Page 41 of His To Claim

“That’s some crazy shit,” Ruby says with a mouth full of chips.

“If you really want to dig further, my mom always used to tell me that this scary story was actually a romantic tragedy. She used to say that two of the grandsons of the founders fell in love with the same girl. She’s believed to be the granddaughter of the fifth family. The girl’s brother supposedly started the fire to kill one of the two guys, but in fact she had already run off with him. Instead, the fire spread out of control and took her brother and the other guy he wanted his sister to end up with, along with forty percent of the students and teachers that were housed in the two surrounding houses.”

“Alright, that’s some twisted shit,” Jade says, looking a little freaked.

“Told you our parents were all sorts of fucked up. I think that’s why they started telling us the story of the Four Horsemen. The four horsemen are said to bring a reckoning, and after the revelation, they’re sent forth to cleanse the earth of the sins of man. Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Sloth, and Wrath. The seven deadly sins that were said to be broken by the five families bringing destruction against their own. The first-born sons of every family are said to have perished in the fire.”

“No offense, Silver, but your guys’ parents must have hated you all to tell stories like that,” Ruby says as she moves to the mirror trying on her horns and tail.

“My mom was a firm believer. It was kind of the thing that drove her over the edge,” Stella says, her tone now solemn.

“What do you mean?” I ask, unsure if I even want her to answer.

“My mom killed herself four years ago. My dad found her in the bathtub with an empty bottle of pills and her wrists slit. He then drank himself to death. Died a month later from an alcohol and drug overdose.”

“Stella, I’m so sorry,” I say, placing a hand on her thigh.

“Yeah, well, I knew she was sad all the time, and she always had these crazy ideas, theories, and conspiracies about my father’s family businesses, but maybe if I’d known how bad it was…”

“Stella, you can’t do that to yourself,” I tell, hating the way this is clearly making her suffer.

“I know. I blame him, my father. They put me in boarding school since I could remember. He tried keeping me from her when she needed me. They say love took him to be with her, but I think it was guilt.”

“Like I said, that’s some morbid shit,” Ruby says, breaking the tension with her dark and unwarranted humor.

“Ruby!” we shout out, Jade smacking her on the arm because of her crude attitude.

“What, I thought my cokehead mother overdosing in front of us when my sperm donor took off was bad, but this shit, Silver, I think you fit in with us more than you know.”

“Thanks, I think,” Stella says, and we all laugh wholeheartedly.

“Anyway, enough sad shit for the night, let’s get ready to party,” Jade says, holding up the costume she put together.

After we all shower, we meet back in my room to get ready, while Ruby’s now switched out our sodas for wine coolers and shots of tequila. Both Jade and I have straightened our hair, since we won’t be wearing wigs, and I’ve combined a black and gray eyeshadow look with a deep red, sultry lip. My eyes look almost clear blue in contrast to the dark shadow surrounding them.

I slip into the costume I put together, a short, black mesh dress, over a luxurious red silk bra and matching high waist, underwear, and put my black combat boots on over a pair of black fishnet stockings, all while Jade gets dressed. She went for a more glam makeup look, that pairs perfectly with the red two-piece outfit she’s wearing. Her cropped shirt is low cut, long-sleeved, and backless, only attached by a small gold chain in the middle of her breasts. Her high-waisted skirt is the same color as her top and has cutouts on both sides of her hips laced together with a gold ribbon. She’s paired the outfit with black heeled boots we found on sale at the boutique and the horned headband she decorated.

“Fuck me, look at us. We look smoking hot,” Jade says, while admiring her reflection in the full-length mirror.

“The guys are gonna lose their shit when they see us,” Ruby adds, emerging from the restroom wearing a bright red latex jumpsuit and matching heeled boots. She has on the sleek red wig with blunt bangs, and her green eyes are elongated by a black liner, while on her lips is the same bright red color as Jade.

“Where’s Stella?” I ask, turning to the door where a sexy littleminx is standing looking nothing like the shy little Stella we all know and love.

“Damn, Silver,” Jade says, whistling at her. Stella’s wearing a white, sequined dress with a silver chain that wraps around her neck and a small one holding the back of the dress together. She’s paired it with silver stiletto heels and that sexy, sleek silver wig. Her makeup is natural, making her look like every man’s fantasy come to life. The perfect virginal angel.

“This dress is so short,” she squeals, tugging on the bottom of the dress. “And the back’s missing.”

“It’s perfect,” we say in unison.

After putting on the devil and angel headpieces we picked out, we head down five minutes to eight to meet up with the guys. They’ve chosen to wear all black, black jeans and black unbuttoned shirts revealing all of their tattoos. Jax has a few on his chest and arms, while Kai has them mainly on his legs and back, and of course Drake’s covered in them.

The guys watch us descend from the stairs with wide grins and whistles. “Wow, girls, you guys look fucking perfect,” says Jax, coming up to grab Ruby.

Drake turns to them and rolls his eyes while Kai walks over to Jade and Stella, extending an arm out to each of them. They both take it, placing their arms in his and he turns to wink at me.

“I have my angel and my devil tonight.”

Laughing, I turn my attention to Drake whose gaze is locked on my outfit.

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