Page 9 of Eternal Night

Wynvail sat back in his chair, one foot resting on his knee, looking more arrogant and self satisfied than ever.

"I still hate you," I growled, but devoured another bite. "Here," I told Harvey and Kai, since they hovered close. "Eat this bastard out of house and home."

Wynvail rolled his silver eyes.

"Attention seeking, honey?"

I didn't dignify that with an answer.

He poured a long, sinful look down my body, lingering where tight denim clung to legs and ignoring the three vicious snarls he got from the other men in the room. "The attention I want to give you would make your toes curl. And your voice break. It could break you entirely."

I ignored him, finishing the rest of my life-changing meal. It was the perfect blend of sweet and spicy, andholy fuckthe chicken was good.

How the fuck did he know what I'd like to eat? Just how deep in my lifewashe? Had he bribed my old neighbours? Paid off landlords in pubs? Tracked down cafés I'd visited?

I waited until Kai and Harvey had demolished a box of food each before stretching and getting off Emlyn's lap, readjusting my knife sheaths. "Well, this has been tedious but I need rest. I hope you have a miserable night and haunted dreams."

"Right back at you, honey," Wynvail purred, his heavy eyelids reminding me of his vulgar promises. I ignored the heat he coaxed from my body, refusing to give into the base response.

"Hope you die in your sleep," I said sweetly, glancing at the time and sighing. "If your clock isn't broken, why has it said four o'clock for the last two hours?"

Wynvail didn't roll his eyes or smirk; his face fell, his skin a shade paler, and he shot to his feet to grab my wrist.

"I thought we'd have longer," he hissed, frantic eyes darting around the room.

He was a liar and a fake, but I believed this panic. Especially since it erupted through his soul, spilling into the bond.

"What's going on?" Kai demanded.

"Cronus is the god of time. And if time has stopped in the house … he's here."

5

The walls shook, sending artwork and picture frames tumbling to the floor, glass shattering on the hardwood floor. Wynvail gripped my wrist in a bruising hold

"What the fuck is happening?" Harvey snarled, his eyes wide and panicked, jumping from the takeaway boxes as they shook off the table to the doorway when something crashed in the kitchen.

"I spent time and money putting this fucking house together!" Wynvail yelled, his eyes bulging with something close to murder.

The floor shook harder, like Cronus had heard him. I caught my breath when a black spot bled through the rug and grew, too fast for me to process even though my eyes were glued to it.

Wynvail dropped my wrist, his hand slamming into my chest to throw me across the room. I was propelled so hard I had to grab the wall to stay on my feet.

"What the fuck?" I yelled.

"Get out of here," he growled back at me, teeth bared.

I laughed, a frightened, twisted thing. Dark, menacing power rippled through the room—the same wrongness and power I’d felt in the Wailing Caves. "When did you get so selfless?"

I backed up with a sharp gasp when the black spot bled further swallowing the rug in its entirety. Big enough now for me to realise it wasn't just a stain, but a hollow gaping hole.

My panicked stare flicked around the room, quickly assessing. "Em, jump onto the sofa and run over it. Kai, come here quickly, jump over the chair before the black spreads. Harvey—sorry, Buttercup, but I think you're going to have to jump out the window."

Wynvail shook his head, plundering a secret hideaway under a pouffe near one of the chairs. He grabbed jewelled daggers, sharp throwing knives, garrottes, leather straps, and … knuckle dusters. Hey, I hadn't seen any of those in years.

"Here, honey!" he shouted, and threw me a dagger in a sparkly, bejewelled case. I caught it on reflex and frowned at my fingers wrapped around it.

"We need to get out of here!" I growled, relieved when Em jumped onto the sofa and made his way across, struggling to stay upright when the cushions sank but making it to me. Kai wasn't going to make it, though. The black stain spread faster than he moved.

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