Saskia tugging me down beside her snaps me away from his hypnotic gaze, and I do as I’m told, gathering my gown in my hand.
A fucking gown. Lilith Patience in a gown. I’m glad Bear isn’t here to see this.
“You must be Lilith,” a woman says from somewhere beside me, and I finally drag my eyes away from a sneering Kyrin and fix them on her. Black raven hair, sharp cheekbones that Maleficent would cast her next spell just to replicate, and a pouty mouth that I’m all too familiar with.
“That’s me.”
The corner of her mouth quirks. “I’m Khloe, Kyrin’s mom, and this is Kian, his father.” She gestures to a man who is sitting beside her, dressed in a maroon suit with hair as dark as Kyrin’s and eyes just as potent. The Nero men clearly know how to weaponize their good looks.
I nod at both of them, my tongue stuck to the top of my mouth. They both look like they’ve walked off a runway and don’t look anywhere near old enough to have a son Kyrin’s age, or Cartier.
She opens her mouth, but Kyrin cuts in, tossing his empty beer bottle into the trash beside the fire. “Yep. That’s all I’ll allow for tonight.”
Khloe’s eyes fix on her son, but her lips curl behind her teeth as if she’s stopping whatever it was that she wanted to say. I know there’s a reason as to why we’re here. If anything, Kiznitch do things for a reason, loose morals or not.
Eli falls down onto the spot beside Kyrin, winking at me while leaning back against the seat. “Oh, so you met our little pet?”
I cough on my drink, my hand coming to my mouth to stop it. “I’m sorry, what?” I lean to the side as if I didn’t hear him properly.
Eli grins at me, flashing his pretty teeth. Teeth I’d take great pleasure in knocking out right about now.
“So,” I say, gesturing to Kyrin’s parents who are to my left, flicking my finger around the circle. “Does anyone want to tell me why we’re here tonight, or should I just figure that out on my own?” I curl a piece of my hair around my finger, before looking up at the man who is quiet beside King. “Because I’m guessing it has everything to do with me, right?”
“Actually,” Kyrin says, standing to his full height. He’s a fair bit away from me and there’s a whole fireplace separating us, but even then, I get the feeling this isn’t enough space. “She’s coming with me. Right now.”
My brows raise and I turn to face Eli instinctively. There’s a sense of calm that comes with the connection between Eli and me. Security, warmth. With Kyrin, it’s chaos, obsession, control, but although they both offer me different things, as well as to each other, the impact is all the same.
Eli’s eyes are still on Kyrin questioningly, as if he’s trying to figure out what Kyrin is doing.
I squeeze Eli’s knee, pushing up to my feet while scooping up a fresh flute of champagne from the station in front of us. “It’s fine. We can finish this discussion later.”
I take the steps closer and closer to Kyrin, and my heart quickens, the blood being pumped through my veins slowing. I siphon the bubbly wine in an attempt to calm my nerves, but I swear the closer and closer I get to him, the more it feels as though my heart is going to jump out of my chest.
His hand slides in mine as he directs me toward the back of the property, where there’s a clearing in the woods. It begins to get darker and darker, and my champagne has long since gone before we’re stopping beside a large tree with branches that overshadow the moonlight and droop onto the grass. Now that it’s just him and me, the silence seems too loud. I should have dragged Eli with me, dammit.
“What’s wrong, Kyrin?” I ask, tilting my head and watching him as his eyes remain on mine. Passive. Like he wants to ask me so many questions but can’t.
He reaches forward and presses his thumb to my lip. “Such a shame.”
“What is?” I ask, confused.
He leans forward, his mouth coming to my ear as his hand remains around my wrist. “That you’re such a fucking liar.”
Everything goes black.
I didn’t fucking want to be here. I’m pretty sure that much was obvious, but I came because I had to. Lilith has been on edge lately, more than usual, and I wanted to make sure she had me here, as fucking soft as that sounds. I don’t care if I sound soft when it comes to her, or him, because it’s true. They’re both fire and ice who would most likely straight-up kill each other one of these days.