Page 34 of Eternal

“Zero.”

I hum, considering it.

“At least… if all goes to plan,” Kole adds.

And there it is.

How this sick fucker ended up with a sweet girl like Violet confuses the hell out of me. Although she shares half my DNA, so maybe it’s embedded in us to trust him.

“Scared, Dec?” Kole smirks, trying to appeal to my reckless side.

He knows I’ve been walking a razor-thin line lately taking orders from Sigma Council, so he’s baiting me.

“Set it up,” I agree because I’m looking forward to the possibility of people not making it through this one. “But save it for tomorrow. I’ve got plans tonight.”

“Fine by me.” Kole walks out of my bedroom, and I’m not surprised he’s in no rush to get started, since Violet’s coming to the party tonight.

Before he started dating her, he rarely attended them. Now, he at least makes an appearance long enough to find her so he can drag her away to his bedroom.

Which is fine by me.

I’ve got other things to focus on. Like taming my colorful little minx.

This might have started with me using her to piss off her father and dig up all his secrets, but it’s turning into more.

The angrier she gets, the more I want to piss her off.

The worse she hurts, the more pressure I want to apply.

The harder she pulls away, the deeper my need to tie her to me.

I passed my seven trials so easily that I thought nothing would ever feel like a challenge again. Tealene Donovan proves me wrong, and I can’t wait to make her break as I prove it.

Now that she’s tangled in my web, she’s never getting out.

I sealed that promise with a kiss, whether she realizes it or not. I didn’t kiss her to prove a point to her father orthose assholes at the bar. I did it because she’smine. She just doesn’t know it yet.

And no amount of her hating me will hold me back.

She has no idea what’s coming.

After reading every detail of her medical records, one thing was clear. Her father has spent years medicating her. Taming her. Numbing her. Making her forget herself because she’s too much to deal with.

I’m going to carve myself into her desensitized skin and remind her who she really is. Corrupt her to her core and see what bleeds out. She will run wild again.

Teal thinks this is a game, and she’s right. It is.

My fingers clench, and I breathe through my nose.

I’ve managed to stay in control this long—to hate her this long—but no more.

She’s been the sickness spreading through my bones since we were kids, and no matter how deep I buried it and called it disgust, I’m ready to dig it out and see it for what it really is.

I close my bedroom door and head to the bathroom, stripping off my clothes to shower before people start arriving. Steam fills the room and fogs the mirror, and I stare at my reflection, unblinking.

I stare at the letters carved into my chest and remind myself why they’re there.

I remind myself why I’m doing what I’m doing.