Page 29 of King’s Kismet

And for that, I would always be grateful. I considered myself lucky to be her friend and have her on my side and protecting my back.

As Hyde approached her without a care in the world, Sloane’s head snapped to the side. She’d heard something in the distance, but Arwen didn’t understand her body language. He tensed, ready to yell at my sister, warn her to run or something...

Then we heard a door slam.

“Blue,” Lo sang, her rasping voice magnified by the thousands of echoes that accompanied her demonic form.

She took one step.

One single step.

“Sloane,” Hyde quietly called, her voice shaky as she held her hand out. “Don’t go.”

Lo turned her head a little too far to study Hyde.

Arwen was so tense, I felt I could thump his shoulder and watch him shatter into a million pieces.

“She’s fine,” I whispered in reassurance.

He stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

“He hurt you,” Lo growled with a fierceness that made my hair stand on end.

If she went after Blue now, he’d have a quick but painful death.

If she listened to Hyde, Lo would play with him until she grew tired of her toy and killed him... Most likely less quickly and more painful.

Hyland nodded. “He did. But I want to go home now. I want a shower, food—”

“Dolyn will take you home. I need—”

“I need you to stay with me tonight,” Hyde interrupted, her voice wavering. “I don’t want to be alone while I sleep.”

The demon before us morphed between one step and the nest, returning to her normal, albeit blood-soaked, self. She tucked her arm through Hyde’s, letting my sister lead the way as she pushed her monstrous personality back into the box in her mind.

Lo’s eyes faded from black to red to her natural tri-colored irises by the time they made it me and Arwen. The girls smiled at me, though with her adrenaline fading, Hyde winced as her cheek rounded.

“Don’t say anything yet,” Sloane murmured in my mind. “Let’s get her home. You can yell at me after she’s safe in her own space.”

“Grim is waiting for us,” I told my sister, gently rubbing my thumb under her eye. “He can heal your cheek.”

She sighed. “It’s healed, just not correct.”

“Tequila?” Sloane inquired.

“Fuck yes.” Hyde leaned her head on Lo’s arm, her grip tightening as she stumbled slightly. “I thought you would never ask.”

The First Laugh

Two and a half years ago…

Clothing littered the floor of Sloane’s closet as she raged inside the confined space. Angry tears streamed down her cheeks in endless rivers that made my chest ache for her. But no matter how badly I wanted to step in, to intervene with the best of intentions, I couldn’t take her heartbreak away.

Some pains had to be suffered through.

I could only stand witness to the raw agony she felt, and could only lend quiet comfort when she wanted it.

Today, she didn’t want anything other than the vitriol filling her veins. The hate crystalizing her heart into something unrecognizable.