Page 54 of Satanic Shadow
“Fast and extremely unreliable sex,” she replies while I giggle. “If you haven’t noticed, Orsen is very outspoken.”
“I didn’t notice at all,” I say as Poppy adds, “Nope. He’s very guarded. You never know what he’s thinking.”
Mel narrows her eyes at our sarcasm. “Fuck you both. I like that he’s forward.”
“Well I’m just glad he’s not chasing after you with crude sexual remarks anymore, and you’re finally giving him the time of day.” Poppy takes a deep breath. “Me, on the other hand, I’m a little afraid.”
I throw a rock through the barrier and into the water. “Of what?”
“I think Brandt might stop seeing me after all of the assignments are completed. I like having him around just now. He makes me feel happy.”
Her sister huffs. “He hasn’t given you any indication that he’s going to drop you. You’re being paranoid.”
Poppy stamps her foot. “But he also hasn’t given me any reassurance! What if he’s just acting like Dane?”
I manage to skip a flat stone three times, but instead of celebrating like I usually would, I turn to Poppy. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well…” She rubs her arm and looks down at her sister. “I heard him talking to Orsen after class today, and he said you disgusted him, and he couldn’t wait for the assignments to be over, so he’d be done with you.”
Mel sighs. “That isn’t how he worded it.”
“Yes it was!” Poppy retorts. “Orsen saw him going into the changing rooms after everyone except Sera left. He teased him when he came out, but Dane made it clear where he stood with it all. He hates Sera and her entire species, which is fine, because she hates him too.” She looks at me. “Right?”
“Right,” I force out. “He said he was disgusted by me?”
I shouldn’t care, but a pang of hurt stabs me in the chest. He’s always been this way with me, but to know he’s still saying these things while trying to order me not to speak with Valin, approaching me and kissing me in ways that don’t count towards the assignment… He really can’t wait to be done with me?
“Yep,” the twins say in unison. But Poppy obliviously continues to add to the burn. “He said he can’t wait to get off the island so he can kill you and pretend you never existed.”
Mel slaps Poppy’s arm hard enough to make her porcelain skin welt. “You’re going too far. Can’t you see you’re upsetting the human?”
I’m not upset, I don’t think. The lone tear rolling down my cheek is from the chill—and how tired I am. I wipe it away with my sleeve. “I’m not upset about what he said. He’s just brutal sometimes. Ever since I got here, he’s done everything to make me feel uncomfortable.”
And I’ve been fighting to prove myself my entire life. As a foster kid, as a new sister and daughter, as a young adult in a homeless shelter trying to find work. I mean, I had to go to extreme lengths of overpaying to get my dog Toodles. Everything has been an endless battle, and I just feel like I need a break.
Living is so tiring sometimes.
“He’s a real dick. I know, Sera,” Mel says. “I’ve already offered to kick his ass. Are you finally going to let me?”
I laugh, smiling. The thought of her attacking him makes me giggle. She’d slash his handsome face with her blade-like nailsand rip his heart out. “Thanks, but no. I don’t think that will stop him. I’ll just… endure his moodswings until I can get away from him, I guess.”
“Have you started task three yet?” Poppy asks me.
I give a slight nod. “He wants me to go to his room at midnight to finish it.”
“Make him come to you,” Mel says, getting to her feet. “Dane doesn’t call the shots, so don’t give in to him. If he’s serious about completing each task after what he said about you, then don’t put in any effort. Go to your room, lock the door, run a bath, and screw his fucking demands.”
“You’re sounding very human, Princess Melina.”
She rolls her eyes and turns around. “I don’t have that title anymore. Mel is my name now.”
“Because she killed our father,” Poppy reminds me.
“You played a huge part in his demise too, sister.”
Poppy giggles, and I grin as we all start walking back to the castle. The two of them put their arms around my shoulders in a supportive hug.
I’ve never had this before. Always moving around to live in different towns made it hard to have friends. I used to get drunk with my coworkers, but none of them I’d consider my friend. However, as I gossip with the twins and listen to them bicker and threaten to kill each other, I’m glad to have them.
