Page 110 of Dirty Little Saint

Riot squeezes my thigh. “We don’t have to stay long, love. Just until you get your answers.”

I nod. The closer we get to Blackwell Manor, the more my Erebus sigil burns. This town is shrouded in darkness. It seduces me, caressing my thoughts with shadowy whispers and promises of lust and sin.

I release a deep breath. “There’s something about this place… it feels so wrong.”

Felix grabs my hand. “That’s why I left… I never felt right here. There’s too much darkness. Too many secrets protecting evil things.”

“Villette said the same thing,” I murmur. “But your brother, Bones, he’s never left. And Atlas, your cousin, Aries, is still here. And my cousin, Draven… I don’t understand. How can they live with this feeling every day?” I’ve always been drawn to dark things, dirty things, but this is something different. Something so sinister it’s hard to breathe without shuddering.

Felix stares out the window, his gaze fixated on the trees, as if he’s straining to see something that lurks in the shadows. “This place has a hold on them. It’s hard to break free. Some embrace it and thrive while others descend into madness. I was the latter. My parents sensed it and sent Villette away first. Then me. Bones… well, you’ll meet him. He belongs here.”

When we reach the top of the mountain, the fog clears, revealing the town center. The streets are lined with cobblestones and lit by lampposts. It looks old—vintage—like something out of one of Felix’s Victorian novels.

Riot, Atlas, and Valentin’s gazes dart around as they take it all in, mesmerized by the sight as much as I am. Felix just stares straight ahead. He rubs his hands together, clasping and unclasping his fingers as if he’s about to freak out.

I cover his hands with my own. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know…” he breathes.

Riot stretches his arm behind me to squeeze Felix’s shoulder. “We’ve got you. Remember, we’re the devils of Raven’s Gate, the new elders of Nocturnus. Nothing can hurt us anymore.”

Val looks back at me and smirks. “And we’re strolling in here with a Blackwell. That alone gives us protection.”

A nervous tickle flutters in my belly. It’s still hard to believe that I come from one of the most powerful bloodlines in Melancholia. I was just the Sheriff’s daughter back in Wickford Hollow. We weren’t dirt poor but no one considered us noble or influential. Now… that’s all about to change.

Spanning only ten blocks, it doesn’t take long for us to drive through the main street of town. With the lamplights and cobblestones behind us, another forest approaches.

“Your family estate is just on the other side of these trees.” Felix takes a swig from a vial of nightshade. “We’ll be there in a few minutes,” he rasps.

Atlas and I lock eyes in the rearview mirror again, his expression darker this time. He reaches back and I instantly grab his hand. “You stay close to us, pretty girl. Family or not, I don’t know or trust these people one fucking bit.”

“Agreed,” Riot adds. “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”

Felix smiles for the first time since we arrived. “Quoting Sir Walter Scott now, are we? I think I’m rubbing off on you, Riot.”

“You’re not the only poetic one in the group, Professor,” Riot teases.

Val snorts. “Always the competitive one.”

The truth is, they don’t have to tell me twice. “I have no intention of leaving any of your sides tonight. Not after what happened at Graves Estate…”

The guys collectively tense as they’re reminded of the night they left me alone with Holden Graves. The night I was tortured and humiliated. I don’t bring it up to make them feel bad or guilty. But I’m still working through my issues. Saying it out loud instead of brushing it under the rug makes it easier.

“That will never fucking happen again,” Riot grits out.

I kiss his cheek. “I know. But I’m still never leaving your side again.”

He wraps an arm around me and pulls me into his chest. “Fuck, no. Never.”

We ride in silence for the rest of the way, each of us lost in our own pensive thoughts. It feels like it might be our last moment of peace, as we have no idea what we’re walking into.

When we pull up to the front gates, my stomach knots. The Erebus sigil on the back of my neck crackles, threatening to unleash the darkest parts of me. I take a deep, concentrated breath, and will it to simmer. Fuck. I’m close to having a full blown panic attack.

A tall, muscular black-haired man emerges as the thick iron gates creak open. He nods at Atlas and motions for us to follow. As we drive alongside his willowy figure, I can’t take my eyes off him. He’s my cousin, the first relative I’ve ever seen.

He side eyes the passenger window and chills creep across my neck when his gaze finds mine through the tinted windows of Atlas’s SUV. What the fuck?

But my attention is pulled from him when we arrive at the main entrance. Blackwell Manor is about the size of Tenebrose Academy, sprawling far and wide across the dense marshland. It’s juxtaposition is odd, strange, unnatural, as it towers over wet foliage, overgrown brush, and swampy lagoons.

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