Page 25 of Rot

That finally got him to notice me. Our gazes locked, and his face twisted into a scowl. Elias set the bar in its holder and sat up, glaring at me. Two feet between us, and yet with that glare it felt like he was on top of me. Without breaking eye contact with me, he reached for his phone and stopped the music.

I couldn’t say how long we were locked in a staring contest, but I didn’t mind. I could practically smell the sweat off his body, and it wasn’t a bad thing to inhale. When he finally realized I was more dressed up than usual, his gaze dipped low, taking in my outfit, the way my clothes hugged my body.

“I have a date tonight with Jordan,” I purred out the words, letting out a feminine sigh. “I’ve never been on a date before. Do I look good?” I pushed away from the windowsill, spinning around once—mostly so Elias could see just how tight the leggings hugged my ass.

Elias’s mouth curled into a frown. He didn’t say anything for a while, but then he muttered under his breath, “I told you not to talk to Jordan.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, well, I kind of think I like him. He’s pretty cute. And he offered to show me around town. I’ve been saying no, but he soundssoeager—”

That did it. Elias got to his feet, taking a step toward me and putting my face level with his sweaty, bare chest. At his sides, his hands clenched into fists. “You’re not fucking going.”

I batted my eyelashes at him. “And how are you going to stop me, hmm? You got chains or rope in this house I don’t know about? You going to tie me down to stop me from going, or did you have something else in mind?” Was I laying it on too thick? Eh, I didn’t really care.

His dark gaze narrowed. “You’re doing this to get under my skin, aren’t you?”

“And why would I do that?” I let my eyes fall to his bare chest, taking in the sight of his sweat-covered muscles uninhibited. I’d never really felt drawn to someone before, but God, did I want to run my hands up and down that chest.

“I think,” Elias whispered, stepping closer to me and causing me to back up to the window once more, “you enjoy it.” He set his arms on either side of me on the glass behind me, blocking me from escaping. Joke’s on him, though. I wouldn’t try to escape. “I think you like digging deep where you don’t belong,cousin.” The final word was whispered with such hate, a reminder of what we were to each other.

But that’s the thing. Monsters like me, with the rot in our veins, didn’t care.

“Want to know a secret? I’ve never belonged anywhere,cousin.” I mimicked him in how he said it. “I’ve always been on the outside looking in—and it bothered me when I was a kid, but now… let’s just say I’ve learned there’s nowhere more fun to be than where you don’t belong.”

The rage in Elias’s gaze had shifted, morphed into something else. It reminded me of the way he’d looked at me the last time he’d had me pinned. I could see the darkness in him, ebbing away, trying to get out, and I wanted nothing more than to unleash it and see what beautiful chaos and destruction it could bring.

“You’re not going on that fucking date,” he whispered, his voice a threat. “All he wants is—”

“Why? Why do you care who I date? Why do you care if all Jordan wants to do is sleep with me?” I leaned closer to him, to his chest, really, and added, “Maybe I want to fuck him myself and see what the big deal about it is.”

I laughed when Elias looked murderous. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill me or if his anger was more toward Jordan. Either way, Elias looked downright sinful when in a rage. I shouldn’t like it. I shouldn’t enjoy bringing these emotions out of him… but I did. It was addicting in the best way.

Elias didn’t say anything. One of his arms moved, and his hand curled around my neck. Not choking me, but firm enough to make me gasp at the sudden movement. His tall frame leaned down, and he muttered, “You’re poison, aren’t you?”

“And if I am, what does that make you?” I whispered back, locking eyes with him. The depths of his black gaze were so deep and endless you could drown in them. So dark they rivaled the night sky. Truly, an abyss.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said not a word more. He dropped his hand from my neck and pulled away from me—though he didn’t stop staring at me like I was, in his words, poison.

Normally, when faced with poison, people did whatever they could to get rid of it. Suck the snake venom out of the wound and spit it out. Avoid anything with toxic labels. Pee on jellyfish stings. Normal people wouldn’t lower their hand to the snake and offer themselves to it.

“Wish me luck on my date,” I said, moving through his room to the door. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” I tossed one glimpse at him once I reached the door, and I found him giving me a deadly glare.

Oh, he wasn’t happy about it. Not at all. But, hey, the whole date was just a ploy to get him to react again; it’d been so boring lately. This house wasn’t fun unless Elias gave me threatening looks every now and then.

Truthfully, I didn’t know how the date would go. I didn’t know if I’d enjoy myself, or if I’d simply catch myself thinking about Elias the whole time.

I… silly as it was, lately, I’d found myself thinking more and more about him. I wouldn’t call it daydreaming. Not sure what I’d call it, but I couldn’t seem to get him out of my head. It came from more than just an abject curiosity about him and his darkness.

No. I think, maybe, little Sloane had gotten her first crush on something that wasn’t death.

Chapter Eight

Jordan picked me up right at four, not a minute late. I’d been waiting for him near the front door, so the moment he pulled onto the driveway in his old Jeep, I slipped my shoes on and headed out. He was barely out of the car by the time I reached the Jeep, and he made no tries to hide how he checked me out while I came over to him.

He didn’t compliment me, though I could tell he wanted to. He simply said, “Ready?”

I gave him a nod and a smile, walking around to the passenger side door and getting in. As I buckled my seatbelt, I happened to glance at the house—at the second floor. Where his mother’s room was, I swore I saw Elias’s shadow, watching.

Jordan started to rattle off everywhere we’d be going, and I turned my eyes to him for only a split second. When I looked back at the house, the shadow was gone, and it left me wondering if, maybe, I’d made it all up and Elias hadn’t been watching.

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