Page 79 of Grave Devil
But it was that letter that really saved me. Kind and loving words from beyond the grave, pointing me in the direction I needed to go.
Roses bring Thorns. Night is ever Black.When the shadow comes, the Crane will attack.Heads will rollwhen the nightmare roams.Stick close to the wellof broken Bones.
I hope she’d be proud of me. Am I respecting her wishes? Is this what she wanted for me? I’m quickly learning how the Harker women have not had it easy. Even though my ancestors grew up with more money than I could ever dream of, they were not free from the burden of pain and suffering.
Willa, her daughter Ophelia, my mother even, and then me. And I’m sure a dozen more stories of hardship in between. We are a cursed family. But maybe I can end it. It feels unbearably impossible right now, but I have to at least try. Maybe then the bones of my ancestors can rest.
“Hey, Trouble. Penny for your thoughts.” Draven nestles in behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.
I lean back against him and breathe him in—vanilla mixed with juniper berries and tobacco. The scent of this man will never get old. It will always comfort me. “Just processing everything. And trying to gage how angry you are with me for what I let Sonny do to me.”
He spins me around to face him. The look in his eyes is mournful but also full of longing. He rakes his thumb over my scar. “I have no right to be. We gave you no choice but to surrender to us when you came to town. We hunted you, manipulated you, and forced ourselves upon you. In the end, we broke you and pushed you over the edge.”
I unzip his pants as he talks, freeing his cock so I can stroke it. “Yes, it was so unfair what you did to me,” I tease.
He draws in a sharp breath, his eyelids fluttering as he leans into my hand. “Mia… my love for you is unconditional. Even when I’m angry, and I want to strangle the life out of you… You are mine and always will be. Being his too doesn’t change that.”
I strip out of my boots and jeans before walking backward into the patio table. I hoist myself up onto it and part my legs. “Come here, Slick. Come get your peace.”
He bridges the gap between us in seconds. “Mmm… this troublesome fucking pussy.”
A warmth fills my belly as I remember the first time he said that to me. The night he crashed through my gates and fucked me on the parlor floor. We tried so hard to hate each other then. Every time we caved in, we’d swear it was the last time. But nothing could keep us apart from each other.
I pull my panties to the side and help guide his cock inside my pussy. I grip his tie in my hands and use it to anchor me. He moans as I choke him. While he fucks me hard against the glass table. In the same spot where he watched Aries feed mepancakes just this morning, the surface still sticky from droplets of maple syrup.
He buries his head into my shoulder and weeps while he cums. And I hold him tightly, with one hand still on his tie and the other wrapped around the back of his neck. I rub my clit against his belly, drawing my own pleasure out as he channels all his pent-up rage, sadness, and longing into this one single orgasm.
“You will always be my peace, Mia,” he whispers into my ear. “I will never leave you.”
I’m filled with love but also melancholy and a heavy sense of dread. “But Aries will.”
Draven grabs me by the throat as the last of his cum slinks out and down my pussy. “We’re going to find a way to fix that. I promise you, Trouble. None of us are going to let him go.”
I find my little psycho poison boy lying on his back in the boathouse, surrounded by an array of empty vials. He stares up at the ceiling. “I needed to get out of that house. It’s getting too depressing in there.”
“You’re not wrong,” I offer as I curl up next to him. “Did you save any for me?”
He shakes his head. “Not this time, little lamb. Sorry.”
I playfully punch him in the ribs. “Don’t be such a diva.”
He doesn’t crack even the faintest of smiles. “I’m going to die alone, Mia. And the only ones waiting for me in the After will be my asshole father and vapid mom. But none of you will be there. You’ll all be here. Together.”
I pull him upright so I can nestle into his lap, forcing him to look at me. “Listen, you can’t think like that. We have each other now. And I promise you, Aries, we’re going to figure out a way for us to all be together. I’m going to make those weirdos from Raven’s Gate help us figure it out.”
He presses his forehead to mine. “I know. I hate being a boring fucking drag. I’ll snap out of it, I swear.”
I sigh. “You’re allowed to be upset, Ries. And who knows, maybe someone’s already figured it out. I doubt your cousin Atlas is going to accept the same fate. There’s no way he’s leaving his lovers behind. We just have to trust that it will all work out.”
He kisses me softly, gently stroking my tongue with the tip of his. “You’re so right. Wait, is that the first time you’ve called me Ries?”
I feel my cheeks flush for some reason, suddenly shy. I shrug. “Is that okay?”
He laughs. “Are you kidding? I’ve been dreaming of this day. I love how it sounds in your mouth.”
We kiss and start to tug at each other’s clothes when the door to the boathouse bursts open, and the guys come barreling in. A tipsy Lettie saunters in after them. “The energy is too fucking heavy in that house, chica.”
“Are we having a party in the boathouse, then?” I ask excitedly.
