Page 25 of Heavy is the Crown
The first month was bad but tolerable, the second month a little worse. With one month left, I’m crawling out of my skin.
One month left. I can make it one month, and then I will never see them again.Even thinking that makes my stomach twist and my chest tighten. It makes my dragon grumble angrily at me.
This has been a living nightmare. Being stuck with two people I cannot be with is like bathing in acid every day. And having to be at this club nightly makes my skin crawl. My stepbrother thrives as the king of this dark empire. He is the Hades of the realm, Ava his Persephone. Even in her own club, Ava is a bright light in this city. There isn’t a citizen in Gothic Grove who doesn’t love her. Now that she is here most nights, the club is even more popular. The two of them can be seen sitting on Drago’s private balcony almost nightly, where she perches on his lap, and I watch, almost hypnotized, as he traces his fingers over her skin. Up and down. Up and down.
They are the royalty of this city.
And I’m their dirty little secret.
I can’t remember how I got to the bar on the main floor, but the girl next to me continues to pet my arm. I don’t care to listen to her shrill voice trying to keep my attention. The fact that it can get to me over the music makes my brain short-circuit, a frown pulling at my lips. All I want is another shot and another hit; it's the only way I can stand being here. Otherwise, why would I have left the bedroom I’ve been staying in? With no one home, it’s the only time I can relax. I don’t have to smell them or hear them. They haven’t fucked, but you can smell the need in the air, and it kills me.
Hearing Ava every night through the walls is a special kind of torture. She’s made it no secret what she’s doing at night. My cock rallies at the thought of her sweet sounds as she comes, at the thought of feeling that against my tongue or cock.
“Oh, my God, you are, like, so hot.” The girl hanging on me cuts through the haze of my thoughts again, and the daydream breaks apart around me. Looking down at her, I can see she’s wearing a tight black dress with her tits pushed up toward her chin. She’s got her lips painted bright red and her hair pulled off to the side in an elaborate braid. Objectively, she’s attractive. I’m sure every other person in here wants her attention, but her focus is on me.
“Mhmm,” I reply before slamming back the clear liquid in the shot glass in front of me, then lift my hand up to signal for another. I look back at her as she lights up the Eufori in her hand. Taking a deep drag into her mouth, she pulls the joint from her lips and cocks her eyebrow at me. I don’t hesitate, I slam my mouth into hers, pulling the drug from her to me, as though I’m pulling her soul from her body. My mind swims, my body instantly relaxing as the Eufori moves through my veins. It takes me a moment to realize she hasn’t pulled away and she’s still kissing me.
Her taste is wrong, and her hands feel like tiny claws poking at me in a way that has my skin crawling. I clumsily extract myself from her, and the pout on her lips is prominent as she unlatches from my body.
“Let's go someplace more private,” she says, trying her best to look seductive. For a moment, a small voice in my head tells me what a terrible idea this is, that it will only hurt me, and them. But I refuse to start listening to that voice now and instead fully commit to my poor choices.Maybe this will finally push them over the edge.
My dragon growls at me, muttering something like,Fucking idiot.
“Sure, baby. I know just the place,” I think I say, but honestly, my speech is slurring, so who knows. She seems to get the hint, though, because she takes my hand and follows me through thedense crowd toward the employee-only hallway. The bouncer frowns at me as I pass, before lifting a phone to his ear. I’m sure he’s calling Drago.
“Uh, are we allowed to be in here?” she says as I pull her into Drago’s personal room.
I know for a fact he doesn’t use this place, not since he found Ava, but before that, he used it to entertain his guests. Even entertained me, once. I can still remember the taste of his come down my throat, the feel of his fingers pumping in and out of me until I let my release paint my stomach. I quickly shake the memory out of my brain, and dig my fingers into my palms hard enough to ground me back to the moment.
The dark room is lined with couches that are deep red. The walls are covered in embossed black wallpaper, the whirling designs almost like camouflage. It smells like Eufori, but right under that is Drago’s eucalyptus scent. My dragon flares to life for a moment, but I push him away. Push away the pang in my chest that has me wincing.
I realize, after a moment, I haven’t answered her question, and she is sending off nervous energy. “Yeah, it's my stepbrother’s club. I can do what I want,” I say before I can think better of it and shut the door behind us.
Her eyes are wide as I brush past her toward the couches. “Holy shit, you’re related to Drago?”
I sit down on the couch, arms spread wide, and let out a chuckle. “I mean, my father fucked his mother, so sure.” I’m annoyed that she keeps talking. “Now, did we come here to talk, or are you going to put that mouth to better use?” With Drago and Ava, I submit, but with anyone else? I would rather die than give them power over me. I snap my fingers and point to the floor.
She smiles wide, her pupils blown out. I can smell her pussy from here, but my cock is still soft. I’ve tried many times to losemyself in both men and women, but it always ends the same. I belong tothem.
The drugs and pain may own my body.
Ava and Drago own my soul.
Drago
Sitting in one of the VIP booths of the roped-off section, I sip the cool, clear liquid from the tumbler in front of me. The burn is lighting up my throat in a way that allows me to find some pleasure in the pain. I keep my arm slung back over the edge of the dark leather couch, my white button-up half undone and sleeves rolled up. The scent of Ava is still strong on my fingers.
“How is he?” Ciaran asks, his voice pulling me from the memory of how her tight cunt felt. The two months that have passed since our last interaction feel like a lifetime at this point. His eyes have grown harder, a cold edge surrounding them. Something is off . . . his scent is changing. It reminds me of long ago, before he pulled Shadow from that aviary.
I shrug. “About as good as can be expected. I honestly thought he would give in by now, but he’s just grown more stubborn. He avoids us on the best days, and the worst days, he is high as shit, sulking around.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know what to do.”
Ciaran takes a sip of his drink, his blue eyes looking out over the crowd at The Playground. “Shadow doesn’t believe he is good enough for anyone. My fucking father didn’t help matters. He fed into the narrative that he is a monster, that he’s dangerous.” I nod as Ciaran talks, my heart clenching at all my mate has been through. “And when he found out about the deal I made to get him out, fuck . . . I don’t think he’s ever forgiven himself for that.”
“You did what you had to. Alexi never would have released him, and with that damn collar on, you didn’t have an option,” I remind him.
He snorts, taking a long drink of his beer before continuing. “I know that. But he doesn’t. All he sees is the supposed pain he’s caused others. Not the love we have for him.”
My cell phone vibrates in my pocket, pulling my attention from Ciaran. “Fuck,” I mutter when I see Kai’s name flash across the screen. “Yes?” My voice is clipped with annoyance.
