God of Pain (Legacy of Gods #2) by Rina Kent

“Are you sure you want to call someone hot when Eli has ears in the damn sky?” Cecily asks.

“Bitch, please. I couldn’t care less about him.”

“Shh, you guys. If any of the guards see us, they’ll report back to Jer and we’ll be done for. As in, expelled from the Heathens’ mansion for life. Or you will be. I’ll just go back to being a prisoner à la Rapunzel.”

“Okay, okay. Is this where the fire happened?” Ava, who’s wearing a gorgeous lacy pink dress that matches my purple one, leans closer to my side.

We’re at that point in our friendship where we wear matching clothes in our favorite colors.

I throw a hand in the general direction of the annexed house. “Yup.”

“It looks all clean, though.”

“It’s been more than a week. Besides, it wasn’t a big fire.”

“Oh!” Ava exclaims. “Show us where they do all that violent stuff. You know, where they chase people and hunt them down.”

Cecily jams two fingers against her childhood friend’s temple and pushes her. “There’s a loose screw in your bloody head. Why would you want to see that?”

“Because it’s fun, duh.”

I lift a shoulder. “I don’t really know the exact location for that. It can happen on the whole property.”

“No, I heard the last one happened in the forest surrounding the mansion.”

“You want to go to the forest at night?”

“Yes! That should be so fun.”

“You’re crazy.” A rush of adrenaline seeps beneath my skin. “I love it.”

“No, no.” Cecily stops in front of us, hiking a slightly shaking hand up onto her hip. “We’re not going to some doomed forest in the dark. That’s where all the predators are.”

“Oh, come on, Cecy, you’ve been studying so much psychology that you see the worst before the best. Besides, this is private property. No predators are allowed, isn’t that right, Anni?”

“If you don’t count the ones inside, sure. I mean, I’m not a big fan of the dark myself, but I’m open to adventures.”

“Yes to adventures! Come on, Ces. It’s going to be loads of fun.”

“But—”

“Nuh-uh. Two to one, democracy wins.”

Cecily looks like she wants to say something, but she slides her black-framed glasses up her nose and follows us down the path to the forest.

The music and chatter from the main house wanes and eventually disappears as we wander down the dirt path.

The tall trees watch our every movement like scowly guards. Due to the cloudy sky, no light illuminates our way and we have to use our phones’ flashlights.

The leaves crush beneath our shoes with every step and this is seriously the worst occasion for heels.

“See? There’s nothing interesting about roaming through the forest at night. Except for bad vibes and weird mojo,” Cecily says fifteen minutes after we wander in. And is it just me or has she been trembling the whole time?

I’ve always known Cecily to be more badass than demons, so it’s weird for her to shake. Maybe I’m imagining things due to my own paranoia.

“The weird mojo is probably because of all the blood that was spilt here at the initiation,” Ava whispers, her tone spooked. “I heard a few participants had to go to the hospital because of how brutal it got. Maybe some even died. Do you think their souls might be here waiting for someone to possess? Boo!”

I jump and Cecily flinches.

Ava tips her head back in loud laughter. “You guys are such wimps, haha.”

“You scared the bejesus out of me,” I breathe out. “Also, isn’t this scene too familiar? Oh, it’s like in those horror movies when they wander into a desolate place and get killed one at a time—”

“Who’s there?”

The three of us freeze at the older male voice coming from a short distance away.

Heavy footsteps crush leaves as they head in our direction.

“Shit, it must be the guards,” Ava whispers.

“Run,” I murmur back, and we do.

Or they do, because I’m the one with the highest heels of the bunch.

I fall behind in no time, struggling to keep up. Cecily stops and turns around, then offers her hand. “Remove the shoes.”

“No way in hell. These are Gucci.”

“You can just carry them, Anni,” Ava says.

“But I’ll hurt my feet.” The thought of suffering any sort of injury and killing my potential ballet future gives me nightmares.

Though I shouldn’t have worn heels in the first place. In my defense, heels are a rare indulgence, and I only own three pairs.

“I would rather be locked in my ivory tower for a few more days instead. You guys run. He’s one of my brother’s guards and won’t do anything to me.”

Cecily grabs my hand and pushes me forward, a weird expression on her face. It’s how I look when I try to be brave. “We can’t just leave you here.”

“Jer might tolerate you now because I beg and stuff, but he will really ban you from entering the property if he finds out about this.”

“I don’t care.”

“Well, I do. Heathens’ parties are the shit. But they’re not more important than Anni.” Ava grabs at my other hand and I almost cry.