Page 37 of Envy
“I thought you told me to stay away?” I counter, wanting to know if I’m completely losing it or if there really might be more to Silas. I keep replaying that night in the canyon over and over again when I’m alone in my room and the house is quiet. I remember the way Silas used Mark’s face to get me off. The way he hunted me down and could’ve taken me there, on the edge of the cliff. He could’ve let me fall—but he didn’t.
Silas murdered a man for touching me, but he still gave me a choice in it all. Sort of. Which is more than any man has done for me. Or maybe I’m so far past the point of knowing what healthy looks like that I’ve romanticized a monster.
“I told you to be careful as far as dating goes,” Tempest says, hands up in surrender. “The Seven are harmless when it comes to me, but they each have their demons. Erik’s pride eats at him, pushing him to be perfect. Noctis likes to have all the information before committing to something, meaning he’ll be single forever. Mavros has anger problems. Adrian is like a dragon weighed down by its greed, while Bane is more gluttonous—he doesn’t covet items, but he can never seem to find a healthy point of stopping. Dominic will fuck any consenting adult, and then there’s…”
“Silas,” I finish for her. “Let me guess. He can be a little possessive?”
“Envious of everyone for anything,” Tempest says, her piercing gaze seeing far too much. “Though lately, all his attention has been focused on you. Even his paintings.”
I shift, fidgeting with my shirt as we push to stand. Tempest must glean something in my silence, because she links her arm with mine as we start back toward the house with leftovers for later.
“Ever been to L.A.?”
23
SILAS
“Mavros has him contained,” Erik says as Dominic, Adrian, and Bane follow us up the abandoned dirt path snaking around the mountain. The arrival of fall has chased away the worst of the summer weather, but the fierce rays of sun lick along the black leather of my jacket, making the hike to the point of contact uncomfortable, to say the least.
L.A. doesn’t allow for a lot of privacy, especially not when high levels of discretion are needed. It took Noctis a fair amount of time to establish untraceable security, but the abandoned cages and forgotten trails of the old Los Angeles Zoo serve as the perfect place to hold a person captive.
Graffiti and a few well-done murals cover the more accessible structures. The ground around them is littered with beer cans and cigarette butts, but we keep walking until the old bear exhibit appears.
To any passerby, it would look like a padlocked fence between towering man-made rock walls. Barbed wire links the two walls, closing the space off with a “No Trespassing” sign.It’d be easy to overlook, but the small number seven etched into the side just above the ground indicates it’s ours.
Erik steps forward, entering a code into the hidden keypad before turning to the right as the concealed door swings open. A well-lit passage comes into view, sloping beneath the City of Angels, leading down to where the demons play.
“He’s talking,” Noctis says once we arrive in the control room. He’s focused on the one-way glass in front of us with a grim set to his shoulders. “But it’s not what we want to hear.”
I follow his gaze, finding the red Xed-over eyes and stitched mouth of Marvos’s mask. Blood drips down the man’s face, his nose twisted at an unnatural angle. Purple blooms beneath his left eye, the skin nearly swollen shut, and although his hands are bound behind the chair he’s strapped to, the rest of his body appears unharmed.
“He must’ve started spilling secrets right away,” Dominic murmurs, echoing my thoughts as he grabs a seat and swings his attention toward me. The King of Lust isn’t really into torture, unless it involves some kind of kink. He, Bane, and Adrian normally defer to the rest of us when it comes to getting our hands bloody. He leans back, playing with his mask stitched with dark blue thread as he grins. “So different than our newest initiate.”
I remove an invisible piece of lint from my black shirt, pull out my own mask, and turn a steely gaze toward Dominic. “Evie hasn’t snitched.”
I’d been waiting for the impact of that night to catch up with her, ready to throw her over my shoulder and drag her back home with me when she decided to run. But my beautiful Evie is still here. She’s been avoiding me. Tempest too. But I’ve watched her from the periphery as she attends classes, studies in the library, and then returns home.To me.
“Wonderful,” Dominic says with a mischievous smirk. “Since she’s passed your little test, I say you fuck her.”
“Agreed. Someone should,” Bane adds with a laugh, his strong nose and dark features making the expression look more like a snarl.
Lust and gluttony. I’m not surprised.
“I volunteer,” Erik chimes in, knowing it’ll piss me off. He flashes me a grin before tugging the black fabric over his face, leaving only the purple-stitched eyes and mouth staring back at me.
“Enough,” I say. They’re assholes, but the approval of my brothers soothes something in my chest. Not that I would’ve let any of them convince me not to fuck my little fox. Evie signed her freedom away that first night in the alley when she leaned into my grip rather than away. I’m sure I’ll get tired of her eventually. Being the type of fucked up I am doesn’t allow for things like love to form, but I plan on enjoying her for a time.
“No broken bones,” Adrian mutters, directing our attention back to the one-way glass as he flips a gold coin embossed with a dragon between his fingers. He joins Bane leaning against the back wall. “Mavros having an off day?”
Noctis shakes his head. “Shane claims he’s out of the business.”
“Bullshit,” Erik says from my left. “Shitbags who can traffic humans don’t ever leave.”
I nod my agreement, but the tick in Noctis’s jaw has me pausing. “What is it?”
“Apparently, he’s never helped kidnap or transport,” Noctis says.
“You believe him?” I ask, but the lack of violence inflicted against Shane already tells me the answer. Noctis nods anyway. I tilt my head, studying our captive. “Maybe a group chat can get things going.”