46. OBSIDIAN: BAIT

I smelt her the moment I opened the door.
My hands curled into fists as I slowly descended the stairs. Sniffing, I retraced her steps all the way into my bedroom and to the closet. Vanya hadn’t closed the doors all the way.
She touched some of my clothes and then searched through the bag. I snarled as I turned away from it and walked into the bathroom where nothing was out of place. But as I made to exit the bedroom, my eyes caught the glint of a knife near the edge of the bed. Sticking out from underneath the bed was the small wooden box I kept hidden there.
I knew exactly what she had seen.
Red hot anger shot through me.
I was moving before I knew it. Storming up the stairs, I growled as I entered the living room.
“What—?”
Vanya gasped when I gripped her arm and spun her around. She stumbled but I steadied her with a hand gripping her throat.
The fear I saw flashing through her eyes, made satisfaction fill me. It made the beast stir and some of the anger I felt, faded. I walked her backwards until her back hit the door.
“You touched my stuff.”
I felt her swallow against the palm of my hand. As I watched, Vanya’s expression changed.
“So what?” she questioned. “I touched Ezra and Devrim’s stuff too, and they don’t have a problem with it.”
“You don’t touch my stuff. It’s off-limits,” I growled.
“I feel sorry for you,” she whispered. “I—”
I pulled her away from the door and slammed her back against it to silence her. Vanya gasped but didn’t fight me otherwise.
My eyes narrowed. “What did you do? What did you see?”
I caught the panic before she lowered her eyes. I had years of practice in reading people. I knew every tell-tale sign. Vanya’s pulse had increased when I asked her that question, and she was avoiding eye contact. My eyes narrowed.
What was she hiding?
“Do you remember what I said, Vanya?” I rasped.
Her eyes snapped to mine. “Y-yes.”
“Is this your first step to betrayal?”
“N-no.”
My eyes dropped to her lips when they parted. She had painted them a blood-red colour that instantly drew attention her lips. An imaged of Vanya on her knees with her lips wrapped around my cock flashed through my mind.
She shook her head. “I-I was searching.”
My heart dropped. I knew it wouldn’t last, it never did. Humans were all the same.
“Not like that,” Vanya said. “You won’t tell me anything about yourself s-so searched for things that would help me g-get to know you.”
I tilted my head to the side and waited because I knew she was going to start explaining things.
“Ezra likes a lot of different things. He listens to some weird music and he likes to read and draw. He’s very good at that—drawing I mean.” She smiled. “You like knives and the dark. You’re also into. . .dark shit.”
“I like to make people bleed,” I told her. “You’ve seen it.”
I brushed my thumb back and forth over the beating pulse at the base of her neck.
My eyes dropped and slowly trailed over her pale skin. I already knew what I wanted to carve into her skin. So many ways I wanted to mark her pale skin.
“I want to make you bleed,” I whispered. “I want to hurt you while I fuck you, but you won’t like that, will you, sweets?”
Vanya instantly shook her head.
“It’s one of the reasons why I don’t want you as my mate. You’re too fragile.”
She flinched as if I’d struck her. The pain that filled her eyes knocked the air from my lungs.
“Obsidian.” Devrim gripped my shoulder and squeezed. “You need to get dressed.”
“Stay out of my stuff.” I leaned closer and pressed my lips to her ear. “I wished you’d never saved me.”
Pressing a kiss to the skin below her ear, I stepped away and smirked at her.
“I’m going to punish you for disobeying the rules.”

***

Vanya’s father had send a car to pick us up at the edge of the forest. It was black, long and something I’d never seen before. Vanya said that it was called a limo.
“I told him that we wanted to blend in, and he sends a fucking limo,” Vanya nearly yelled. “He never listens.”
My lips twitched. Vanya had a foal mouth and I loved that. I fucking loved that she was feisty and didn’t hesitate to speak her mind—but only on certain occasions.
But she was fragile too.
It would be so easy to accidently snap a bone.
Swallowing, I turned my head to stare out the window. It would be a thirty-two minute drive, and then hours amongst humans. My stomach churned as fear settled in the pit of my stomach.
I loved spending time in the cave, or hunting, or locking myself in the basement where they couldn’t hurt me.
I jerked when a hand was placed on top of mine. Devrim leaned closer until his breath fanned my ear.
“You don’t have to do this,” he whispered.
I swallowed and after a moment’s hesitation, I turned my hand so my palm rested against his. Devrim instantly entwined out fingers and squeezed my hand.
“I have too.”
My eyes darted over to Vanya who shared a seat opposite us with Ezra.
“She’d understand.”
I shook my head. Nobody would understand the constant need to remind myself of why I needed to do the things I did. Besides, it wasn’t only Vanya in danger. He had threatened Devrim and pretty soon he’d start threatening our pride.
Devrim had seen me at my worst, but he only had an inkling of what I had suffered.
Guilt twisted in my gut. I had lied on the reports we had to write when we first got out.
Ezra’s eyes caught mine as I was about to look away. He had expressive eyes like Vanya’s. It hurt to see the disgust there, but it shouldn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter what he felt about me, but I had seen how Devrim reacted to his words. It had hurt and shamed him.
My lips curled into a sneer. I was just waiting for the right time to teach him a fucking lesson.
“We need a code word or something,” Ezra said, breaking the silence.
“For what?” Devrim questioned.
“We’re not going to stay the whole night are we?”
“Hell no!” Vanya pulled a face. “Only long enough to make Obsidian’s plan work.”
Vanya smiled at me. My lips twitched but I didn’t return it. The last time I smiled was the day before I killed Lindsey.
Her smile faded and her eyes darted away. It was then that I noticed how pale she had turned. If I blocked out the sound of everything else and listened carefully, I could hear how fast her heart was beating.
Was she as nervous as I?
I squeezed Devrim’s hand when we entered town and a few seconds later joined the line of cars. Lights flashed and humans milled about in groups near the stairs that led into the building.
It was where all the shit started and I was hoping it would be where it all ended.