Page 79 of Ever Dark

The muscle in his jaw ticks. The mere mention of her name, does something wild to all of us. “That’s why we need to keep her close. The curse was created out of spite. The devil wanted to make sure that no woman in Ever Graves would ever know peace. That they would never receive love from another. Not without a nightmare hanging over them.”

That dark tone returns to his voice. I didn’t realize he knew so much about the curse. I guess I’d learn everything I could, too, if I was half-nightmare though.

I take a swig from a bottle of Blackwell gin. “Are you saying we can break the curse?”

Draven shakes his head. “No, it’s too late for that. But maybe there’s a way to release her from his hold. If that’s what she wants.”

Aries nods. “According to the old legends, a Bishop witch gave a blood sacrifice at the Wishing Tree. She let the devil out of hell in exchange for immortality. But he saw Willa Harker in the nearby field and became obsessed. When she rejected him, he created the curse. But he also cursed the Bishop woman and all her future descendants. He made sure they can’t ever get into the After. So when they die, they become ghosts, stuck in between worlds.”

What the fuck? I must’ve missed that class in school. “How the fuck do you know all this?”

He grins, proud of himself. “I’m a Thorn. We keep excellent records.”

The threads on these hallowed grounds keep burrowing deeper. “I used to think that’s all they were, legends.”

Draven shakes his head. “My grandmother kept records as well. If she knew what I was, she never let on. But my father knew I was definitely not his. He suspected my mother of cheating, but not with a nightmare man. That never crossed his mind. Rodrick guessed it early on. It was unspoken.”

There are so many memories that make more sense to me now. All of that weight was on Draven’s shoulders, this secret he had to hide so his family wouldn’t send him away like they did with his cousin Maureen. I only wish he hadn’t shouldered it alone.

I take another puff of the joint. “We are from some fucked up families.”

“And a fucked up town,” Aries adds as he rolls a fresh joint for himself.

Draven holds up his glass of gin. “But now we control the poison. I’m surprised that your father relinquished his hold so easilythough. I thought Gemini Thorn would’ve put up more of a fight. What did you say to him when I left the room?”

Aries’s eyes darken as he licks the rolling paper. “The truth. That he’s lucky I haven’t murdered him for what he did to Lib. And that I still might. I told him to sign everything over to us or sleep with both eyes open instead of one.”

My cock twitches in my pants. I love when he gets like this. Threats of murder and mayhem are my fucking foreplay. I hold his gaze, revealing all of my ache and pain and hunger for him with just a look. A look that only he and Mia understand.

“Should I give you two a minute?” Draven snorts.

And apparently Draven understands it too.

I give him a wink. “Nah, we can wait. Besides, we’ll need more than a minute.”

“Thatta boy,” Aries quips back.

I am hard as a rock now. “Careful, Ries, I might change my mind and bend you over this table right now.”

He leans back in his chair, his cock tenting his pants. “I want our little lamb between us.”

Draven’s eyes glaze with lust too. “I’d like to see that… I’m not done punishing her for what she did. Let’s make it another game.”

I lick my lips, my glands salivating for another taste of her. “She is fun to play with.”

Aries stares at my crotch. “Show me how hot she makes you.”

Now I’m going to fucking burst. I glance over at Draven.

He pours another glass of gin and leans back. “I don’t mind watching if you don’t.”

Fucking hell these two are going to give me a fucking heart attack. I look back to Aries as I unzip my jeans and free my swollen cock. I wrap a hand around it and squeeze.

Aries spreads his legs open and palms his own cock. “Slide your hand up and down, nice and slow for me.”

Having Draven watch is somehow making me hotter. More unhinged. I want to fuck Aries so bad. I do as he says, taking my time as I finger every ridge on the way down to my tip. I squeeze and a little dribble of pre cum spurts out. “Mmm, I want to fill all her fucking holes.”

“We’ll fill them together,” Draven confirms.

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