Page 77 of Marked By Night

Dante, Kaos, and I fall into a somewhat easy rhythm. We eat meals together, and I spend time with Ash in between. She told me she wants to go home to tend to her parents’ gravesites soon and I don’t blame her, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s a bad idea. If anyone finds out how much she means to me and touches her; I will maim them—permanently.

The depth of our friendship knows no bounds and there aren’t any lengths I wouldn’t go through for her. She walked through fire for me during one of the lowest times of my life to forge the broken pieces of my soul back together, and I did the same for her when her parents died a few years ago.

The kind of friendship Ash and I have; it’s not one that can be severed. We tempered that shit in fire and rose from the ashes with a different kind of unbreakable bond. We pick up the pieces of one another while straightening our crowns.

A bad guy pops around the corner on the TV, startling me out of my thoughts. I train my gun on him and pull the trigger a few times until blood spews from his wound and he collapses in a heap. Then I run over his body in pursuit of my next enemy.

Kind of fucked up but hey, it’s entertainment and bonding time with the guys.

The end game screen pops up a second later displaying my final score as thirty-four kills and two deaths. Smug satisfaction enters me when I see both Kaos and Dante’s gamer tags underneath mine. Again.

I drop the controller and do two fist pumps in the air. “Take that bitches!”

Kaos grins, giving me a high five like we’re two bros or something. Dante groans, tossing his controller onto the carpet.

“Not again! How did you go from noob to kicking our asses in two hours?” His bottom lip sticks out in a cute pout and there’s a gleam in his eye, one that shines brighter than the sunshine flowing through the curtains.

He doesn’t look upset in the slightest, despite his sad expression. I don’t think Dante is capable of being sad. Not for long anyway. He’s one of those assholes that can always find the joy in life.

“Fourth time in a row,” I say, leaning back against the couch.

For whatever reason, it’s easier to play this game on the floor than it is on the couch. Dante and Kaos both followed my lead without questioning it and we’ve been sitting here playing Call of Duty on the floor for ages.

I’ll admit I like the high stakes and fast-paced maps, but my favorite one is the shortest one. You can run around killing everyone with one shot from a shotgun. Dante and Kaos both kept telling meit’s cheating,then I took the lead for the team and they shut up about it.

“Aww, Blondie. Can you not handle getting beat by a girl?”

He rolls his eyes, that signature smirk fixed on his lips. Although, I do think he’s a little salty about it because they coddled me while teaching me, only for me to turn around and start annihilating everyone. I’m quite sure they expected me to struggle like well, a girl.

Think again.

“On the contrary, I find it so fucking hot,” he says, his voice a husky purr like a smooth exhale of smoke.

A grin overtakes my face when I find his amber eyes fixated on my lips.

Kaos coughs, looking between the two of us with clear interest. “I’m going to go pop some popcorn, then we can watch a movie and save ourselves the embarrassment of getting our asses handed to us for the fifth time.” He places his controller on the coffee table and gives me a quick kiss that has my toes curling, before sauntering off.

I watch his backside as he leaves and damn, does he have a nice ass. Especially in those grey sweatpants he’s sporting. Hell, I’ll bet he even has some of those back dimples too. That’s exactly what I need, more dimples in addition to the ones on their faces.

Always tempting me.

Soon the wondrous smell of popcorn popping reaches my nostrils and I take a few deep inhales enjoying the moment. Until something crashes outside, and I curse, scrambling to my feet with a sense of Déjà vu.

I swear to the Night Goddess, if this is Savannah’s bullshit again... I don’t think I’ll be able to hold myself back from gouging her eyes out with a rusty spork.

My fingers itch for my switchblade but, like a half-wit, I left it on my dresser this morning not expecting any trouble. I can hear Ben’s voice in my head scolding me, which sends shivers down my spine. The sooner I forget about him the better.

Dante and Goldie—man I’ve got to think of a name for him—are already trailing out of the man cave and into the main house.

Kaos rendezvous with us moments later, knife drawn like he’s expecting trouble. I hear muttered curses and more splintering as we approach the front corridor. Kaos peeks out the glass, his eyes scanning both directions before swinging back to us in confusion. His hand rests on the handle and he signals for us to be quiet as he twists it open and steps out onto the porch.

Only there’s nothing there.

As we’re about to step further onto the porch, another awful creaking noise captures my attention, seconds before someone cries out in pain and the wooden beam collapses. Somehow, the man manages to roll out of the way. Good thing too because he likely would’ve been crushed.

When his pained eyes open, they capture mine through the dust and the debris flying through the air. My lips part in shock at the mottled bruises all over his face and the blood dripping from his abdomen where he was trapped in the roof.

I’d recognize those sparkling silver eyes anywhere. I feel guilty for not contacting him sooner, but in my defense, it’s been a little hectic and my phone is still dead. My stomach churns with worry as I race over to check on him.

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