted games, Atlas. But last night was not fucking fun.”

Riot fidgets with the bottle before taking a drink, his mind seemingly a million miles away. He sighs in remorse even as his gaze hardens on me, his blue eyes almost black with rage. “I underestimated his deviancy. If I pushed too hard, he would have overpowered us all and invoked the rule of Hekate. Which, trust me, would have been much fucking worse.”

“You think we have power, Maur?” Atlas interjects. “You have no idea what power is until you experience our fathers. They’re Nocturnus elders who have been controlling us our whole lives.”

Val snickers. “That needs to end now. They think of you as a pawn, Maur. Women are always pawns in our world. I guess that’s why my mom left.”

His eyes are sunken, and he looks like he hasn’t slept all night. My heart aches for him. It truly does. But they’ve been keeping too many secrets from me. “What is the rule of Hekate?”

The three of them look at each other like they’re collectively about to throw up. This sends a cold burst of dread straight to my belly.

Riot spins the whiskey bottle on the table, rolling it back and forth between his palms. “It’s a clause to ensure that the male initiates don’t get too attached to the female ones.”

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