Page 87 of Laid Bare

“Ha!” I laugh out loud, tears running down my face at the hilarity of their comment. “Cool story, bro. Sorry if I don’t believe you, because if you really were my fated mates, you wouldn’t have kept it from me. Not living together as long as we have. And the last asshole who told me I was his mate, dragged me through the academy and broke my wrist right before he told me.”

“Fuck, Bailey.” Zane’s warm thumbs brush the tears from my cheeks. “I’m sorry you went through that, but it’s not a story. We really are. I didn’t say anything because you have enough bullshit going on in your life, you didn’t need to add another mate on top of it.”

“And I didn’t know for sure, snow. Not until tonight, anyways.”

“Fine. Prove it then. I dare you both to kiss me right now.” Zane shares a look over his shoulder with his twin, but I already know what’s going to happen before they even say it. “Exactly. On that note, I’m going to bed.” I slip off the couch and stumble toward my room. “You know.” I spin around, grabbing the doorway to keep myself upright. “If all you want to do is fuck me, you don’t have to lie about being my mates.”

With those last words, I disappear into my room, slamming the door behind me to really drive my point home.

My hoodie gets caught on my messy bun as I try to remove it, and after wrangling it off, I drop into bed, curling myself up in a ball and my blanket over my head.

I’m out before I even realize I’m crying over their lie.

Good gods,my head is freaking killing me, and I feel like I’ve been sleeping inside a damn roaring fireplace.

It’s just too damn hot, too freaking stifling to be comfortable any longer.

I roll over with a groan, trying to kick my blankets off, but it’s like they’ve been glued down to my mattress, keeping my prisoner in my bed.

“Stop moving, pinky. It’s too early to be up.” I stiffen at the voice; a voice that sure as hell should not be coming from so damn close.

“Shut up, asshole. Don’t wake her up,” a sleepy voice mutters from behind me, before moving closer, engulfing me in even more heat.

What. The. Fuck.

I take the chance to peek an eye open, worried I forgot to close my blinds, but thank the gods it’s pitch black in my room. The pounding in my head wouldn’t be able to handle even the smallest light at the moment.

It takes a few blinks to clear the fuzzies happening in my eyes, and a few more blinks for my vision to adjust to the dark.

And when I can finally see, I realize just how bad this looks.

Directly in front of me, Zane is on his stomach, his head turned toward me, his long bi-colored locks in disarray, and one red wing hanging off the bed, while the other laying across my body.

Peeking over my shoulder, Bane is equally feigning sleep, but he’s on his side, scooted as close as possible without actually lying on top of me, while both of his wings hang off the side of the bed. The beard he always sports looks scruffier than usual, and his black hair looks disheveled, like he spent most of the night running his fingers through it.

My fingers twitch with the need to reach out and tousle the hair on both of their heads, but then I distinctly remember the bullshit they spewed last night.

I had hoped that with the aid of the fae wine, I’d wake up and not recollect any of it. But I do. And it hurts even more in the light of day.

“Get out,” I mutter, blinking back the moisture trying to gather in my eyes.

“Pinky.”

“No,” I growl, hoping it sounds like I mean business and not on the verge of a breakdown. “Get the hell out.”

Aero gets to his hooves at the end of the bed, stomping against the mattress. He’s reacting to my distress, the hurt in my soul, and he doesn’t like it. Not one freaking bit.

“Snow, please just let us explain.”

“No. You assholes lied to me. Oh, we’re your mates,” I mock, lowering my voice in hopes to sound more like theirs. “I asked you to prove it. To kiss me. But no. And that’s when I knew it was a godsdamn lie. So get the fuck out of my room, and don’t come back in here again.”

“Bailey, just listen.”

“No. Do I need to explain to you what that word means?”

Pissed as all get out, I slam my magic straight into my strength rune and shoot my arms out, hitting both of the demons at the same time. They fly across the room in separate directions, and I cringe as their bodies collide with the walls.

Fuck. Maybe used a tad bit much. But at least there’s some distance between us now.

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