Page 2 of Shades of Ruin (Sharp Edges Duet #2)
Chapter One
GREYSON
T he darkened horizon is aglow with the warm, burnished orange haze of bonfires blazing on either side of the black, stone turrets of Pandemonium.
Thick plumes of smoke writhe against the night sky, drowning out the usual flicker of stars.
The rich scent of cedar logs burning instantly conjures the phantom taste of charred marshmallows and cinnamon biscuits on the tip of my tongue.
I take a moment to indulge in the nostalgia before banishing thoughts of the past to the dusty corners of my mind where they belong.
Tonight isn’t a night for reminiscence. It’s a night to let my inner demons come out to play. And when it’s Devil’s Night, the flames of Hell burn hotter than ever.
I adjust the black demon mask that’s strapped to my face so tight I can barely breathe through the sculpted leather that covers me from my forehead to the top of my lips.
Fucking Finn is taking full advantage of the Halloween festivities and making the rest of us suffer for it.
Every high-level member of the club was sent a mask for tonight’s party.
Six in total. I demanded mine be black or I wasn’t fucking coming at all .
Leave it to Finn to make costumes a requirement for getting my cock wet tonight—he’s always excelled at torture.
I’m alone as I walk up the black, stone steps to the entrance of the most exclusive kink club in Chicago.
Usually, I schedule a playmate or two to be on their knees and waiting for me inside, but I had an itch for something different tonight.
I want a new experience, and that’s a high expectation given I’ve fucked every regular sub at the club five times over in positions you couldn’t even begin to imagine.
I have a reputation at Pandemonium for being a wildcard.
I’m an infamous sadist, my tastes are unpredictable, and I get bored very easily.
Most cower under my touch, a few of the tougher ones crave it, but I’m weary of both.
I want new blood. And with this mask on my face, I don’t want to be just Gavin Greyson.
For tonight, I want to be one of Satan’s most brutal demons.
And I want some fresh flesh to tear into.
The wide, flame-lined expanse of Hell, Pandemonium’s main play area, is full of masked and unmasked members in various states of fuckery.
Horned devils thrust their naked cocks into the cunts of sweet little saints as feathers flutter to the floor with an aria of ecstasy-laced moans.
There are flashes of leather, screams of pain, and cries of pleasure.
It seems Finn wasn’t the only one with a flair for dramatics tonight.
There are countless angels in scraps of white and bits of fluff—most subs playing into the stereotypical innocence you’d associate with a Heaven and Hell theme.
A few of the braver ones don devil horns and tight, red latex suits that show off every curve of their bodies.
It looks like I’ll only have two flavors to choose from tonight, and my anticipation falls a little because of the lack of variety.
Our most popular dominatrix, Eve, nudges my shoulder as she takes a seat beside me at the bar.
She’s the only girl amongst Finn’s exclusive members, and she could give any of the other sadists in this club a run for their money.
Like me, she’s masked. Hers is emerald green and adorned with serpents that slither beneath her eyes and across her cheekbones, the mask stopping above her green painted lips.
She looks as naked as Eve did in the garden, her dress completely sheer apart from some green beading that takes the shape of a snake sliding across her breasts and down between her legs.
She and I have played together a few times, and I take a moment to appreciate what I know lies beneath the flimsy fabric.
On rare occasions, she’s a switch, and it’s always a treat when she wants to be a glutton for pain.
“You look ravishing as always, Evie.” I run my index finger over the bare skin of her arm.
“You’re a honey-tongued devil as always, Greyson,” she says with a laugh and a quick slap to my wayward fingers.
“Go slink somewhere you’re wanted. I have my eye on something special tonight.
” She turns her pretty green eyes to the costumed mass of people sensually writhing to the music and taking turns with various pieces of kink equipment.
“Oh really?” I answer in surprise. I try to ignore the small sting of disappointment in my chest and lean against the bar. “What’s on the menu, my little temptress?”
She looks up at me with a devious smile on her lips. “See that sweet angel in the corner? The one with the halo in her hair?” She inconspicuously gestures toward one of the far corners of the room.
I squint my eyes and try to pick out who exactly she thinks is enticing enough to turn me down. “She’s hard to spot amid the white sea of unimagination,” I drawl with a sigh of boredom. “But yes, I suppose.”
