Vow of Hell by Clara Elroy
Ariadne
“Do I look fat in this?” The door to a changing room in the La Perla boutique flew open, and out came Eliana, only clad in some lace, black lingerie. Even pregnant, she definitely belonged in the upscale store, fully inspired by classic Italian architecture and the tulle associated with the brand’s fine corsetry. Her blonde hair was wavy and highlighted to perfection, lips pouty, and painted a sparkly nude color.
“You look perfect,” I replied from the soft lilac couch, putting my phone down.
“I look like I’m about to explode.” My words flew through her ears, and she pouted at the mirror screwed in at the end of the row.
“Well, in about three months or so, you officially will,” Sonia announced as she flipped through some garter belts, her slanted eyes accentuated with a heavy dose of eyeliner.
The girls invited me out for shopping today, and I agreed, even though the last thing I needed was more clothes.
“Don’t you usually find out the gender of the baby three months in? How come you don’t know already?” Irena was here too, doing the lord's work and picking out something for me as I finished responding to an email.
“We decided to keep it a surprise.”
“A surprise?” I butted in. “I could never. I’m way too impatient for that.”
“That was me with Bella too.” Eliana was checking out her ass in the mirror, and I promised myself to attend one of her dance classes, because holy hell, no pregnant lady had any business being that hot. “And if I could go back I would still choose to find out early. I was hellbent on having a daughter, and now that I do, I’m satisfied with whatever this little peanut is.”
“Isn’t it killing you? Not knowing?”
“A little bit, but mostly I’m looking forward to having it out of my body, so I can sit down without needing assistance, and being able to reach my toes again.”
“I bet Leo is going to appreciate you reaching your toes again as well.” Sonia turned to me with a wicked grin. “Did you know they have a stripper pole installed in their bedroom?”
I choked on my next breath, more horrified by the interested glint in Irena’s eyes than anything else. Eliana rolled her eyes like she’d been through this a thousand times already.
“There was no reason for her to know until you told her. We’re having it removed, Bella is getting too old, and I don’t want her—”
“Knowing that her parents are freaks?” Sonia cut her off, and Eli met her snark with a vixen smirk.
“If that’s what you get labeled as for having a healthy sex life and at least three orgasms a day, I’m more than happy to be called a freak.”
“Ugh, I hate you,” Sonia complained as we all gaped at the lucky blonde. “Whatever, I bought myself that toy everyone keeps raving about Rabbid 3000, and let me tell you… It’s thigh quivering good. Ares can go fuck himself.”
Of course, Saint was up to date with the latest and greatest products from the adult community. I held back a wave of laughter, distracted by Sonia’s last sentence and the fact that we’d missed her at the pick-up game.
“What happened between you two, anyway?”
“You’d have to ask him.” She shrugged, flipping through the hangers faster. “I told him I loved him, which is a normal thing to say and feel after three months in a relationship, and it was like a switch flipped inside of him. The sweet and loving guy I knew turned into a cold and brooding asshat.”
“He’s just going through a lot right now. He lost his parents in a car accident five months ago.” Eliana was quick to jump to Ares’s defense, and I could see that the subject caused a rift between the two friends when Sonia’s shoulders stiffened.
Awkward energy stifled the air, and while I always was the first to preach about the wonders of how different the world would be if women supported women, I was aware that Eliana knew all of the guys since High School. That was a tough bond to break, being friends for so many years wasn’t easy. I would know. I only talked to a handful of friends from college, and that was when they needed a favor.
I stuck to family and look at where that got me.
Not partaking in the animosity taking place, I let them handle it and tuned in on my sister. “Why are you blushing and smiling at your phone like that?”
Her eyes snapped up, startled when I walked over, peaking at the screen. I only managed to see some green text boxes before she shoved the phone in her back pocket.
I raised a brow.
“Cause I have life, duh,” Irena retorted, changing the subject by thrusting a royal blue set in my chest. “Here, try these on, and they might help you get one too.”
I aimed for her head, but she side-stepped me, chuckling like she’d said the funniest joke ever. Sighing, because I couldn’t pull an Eliana and claim I got three orgasms a day when I in fact got minus three, I went ahead and tried on the lingerie.
I was thumbing a silky strap, debating whether or not I should ambush Saint tonight, when the door’s handle turned.
“What do you think?” I asked, thinking it was Irena coming to check, only the voice that answered made cold sweat formulate on the back of my neck.
