Page 96 of Dark Night Golden Dawn
Fingers gripped her chin, Olivia’s nails dug into her face. “We’re going to stop you and the golden boy here from spawning whatever little abomination the Illuminated want.”
That was it? The Order of Night believed, as the McKays did, that a child begotten between them would be some kind of powerful creature. It all made a sick kind of sense. The Order of Night wouldn’t just kill them, they’d turn Harlow into a succubus to prove that they could. To prove that they could still make the most volatile immortals Okairos had ever known and wreak havoc on the world. This was all some stupid power play between immortals.
Mark turned as Finn sagged against the chains. Finn’s eyes fell shut and Harlow fought panic, waiting, watching his chest. His lungs expanded, but his breath was too shallow. Olivia’s phone buzzed and she stepped out of the room, her voice muffled as the sound of her footsteps died away. Harlow reached inside herself. She needed to do something now, while Olivia was gone, use her magic to help them both.
Mark’s voice broke her concentration. “No babies for you, Harlow. Just an eternity of fucking and sucking.”
Her heart sang with pleasure at the idea, but only for a moment. Her shadows fought it off at the source, understanding dawning on her. He’d been following her, influencing her feelings. Planting seeds of doubt, rage, and gods knew what else in her. But now that her shadows knew where the threat was coming from, they fought it. She felt better almost immediately, but she couldn’t show that. She felt the influence of Mark’s power, its intention, and she arched her back, moaning softly as she pushed against her restraints.
It created the desired result. Mark’s lips curved into a seductive smile. “Just like that, Dollface. Wait until you see all the ways I can make your body sing for me.”
Finn’s eyes met hers as he raised his head slightly. He was in pain still, but she saw that like her, he’d been exaggerating how hurt he was. As Mark turned back to him, he grinned at Finn, his new fangs glinting in the dim light of a lantern as he patted Finn’s cheek. “Poor boyfriend, maybe I worked him too hard that last time. That little show should have made him very angry.”
Mark walked over to Harlow, caressing her cheek. “I missed you, Dollface. But now we’re going to be together, forever. No more Order of Mysteries. No more stupid witches. Just you and me.”
Olivia returned to the room, fury written all over her face as she glared at Harlow. “And me.”
Mark smiled, looking for a moment like the handsome co-ed Harlow had fallen in love with. “Of course, Liv.”
His voice was smooth. Too smooth. Harlow wasn’t sure why Olivia didn’t hear the lie in his words. She knew that tone all too well. The vampire princess was pouting now, and he wandered over to her, soothing her with touches and words. “We’ll break her together. Use her up and then turn her. And then…” Now he stroked Olivia’s jawline, planting kisses on her neck. “Then we’ll feed McKay to her.” So she’d been right, after all. Mark’s hands roved over Olivia’s body as he whispered, “You’ll see, Liv. It’ll be fun.”
“Yes,” Olivia said, her voice full of a desperate need for approval as she wrapped her body around Mark’s.
Now who was pathetic?Still, this interaction gave Harlow time to try to figure out what to do to get them out of this. She sank down into her mind, the way she had before when she called up her shadows, but the glass wall that hid the suppressed memory of the night Mark kicked her out rose up in front of her instead.
In reality, Mark wrapped his arms around Olivia’s waist, one hand sliding into the front of her pants. “Does that feel good, baby?” he crooned as she lapped Harlow’s blood off her fingers.
“Yes,” the vampire moaned. “Harder.”
They weren’t watching her, enraptured as they were with one another. Inside her mind, Harlow stood in front of the glass. The tangle of thorns that had been there before was gone now. The wet sound of Mark pleasuring Olivia broke through her ability to concentrate.
“Tell me about how you hurt her,” Olivia begged. “Tell me about the poor little witch’s fall down the stairs.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Mark said, his voice shrill. Harlow’s entire body reacted to that tone so violently that Olivia’s words almost didn’t register. Almost.The poor little witch’s fall down the stairs.
What fall?
What?
Fall?
In her second sight, the glass wall splintered into a million shards and she slid easily into the hole in her memory, living it again.
They were standing on the backstairs at Mark’s apartment.Theirapartment. Above, the moons were waning, barely emitting enough light to see by. The flickering light at the back door made her head hurt. Her eyes were swollen and tired from crying. She had a bag of her clothes slung across her chest and Axel was yowling in his carrier.
“Can’t we work this out?” she pleaded. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
Mark shook his head. “You’ll always choose them over me, Dollface. My questions were innocent, but you proved I can’t trust you.”
“Innocent? You asked me to find out how to make asuccubus, Mark.” Her voice was harsh; she hadn’t even tried to modulate it into a tone he’d like better. This was a mistake she’d been making more frequently lately, and now she knew he’d make her pay for it.
His hand flew towards her and she stepped backwards, almost falling down the steep concrete stairs. He caught her before she fell, tearing Axel’s carrier out of her arms.
“Thanks,” she said, quiet, but still not in the tone she knew he’d prefer. She wasn’t going to grovel anymore. They could work this out in a healthier way, she knew it. Things had been good once, hadn’t they? He was just going through a hard time.
“It was only a question, Dollface,” he murmured. “But you overreacted, like you always do. You always have to make something out of nothing.”
A part of her immediately believed him. Immediately lapped everything he said up. Shewasoverreacting, wasn’t she? But there was a hard glint in his eye that scared her. Something about him was different than before. Something fundamental had changed, but she didn’t know what. Her head tilted as she stared at him. She knew he was seeing someone else. He’d done it before, but this time something was different… but what?
