Page 78 of Dirty Little Saint

The stone is ice-cold against my back as I lie back upon it, my feet dangling off the end. They close in, surrounding me on the altar in a circle. My fingers tremble in anticipation.

Riot caresses my arm with the tip of the blade. “We’ll each mark you tonight. Four of us, four sigils. It will be painful. There will be poison and blood and fluid. If you survive, you’ll be one of us when it’s done.”

I release a deep breath as my heart threatens to explode inside my chest. “I’m ready.”

Atlas stands over me and removes his robe. I have to blink a few times to make sure I’m not hallucinating. A king cobra snake slithers down the length of him. It twists up his arms and around his neck.

Holy fuck.

My muscles tense as he holds the head of the snake between my legs. It hisses and snaps, lunging at my flesh like it hasn’t eaten in days.

“Try to stay still, Felix. I’m going to let Zeus bite you. But I’ll suck the poison out before it hits your heart.” Atlas’s eyes are crazed, wild, glowing like two pools of neon light.

I nod and grip the edges of the stone table.

He lets the snake loose on my leg. Fuck, I shouldn’t be this turned on. Knowing that this bite is going to hurt. That the poison is going to be excruciating. That it will briefly paralyze me. But the sweet release after… Fuck.

The snake’s skin is smooth and rough at the same time. Its head fans out as it pauses near my inner thigh. Atlas hovers over it, ready to wrestle it away. While it’s hard to take my eyes off the cobra, this Greek-looking Adonis is giving it a run for its money.

Atlas is a beautiful man, fearless and unhinged. I wonder how many times he’s wrestled this snake and won.

“That’s good. Look at me, Felix,” he coaxes.

I hear the hiss before I feel the sting. I bite my lip to keep from screaming as Zeus sinks his fangs deep into the fleshiest part of my thigh. My hips jerk involuntarily as the venom rushes into my bloodstream.

Through my blurred vision, I watch Atlas guide the snake off my leg with seduction, not force. He strokes it gently until it releases its grip on me. I don’t feel the pain from the bite anymore—just the feeling of being suffocated by the toxin that’s trying to take over my body.

Atlas darts back over, snakeless. “You’re doing so good.” He kisses my thigh before he starts to suck on the wound. His lips are soft and warm. He moans as he drinks from me, his eyes glowing when they lock with mine.

This rush of adrenaline, the euphoria, it’s like I’m high and drunk and sober all at the same time. I taste blood on my lips from my desperate attempt to keep quiet. But I don’t want silence anymore.

I feel her small hands on my shoulders. “I’m right here.”

Fuck, I need to touch her. I arch my back and lick the blood off my lips.

By the time Atlas is done, the poison is gone, and I’m left with a lingering vibration in my core. It pulses inside me like a second heartbeat.

“Now, this is really going to hurt,” Riot declares. He presses the dagger to my bite wound. “Serpentis.”

I gasp as he thrusts the tip of the blade into my flesh. He is not gentle or soft. The pain is unthinkable. Unimaginable. I watch as he carves the symbol into my leg, mutilating my flesh in ways it has never been violated before.

My throat is dry, my head spinning. I list things in my head to keep myself from passing out—adrenaline, endorphins, eyes like burnt honey, release, agony… I recite poems in my mind. These words bring me comfort and peace amidst this violence.

“Mors tua, vita mea,” Riot chants. “Your death, my life.” He dips his fingers into the blood and smears it over my abdomen. His fingers trail farther down, and I can’t help but whimper as he wipes the blood around the base of my cock.

I arch my back as he cups my balls. “Fuck,” I grit out.

“That’s it, Felix. Surrender to Serpentis. The power of the snake.” Riot wraps his hand around my shaft and squeezes before stroking up and rolling his thumb over the tip. A trickle of pre cum oozes out. He licks it off his finger, and I almost black out from need.

“In absentia lucis, tenebrae vincunt,” Atlas murmurs.

Valentin is next. He tilts my head to the side and presses a soft kiss to my neck. He whispers in my ear. “Now you will get the Lux sigil. For light. So you can balance all our crazy.”

A smirk pulls at the corners of my lips, but it’s short-lived as Val drags the tip of the blade through my flesh without warning. This time, I scream, unafraid and unashamed to embrace every twisted and beautiful layer of this ritual.

My little raven coos in my ear. “You can do this, Felix… I need you.”

Her voice gives me life. Her breath on my cheek is worth more than any poem that has ever been written in the history of the world.

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