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I’d classify myself as a feminist. I want women to succeed and I truly feel like we are a sisterhood. We are cut from the same cloth. We should support each other and uplift one another, but Draya tests my patience more than any woman ever has.
I never liked her as a kid.
I even more so don’t like her now.
Draya rests her elbow on her knee as she leans toward me, her long dark hair spilling over one slender shoulder. The woman needs a meal. “Can I ask you something, Dragavei?”
Oh, and also, I’ve noticed that she calls everyone by their surname.
My legs feel restless. “Sure.”
Draya studies my face closely. “Did you know that the Corneliis are not monogamous? Killian and Maya have a bond that ca
I stiffen at her aggressive words. She has hung the bait out for me, hoping I’d bite.
Keeping my eyes on hers, I smile sweetly. “What makes you think I want your son like that, Draya? He bullied me as a child, killed my father, killed my aunt, and played games with me from the day I joined Midnight Mayhem.” Her eyes narrow, but her mouth kicks up in a smirk. “You don’t have to worry about me breaking their bond, because I have no desire to go near it.”
Slowly, she leans back in her chair, just as Ash and Dhalia—King and Perse’s moms—reenter the room, carrying glasses of whiskey. Usually, I’d decline, but after the day I’ve had and because I can still smell sex and murder on my skin, I take it when Ash hands me it.
“Thank you.”
“What are you two talking about in here?” Dhalia asks, flicking her long perfectly manicured finger toward me as she brings her glass to her mouth. Dhalia is beautiful, not to say Draya isn’t, but when they’re seated beside each other, you can see the different glow. Dhalia has a good heart, Draya is dirty.
I take a sip of my whiskey, relishing in the burn that it leaves whispered over my lips. “Just clearing up a misunderstanding.”
“Hmmm.” Draya dismisses me with a simple flick of her wrist.
Ash runs her hand over my leg. “I had a feeling you were related Dragavei but couldn’t put my finger on it. Your mother and I were very close.”
“Thanks, Ash.” I bring my hand to hers and squeeze.
A few very awkward moments later, the front door opens in the foyer and voices spill into the sitting room. I ignore the way my stomach twists when I hear Killian. As if on cue, Draya smirks at me. She’s so much like her son. I see it now. Killian is his mother’s boy, not his daddy’s.
Killian drops on the sofa beside me, and I suck in a breath when his thigh presses against mine. I wasn’t kidding when I said that I wasn’t interested in him. I am not. He has caused me too much chaos for me to just allow him in. He may be in my life but that doesn’t mean he has to be in my heart. I appreciate him for giving me the closure at the cabin, but now I have to think rationally. Or at least try to.
The thick aroma of smoke, ash, and cologne swiftly seizes the room, and I know what they’ve done. Burned the damn house down. Delila.
“They’re preparing her for a funeral in two days from now.” King pushes through the room, going straight for the mini bar on the other side of the fireplace that’s burning behind Draya’s chair. “I’ve already got the crew and girls on the first flight here. Killian hasn’t told Maya yet…”
I freeze.
King continues. “But he will when she lands.”
Kaius shoves his hands in his pocket, looking at all of us in the room. All of the Four Fathers, their wives, The Brothers, and myself. “Delila being taken means someone will have to step up to run the show. Ideally, it is supposed to be Maya, since that has always been a Patrova role to do, but there’s Perse.”
Killian’s leg jiggles against mine and I can almost feel his anxiety seep into my pores. “You can’t give that role to Perse. She’s a hybrid.”
“But,” King adds, bringing his eyes to Killian. “Perse and Delila were really fuckin’ close. I’m not sayin’ that Maya shouldn’t step up, but I’m saying I think Perse is the right person to do this. Maya has a lot of growing to do, and besides that, she has just lost her mom.” King shakes his head. “You know Maya, brother. She’s going to lose herself, be reckless, and do a whole bunch of shit that she shouldn’t do. We can re-evaluate when the time comes, but I think Perse knows enough, was close enough, and is crazy enough to take that throne for now—until we need to re-evaluate.”
I put my hand up as if I’m in a fucking school session. “What would that mean for the ringmaster? Delila was that too, and Perse can’t do that on top of everything else.” Just as the words leave my mouth, Kyrin walks in, slipping his gun back into the waistband of his jeans.
“Lilith…” I whisper. I can’t help the smile that stretches over my face. “You have to use Lilith.”
Killian leans forward, glaring at me. “We’re not using our enemy.”
I shake my head, bringing my attention to him. “Lilith is black and white. She doesn’t think in colors. She isn’t your enemy. She’d be your nothing.”
“What are you saying?” Kaius asks cautiously.
My eyes swing around the room. “I’m saying that Lilith doesn’t see the world like we do. She doesn’t have a moral compass.”
“Was she born like that?” Draya questions. “Was she born retarded?”
“Shut the fuck up, Ma!” Killian snaps at her.
I ignore them both, while tucking it away in my brain to get to the bottom of why he hates her so much—aside from the fact that she’s a massive bitch.
“No,” I answer Draya, without paying her any attention. “She wasn’t. When she was a child, she was always crazy. She would talk a lot, do a lot of weird things for the sake of adrenaline, but after the years, life has worn on her—and it shows.”
“You killed her dad. She will want blood,” King answers.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “You guys still don’t get it, do you?” When no one answers, I take a sip of my whiskey and clear my throat. “You all may be killers, and horrifying ones at that, but you all have one thing in common. Loyalty. Patience isn’t like that. We don’t have loyalty as a morality. We have the killing, the rape, the human trafficking, the at times, incest, but we have no loyalty. No brotherhood. No friendships. Lilith doesn’t know any of those things. She would come in and be a reliable asset to Midnight Mayhem.”
“How so?” Kyrin is the one to ask a question now.
I bring my eyes to his. “Because she was the ringmaster for Patience, and well, I’m sure you remember the ringmaster—right?”
Kyrin’s face flashes with recollection. “That was her?”
I nod. “Yes, so, I think—”
“—She’s right. Lilith should be the ringmaster.”
Kallisto steps forward, watching me. “This will be on you if it fails, Saskia.”
“I wouldn’t have mentioned it if I didn’t already know it.”
Killian grabs for his hair and tugs. “Still not with this idea. You want to plant a goddamn enemy and put her in the center of our show, and give the rest of the responsibility to Perse, who is herself new to this?” He stands and rushes out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind his retreat.
I feel everyone’s eyes turn to me, as if I hold the answers. As if I hold the key to Killian’s frustrations.
I don’t. No one does. That’s a key that doesn’t exist.