“You could use a little trimming around your hips, but pretty good. You’ve lost some weight since the last time I saw you like this.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The F-bomb made its presence felt in my dictionary when I met my ex-boyfriends' eyes on the glass. My body startled by his sudden appearance, where everyone could find out at any given moment.
He looked appallingly put together for someone that was so vile and broke. It was my short payments that were keeping him tanned, muscled, and still in full possession of his teeth. One would believe that the rotten infestation in someone’s soul would reflect on the outside, but that was very often not the case. Harry’s brown curls were scattered about his head playfully, soulful eyes turning darker by the second, feeling comfortable enough to shed his snakeskin in my presence.
“Harry?” My mouth had a mind of its own, uttering his name to get verbal confirmation that it was really him. Hands around my midriff, I turned around. His eyes fell to my chest, and I despised having his slimy gaze on me. “My friends, they—”
“They are looking around the store. There’s no one out of this changing room, Ariadne.”
Harry’s presence had fear cramming down my neck without Erebus and Nyx here to protect me. I wanted to reach for my clothes, but the bastard was in the way, and it meant I had to touch him to get to them.
“This is beyond creepy, but I guess violation of one’s privacy is your thing, huh?” I faked it ‘till I made it, acting as if I didn’t have the bare minimum on. “Does it turn you on, you sick bastard, perving on women when they aren’t looking?”
It had to.
It took me a lot of self-reflection and time replaying that video back (he was kind enough to send me a copy of it) to figure out where the camera was placed. One of his countless TVs littering his apartment. Movie-buff my fucking stupid ass. Locking your doors didn’t do anything when the bad guy had a key, but no one taught you to be wary of your closest people.
“You talk a big game, Ariadne, but let’s not forget who’s in control here.” Harry invaded my space, fearless in the absence of a bigger predator in the cramped room. I refused to take a step back, tilting my chin up as his gaze rolled over my body again, violating my boundaries. “How come you never wore shit like this for me?”
“Because you are repulsive.” I granted him the answer he wasn’t looking for, and he matched it by striking out, hands around my throat. “Get your hands off me, or I’ll fucking scream, and you’ll be rushed behind bars before you could even protest,” I seethed, clawing at his skin until I left it raw.
He held me in place, no emotion behind those beady eyes. “Don’t even think about it, bitch. Anything happens to me, that video is scheduled to go live by the end of the month, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
How did I miss this? My brain repeated the age-old question even though I already had the answer. You were running from one monster, only to fall willingly at the hands of a beast.
“I-It’s scheduled?” I spoke around the tightness in my throat. A ball of puke blocked my windpipe, and I was blazing down the road of hyperventilation. A cold film of sweat covered every inch of my body.
“February first the video goes live, and I’m the only one that knows the password to stop it. I’m done waiting, and I won’t let you push your deadline anymore. All you have to do is give me the rest of the money in cash, and then I'll be gone.”
“Why cash?” I challenged, wondering how many layers of skin my nails needed to sink through to touch his bone. The scent of iron invaded my nostrils, but he seemed unaffected, his hard-on pressing against my thigh.
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Well, I don’t think you’re particularly bright.”
It was always my big mouth that got me in trouble. I saw it coming, really. His slap flying my way like a windmill slicing through the air. Warm metallic blood filled my mouth when my head snapped backward. Adrenaline ran rampant through my veins, and every cell in my body prickled with panic.
“You bast—” I didn’t get to finish my sentence before another slap found me. My head slammed against the clear mirror, staining it red as my hairline took the brunt of the hit.
“Bastard!” I seethed, swiping my fingers inches from his face and aiming for his eye sockets. He dodged the attack by rearing back, not before I managed to fuck up his cheek with some scratches.
“Don’t test me, Ariadne. There’s plenty more where that came from.” He shackled my wrists in his hands, and a whimper almost left me at the pressure. Weak, I was so fucking weak it made the food I’d consumed for breakfast churn in my stomach. “I’ve been kind to you, given you time, when you screwed me over and dragged my reputation through the mud. Don’t make me get violent. You know you deserve it.”
“I know you deserve jail, you fucking psycho,” I provoked him again.
I didn’t have much to lose, save for a trip to the ER. He’d be taken care of, and I’d be left alone, but Harry wasn’t as impulsive as I hoped him to be. A stall door opened and slammed shut next to mine, and that sent him gearing to action, removing his hold from me. It was all I could do not to launch myself at his ugly face.
Harry’s heavy boots clicked softly as he made his way to the door, glancing at my disheveled form with pride. “Clock’s ticking, beautiful.”