Page 26 of The Duplicity of Thieves

Minos has a black beard with black wavy hair that touches his shoulders. On his head he wears a custom set of golden horns that twirl around and dig into his cheeks, and charcoal is spread around his eyes. Hermes wears his stupid gold helmet, the one he uses to entice other men into fucking him. He’s such a pretty boy. Sometimes I’m jealous of the way they enjoy chasing ass.

“At least I don’t have to wear a bag over my head to get laid,” I say casually.

He adjusts the golden metal bag over his head. “Say what you want, but I pull.”

“I don’t think your boyfriend would like to hear that.” Minos smirks.

“My boyfriend is coming tonight so you both better keep your mouth shut,” Hermes warns.

I stare out into the sea of party goers. “I don’t meddle in personal affairs.”

“I do. What are you gonna give me to keep quiet?” Minos’ smile is smug.

“This dick,” Hermes growls. They continue to argue, and I drown them out, which isn’t hard to do with how loud the music is. The bass buzzes through my chest, shaking my breath.

My gaze wanders around, wishing the night was already over. The waitress comes and pushes a drink into my hand, already used to me ignoring her. I take a sip, and something draws my attention to the bar showered in red light. A woman.

It’s almost like she has an iridescent shimmer. It’s fucking mesmerizing. I tend to play hard to get, but I can’t drag my gaze away. Around her is an aura of pure chaos. I can taste it in the air. There is a hum of familiarity, like when you know someone but can’t place it.

On her feet are black shiny combat boots. My eyes travel up her fishnet clad legs to black cut off shorts that curve around her voluptuous waist. She wears a black mesh long sleeve with a black bra underneath, adorned with a leather harness.

My eyes are assaulted by the profile of her exquisite face. Two black hoops hug the side of her nose. There’s a violent smirk creeping up at the corners of her soft lips. Dark eyes dart from the crowd to this man who is clearly accosting her. I recognize him as the snake-ish doorman’s buddy. I’m compelled to go to her and keep this loser from even speaking to her, but before I can act, she already is.

The woman turns to the loser and tilts her head in the same way a maniac would before reaching around him and slithering her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. There is only a fleeting moment where he thinks she is going to kiss him. She growls something in his face then smashes it into the bar repeatedly. With his nose gushing blood, she holds it over her glass and lets it pour into her drink, swirling it with the amber liquid. As she sips it, she savors it as if it’s nectar, and tosses him to the floor.

My dick gets hard at the violence. She watches him crawl away, and I wish it was my face that just got bashed into the counter and that she’s drinking my blood. She’s a monster. A beautiful fucking monster.

I stand, drawn to her like a mindless zombie. We lock eyes and something inside of me fissures. All my life I have waited with bated breath, and now the air has been sucked from my lungs. I’ve only felt like this one other time: the little devil. She realizes it at the same moment I do. We’ve met before.

Hermes yanks my arm. “Aedonaeus.”

I ignore him. I can’t look away from the little devil. She’s slippery and may run off just like she did that night. I can hardly believe she’s here. Someone grabs her attention. Slowly, her eyes roll at whomever is speaking, and gives one slow nod.

“Aedonaeus.” Minos slaps me on the shoulder, putting me off balance. I give him a quick glare before returning to the girl, but she’s gone. Rage takes me over, and I grab him by the throat, backing him up until he’s against the wall struggling for breath. His hands claw at my wrists, but I don’t let go.

“Aedonaeus! David is here.” Hermes' voice jolts me out of my episode, and I release Minos.

Minos struggles to suck in air. “Fuck.” His pride has taken a hit. I’ve needed to do that for a while.

“Both of you get it together,” Hermes growls.

Hermes’ boyfriend, David, is a typical sub, doing whatever Hermes says and taking his shit. David’s wearing a leather vest with something resembling a collar. I actually like the guy. He’s nice enough. He’s used to the escalated anger between us all and is unphased by the display of it.

I settle back into the couch, scanning the crowd for the woman and praying to anything that will listen to bring her back to me. It’s just like the cruel world to hand her to me on a platter just to drop it. Minos grabs the waitress’ ass as a distraction from his ego, which is seriously suffering. Hermes goes somewhere to get David a drink, leaving us alone on the couch.

“She’s nearly impossible to talk to.” David nudges me.

I snap out of my prayers. “What?” I hate it when people fucking touch me.

“The girl at the bar,” he clarifies. “The one you were eye fucking? Impossible to talk to her without her maiming you.”

“Do you know her?” The question comes out hungrier than I mean for it to.

“Not exactly. I know her sister.” Salvation is so close I can taste it. David knows her, sort of. She can’t disappear this time. I need to keep him talking.

“What’s her deal?”

“Doesn’t go out much. Vivian says she works all the time. Reminds me of some other people I know,” he snorts.

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