Page 32 of Dirty Little Saint

Your death, my life.

“Mors vincit omnia,” Atlas adds as another burst of his cum fills me.

Death always wins.

I clench around them both, shocked that I haven’t blacked out yet. But I’ve been waiting for this moment. A chance to recite my own vow. My own pledge to them.

“Ruina nostra salus,” I moan as another orgasm grips me.

Our ruin is our salvation.

“Yes,” Riot coos in my ear. “That’s right. We are your ruin as you are ours.”

Atlas fingers my new sigil. “You are ours to do whatever we want with, pretty girl. Remember that next time you try to say no to us.”

Val caresses my cheek. “We always know what’s best for you.”

I am so irrevocably fucked. Literally and figuratively. They actually own me. There’s nothing I can do to release their hold on me. Nowhere I can run to or hide. Our sigils are like tracking beacons, binding us together with invisible cords.

There’s no escaping.

And to think that it turns me on. That it excites me…

Have I lost my mind?

With my hair down, as Riot instructed, my new sigil pulses on the back of my neck. Although hidden from view, I still wonder if Val’s father will be able to sense it. The power is so dark that I feel like there are shadows following me. Then there’s the chill I haven’t been able to shake. Even after taking a twenty-minute hot shower after the ritual.

The sound of wheels crunching on gravel gets louder as Valentin’s father and his entourage make their way up the driveway. Atlas used his power of sight to send a raven down to check earlier. So we know he’s only minutes away. The closer Laurent Erebus and his motorcade get to the house, the more I want to run into the forest and hide. If he’s anything like Holden Graves, I could be in for another round of humiliation and abuse.

As the four of us wait on pins and needles in the sitting room, I flinch at the first sounds of car doors opening and slamming. I try not to peer out through the window, foolishly hoping that if I don’t look, it’s not really happening.

Footsteps click on the pavement, getting closer. My heart is in my throat.

Valentin throws me a look. “Keep quiet until he addresses you.”

I nod even though a tiny streak of rebellion surges in me. A temptation to greet this asshole at the door just so I can slam it in his face.

The doorknob twists open, and in he walks with six masked men in tow. Chills cover my body as the cold draft follows him into the room.

Laurent Erebus is darkness.

With black hair and brown eyes, he resembles Valentin, but it’s subtle. The man stands taller than my guys. He stands in front of us in a black designer suit. There’s a deep scar above his right eyebrow that travels down in a straight line, crossing over his discolored eye. Like a villain straight out of a horror movie, his energy is sinister. His gaze, deadly.

He folds his scarred hands in front of him and glares at his son. “Such a fucking disappointment.”

Val lifts his chin in defiance. “Well, at least I’m consistent.”

Riot and Atlas remain quiet. As do I. The exchange between Val and his father is not meant for us.

As Laurent stalks over to the window, his initiates follow him. As if this powerful man needs backup. He peers out between the blinds, his jaw clenched. “Do you know that when a raven dies violently, its soul gets trapped between worlds? It exists in agony, unable to fly up or down.”

Val’s throat bobs. “What’s your point?”

Laurent snaps his head to the side, his lips curling into a snarl. “The ghosts of ravens are everywhere because of what you did.”

“With all due respect, Father, we did what was best for Nocturnus. We broke the curse. They can’t control us anymore. We can leave Raven’s Gate without consequence. I thought that’s what you wanted.”

He stalks toward his son and grabs the back of his neck. “You didn’t consult the elders. You have no idea what you unleashed.”

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