Page 1 of Ink Deep Devotion

Prologue

Mila

“What do you want?” Nova leans closer; her light gray eyes begin to twinkle like stars, just waiting for me to tip my chin up and cast a wish upon them. Her long black hair falls forward like the closing curtains of a ballet framing her pretty face.

My shoulders cave in from her intensity.“I want…” I shake my head.“Wanting is silly. I’m just a girl born into an empire of men.” I confess, as I look down at my chipped, manicured nails.

I wanted once. I trusted, too.

That was long ago when I was just a silly girl in high school.

Nova, my roommate, snorts. I figured she would. She is the most badass female I’ve ever met. She also has some very questionable habits. Nova’s version of caring is tough love.Hugs don’t exist in her mind; punches do because they force you to have faster reflexes.

“How do you think men claimed power, Mila?” Nova doesn’t let me answer. She often doesn’t. Nova isn’t used to pity parties.

“A sugar plum fairy didn’t pop out of the air and bop them over the head with a magic wand.” She taps the side of my headto emphasize her point.“Men take what they want.” She leans forward into my personal space.

If anyone tried to invade her personal bubble, they might not live to see the sunset, but reverse the table, and you’d see Nova was made to rule and conquer because she is the queen of invading.

“They fight.” She grins.“They never give up. Even if they lose, they get back up. Again and again. Men are like microorganisms; they always survive even in the most hostile climates. That is how men stay in power.”

I lick my lips, tasting the lip gloss she gifted me. One of those questionable habits Nova has is licking her lip gloss like it’s a lollipop. It’s gross, but then again, I guess it’s better than smoking.

“That doesn’t make me feel encouraged,” I mutter.

“Because you’re so used to seeing the glass half empty, having people take from you.” She rolls her eyes and sits back against our couch.“Onlyyoucan change your mind. So change it.”

“It’s not that easy.” I push back in my seat, feeling trapped.

“Taking a crown never is.” She flicks her hair back.“You want power? Take it. If you fail? Try again. Try until your heart stops. Stop thinking with emotions. Men don’t. They take, they never consider. You can’t if you want to have control. Do you want control, or do you want to be controlled, Mila?”

Can’t I have both?

I don’t ask her that.

Why can’t I have control but also be controlled and loved? I want freedom, but I also want to enjoy living it, and in my world, that means allowing someone else to control my safety.

“That just makes me a monster.” I sigh.

“Take first. Give orders later. Get the crown, then worry about holding onto it. One problem at a time. That’s how babies learn, and you, Mila, have never progressed from infancy. One step at a time, one word, one action. Learn, Mila, and for god’s sake, stop being the crushed little girl all these men want you to be. Tiny broken pieces are easy to sweep up and place on the side. Don’t make it easy! I’m not saying you have to be whole; you just have to become something significant and powerful, something they can’t walk over or push aside. Strength can’t be ignored. Make it so they can’t neglect you, Mila.”

A few months later.

Sometimes, dreams do come true. Through hard work, lies, and terrible deeds, you finally escape.

But then it happens.Oh no...

You realize what you desired was not a dream after all. Your mind was just so terribly tainted that you mistook a nightmare for an ideal.

But now you’re stuck! Living that nightmare because that is what you wanted—to escape and be alone.

Chapter 1

Dash

The night of The Cleansing: The night I truly died.

I know what it’s like to die. To have your entire soul peeled free from your flesh and bones then exposed to the unfiltered predatory world.

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