Page 8 of Pretty Monsters

Out of the pocket of his hoodie he pulls out something that looks like a phone, only a little thicker. He pushes some buttons, then puts it back in his pocket only to pull out another device. This looks more like a remote control than a phone.

The device makes beeping sounds all over the room. "That sick fucker," he spits out.

My ghost, or rather Sin, crosses his arms and glares at the walls. "I'm not standing by and letting your father pass her off to that animal Campbell."

"I only know that his father is a monster; I've never heard anything about his son," Lucien points out.

Sin shakes his head. "Right. I'm sure his son decided suddenly he wanted a very young wife. You may not have heard about his son, but I have. Up until now I'd always heard he was gay. So, regardless of the fact your sister is a beauty, I don't think she's enticed him to change his sexual orientation."

Lucien picks up a lamp from the bedside table and chucks it across the room. I flinch at the sound of the glass shattering, afraid it will bring back the guard who’d been stationed outside of my room.

My stomach drops hearing his assessment of the man my father plans to give me to.

"This speeds things up a lot." Lucien grasps at his hair and pulls. "We don't have time to get a bug out bag together. We are going to need fake ID's, money, clothes, and we can't exactly go running around throwing that shit together, or Damien is going to get suspicious."

Sin leans back against the wall. "I've got all of that taken care of. Well, I don't have girl's clothes or an ID for her, but we've got enough to get out of here and get settled somewhere until we regroup."

He turns his gaze on me and regards me cooly. "Please tell me you have something else to change into. You look like a cupcake in that ridiculous dress."

I look down at the mess of a dress I have been forced to wear all day. It occurs to me the reason I am dressed in these silly outfits since I'd arrived from school is because someone was getting off watching me change and be dressed like a little girl. The realization makes bile rise in my throat, but I force it back down.

"I haven't seen my regular clothes since I arrived."

Sin's eyes narrow, but he doesn't reply. Instead he moves to the window, pushes it open, and scrambles out.

My mouth pops open, but Lucien covers it with his hand before I can make a sound. "He'll be fine," he whispers. "He's like a cat. Sin always lands on his feet."

Ten minutes pass before Sin's dark head pokes through the open window again. Silently he slithers inside, dragging a stuffed backpack along with him. "I still had some of my old things in my room. They'll do for now."

He shoves the bag into my hands and pushes me into the bathroom. I resist, and he stops trying to move me. "Would you go change already?"

"Are there cameras in the bathroom? I think it would tip them off if I show up in there since we are still standing in the middle of the room on their feed. Also, they'll wonder where I got the clothes from."

"We can't risk it," Lucien agrees with me. "We'll turn our backs, just hurry. The guards at the front gate change in fifteen minutes, and we still have to get out of the house."

We've been up in my room for less than an hour, but I could smell the alcohol on Damien's breath when he grabbed my arm. Yet another ugly truth I learned about the man who spawned me this week, he's a drunk.

"Everyone downstairs was well past drunk when we found your father. I paid one of the maids to keep him occupied for the rest of the night," Sin tells us.

Both guys turn around. I dig through the bag and find a pair of boys ripped jeans. I can tell immediately that they'll be a little snug. What kind of man holds on to clothes he likely hasn't been able to wear for at least six or seven years?

I pull the ruffled disaster over my head, and stand in my matching bra and panties. When I drop the dress something in the window catches my eye. Glancing over, I see Sin's reflection. His eyes follow me, and I realize if I can see him he can see all of me as well.

When he realizes I can see him, he doesn't look away like someone who's been caught doing something wrong. He holds my gaze and smirks. It's the closest I've gotten to a smile from him, and it makes my heart thunder in my chest.

There's more than one kind of danger, and I know I'm just exchanging one for the other being close to Sin.

Beautiful Broken Things

Sin

Lucien standsnext to me with his eyes clenched shut to keep him from accidentally getting an eyeful of his sister's naked flesh, like I am right now. I wasn't raised to be a gentleman, so when she catches me watching her I don't look away.

She starts to cover herself with her arms, then lets them fall to her sides. Her tiny pointed chin jerks up in defiance, and I long to bend her and break her until her jagged edges match mine.

Lucien will kill me if he catches on to the direction of my thoughts. For a long time I'm the closest he has had to family, but the temptress behind me is the real deal. He's secretly longed for someone to care for who might care for him in return, and he's not going to like sharing her with me.

Slowly, as if her main desire in life is to drive me out of my fucking mind, she pulls my old jeans up her long, pale legs. Her skin seems to glow through the slashes in the material. Long, dark hair tumbles around her shoulders and covers her lace-covered tits. Every time she wiggles to pull the stiff denim over the curve of her hips, her hair sways giving glimpses of the heavy swells barely concealed by the flimsy fabric.

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