Page 5 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

“Hello pretty girl,” he said, a crooked grin on his face. There were piercings up the length of both his ears and he had a snake bite piercing. Two black hoops ran through his plump bottom lip, and I had the insane desire to tug one into my mouth just to see what his reaction would be.

Gods, he was gorgeous. His grin widened. Fuck, I’d said that out loud. I was such an idiot.

“Thanks. But I still need you to get up.”

“I can’t,” I replied, my voice weak and thready.

Arms instantly surrounded me, and I realised there were more people here than this dark angel above me. I lifted my head and saw dark green hair, bright green eyes, and a warm smile. Maybe I was delirious. That could happen in death, right? I mean, I’d never died before so this was all new territory for me, but I guess hallucinations could be a thing.

My eyes were heavy, and I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was on a sofa staring at a crackling fire. How… quaint.

I looked down at my limbs, grateful they all seemed to be intact. I was in an oversized Motionless in White tee and some black leggings and fuck, those were the clothes I’d died in. I knew my coven had been planning something when they said I was banned from the Blood Moon ritual. I just didn’t think they’d banned me so that they could kidnap me. I’d been quietly studying and then somehow, I’d fallen asleep. Those motherfuckers! They must have poisoned my tea. The next thing I knew I was strapped to the altar and about to die.

The light from the fire crackled and illuminated the room I was in. It was nice. Modern but very plain. Everything was clean cut, simple and clad in dark colours. Man, this place could use an injection of colour. I looked at the black sofa I was sprawled out on. Maybe some sunshine yellow cushions to brighten the place up.

A low rumble grabbed my attention and my gaze focused on the large frame sat in the chair next to me. How could I forget those insane blue eyes?

He was tall, judging by the way he struggled to fit into the armchair, and he had broad shoulders that barely fit into the wingback.

Who was this guy? I could feel the power radiating from him. It was like thunder and lightning rolling through the air, destructive but beautiful at the same time. He was more powerful than any witch I’d ever met.

“Pretty girl, you need to calm down.” He placed a hand on my chest and warmth radiated through my bones.

At first, I thought he was trying to control my heartbeat but then panic ran through me.

Gods, I didn’t have a heartbeat!

I was dead. I was actually fucking dead.

“Look at me.”

I stared into the intense blue eyes and a calmness immediately flooded me. Then, under the warmth of his fingers, my heart gave an undeniable, horrifying lurch.

“You’re okay, pretty girl.”

I whimpered and shook my head. “I’m so far from okay.”

“Fuck,” he snarled before scooping me into his arms and cradling me in his lap. I buried my head into the crook of his neck and breathed deeply. “Just concentrate on breathing.”

Fuck, even that felt odd. Like I was consciously having to make the effort to remind my body to do it. Something was very wrong here.

I wasn’t sure how long I remained there, my face buried in this stranger’s neck, but all too soon he was placing me back on the sofa. I rubbed at my eyes, trying to rub away the tears that were threatening to escape over the whole being sacrificed thing. I knew I’d need to analyse the whole thing at some point, but I was just going to ignore it in favour of staring at the beautiful man who’d just had me wrapped in his arms.

“Tell me where I am.” I tried to put some authority in my tone, but I barely managed to stop my voice from quaking.

He tilted his head and something dark and predatory rolled through his eyes. “Issuing commands now? Are you sure that’s wise? I could overpower you, you know? If I wanted to.”

The way he pulled one of his snake bite piercings between his teeth suggested he’d very much like to do that.

“You won’t,” I whispered.

A low rumble left his throat. “But I’m sure you want me to. And I’m sure you’d fucking love it.”

“Stop tormenting the poor thing.”

I snapped my head to the left and found a red headed man staring at me with something akin to boredom in his red eyes. Eyes that seemed to glow impossibly bright in the dark corner where he’d positioned himself. He was wearing a black shirt that was opened slightly and I could see a handful of ancient runes that marked his pale skin. They spoke of old magic. Again, like with the other man, I could feel his power and it was nothing like I’d ever felt before. It was dark and twisted. Like a nightmare you couldn’t escape and for some reason, I didn’t want to. I guess death had made me crazy.

The red headed guy leant forward, a snarl curling his lip. “Are you just going to stare at me, or are you going to tell us why you’re here?”

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