Page 30 of Priest and his Anarchist

“Turn around.”

Snow powders my boots when I follow his order. I’m eye-to-eye with his black shirt. He’s taller, wider, stronger. I can’t remember the last time he ever stood this close to me.

I prefer him further away, with enough distance to decide whether I want to kill or fuck him.

“Murder looks good on you.” He tugs at the string of my corset, his pupils dilating when they land on my lips. “A new weapon will look even better.”

I don’t have time for his games. I need to help River. Only when I turn, the spot where she stood is empty, with nothing but blood-stained snow.

“Hey!” River calls out from the top of the steps, holding two bottles of alcohol. “You didn’t tell me it was your fucking birthday!”

“What! It isn’t!” Is it? I stopped counting days, so technically, it probably could be, but no one would know. No one…

“Happy birthday, Madness.” His shoulder brushes mine as he walks back up the steps, pausing in front of River.

She raises a brow and leans into him before he shoves her back playfully and plucks a bottle from her.

She’s still laughing as she bounces down, hooking her arm with mine. “Well, that’s new.”

“What’s new?”

“That. Him. He also said something about leaving your new weapon on your bed.”

“Oh.” She directs me up the same path he took. “Yeah. He’s usually, well?—”

“Him?” River stares back at me, her eyes wide. Our laughter is swallowed by the loud thumping of Dr. Dre as River leads me toward the kitchen. The décor doesn’t surprise me. Cement cabinetry and steel appliances match the rest of the house's color palette, with rinsed gray and obsidian black hues.

I stop, my arm slipping from River’s. White balloons bounce off the ceiling in a rain of ribbons, hiding a table in the corner. “Oh my god.”

“Yup,” River chuckles from behind.

“No. Oh my god.” I blink. A giant round cake piles up in layers of white buttercream, getting smaller the higher it gets. I count the layers. One, two—fifteen.

“It’s your fifteenth!” She bumps my hip with hers. “What chaos can we cause?”

“Ah, the birthday girl.” Arms wrap around my waist, lifting me up off the ground. “Happy birthday, Lulu.” A flash from a camera blinds me as Vaden lowers me back down. I turn, threading my fingers behind the back of his neck.

“You do this?” I gesture to the monster cake behind me.

Vaden looks over my shoulder before returning, his mouth in a wide smirk. “Actually, no. That was done by the dark prince himself. He tried to go for black, I fought him on that and won, even though he did make a point to leave your present on your bed.”

Priest? My smile falls. He must notice because the arm around my back stiffens. “Hey! No sad shit on your birthday.”

“But that’s so…”

“Out of character?” River adds, one brow raised as she pours brown liquid into a line of shot glasses.

Vaden ignores her. “It’s not really. Not if you know him.”

River shimmies between Vaden and me as she pushes a shot glass into my face. “You have to do fifteen. It’s a rite of passage.” Fifteen? I’ve been here for over two years now. It’s been over two years since I’ve spoken with Mom and my Dads.

My throat burns when I shoot back the liquor, setting the glass onto the island behind me. The kitchen looks out over the lounge, revealing people dancing around the DJ set up in the corner. One person pushes another into the pool.

“How are so many people here?”

“Everyone’s here,” Vaden says, swiping his mouth with his thumb and flipping the shot glass onto the counter. “That’s allowed to be here.”

I turn to River for answers but she’s glaring at Vaden. When she notices me looking, her mouth turns into a wide smile. “Come. Let’s get drunk.”

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