Sacrilege (Theo Raeken) [2]

crème de la crème

The open living space is airy and accompanied by a view of the dark skyline of New York, the place is stylishly decorated and a stack of those pointless coffee table books are on a neat shelf. Isaac is seated down on one of the black leather couches. On the other sofa, a beautiful woman with dark skin, straight black hair and a killer figure is seated. She wears a short, silver dress and stilettos.

"I'm Sienna," she says in a velvety smooth British accent. "And you must be the siren?"

I clear my throat, knowing perfectly well that I was checking her out. "Yes. I'm Arden."

Kai sits down next to Sienna and gives her a peck on the mouth. "She's that big bad siren everyone's talking about," he sighs.

"I know," she says. "Lucien Caraway's sister." She pauses. "Take a seat, love. No need to stay standing."

I take up her offer of sitting down and wedge myself onto the sofa next to Isaac. "So?" I begin.

"Yes, Arden?" Kai says, mockingly polite.

"How do I get Theo back?"

He bites his lip, as if thinking carefully. "Why should I tell you?"

I squint my eyes at him. "You son of a—"

"Woah, woah," Isaac says. "Arden, calm down. Kai, she never meant that. You know how she's a bit... You know."

"All I'm saying is that you don't have anything to offer me, do you, Arden?" He shrugs, clearly trying to rile me up.

I cock my head to the side, pursing my lips. "What do you want, Malachai?"

"Well," he begins. "In my time, I have made quite a few enemies."

I snort. "Shocker. You're generally a very likeable person," I say, my voice dripping in sarcasm. "Now cut to it. What do you want, Kai?"

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small slip of paper. He holds it out to me in between his index and middle finger. I take it and unfold it, reading the list, which consists of names scrawled in messy handwriting.

I read down the list:

Kane Jefferson
Lisa Lee
Kennedy Jackson

He wants me to kill them, I think. After all, isn't that all anyone wants me for these days? "I thought you were all-powerful," I say, raising my eyebrows and leaning back into the armchair.

"I am," he responds coolly. "But I need someone to do my dirty work for me. Wouldn't want to hurt the moneymaker." He gestures to his face, an eyebrow cocked.

"Done. One condition, though. You have to help me take down my brother."

He grins, that psychopathic, ironic smile that stretches from ear to ear. "How much do you love Theo, Arden? You're in no position to negotiate." I narrow my eyes at him, preparing to launch a long and fiery tirade in his direction. Before I have a chance to, though, he continues. "You have everyone fooled, Arden. But you're forgetting that you can't kill me or control me. You're used to having the upper hand. Not here, you don't."

I clench my teeth. "I can damn well shove a knife up between your ribs."

"And I can damn well evaporate into nothing before you even have the chance to touch me," he says smugly. "Nice try though, Arden. So are you going to accept the offer or not?"

I bite my lip. It's an easy decision, even though it shouldn't be. The old Arden wouldn't have accepted it. But she's gone. "I do."

He smiled and claps his hands together in triumph. "Perfect," he says. "Sadly, I can't bring Theo back, but I know someone who can. There's a ball tonight starting eight thirty."

"A ball?" I ask, my eyes wide.

"Did I stutter? Anyway, yes, a ball. A big, fancy ball full of supernatural creatures. One of those being the witch who can help you get Theo back and one of them being one of the people on that list. Go get yourself something nice to wear. You look like trash."

"Thanks," I mutter. "Will do."

***

"You scrubbed up nicely," Kai says, adjusting his tie, his eyes glued to himself in the mirror.

"Thanks." After a consultation from Sienna, I chose to wear a silky red gown. I felt like a child playing dress up.

"Cheer up," he teased, putting on a pout. "What's got you down, Arden?"

"Nothing," I murmur. I was worried about the ball for some reason. Being in a room full of powerful supernatural creatures was not something to laugh at.

He grabs my hand timidly — a little too timidly — and drags me in front of the mirror. He places his hands on my shoulders as I gaze at myself: dark eyes and red lips. I'm a personified flame, tendrils of fire hanging off my hips.

I feel something cold pressed into my hand. I wrap my hand around the object Kai has given me, my fingers grasping at the handgun. "Silver bullets," he croons. "There are some situations that not even you can get out of without pulling a trigger." He drops something else into my hand. A holster. "Come outside once you're ready," he says. And with that, he's gone.

I strap on the weapon and, heaving the heavy fabric up into my hands, make my way down to the ground floor and out onto the street. My heels clack against the sidewalk as I trudge up to the shiny black sedan that Kai is leaning against. "Nice car," I comment monotonously.

He grins. "Thanks. Nice dress."

"Thanks," I reply. "Sienna helped me choose it."

While he opens the door, he says, "Ah, no wonder. I knew you didn't have that much style."

I sink down into the passenger's seat. "I do," I protest.

"Keep believing that," he says and shuts the door. He gets into the driver's seat and with a roar, the engine comes to life. He takes a look out the mirrors before turning into the road and beginning the journey to the ball.

"Supernatural creatures are so pretentious," I blurt out. "I mean, who has balls these days? Crazy, right?"

He makes a tsk sound. "Oh, Arden," he coos. "Sweet, brainless Arden. These aren't just any supernatural creatures. These creatures are the, ah — how should I put it? — créme de la créme of New York's supernatural creatures. Rich, powerful and bloodthirsty." He turns halfway to me. "And, Arden, you better put on your best powerful impression, tonight. You wouldn't want to look like you don't belong."

"Or what?"

"Well, we don't want to lose you tonight, Arden," he says. "We're trying to resurrect a life, not lose one."

***

A/N: YOOO this is a super duper short chapter but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless. I love you all and thank you for sticking through all these erratic updates xx hope you all have a lovely day/night. Until next time,

ya girl Georgina