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She and I have played together a few times, and I take a moment to appreciate what I know lies beneath the flimsy fabric. On rare occasions, she’s a switch, and it’s always a treat when she wants to be a glutton for pain. “You look ravishing as always, Evie.” I run my index finger over the bare skin of her arm.

“You’re a honey-tongued devil as always, Greyson,” she says with a laugh and a quick slap to my wayward fingers. “Go slink somewhere you’re wanted. I have my eye on something special tonight.” She turns her pretty green eyes to the costumed mass of people sensually writhing to the music and taking turns with various pieces of kink equipment.

“Oh really?” I answer in surprise. I try to ignore the small sting of disappointment in my chest and lean against the bar. “What’s on the menu, my little temptress?”

She looks up at me with a devious smile on her lips. “See that sweet angel in the corner? The one with the halo in her hair?” She inconspicuously gestures toward one of the far corners of the room.

I squint my eyes and try to pick out who exactly she thinks is enticing enough to turnmedown. “She’s hard to spot amid the white sea of unimagination,” I drawl with a sigh of boredom. “But yes, I suppose.”

Her eyes glimmer with wickedness. “And you see the blonde boy she’s dancing with?”

My eyes land on the soft boy with glitter shimmering acrosshis cheeks and streaked through his nearly white hair. “Not my flavor, but sure. What’s special about them?”

She pauses for a moment to allow the suspense to build before whispering, “They’retwins.”

“Jesus, Eve, is that even legal?”

She waves a haughty hand in the air to brush aside my judgment. “There’s no law against consensually fucking who you want in private. And from what I hear, they take full advantage of it. You aren’t getting squeamish on me now, are you, Grey?”

“I think you’ve discovered a line I didn’t know I had,” I scoff. “Congratulations, you should be very proud.”

She huffs dramatically, but there’s a playful twinkle in her eyes that tells me she’s taken my words as a compliment rather than an insult. “Run along, darling. I’m sure there’s a sub or two who isn’t sick of taking your metal-studded cock up their ass while you fuck them unconscious.”

“Always a delight, Evie. Enjoy your twincest.”

“Oh, I will, my love. I’ll give you all the details next week.”

“Can’t wait to blow my drink limit next Friday while pretending to listen to them,” I retort with a two-finger salute. She disappears into the crowd of people, and I’m left alone with no whisky to keep me company. Well, at least that can be rectified. “Whisky neat, Ivan.”

Ivan slides the drink across the bar, and I take a long draught while surveying my prospects. Angel or demon—which am I taking to bed tonight? So far, no one’s caught my attention, and I fear I might leave Hell empty-handed. I’ve almost resolved to make the most of my two drinks and head back to my apartment, but then I seeher. My heart stops for the smallest of moments before thundering at a pace so violent I swear everyone around me can hear the chaotic thump of my blood pounding in my veins.

She’s a late arrival to the party, and her entrance causesenough of a disruption that several members turn toward her with hungry eyes like she’s fresh meat tossed in a sea of piranhas. Something tells me this girl could hold her own even if the predators started to descend. I nearly consider hanging back a moment to watch the poor bastards try, but I can’t stop the way my steps instantly drag me toward her. The others can look all they want, but this girl ismine.

She’s an angel unlike any other I’ve seen tonight. Instead of wearing white, her dress is black from where it sits tight across her full thighs all the way up to where the charred material falls over the lower half of her tits, leaving the smallest hint of white brushing the tops of her shoulders. It looks like she took a handful of lit matches to her dress, the original material singed an unnaturally dark color that lies in tatters against her honeyed-bronze skin. She’s an angel who’s fallen into the fiery pits of Hell and just barely escaped unscathed.

Her once white wings are scorched as well, a mottled mix of black and grey feathers spread out over her bare back and draping down to her ankles. Blood trickles down the length of her wings, making them look battered and broken. Her hands and arms are streaked with black soot, smudges of it brushed over her eyelids and across her strong cheekbones. Her full lips are painted the perfect shade of red, but they’ve been intentionally smeared at the edges, wrecking her mouth before I’ve even had a chance to sink my teeth into her. The thought makes me furious, and I want to destroy this brazen, broken angel even more.

Two masked demons are already swarming when I reach her. The one dressed in all red dares to touch her shoulder, and I nearly lose my goddamn composure right in the middle of a very crowded room. “Fuck off, both of you,” I growl, not deigning to give either of them a glance. My eyes are fixed solely on the ravaged beauty in front of me.

The girl glances up at me, her light toffee eyes sparking with a glint that looks suspiciously combative. She’s not scared of me, which either makes her very brave or very stupid.

“We saw her first,” Xander hisses, his red, ruby-encrusted mask etched with a permanent expression of demonic delight. He always did have a greedy eye for pretty things.

“If you want to leave this place with your sense of sight still intact, get your fucking hands off her and go find someone else to play with. Eve snagged a pair of shiny toys tonight, maybe she’ll share her scraps with you.”

Xander sets on me like a rabid dog, the blue-masked demon beside him itching for a fight as well. “What gives you the fucking right? We’re all demon-level Doms, which makes us equal.”

“Ahh, well that’s where you’re wrong,” I taunt, closing the small gap between us and letting him feel how much taller I am than him. “You and I could never be equals.”

“And why is that?” he asks even as he takes a step away from me and my fallen angel.

“Because only one of us could snap their fingers and have every single girl in here on their knees begging for a taste of their perfect, pierced cock, and it certainly isn’t you, Xander,” I retort, using his first name just to break any illusions he may have about being special in this club.

He splutters for a few moments, any clever retorts abandoning him like his mommy probably did as a child. Then he backs off, pulling his masked friend along with him. “Come on, Beck. There are much prettier girls to play with. This messy bitch does’t deserve a pity-fuck,” he snaps, the insult crafted to preserve his own pride at her expense. And I won’t fucking stand for it.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I lash out and grab the collar of his red coat, dragging him back toward us. “Apologize,” I demand through clenched teeth. I point to where the dark angelstands, an uncomfortable stiffness in her posture that wasn’t there a moment before. “Now.”

“I don’t answer to you,” he chokes out, his rage muffling the words into a stammer. He tries and fails to jerk out of my hold.