Page 19

Chapter Sixteen

HIVE & LIES

Cordelia

Fireworks pop off in the sky to distract people from the chaos and bloodshed. I should be frightened but I’m not. Adrenaline slams into me, bulldozing any common sense I have as I step back. My hands move behind me, locking around their wrist as I pull them with me.

The sky is illuminated with light green and blue lights, followed by floating bubbles mixed with pink foam that shoots into the air from the main stage. The DJ taps the mic, successfully obtaining the attention of the party goers, including me.

How devilish. How creative. How fucking divine.

My eyes move towards Chase. My heart expanding in my chest as I practically jump into his arms, causing him to almost fall, but Tate has him.

Holding him. Holding us.

As my lips crash into Chase’s… my beautiful boy did so well…

to think he offered me the gift of a lifetime.

He just didn’t understand the true design behind this island.

The money and thoughts that went behind the design of this festival.

The creation of DUST–a drug that infects everyone.

Smiling against his lips, I push back my legs that are still wrapped around him as I let myself fall–my arms above me as I look at the bubbles that dance around.

Kesha’s “We R Who We R” plays through the speaker before the DJ speaks over the music. “WE ALL A LITTLE MAD. A LITTLE WICKED!” he shouts into the mic, music lowering.

People roar.

Dance.

Fuck.

Sweaty, glittery limbs move everywhere around us. Everyone quickly forgets what’s happening right behind us, but I don’t fucking care. It worked.

Their Luna Island experiment works, and like any experiment, there’s always failures, but that’s what the guards clean up–failures.

More fireworks fill the air just as the beat drops. “SHOW OUT FOR SUMMER TIME MADNESS !” the DJ shouts before the music roars to life. “Feel So Close” by Calvin begins to overpower Kesha’s song.

Tate loosens up as Chase brings me up, placing me above his neck. My pussy grinds into the back of his neck. From here, I can see everything–the carnage… How everyone sinks into the hive.

Dancing.

Grinding.

Thrusting.

The foams soaks us all as we all dance, jumping in place.

The boys kiss, and when I look down, I feel the moment my heart increases in size.

My little, cold, black heart beats to life watching the life beam in my boys’ eyes as they dance, Chase’s hands secure around my thighs.

Tate lifts me up, removing me from Chase's head, and places me between them.

His heart pulses quickly beneath my palm.

Skin flushed and sweaty.

Small hints of bioluminescence flash beneath his skin. My hands press against the side of his handsome face. We did it, I think as I lose myself in his vision. My body thrums with need as Chase's hand settles on my hips, swaying us to the beat, my lips pressed into Tate’s mouth.

And I'm sandwiched between them.

Wet. Breathless .

My tongue swipes along the seam of his lips. demanding entrance. His lips part for me so beautifully, allowing our tongues to wrestle against each other. Chase’s nails dig into my hips as we dance.

Just like the glittering bodies that writhe in rhythm around us… I let go. Their screams become a song. Their pleasure becomes an offering.

They forget the blood.

They forget the guards.

They forget the bodies still twitching behind the vendor tents.

But I don’t.

It’s like I’m living in my own little secret, orchestrating everything. Power is beautiful. I smile. I dance. Because I'm happy. Because it's working.

The DUST.

The spores.

The island.

The hive.

Until I feel it.

A flicker.

A thought that doesn’t belong to me.

Not mine.

Not yet.

My eyes snap open, and for the first time all night–I’m not alone in my head.

And that… that wasn’t part of the fucking plan.