Page 110 of Phantom Flower

Life had started to fall back into place.

My mom did start calling me again. At first it was every few days, messages asking where I was, if I was okay, if I was coming home. Then the messages turned into voicemails, then longer calls. I ignored every single one.

After everything that had happened with Daniel, after realizing she had chosen him over me, I cut her off completely. I blocked her number. I did not want her voice in my life anymore. It hurt too much to keep hoping for a mother who had never really been there.

School was good. Strange, but good.

People still stared, but no one dared say anything to my face. Not with Dimitri always at my side.

Speaking of Dimitri, he indulged me in everything. If I wanted to stay in bed longer, he let me. If I wanted to skip a class because my legs ached, he carried me to the garden instead. If I wanted something specific after therapy, he cooked it without complaint. I was getting used to it. No one had ever treated me like this besides my dad. But even he was not so extreme.

Today was a party.

Normally I never attended these. Marco and I had never fit in. But now I was kind of part of the Void Kings circle. Or at least tolerated because of Dimitri. So here I was.

Ilya was on top of a table.

“Listen up, you boring fucks!” he shouted over the music. “We have a new one joining the inner circle tonight! Give it up for our favorite fairy, Rai Kurosaki! Try not to get murdered if you look at him wrong. Dimitri gets jealous easily!”

The crowd cheered and laughed.

Dimitri stood beside me, one arm wrapped possessively around my waist, glaring daggers at Ilya like he wanted to drag him off the table and stab him with his own knife. He really hated when Ilya called me fairy.

Ilya hopped down gracefully and skipped over to us, holding out a red plastic cup with a dramatic flourish.

“Here you go, Rai! Special cocktail. Extra sweet, just like you.”

Dimitri’s grip on my waist tightened immediately.

“He doesn’t drink,” he said flatly.

Ilya pouted. “But it’s a party! And he’s one of us now. Let the boy live a little.”

I looked at the cup, then at Dimitri’s tense jaw, then back at the cup. Something defiant sparked in my chest, that little rebellious part of me that Dimitri both loved and hated. I reached out and took the drink from Ilya’s hand before Dimitri could stop me.

“Now who said I don’t?” I said, raising an eyebrow at Dimitri. “I survived a knife attack. I think I can handle one drink.”

Dimitri glared at me.

“Rei,” he warned.

Ilya clapped his hands together in delight. “Ohhh, look at him go! I love it. Drink up, Rai!”

I lifted the cup to my lips, staring Dimitri dead in the eyes the whole time.

Dimitri’s jaw flexed. He stepped closer, towering over me, and grabbed the cup from my hand.

“Very well,” he said.

He brought the cup to his own lips and drank the rest of it in one go. Then he tossed it aside and grabbed my jaw to hold me in place.

He leaned down and crushed his mouth against mine.

He forced my lips open with his tongue and spilled the sweet liquid straight into my mouth. I gasped, choking a little as the drink flooded my tongue and throat. Some of it spilled from the corners of my lips, dripping down my chin as he kissed me deeper, tongue pushing the liquid further.

When he finally pulled back, I was gasping for air.

Ilya cheered loudly, clapping his hands.