Page 17 of Light in Your Eyes

"Tell me, how much will your friends pay you for getting out of here alive?" Her face draws closer, causing me to be cornered against the wall under the stairs. "How much are they willing to pay for you to sneak into the home of Black Wings?"

I almost freeze like a statue.

What did she just say? The Black Wings?

Still hearing nothing from me, she squints.

I can only say the truth. "I'm not here because of a bet or a dare."

She rolls her eyes.

"Are you saying that you are one of us?" Gio asks, but his tone doesn't sound genuine. It sounds like he's testing me.

"I don't know if being hired by your leader will make me one," I say. "Honestly, I don't care about that. I just want to see Kel—"

"Show me your tattoo," Brea interrupts.

I stare at her cluelessly. "My what?"

"Your tattoo," Gio repeats, sounding annoyed. "Your identity. It will confirm that you are indeed one of us. Here, the tattoo is proof that you're a part of Black Wings."

Of course, I don't have that. I never plan to be a part of Black Wings or whatever gang it is.

"Like this." Brea shows me a tattoo on her upper arm. It's a pair of black wings, but unlike Cole's tattoo, which has red streaks on the feathers, this one has none. "Show me yours."

I'm at a loss for words. How can I show her if I don't even have a tattoo?

"You can't be serious,” she mutters. “You couldn't just sneak here without even preparing your tattoo."

Gio snorts. "Even if she did, we would notice that it's fake, so it doesn't matter."

Brea nods, agreeing with her boyfriend.

Gio chuckles. "Your lies have been caught, Layla."

Their accusation makes me feel offended. "I'm not lying. I didn't say that I was one of you. I'm not interested in joining your gang, Black Wings, or whatever it is. I'm here because I was hired by Jaxon Romero. Cole brought me here—"

"Whoa." Brea raises her hands, staring at me in utter disbelief. "You're going too far right there."

"I don't have time to deal with people who don't even want to believe me," I say firmly. "Now, if you'll excuse me—"

"Wait." Gio grabs my arm before I can escape. He looks slightly angry. "What you were trying to say didn't make fucking sense. We were about to let you slip without harm,but now you're being feisty and thinking about leaving just like that?" The threat in his voice makes me shudder.

"Easy, babe. You're scaring her," Brea whispers to him, giving him a sweet smile. "She's doing her best to survive. I like that spirit in her. Who knows? We might convince Fenrir to make her one of us. She might be useful." She turns her head toward me. "Now, where were we? You said that you were hired by Jaxon."

The three of us turn silent. I'm waiting for her to say more, trying to block the noise from the party.

I hate parties.

But then, Brea laughs boisterously. Gio chuckles again, shaking his head. "You can do better, little liar."

"I'm not lying," I say, raising my tone.

"That's impossible," Brea says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Jaxon couldn't have hired you. If he had, you would have had your Black Wings tattoo with red streaks on it. There are only three people in this fucking world who have it. So far, you have none." She pauses, raising her eyebrows. "Unless you can show me."

"Dream on." Gio smirks. "That's why little liars like you never survive this place. They always come here with zero clues about how things work here."

"I'm a caregiver—"