Page 27 of Blood Descendants
“We’re going to find her, Lana,” Ares says softly. “I swear.”
I take three more breaths, embracing the numb darkness filling my mind, and finally nod my head. “Okay.”
There are another few moments of uncertain silence. How do you comfort your fake fiancée, the woman you don’t really know yet have kissed the life out of?
“We’re supposed to be to my sister’s place in an hour,” he says uncertainly. “I can let her know we’re going to be a little bit late.”
“No,” I shake my head and climb out of the bed. “I’m fine. It was just a dream. It’s over. I’m gettingready now.”
He meets my eyes, a look of uncertainty on his face. But I don’t wait for him to argue as I walk into the bathroom, ignoring the fact that I’m wearing nothing but underwear and a tank top.
Today’s agenda is to meet Ares’ sister. According to Ares, there’s no way anyone would believe this if I hadn’t met this sister, the one person in the world Ares is closest with. She’s been told what’s going on, and Ares trusts her to no end.
I stalk into the closet and pull on the first things my hands find. A black skirt that hits mid-thigh and a yellow ribbed top that hugs my body. Standing in front of the mirror, I take in my own reflection.
My hair is a wild mess. My skin is pale, and there are dark shadows beneath my eyes.
But it’s nothing compared to how Ophelia looked in my dream.
I know it’s just a dream.
I know that wasn’t real.
But what if the truth of what she’s going through is worse? What if she’s really being abused and used like that? What if… what if she’s dead?
This is taking too damn long.
I’m sorry, Ophelia, I think into the ether.I’m coming.
We need to speed this up.
I dab on some makeup, making myself look less of a zombie. I tame my hair back into a knot at the back of my head.
And when I look back at my reflection when I’m finished, I finally see someone who looks the part of the billionaire’s fiancée. This woman is put together. This woman has neverstruggled to pay the grocery bill. This woman has never been talked down to by anyone in her life.
I look down at the massive rock on my finger, where it has stayed put since Ares put it there two days ago. Is this thing going to turn me into a different person?
Would that be so terrible?
I walk out of the bedroom and into the living area to find Ares on the phone. But the moment he sees me, he freezes in place, just for a second, his eyes scraping over the whole of me.
“I’ll take interviews on Monday,” Ares says, sounding surprisingly professional. “Give me five candidates.”
He doesn’t wait for whoever is on the other end to respond before he hangs up. Once again, his eyes shamelessly take every inch of me in.
“What do you say? Can I pass for the fiancée of Ares Hunt?” I ask, lowering my chin and looking at him from beneath my lashes.
Instead of answering me, Ares steps forward, sliding his hand into mine. And he guides me to the entryway, where a huge, gold-framed mirror hangs on the wall. He walks to where the two of us are centered, every bit of us in the length of it.
“What do you say, Vengeance?” Ares asks as I see him look down at me in the mirror’s reflection. “Do we look like we fit together?”
My mind goes somewhere far too dirty, considering this man is a stranger. But the heat in his gaze as he looks at me, the hunger I see there, makes my lower stomach tighten.
I swallow once and actually look at the two of us in the mirror.
Ares is all danger and darkness. Black on black, he looks the bad boy and the billionaire right now. His hair is wild in themost purposeful way, those curls teasing my fingers. He wears diamond studded earrings tonight and a silver chain around his neck, matching the hoop in his nose.
And there I am next to him, black heels, little skirt. Huge diamond on my finger. Pain and rage in my eyes, scars on my hands from the fights I’ve won.
