Page 19 of Kiss of Seduction

Evie hadn’t heard her voice since Stefano enthralled Amanda into inviting him into her apartment. She’d turned to Evie and asked in a confused but trusting tone, “Who’s your friend?”

Stefano had torn out her throat, splattering her blood all over the painting she’d been working on.

Evie dialed the number again, listening to her girlfriend’s voice as her death played on repeat in her head. Stefano could have made her forget it happened. He hadn’t wanted to.

As she listened to Amanda’s voice playing over and over, a memory of a better time, Evie clutched Natalya’s hand and started sobbing.

Chapter 6

Evie’s first few months in Chicago passed in a blink, even if adjusting to her new life was difficult. The Court of Chains had set her up in a small apartment near the high-rise that was their base of operations. The apartment was furnished and had windows that let in plenty of sunlight. For the first few days there, all Evie did was sit by her balcony door, so she could feel the sun on her skin.

To help hide her, the Court of Chains gave her a new identity. Evelyn Atkins had disappeared somewhere in the streets of New Orleans. In Chicago, she was Eva Anderson. A quiet recluse with guards stationed by her door and who suffered from nightmares.

The nightmares weren’t even the worst thing. The true horror was waking up in the dark, forgetting where she was, and believing she was back at Varro’s estate. The only thing that helped was the feeling that someone was near, watching over her. At first, she blamed it on the guards who stayed withher every night, but when they were no longer a permanent installation, she didn’t know where the feeling came from.

She came to recognize most of the guards but never got familiar with anyone but Diana and Flea, though she took a long time to warm up to the fae. Diana was the strong and silent type, at least when she was working, but Flea had a volatile energy that took her weeks to get used to. Until she met Flea’s partner, Blake, Evie was always slightly worried he wanted to eat her.

“Did you meet with Georgina today?” Lily asked. She was on the couch in Evie’s living room, sipping on a mug of tea.

“I did,” Evie lied. She’d canceled the session last minute. Again. “It’s going okay. She’s happy I’m working.”

That, at least, was the truth. Georgina was a therapist affiliated with the Court of Chains. Evie wouldn’t be able to see someone uninitiated with her story, and Georgina had experience with cases similar to hers. Evie saw her multiple times a week. Or, she was supposed to.

The sessions helped at first, and Georgina was happy Evie had found a job. Evie had picked up some cleaning shifts at a nearby dance studio, and then one of the owners caught her dancing alone using a practice pole. She’d started teaching weekend pole dancing classes about a month ago.

It was good because it distracted her. The reason she was canceling her sessions was because Georgina wanted Evie to talk about how she felt. Evie would rather do what she’d been doing since she got kidnapped and feel nothing at all.

“I went to therapy once,” Blake said. She was lounged in an armchair, feet up on the coffee table. “My parents thought I needed to work on my conflict resolution skills. Talking didn’t help with that. Waste of time if you ask me.”

“Blake…” Lily whispered, and Blake looked confused. Then she glanced at Evie.

“Shit. Sorry.”

Evie scoffed at her sheepish expression. “No, you’re right. It does feel like a waste of time. I guess it’s helping some, but it’s been months now. I don’t really need the sessions anymore. I’m doing fine.”

“Are you still afraid of the dark?” Lily asked.

Evie grimaced. In the beginning, when she was still scared of everything, Lily had stayed with Evie in the apartment. She’d seen how Evie acted when night came. During the first week, its arrival brought panic attacks.

“It’s getting better.” A half-truth. “I don’t sleep with the lights on anymore, so that’s something.”

She tried laughing, but the other women didn’t join in.

“You can always call one of us if you need someone to stay with you,” Lily said.

“Yeah, totally.” Blake smirked. “I’d offer Flea, but you don’t want him sleeping in your place. He’s not housetrained.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Lily said.

“What’s he going to do?” Blake said with a grin. “The little wimp owes me after what he did to me last night. That means I get to say whatever I want.”

Evie laughed, shaking her head. She wasn’t sure she fully understood the dynamics of Flea and Blake’s relationship, but it seemed like no one did but the two of them.

“But seriously, Evie. We’ll stay with you if you need it.” Lily gave her a careful smile.

“Not just if you need it. If you want it.” Blake smiled too, the expression surprisingly sincere. “If it makes you feel even a little better, I’ll crash on your couch. For as long as you want.”

Evie didn’t deserve these two. Lily had been kind from the get-go, and Blake was actually pretty sweet beneath the mean-looking exterior. Both of them she’d come to consider friends. But she couldn’t let them do this for her.