Page 86 of His To Claim

“Can you stop acting so fucking surprised?” I sneer. “You’re the one who stated I needed to end things with Drake for good. The one who said I needed to date Ace. So, don’t act so damn confused I did just that.”

“Chill out, Scar, I’m not the one who suggested you sleep with him in the first place,” she snaps back, and I can see she instantly regrets it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t…”

“You’re right. This is all my doing.”

She walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist tucking her chin in the space between my neck and shoulder. “Neither one of us chose this dreadful life we were dealt. We’re both to suffer at the hand of our parents’ sins. Bound to make their same mistakes, to fall victim to their same awful choices. All because of what? The simple fact we were born, when neither of them wanted us. We both know what it feels like to be unwanted, unloved. So, when someone comes around showing even the slightest interest, it’s impossible to walk away.”

I look into her blue-green eyes through the mirror as they watch me earnestly, and I see the vulnerable little girl who lost her mother. The scared little girl who hid behind her bed the night her father was taken, the night she first was dealt the toxic abuse at the hand of my mother. The helpless child who hid behind me the day Agent Servite came and threatened us in our home. The tortured young girl who sat on the couch across from me, when Agent Servite once again took us from our home at the Grayson’s.

I reach down and take her hands that are still wrapped around my waist, in mine. “We are not the product of their sins. We’re the retribution for them,” I mumble.

Her eyes widen, a small grin appearing on her beautiful face. “Then it’s up to us to seek our own justice, enact our own vengeance. We need to be their reckoning,” Jade says, her smile widening.

We head over to Stella’s room once I’m ready and we’ve both calmed our nerves from our heart-to-heart conversation. Tonight is surely going to be a disaster, so I need to wear my mask of indifference in order to pull it off. I’m hoping Drake won’t be in attendance, but as a student of the academy, his invite is secure. The kings might not acknowledge all their followers, but they make sure they’re taken care of; this means wherever they go, their people follow.

As we enter, Stella’s standing in front of her mirror applying her makeup, but as she hears us approach, she quickly turns around startled.

“Shit, you scared me,” she cries, and we both start laughing.

“Wow, Silver, why so nervous?” Jade jokes, walking over to her.

“Nothing, just I’ve never been great at doing my makeup so I um,” she pauses, and I notice a thick, uneven wing on her right lid.

“You need some help?”

She nods, and I walk over grabbing a wipe from her dresser. Stella closes her eyes and I clean off the thick line, taking her liner and drawing two perfectly symmetrical wings. I grab an eyeshadow palette with neutral colors and do a light smokey eye, while Jade hands me the red lip color she wears, and I apply it to Stella’s pouty lips.

“There we go, now you’re one of us,” I say, referring to our go-to grunge look.

She opens her eyes, turning to the mirror and gasps as she looks at her reflection. “Wow, I look…”

“Hot, sexy, scandalous,” Jade teases, winking at her.

“Like someone else entirely,” Stella answers softly bemused by her reflection.

“You look beautiful, Stella. You are beautiful, you just need toembrace it,” I say, and she blushes slightly as she turns to grab her purse.

“Okay, are we ready to go?” she asks, and both Jade and I stare at her confused.

“Wait, you’re not seriously thinking of wearing that?” Jade asks, pointing to Stella’s ensemble. She’s wearing a long, terribly unflattering, cream-colored dress.

“What? It’s comfy,” she says, and we both start laughing, shaking our heads.

“Oh no, no, no. You are not leaving this house looking like you belong in a mental asylum,” I say, and she gasps again causing us to laugh harder.

“I have just the outfit,” Jade calls out, giddily clapping her hands as she turns to me. “I’ll be right back. Scar, you’re in charge of her hair and accessories.”

I nod, heading over to my room and grabbing a pair of silver hoops and a black choker necklace. When I come back, I sit Stella on her desk chair, and secure her hair into a high ponytail, light auburn curls dangling down her back.

Jade comes back carrying a pair of her high-waist, faux leather leggings and a long-sleeved cropped black top.

“Yeah, no way I’m wearing that,” Stella says, standing and backing away.

“Um, yes way you are wearing this and you’re going to rock the shit out of it. Now put it on or I’ll do it for you,” Jade orders.

Stella looks at us questioningly at her, but gives in, moving into her closet to change. A couple minutes later, Stella walks out looking like the sexy vixen she’s destined to be.

“Oh yes, Malachi is going to lose it when he sees you in that outfit.”

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