Page 61 of A Blackened Bond

We head to the nearest door on the left, pulling it open as we enter what resembles a plush kitchen.

The floor is covered with black marble tiles with white flecks running through them. The countertop matches it perfectly with a rich black wooden base and white marble tabletop. The cabinets above mirror the same rich black design with a small white door handle.

The room is covered in the most modern and expensive appliances, including a fridge that looked like it could easilyfit three people. It would probably make even Gordon Ramsey drool.

Creed sits at the countertop, his eyes narrowed as we enter the room.

He pulls himself up straight, folding his arms as he watches me.

“And now we don’t even discuss who we invite over?” He grits out, his expression darkening as Annex steps forward.

“We discussed it, and all agreed. You must’ve missed the meeting.” He shrugs. “We already know your vote though anyway, Creed…you were outvoted.”

Creed flicks his gaze toward Mallyn beside me.

“You too? You’re okay with all ofthis?” He gestures toward me like I’m some sort of object.

Mallyn glances toward me, a small glimmer forming in his eyes as our gazes meet. He nods before turning toward Creed.

“I’m okay with Micai staying.”

Creed scoffs, his eyes narrowing toward me as he makes his way over to me. “You better keep anything you see and hear here to yourself. Just because they blindly trust you, doesn’t mean I will.”

After what we had recently been through together, you would think he would have warmed up to me even a smidgen, but the glare he’s giving me tells me otherwise.

He slightly hits into my shoulder as he leaves the kitchen, and Ezra instantly narrows his eyes at the move before calling after him. He follows him, an angry tone laced in his voice as he continues to call Creeds' name.

A large arm wraps around my shoulder, Annex’s smoky-caramel scent instantly hitting me as his lips graze my ears.

“Just you and me now, Red.”

Mallyn clears his throat behind him, his brow raised.

“Ah, and Mal, too. You’re too quiet, bro. You need to work on your presence.” He grins, glancing down at me before moving to leave while pulling me along. “I’ll give Red a tour while you continue to hide in the shadows.”

He chuckles, pulling me quickly out of the kitchen and up the silver stairs, stopping at the nearest door up the staircase. It’s a large black door with a dark-red metal handle.

Annex stops before opening it, flicking his gaze between me and the door as he grips the handle.

“Don’t mind any mess, Red. I didn’t know you’d be coming.” He opens the door, gently pulling me inside with him, my eyes slightly widening with the massive size of the room.

It was at least five or six times the size of my dorm room and bathroom combined. The floor was a deep oxblood shade, the walls a similar velvety black tone as the halls, and the furniture a mixture of the two tones throughout the room.

There was a four-poster bed with black and dark crimson-patterned sheets tumbled messily on top of it. Behind it sat two large windows framed with black velvet curtains held in place by a rich oxblood tie.

There was a sizeable black wardrobe and draw set to the right side of the room, with bits of silver jewellery falling from small skull-shaped trinkets: ones with silver and black snake rings in them and chains with small snakes and daggers or spikes on them. There’s a crimson crystal skull beside it, with half of its cranium missing and little glossy black droplets falling from its eyes.

The wall to the left was filled with weapons hanging from it; all shapes and sizes of blades hung across it, with even a couple of axes and a large sickle. And at the very end sat a circular target about three feet wide, with about ten or twenty blades and knives stabbed in and around its bullseye.

“What do you think of my humble abode, Red?” Annex asks, glancing around the room with me, his face slightly scrunching up after he notices his unmade bed and some old clothes thrown around the room.

“I thought there would be more blood and blades. It seems less crazy than I thought it would be.” I bend over, peering under his bed.

A grin tilts his lips as his brows draw together. “What are you looking for?”

“Just checking that there aren’t any dead bodies hiding under there.”

He chuckles. “I don’t bring that shit home with me, Red. Bloods a bitch to get outta wood.” He states it like it’s the most normal thing.

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