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Even as powerful as Ricci made us, he had rules. Rules that would help us to survive. I don't need to use my ability to control him, not when I can let my defences fall just enough to show him the truth.

The weight of what I am.

The depth of it.

And with his hands on me, I know he feels it. He's not resisting. He can't. He's drowning.

"Me?" I murmur, taking a step back as Damien trembles. "Bow to you?" He falls to his knees—at my feet. "It's nice to dream, isn't it?"

Damien's eyes widen. "I didn't..."

"Save your breath, Damien. I'm not mad. I expected this.

You wouldn't be a Nightwalker if you didn't try to take the top spot in our new relationship," I muse, perching low so we're face-to-face.

I peel the dagger I had purposefully left on the ledge out of his grip and run the blade along his jaw.

My tone darkens, and my knowing, mismatched eyes peer into his. I sing, "I see you."

His eyes narrow, stormy and sharp, like steel forged in fury, as he grits, "B-Bitch!"

"That's correct. Bitch. Whore. Evil. Abomination. Murderer. Disgrace. Conniving. Monster." I lean in close, a bead of black blood running down his blade and dripping onto the ground beside his knees. "I'm all those things and worse. So, so much worse. But do you know what I'm not?"

A coldness settles into my eyes, my mask falls, and I'm staring at my brother with death in my eyes. He sees it, feels it, and trembles beneath it. I smile, tasting his fear, basking in it, inhaling it— mine.

"Foolish."

I release him; he gasps and trembles and scurries away from me. "Don't kill me," he pleads as I rise to my full height. "I'll be useful."

It’s an act, a plan to survive. I know that, but I let him think I don't.

"I know you will." I wouldn't be going through this if he wasn't. I step towards him and pat his head gently as we watch Reece water the plants in the greenhouse, humming something under her breath, completely oblivious to the monsters watching her in the shadows.

"You can have her, Damien. You can have both of them. "

His gaze snaps to mine, eyes wide in delight.

The mask on his face—which usually cracks during specific moments—shatters at his feet.

I see it; a strange, fevered excitement.

His eyes gleam in the dim light, wide and glassy, and the grin spreading across his face is something unnatural—too eager, too sharp, like a wolf baring its teeth before the kill.

"Really?" His voice was low and trembling with unrestrained glee.

"Of course," I murmur, staring down at him. "But first, they will suffer."

****

"That's a pretty song," I say, watching Reece practically jump out of her skin in fear. The poor thing almost falls into a strawberry bush.

Reece snaps her gaze to me and glares. "Don't you have anything better to do than send me to an early grave?!"

"Don't be dramatic." I roll my eyes at her. "You'll go to your grave when I allow it, or when you beg for it."

Reece goes back to watering the plants. "See, most would laugh that off as a joke, but unfortunately, I have the displeasure of knowing you."

"You don't know me, Reece," I tell her, pulling off a leaf, bored. "You know what I allow you to know."

Reece sighs. "Okay, you win. Don't you have people to terrorise or something?" I tilt my head in thought, wondering if there's anyone down here I can hunt or play with. Perhaps I can kill the Sergeant? I doubt anyone would miss him. "It was a joke!"

I turn to Reece, her eyes filled with pure panic as she analyses her surroundings and turns back to me. I raise a brow. "What?"

"You can't terrorise anyone while you're under Riot's control. Don't go getting any ideas, Haze."

My head shifts, staring at this human as she points a finger in my face and chastises me like I'm a naughty child.

I frown and snatch her finger. She stiffens. "Then don't go giving me ideas when I'm bored."

"Noted." She snatches her hand back. "Now go read a book or help me. If my ex was here, he would have made himself known by now."

I grin and clasp my hands. "Where's the library?"

Once again, Reece almost falls into the strawberry bush at my question and turns to me with wide and surprised eyes. "Y-You... You read?"

I give her my best impression of an annoyed look. "Why did you suggest it if you didn't think I read?"

"I was trying to get rid of you," she defends. "I thought the closest you'd ever get to a book was to watch it burn."

My face falls into a neutral expression. "I would never commit such an atrocious act unless it bores me to death, of course."

Reece abandons her gardening equipment to get right in my face with a serious expression. "The books you read... They have actual words… right? And pages? And chapters?"

I frown and cross my arms. "Now you sound dumb."

Reece breaks out into a smile—a genuine smile. Her brown eyes glimmer, and there seems to be a lightness in her posture that wasn't there before. Her hands sit on my shoulders, and she practically squeals her excitement. "There's a library at home. I'll show you. I'll recommend all my favourites!"

“Wow. You got someone to express genuine happiness… even if it was by accident,” Essy muses, clearly finding enjoyment in whatever the fuck I just said to make this human so happy.

“I don't like it.”

I can feel Essy's smile as she returns to sleep. “ It's cute.”

Of course she would think that.