Page 20

“How much?”

“Thirty thousand forint.”

“Thirty?” I choked. “That’s double the price.”

“Look where you are.” The man shrugged, a luring smile on his face. “Even harder to get over the border in Romania.”

I could not afford clothes, food, train tickets, and whatever other expenses in my future, as well as overpriced fairy dust. My mind told me to walk out, laugh at even thinking of paying that, and buy the items we needed. Yet my legs didn’t do as they were told. Panic had me pacing around, the craving rising, melting out rationality.

“Hey.” The man leaned over the bar. “You look as if you’ve had a tough day.” He nodded at my filthy, burned, bloody clothes. Peering around as if he was seeing if anyone was watching, he pulled out a tiny baggie from behind the bar. “I’ll let you have a taste.”

My eyes locked on it; the white glistening powder pumped my lungs in and out frantically. The addiction level was similar to heroin, but ten times that for humans. They had no chance of recovering, while fae were a little more resilient.

Barely.

I could feel the magic in the drug calling me, the dire longing for it howling through my veins. I could sense it was anything but pure, but I didn’t give a shit. I wanted it more than air. Without even hesitating, I leaned over, swiping up a little and snorting it down.

Like dousing a fire burning inside, a calm came over me. Closing my eyes, I dropped my shoulders with a huge exhale, relishing how the drug slipped into my bloodstream.

Everything was good again. I could breathe. My mind could relax without the fear of relentless pain rushing in and pummeling me. Though it wasn’t enough. The hit wasn’t deadening enough of my thoughts.

Kek and Lucas were still there, and now I had this unwanted guilt about leaving Scarlet alone again. The old Ash would’ve been responsible about getting clothes and returning promptly. Being the good guy.

Unlike this guy, who at ten a.m. was already snorting fairy dust.

All the voices, sounding like my friends, pecked at me, wanting me to do better.Bebetter.

“Fuck off,” I snarled under my breath, sick of feeling the heavy burden of judgment. My green eyes opened, locking on the bag full of powder the bartender held.

“That was a free sample. The rest you have to pay for.” He started to tie up the top. “I could get fired for even giving you that.” He winked, tugging it off the table.

“Wait.” I reached over and stopped his hand, my other one yanking out my billfold. “I can pay ten… just need a little more.”

The man glanced down at where my fingers held him, his dark brown eyes rising back to mine with a glint. “Twenty thousand, and you can pay off the rest another way, sexy.”

Twenty thousand forint was still more than I ever planned on spending, but the back of my throat went dry at the idea of turning it down. I couldn’t say no.

My head bobbed in agreement, yanking out the bills and slapping them on the table.

The man’s sultry smile curled his lips, his cock hardening when I leaned over, snorting two more lines of dust off the bar he dosed out for me.

The haze came like a wave of blissful fog, the erotic music playing in the room throbbing against my ears. Reality seeped out of my pores, my mind becoming blurry, like everything was a Monet painting, deadening the harsh reality of what I was doing. Details blurred out enough that nothing felt real. Pain fled from my body, and the heavy weight of my lovers’ souls lifted off my chest, letting me breathe. My mouth opened in a smile, while my lashes closed halfway, as if they were the only thing that held any weight.

“Here.” The bartender placed a drink in front of me, and I guzzled it down as well, not caring what it was.

Fuck. I felt good…

He grabbed my hand, tugging me with him to the back storage room. My brain didn’t think past the moment, nor did it care as long as I could continue to feel this way, barely taking in the racks of alcohol and supplies I stumbled past.

He turned me into a rack, pressing my chest into the shelf.

“You are one of the hottest men I have ever seen.” The man muttered into my neck, his hand working my jeans, pushing them down. “You are fucking huge.” He groaned as his hand wrapped around my cock, working me.

Elemental fairies—water, earth, fire, and air—derived our sexual energy from nature, and it was so strong we had to have an outlet of release, or we’d go mad.

There were only a few unethical lines, which were, of course, children and animals—and anything by force. Other than that, we had no rules. And I had always been fine with that. Except as he shoved my boxers down, my vision swirling in front of me, it felt off. Wrong.

He rubbed himself before he pushed into me. “Oh gods.” He moaned loudly in my ear. “I knew the moment you walked in you would be an incredible fuck.”