Page 69 of Satanic Shadow

I glance at the black silhouettes occupying my walls. They are calm, collected, and watch me as I begin to pace the full length of my bedroom with my hands in my hair.

If I go to practice, Dane will no doubt tease me, or worse, I’ll start to feel that tempting sexual attraction. It’s suffocating. It’s confusing. But most of all, admittedly, it’s exhilarating. I hate him, yet the thought of continuing these tasks makes me warm, makes me want to march down to that ballroom, drag Dane into the nearest broom closet, and demand he lower himself to his knees and fuck me with his mouth.

Three knocks on the door yank me from debating lying on my bed and ridding myself of this hunger. I stop dead, staring at the door. “Who is it?”

No one speaks. If it were that idiot, he’d use his magic to break in, probably pin me to a wall, and throw dirty words and insults my way. I think I might actually want that.

God, I need to get off this island.

“Go away,” I say, annoyed as I rummage through my makeup bag for wipes and fresh lipstick.

I grab a spare pair of panties and quickly change.

The door knocks again, and I huff, close my bathroom door, and throw open my main one. “What?”

I stare at nothing.

No one is there. The hallway is clear, and there are no students around. “If you’ve gained the power of being invisible and you’re messing with me, I will slap you, Dane.”

Nothing.

I close my door and lock it, then head for the courtyard to meet the twins.

They’re sitting on the edge of the fountain bickering about nail polish when I find them. I sit between them, leaning down to rummage through my bag to find my phone.

I know I have it here somewhere.

“Oh,” Poppy blurts out. “Sera, do not freak out.”

I stop and straighten. “What?”

“Your tattoo is… bigger.”

I touch the ink at the back of my neck, but the raised skin feels the same. “What do you mean?”

“I just caught a glimpse. Pull your shirt down at the back so we can get a proper look.”

I do as she says, and the twins study the tattoo. “You have another one now. Just below the first one. It’s linked by… is that writing? What does it say?” Mel asks her sister, who must answer with a gesture because I hear no response. “Yeah, I think so too.”

My heart skips a beat at their long silence that follows. “Hello? What’s going on?”

I move to stand, facing them. Poppy chews her lip. “It’s like it’s starting a chain of symbols down your spine.”

I should be freaking out, but I just cross my arms in annoyance. Given how my life has been going, this is miniscule. I’m sure it’s just from the tasks I’m doing with Dane. “What’s the other one?”

In unison, they both say, “It’s the symbol of a realm.”

“What one?”

Mel gives Poppy a look—she shrugs and smiles sadly at me. “The Mortal Realm.”

My brow furrows as I stare at the twins.

The overhead noise reminds us to go to practice, so the conversation ends. I trace the ink with my fingers as we walk, but Mel slaps my hand away. “No, don’t make it obvious. You having those markings is not a good sign. You are human. Act like one, Sera.”

Well, that’s… comforting.

“You’re worried,” Mel says to me, pointing out the obvious. “We’ll find out what’s happening to you, okay? Let’s get this dreadful class out the way and we can have a night of the girly things you humans do.”