Page 101 of The Devils' Darling

Or maybe this is all the Devils’ doing, and they’ve found some other way to humiliate me?

All the shit they’ve put me through in the past rushes back to me. The way they’ve repeatedly degraded me in front of others. What they did to me at my mother’s wedding. Is this going to be the same?

Tears prick my eyes as a wave of intense fear washes over me. Surely, they wouldn’t? Not after everything we’ve been through together. What if it was all a ruse, though? What if they don’t feel anything for me, and this has all been a game?

No, that can’t be true. Kirill most definitely couldn’t have faked his fear and sadness in that basement. He was a mess.

What if Dom has decided he doesn’t want me here again, though?

Camile walks up the central aisle, her gaze sweeping the seats.

“There you are.” She reaches for me and takes my hand. “Come on.”

“What? Where?”

Despite my fears, I allow her to lead me down toward the stage. At first, I let her, but as we near, I begin to pull back. The entire school is here. This is so scary. I can’t get on that stage.

There’s a deep-down part of me that believes the Devils won’t do anything cruel to me now, because they’re mine, and I am theirs, but there’s a tiny voice that whispers I’m wrong. I’m a stupid girl who loved a murderer. A stupid girl who let three men claim her at once. A stupid girl who caused her own mother’s death with her selfish actions.

“Camile, no,” I whisper. “I can’t. Don’t do this.”

But then we’re at the stage, and Kirill hops down.

“Kirill?” I say, a question in my tone.

He grins at me and surprises me by kissing my mouth quickly. Then he lifts me with ease to place me on the stage, before he jumps back up himself.

Oh, shit. The lights of the hall are blinding, and I can’t see the rest of the students’ faces. Maybe it’s for the best. My heart pounds, and my throat is dry. What the hell is going on?

“Everyone, thanks for coming,” Dom says into the mic he’s holding. “There’s been a lot of rumors flying around about me and my friends, and Mackenzie, and we would like to clarify things and clear up those rumors.”

Tino grabs the mic. “Some of you think she’s with me, but she’s not.”

Oh, fuck, here we go. My stomach plummets.

Kirill takes it next. “Some of you have talked about her being with me, but she’s not.”

Dom takes the mic again. “She’s with all of us.”

I stare at him in shock. Did I hear him right? Has he just told the whole fucking school we’re a foursome? Oh, my God, I’m going to be seen as such a slut.

Murmurs sweep around the auditorium. My face flares red, and I wish the stage would open up and swallow me.

“We love her.” Dom’s words silence the noise and chatter.

Holy shit.

I stare at him, my mouth half open in shock.

Kirill takes the mic. “But we treated her like shit at first, and we owe her an apology. We did terrible things to her, and we did it because we’re idiots. Mostly Dom,” he says with a chuckle as Dom tries to smack him but misses. “But me and Tino, too. We don’t deserve you, Mackenzie,” he says. “But if you can forgive us, we will spend our lives making it up to you. We will serve you as our perfect Duchess. I had something done for you.”

He lifts his t-shirt, and there’s new, raw ink on his pec. It’s writing, but I can’t read it as the script is unfamiliar.

“This says Kukla, in Russian,” he explains. “You are right here, over my heart.”

Then Dom lifts his t-shirt, and he has a set of teeth marks inked on his skin in the same place. What the fuck? I stare at it in shock.

“Your teeth marks on me, baby. Always.”

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