Dark Promise by Annika West

5

Iwent to the only place I could think of. The beach we’d just exploded.

It was the last place Hux would think to look. He’d probably check my favorite club first. Maybe my parents’ house. Or my favorite cafe with the incredible chocolate croissants.

Damn. I probably should have gone there.

My stomach growled and my mouth watered.

Waves sloshed against the sand as fog rolled in, looking ghostly in the pale moonlight. Behind me, flashing blue and red lights pulsed as the firefighters managed the burnt remains of the mattress store and the collateral business buildings.

The police were still swarming the area, and a helicopter circled above.

The pieces clicked together as I relived every memory I could dredge up.

Huxley Cayne had been the one to set me up in the Union.

Not Gavin Hawk.

He’d made sure I’d ended up in that impossible trial before the Council.

He wasn’t the hero who’d saved me from experimentation and then kept me from going to prison.

He was the reason it had all happened in the first place.

How fucking convenient for him.

My thoughts raced in circles that left me breathless.

Why? Why? Why?

Why had Hux set me up? Why had he let me believe it was Hawk?

Had all of that just been a ploy to get me under his control? Maybe he saw my mark beforehand and decided that he wanted me for himself.

But how did that tie into Hawk?

I thought through what he’d already told me. He saw me as an opportunity to flush out Hawk. The most logical explanation was that he’d instigated the entire situation for that one purpose.

Once I was in his inner circle, he smoothly allowed me to figure that it had been Hawk to construct my own demise.

Just so I’d be comfortably under his control until the Indentured Employment contract ended.

Betrayal burned in me like acid. Hux would have let me sit with that lie forever. That was clear enough.

Everything was poisoned by this new information, from the way he posed as my rescuer to how he continued to hold that fucked-up I.E. contract over my head.

My fingers pressed so hard into my temples, trying to bruise any level of sense into my brain. I shouldn’t be surprised.

The phrase kept returning to me: when people show you who they are, believe them.

Not only had Hux shown me time and time again who he was, but he’d also told me point-blank. Not once had he sugar-coated himself into appearing like the golden savior.

He was a blood-drenched devil who did what was necessary. Whether for the good of humanity or the benefit of his own selfish needs, he made those hard choices and executed them without looking back.

No, he never lied to anyone about who he was.

What had he called us beforehand?

The memories jumbled together, especially in the first weeks of my I.E. contract.

Oh, that’s right — pieces. He’d called us all pieces.

We were just players on his board, waiting to be pushed around and manipulated for whatever enemy he needed to vanquish.

Why hadn’t I taken that more seriously? Just look at me now. A beat-up, hungry Huxley Cayne Piece who had the unfortunate fate of being his magical mate.

At least the bond isn’t solidified. Maybe there’s time… maybe I can shatter it.

My heart stung, twisted and bit back. Like a feral animal that didn’t want to give up its prize.

Huxley Cayne is mine, it told me.

I rubbed at my eyes while the sirens blared.

I needed to leave California and all its problems. Getting away was my top priority. How was I supposed to think or plan when he was around? The asshole would crush me with one glance, and then I’d blink and wake up in his bed, ten orgasms in.

Who had any proper critical thinking after ten orgasms?

Certainly not me.

The waves crashed onto the wet sand. My toes were completely numb, and shivers shook my body.

“Broke bitches don’t cry,” I told the ocean. “We stay pretty and sharp. Like steel pens. And gutter glass.”

Tears didn’t have a reservation in my book. I didn’t cry.

Not when Stacey Douglas crashed at my apartment and ate my cream-filled donuts. Not when Willow refused me after I woke up with nightmares and tried to spoon her.

Tears were not on the menu tonight.

The universe could suck my caramel-coated dick if it disagreed.

“You know, you choose to be predictable at the most idiotic times,” a snide voice said from behind me.

“Didn’t know you cared,” I deadpanned, gritting my teeth.

Willow sat down beside me on the sand. “It’s cold as shit. Why couldn’t you have chosen someplace with an outdoor heater?”

“This was all a ploy to get you alone,” I sulked. “You found me out.”

“Wow. This is the saddest I’ve ever seen you. What happened? Did Cayne make you skip dessert?”

“Cayne is the one who trapped me in the I.E. contract,” I said bluntly.

No use hiding it. Plus, I needed to say it out loud to remind myself it was real.

Several beats of silence followed.

“Fuck.”

“Fuck,” I agreed.

“What are you going to do?”

“Create a fake identity. Wreak havoc on Vulcan Corp. from a shadow company across the globe. Eat chocolate. Maybe hire a sex worker. Buy a dildo and dip it in caramel.”

“You don’t need to hire a sex worker for revenge sex. I’m not going to even ask about the caramel.”

I shrugged. “If I’m going to have revenge sex, someone might as well get paid for it with Cayne’s stupid money in my bank account.”

“He’ll probably kill them.”

“My plan is to hire them as a personal assistant afterward, and they will help me create a fake identity, wreak havoc on Vulcan Corp. from our new, jointly owned shadow company. If they do really well, I’ll share my chocolate. And my caramel dildo.”

“So generous.”

We fell silent. Water slid across the wet sand and returned to the ocean in that endless push and pull.

“You want to know why I’m not part of any vampire clan?”

Suspicion made me stiffen. “You’re not actually… offering information about yourself, are you?”

She gave me a death glare.

Instantly, I smacked my palm onto her forehead. “You must have a fever! Medic! Someone call a medic!”

I tried to smash my cheek against hers to confirm her temperature, since my hands were icy cold and not really good for gauging health levels.

Willow clasped my wrists in her vampire-strong hands. Her fangs bared, she snarled, “Do you want to listen or not, you idiot Cut? I’m trying to help!”

Her scarlet eyes flashed in the moonlight. There was anger in them, but… not at me.

Was she mad at Cayne too?

I took my hands back and giggled nervously. “Sorry. You just… you know, offered sincerity. I panicked.”

“Understandable,” she sighed.

“Tell me, all-powerful, un-ironically goth vampire Willow Humphries, why aren’t you part of a clan? And why is this relevant? Tonight’s sob stories should solely be about me.”

“Because my family is nothing better than a damn cult, and I wasn’t safe there anymore.”

Woah. What the fuck does that even mean?

She went on. “I grew up in Oregon. Silverton, to be specific. Nice hiking. Gorgeous waterfall. Fucking miserable little town that offered nothing but humidity when the summer came around. My clan lived throughout the area. There were about four thousand of us or so. The rules were that you couldn’t move away or choose your mate. Intermarrying and arranged bonds were the norm.”

Holy shit. Was that even legal?

Also, what did this have to do with anything I’d just told her about Cayne?