Her eyes glimmer with wickedness. “And you see the blonde boy she’s dancing with?”
My eyes land on the soft boy with glitter shimmering across his cheeks and streaked through his nearly white hair. “Not my flavor, but sure. What’s special about them?”
She pauses for a moment to allow the suspense to build before whispering, “They’re twins .”
“Jesus, Eve, is that even legal?”
She waves a haughty hand in the air to brush aside my judgment. “There’s no law against consensually fucking who you want in private. And from what I hear, they take full advantage of it. You aren’t getting squeamish on me now, are you, Grey?”
“I think you’ve discovered a line I didn’t know I had,” I scoff. “Congratulations, you should be very proud.”
She huffs dramatically, but there’s a playful twinkle in her eyes that tells me she’s taken my words as a compliment rather than an insult. “Run along, darling. I’m sure there’s a sub or two who isn’t sick of taking your metal-studded cock up their ass while you fuck them unconscious.”
“Always a delight, Evie. Enjoy your twincest.”
“Oh, I will, my love. I’ll give you all the details next week.”
“Can’t wait to blow my drink limit next Friday while pretending to listen to them,” I retort with a two-finger salute. She disappears into the crowd of people, and I’m left alone with no whisky to keep me company. Well, at least that can be rectified. “Whisky neat, Ivan.”
Ivan slides the drink across the bar, and I take a long draught while surveying my prospects.
Angel or demon—which am I taking to bed tonight?
So far, no one’s caught my attention, and I fear I might leave Hell empty-handed.
I’ve almost resolved to make the most of my two drinks and head back to my apartment, but then I see her .
My heart stops for the smallest of moments before thundering at a pace so violent I swear everyone around me can hear the chaotic thump of my blood pounding in my veins.
She’s a late arrival to the party, and her entrance causes enough of a disruption that several members turn toward her with hungry eyes like she’s fresh meat tossed in a sea of piranhas.
Something tells me this girl could hold her own even if the predators started to descend.
I nearly consider hanging back a moment to watch the poor bastards try, but I can’t stop the way my steps instantly drag me toward her.
The others can look all they want, but this girl is mine .
She’s an angel unlike any other I’ve seen tonight.
Instead of wearing white, her dress is black from where it sits tight across her full thighs all the way up to where the charred material falls over the lower half of her tits, leaving the smallest hint of white brushing the tops of her shoulders.
It looks like she took a handful of lit matches to her dress, the original material singed an unnaturally dark color that lies in tatters against her honeyed-bronze skin.
She’s an angel who’s fallen into the fiery pits of Hell and just barely escaped unscathed.
Her once white wings are scorched as well, a mottled mix of black and grey feathers spread out over her bare back and draping down to her ankles.
Blood trickles down the length of her wings, making them look battered and broken.
Her hands and arms are streaked with black soot, smudges of it brushed over her eyelids and across her strong cheekbones.
Her full lips are painted the perfect shade of red, but they’ve been intentionally smeared at the edges, wrecking her mouth before I’ve even had a chance to sink my teeth into her.
The thought makes me furious, and I want to destroy this brazen, broken angel even more.
Two masked demons are already swarming when I reach her.
The one dressed in all red dares to touch her shoulder, and I nearly lose my goddamn composure right in the middle of a very crowded room.
“Fuck off, both of you,” I growl, not deigning to give either of them a glance.
My eyes are fixed solely on the ravaged beauty in front of me .
The girl glances up at me, her light toffee eyes sparking with a glint that looks suspiciously combative. She’s not scared of me, which either makes her very brave or very stupid.
“We saw her first,” Xander hisses, his red, ruby-encrusted mask etched with a permanent expression of demonic delight. He always did have a greedy eye for pretty things.
“If you want to leave this place with your sense of sight still intact, get your fucking hands off her and go find someone else to play with. Eve snagged a pair of shiny toys tonight, maybe she’ll share her scraps with you.”
Xander sets on me like a rabid dog, the blue-masked demon beside him itching for a fight as well. “What gives you the fucking right? We’re all demon-level Doms, which makes us equal.”