Page 23 of Tangle of Lust and Lethargy

Justice didn’t turn, his gaze fixed on something ahead. His muscles coiled tight with tension. A faint, sweet scent drifted on the air, strangely enticing with an undertone that made my nose wrinkle.”

I peered around his imposing form, trying to see what had captured his attention.

Justice?” I whispered, my voice sounding small and far away to my own ears. The unnatural stillness of the moment felt like a rubber band stretched to its limit, about to snap.

Justice had led us into a meadow surrounded by gnarled trees. Their twisted branches seemed to reach for us, casting eerie shadows in the dim light. In the middle stood a circle of tall stones, their weathered surfaces covered in strange, pulsing symbols that reminded me of Stonehenge.

A faint humming emanated from the stone circle, vibrating through the soles of our feet.

Garrick pointed, his finger trembling slightly. “Inside those stones is the Forgotten Hollows.”

An inexplicable wave of desire washed over me, making my skin tingle.

Justice narrowed his eyes and released my hand. The sudden absence of his cool touch left me feeling strangely bereft. He stood before me like a wall of protection. “You meant it’s a fucking portal,” Justice growled, his voice laced with an aggression I’d never heard before. “I’m tired of your games, Garrick. You’re playing us again.”

Garrick’s posture stiffened, his hands clenching into fists. “I thought you trusted me.”

The sweet, cloying scent intensified, making my head spin.

“Trust you?” Justice growled. “Your idea of trustworthy would make a con artist blush, Garrick.”

Garrick’s smirk widened, taking on a cruel edge. “Oh, struck a nerve, have I? How delightful. Now, are we going to stand here trading barbs all day, or are you going to put on your big boy fangs and step through that portal?”

He took a taunting step toward Justice, his body language screaming a challenge. “Youhaveto trust me, Justice. Or is that too much for your small vampire brain to comprehend?”

As the air between them crackled with tension, Maggie and I exchanged bewildered glances. This sudden hostility between them seemed to come out of nowhere.

My heart raced, spinning with confusion as an inexplicable growing desire clouded my thoughts.

“What’s gotten into them?” Maggie whispered.

I shook my head, unable to form a response. The intensity of Justice’s anger frightened and oddly excited me. That alone was unreal.

Something was off here.

Justice took a menacing step toward Garrick, his fangs visible beneath his curled lip.

“Trust you?” Justice scoffed, his voice dripping with disdain. “You’ve led us from one disaster to another. How do we know this isn’t another trap?”

Garrick’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You think you could do better? Your arrogance will be the death of us all!”

As their argument escalated, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. The air was thick with more than tension. A dark foreboding of hunger seemed to descend on us, blanketing out all rational thought.

This didn’t seem like the work of the sloth demons. It was something else. Something menacing.

What was Maci’s game now?

The intoxicating scent wafting from the stone circle grew stronger with each passing moment.

Maggie and I stood frozen, caught between the desire to intervene and the inexplicable urge to let the conflict play out. It was like I wanted to see them fight, rooting for Justice.

As if reading my thoughts and desires, Justice’s eyes flashed with inhuman rage, and he lunged at Garrick.

The tension snapped like a frayed rope. In a blur of vampire speed, Justice closed the distance between them, his fist connecting with Garrick’s jaw. The sickening crunch of the impact echoed across the meadow.

My stomach lurched at the sudden violence of horror and the unwanted excitement coursing through me.

Garrick staggered back, spitting blood onto the pale grass. His eyes narrowed, and a feral grin spread across his face. “You want to play rough, leech? Let’s play.”

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