Page 16 of Reaper and Ruin

“I scaredmyself. Did you hear that scream? Oscar-worthy.”

Dax leaned in, inspected his work, then stepped back. “Well, congrats, you’re officially pierced and insufferable.”

I touched the ring, admiring the cool metal. “How’s it look?”

“Hot,” Violet said softly. “Dangerous. Slightly unhinged.”

I grinned. “Just my vibe.”

Dax peeled off his gloves and gestured toward the front. “We like to keep an eye on you for ten or fifteen minutes so we can make sure it doesn’t bleed too much, or in case you have any adverse reactions, so go take a seat on the couch, yeah? Try not to traumatize anyone else on your way out.”

“Got it,” I promised, though I could make no such promises about not traumatizing anyone. If this thing started bleeding, I would most definitely pass out.

Victim blood was one thing. My own? Different story.

We wandered back into the main shop area, where the couch near the window was empty. I collapsed onto it with a dramatic sigh, tipping my head back like I’d just survived war. Violet curled up beside me, our thighs brushing.

She watched me for a long second, then said, “You really didn’t feel it?”

I shook my head. “Not a thing. My body’s here, but I’m…not.”

Her fingers brushed the side of my face, tracing the edge of the new ring, then dropped to rest lightly over my heart. “Well, I feel you. You’re in there somewhere.”

“You always say the nicest things to emotionally unstable psychopaths.”

“Only the cute ones.”

I rummaged on the counter behind me and snagged a purple lollipop from the display. I peeled off the wrapper and held it out to her.

She blinked. “A grape lollipop? How romantic.”

“Only the best for you.”

She took it, popped it into her mouth, and gave me a soft smile that made my ribs feel like they were finally starting to expand again.

And just like that, the noise in my head got a bit quieter.

Maybe Iwasin my body again.

Just a little.

6

VIOLET

Ifinally convinced X to come back to my apartment with me somewhere around dawn. He’d flat-out refused to go to his place, and I couldn’t take him to Fang’s because I didn’t trust he wouldn’t do something completely unhinged, like try to swing from the staircase railing while yelling about how he could be the next Tarzan, if only someone would give him a loincloth.

I chuckled at the idea and wondered if his odd sense of humor was rubbing off on me, or if I was as weird as he was for even considering it.

He practiced his running man in the hallway while I got the door unlocked, the dead bolt still nicely shiny with newness. The door opened easily, but I wrinkled my nose at the smell on the other side.

X caught sight of the face I’d made. “Uh-oh. I know that look. Food that was left out on the counter too long, or dead body?”

I glanced at him. “They smell the same to you?”

“Pretty much.”

I flicked on a light, illuminating the open-plan living area of my apartment. “No dead bodies in sight.” I spotted the openbottle of milk on the counter and winced. I hadn’t been here since the night of Toby’s murder, or rather the morning after I’d had a foursome with Whip, X, and Levi in my bedroom, and Whip had made us pancakes afterward. The rest of the kitchen was clean, but he’d clearly missed the milk.