1. No kissing
2. No foreplay
3. No sex
4. No touching while we share a bed
5. No entering the bathroom while I’m naked or on the toilet
6. I am allowed two hours of undisturbed study time at the library on every weekday
7. I am allowed one friend who you cannot be a dick to
8. Once a week we will ALL eat pizza for dinner without cutlery
I shot a glance at Saint who looked more horrified at that last one than anything else. But he said nothing and I smirked as I wrote my final rule.
9. I am allowed to sit wherever I want in classes
I rested back in my chair, folding my arms and they all leaned over me to read the list. Their skin brushed against mine and I was getting entirely too hot as they continued to close in around me. I could hardly breathe for all the testosterone in the air.
“Is the pizza really necessary?” Saint grumbled and my malicious grin widened.
“It is,” I said firmly and Kyan and Blake laughed.
“Looks good to me,” Blake said, stepping back and relieving me from his stifling heat.
Kyan moved away next then Saint dropped into the chair beside me, his arm brushing mine and sending a small earthquake scattering through my body as he took the pen and paper, positioning it squarely in front of him and added to the bottom of the rules. I hated him with all my heart, but craved him with all my soul. It was the most wicked kind of punishment he could ever inflict on me.
1. You will sleep in a Night Keeper’s bed every night on rotation and they will have priority over you for 24 hours (6pm – 6pm the next day).
2. You must cook breakfast every day.
3. You will wear whatever we decide on the day you are in our possession.
4. You will do as we say without complaint unless it conflicts with your rules.
He lifted his head, pushing it toward me so I could read it then he signed the bottom and passed the pen to Blake. He moved forward, scribbling his signature on it before Kyan swiped it from him and added his name in a messy scrawl. Then he held out the pen for me, his eyes glittering hungrily as I took it.
My throat was too tight as I pressed the nub of the pen to the bottom of the page, a moment of hesitation staying my hand. I was already bound to them in more ways than I’d ever wanted to be. But I knew what I was doing by signing this. I wasn’t agreeing to their terms, I was agreeing to mine. And that was a far scarier prospect because who knew how much of myself I was going to sacrifice in the pursuit of revenge? But as I glanced between their smug faces and thought of the destruction they’d caused me, my hand started moving and I painted my name in perfect, curling strokes.
Saint took the piece of paper, walking to the new refrigerator he’d had installed after the three of them had gone and swapped it for the one in the teacher’s lounge yesterday. He pinned it in place with two black magnets, one at the top and one at the bottom. The finality of the act was simple yet powerful, the weight of those rules binding us all.
***
Saint’s maid came and cleaned The Temple from top to bottom even though it was already spotless. He had insisted we all go for a walk around the entire lake after dinner and after we got back, I only realised she’d been because Kyan had made a joke about her being ‘Lady Rebecca, the ghost of the crypt’. I wouldn’t even have put it past Saint to have the ability to employ the dead.
I was sitting in an armchair polishing the freaking silverware like an eighteen hundreds’ servant while Blake and Kyan played video games. Saint was sitting at the dining table on his laptop, tapping out some assignment with a single crease in his brow. My gaze kept drifting to him, observing the angles of his face while he didn’t know I was watching, captivated by the way the tightness of his jaw loosened every time he fell into a pit of concentration.
I hated that he fascinated me, but had given up trying to stop my eyes from straying his way. He never noticed me observing him even once. When he was invested in something, he gave it his full, undivided intention. And there was something admirable about that. Not that he had many fine qualities. But I supposed his precision and thoroughness couldn’t really be ignored. The problem was, he tended to use both for evil.
Saint closed his laptop suddenly, making my heart jolt. “It’s eleven forty five, Barbie. Bedtime.”
“Who says you get her first?” Kyan complained, looking over at me long enough for his Xbox character to get burned alive by a flamethrower. He didn’t even seem to notice as the avatar screamed and went up in a fiery blaze. His eyes were too busy devouring me while I was too busy glaring back at him.
“I do,” Saint snarled. “You had her when you took her to that fucking fight pit and Blake had her the night of the initiation party.”
“Doesn’t count,” Blake said, his eyes pinned on the screen as he continued to play the game, but the tightness of his lips said he had more feelings on the subject which he wasn’t airing.
I didn’t want to be fought over like a bone amongst hungry dogs so I got to my feet, tossing the last of the silverware down on the coffee table and heading to the stairs.
“Night, assholes,” I called lightly, walking up
