Page 34 of The Fallen Ones

Damien: Make sure Jace’s mask is extra large for his overly inflated ego.

Jace: Shut the fuck up. Jealous prick.

Damien: You’re a snake, Adams.

Caleb: I won't give either of you anything if you don't quit bitching.

Jace: Bring the shit to my place. We can get ready over here.

Damien: Mine is closer to Satan’s Hollow.

Jace: Mine is parent free since I actually had the umbilical cord cut when I was a baby. I have my own place now.

Damien: Fuck off. You know it’s only my old man, and he’s never here.

Caleb: Can you two hurry up and decide where we're meeting?

Damien: At my place.

Jace: Whatever.

Caleb: What time?

Damien: Jace?

Jace: Dylan text and said elites arrive after normal guests around 9pm

Damien: Get here by 7:30pm that way we have time to get ready and make sure everything goes smoothly.

Caleb: See you both later.

Jace: Later.

Today was the big day. All I knew was that Jace best not try to fuck me over like he had yesterday. Caleb either.

The image of Lily in Jace’s arms as the two of them kissed repeatedly played out in my mind. I knew the two of them had dated before, but I'd always made sure to avoid any public displays of affection. I hadn't realized how it would affect me. I felt betrayed by Jace all over again. First his whore of a mother fucked my dick of a dad and ruined my chances of getting closerto Lily. And now he fooled Caleb into letting him help Lily with her art supplies only to kiss her like the sneaky prick he was. I could feel the rage inside me chipping away at my ego. If there was one thing I hated more than anything it was to be made to look a fool.

This wasn't just about the competition between us anymore. It was deeper than that. Whenever I had the opportunity, I found myself watching Lily all over again, just like when she was my little sister. Daydreaming of her. Having visions of her big gray eyes staring up at me, wanting me to protect her from the world. Then I'd have nightmares where she was snatched away again. I missed the times I'd walk past our basement door and stop in my tracks, mesmerized by Lily’s singing. It was as though she was a siren luring me to my death. Because that's what it felt like. I'd fall deeper and deeper into her trap. Sometimes I'd sneak down the stairs, skipping the third squeaky step just to get a little closer. I'd watch as she'd paint beautiful colors on top of one another creating mini utopias. Her voice sent goosebumps trailing across my skin and shivers down my spine. She was so talented. So perfect in everything she did. The way she'd blush when she noticed me behind her, then feign anger and order me to leave her in peace. I felt the tension a dozen times, and I know she did too. But all of that was nothing but a distant memory now. A memory I tried so fucking hard to bury, but I couldn't. I wouldn’t. I needed to have her. To feel her skin on mine. To taste her. To touch her. To own her. To trace my fingers across her pretty jaw, cup her face, kiss her cherry red lips and feel them moan against mine as I lost myself deep inside her tight little pussy.

Lily Parker walked into my life and made me feel depraved. The day she left crushed a part of me I didn't even know existed. The part of me that felt... love.

Although we'd argued often, there were times when we'd laugh together. Lily’s arrival into my life felt like a piece of me had been found. A softness I'd missed all my life. And in my father's selfish desires I lost her. No matter how many women I fucked, I couldn’t find Lily in any of them.

I hated my father for that. I hated the way he'd buy people's silence. Keeping the woman at the center of his affair a secret from the community. Money bought him immunity, but it didn’t do fuck all to stop me and Jace finding out the truth.

I hated Jace’s mom for what she’d done. I could've destroyed Jace the moment I found out he'd started dating Lily, but for her sake I didn't. I didn't tell her the woman my father cheated with was Jace’s mom. I didn't want to break her heart anymore than it already was. Her mom was her world. All I could do was keep her safe from afar. Even if it protected Jace in the meantime.

I'd purposely walk past her art classes on campus, secretly checking how she was doing. She didn't sing anymore. Not like she used to in the basement. She'd stand and paint in silence. Not a pair of earbuds or a radio in sight. Her paintings no longer were colors of the rainbow. Instead, they'd become pitch black paint on pale white canvases. Lily was lost, so when she hooked up with Jace I suppressed my anger and put her heart before my own. I still didn't have it in me to tell her the truth. To force a wedge so deep between her and Jace that she'd never look at him the same way again. But if he continued to try to steal Lily away and keep her for himself, I'd fucking spill. I'd just have to make sure I was her shoulder to cry on and not Caleb.

I stared down at the image of Lily in her little red devil costume. I was pissed Caleb had seen her wear it in person. That he'd seen her like that before any of us. But then I remembered how I'd been with her and her mom when she chose a less slutty red devil costume for our annual Fletcher family Halloween party. We didn't throw them anymore. There wasn't any pointwith it being just dad and I. I wished he hadn't been such a selfish bastard and fucked around on Lily’s mom. She had enough problems of her own without him screwing her up even more. And I knew Lily blamed me for my dad's mistakes. I wondered if she blamed me for her mom’s death. I mean, I'm a Fletcher. I'm a prick because it's the only way I know how to survive. I was created by a ruthless, selfish man who cared more about his business and getting his dick wet than he did about his own family. What the fuck chance did I have of being anything but the prodigal son?

The apple never fell far from the tree.

My phone buzzed,alerting me someone had pressed the front door camera. I opened the app to see Caleb and Jace waiting to be allowed inside. I contemplated making them wait a few minutes. It amused me how on edge they both seemed. It wasn't like Jace. He was usually a confident guy.

“Open the door, Damien,” Jace’s voice came through the speaker.

I hit open on the app and allowed them both inside.

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