Page 20 of Feeding Frenzy

“You okay?” she whispered, peeking over her shoulder.

I nodded and thumped the glass in the sink.

“Thanks for organizing all of my stuff in Asher’s room.”

Her frown deepened. “Of course, let me know if you need anything else.”

I nodded tersely and walked past her, aiming to get back to my room to shower.

“Wait!” her muffled voice echoed down the hall to me just as I stepped into the foyer, right before I reached the stairs.

Colors caught the corner of my eye, and I backed up, struggling to process what I wasn’t sure I’d seen. “Crap, I was trying to warn you that she made me put them up.” I didn’t respond to Maddy, she disappeared down the hall as I stood frozen before the frames.

The large, centered portrait was one I’d never seen before. It had all of them: Crimson Coven, and right in the middle, was her. They stood all around her in various poses. Ren with his arms crossed and a fearsome look on his face. Asher sprawled on the floor, back propped on the chair she sat in and with a cruel twist of his lips. Jax stood behind her, serious as always. They each looked like they had a broom shoved up their ass. The only one missing was Bastien. Beside the canvas was the portrait of Imogen I had seen before.

I scrunched my hair through my fingers, staring up at the obnoxiously large image hanging in the foyer. She was so full of herself. I gritted my teeth, holding back from dragging a ladder in here to yank the atrocious portrait down.

“They’ve stayed together because of me.”

I startled, whirling with a gasp. Imogen stood behind me, her eyes practically glimmering as she stared up at the images.

I kept my mouth shut. She didn’t speak for a few seconds. If I sidled to the side and hurried up the stairs— “I’ll allow your presence.”

What?

Still, I stayed quiet, studying her features. She looked so much like Tobias, except her nose was thinner and her cheekbones fuller. They had the same brown shade of hair and piercing gray eyes.

“They will grow tired of you, eventually. Then I can snap your neck,” she spoke so calmly it gave me chills.

“They won’t,” the words came out rushed and slightly defensive. The corner of her lips twitched. She had the reaction she wanted. I bit my lip.Great job, Cat.

“You’ll see, they will get used to the idea of your death. Just as they became used to becoming a Coven.” She clicked her tongue. “Do you know how difficult it was to wrangle them together?” Her eyes turned to me, weighing on me. I stiffened my spine, so I didn’t stumble back. “Yet, you enter to profit over the months of negotiations it took me to create us.”

Her finger swiped across the bottom of the portrait. She studied her fingers, but I could see nothing on the fingertips.

“Human number two,” she shouted.

“Coming,” Maddy shouted from down the hall, sounding harried. She rounded into the foyer, her eyes downcast and her hands laced in front of her. She had on her apron and a splatter across the front of the pale cloth.

“Dust the portraits. A speck is unseemly.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Maddy dipped her head and backed away, likely to get the cleaning stuff.

I thinned my lips.

“Oh, does that anger you?” Imogen said it so low I could hardly hear it. Her eyes widened innocently. “My apologies. Humans are lowly creatures?—”

“We’re not your servan?—”

“Catalina,” Jax snarled, cutting off my angry shout. His eyes scanned me so briefly and he stormed to Imogen’s side. I took a step back. “You left,” Jax said to her.

Imogen seemed to shrink upon herself when they were around. She was feeding this whole ‘poor me’ act. Tobias and Jax were eating it up. Seeing his absolute support of her ripped at my heart.

Good thing the other two weren’t, they knew her toxic ass would love to hurt me.

“You guys started arguing.” She shrugged. “So, I left.”

Jax’s entire focus remained on her. My stomach twisted and turned like he’d reached inside me. I crossed my arms and turned to face her head on.

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