Snort.
Walking up ahead, arms hanging stiffly by their sides, are two monsters with gills clamoring down both of their blue necks. Cheryl’s parents. Or at the very least, a relative of my enemy.
Hundreds and hundreds of monsters are in attendance. More than I have ever seen in one setting before. Vampires and werewolves and ghosts and ghouls and a few that belong in the bottom of the ocean. A skeleton skips merrily across the lawn, an eerie sight to behold. And then…
“Holy fucking shit,” I breathe as my eyes lock on the huge man lumbering forward.
Big Foot.
The Big Foot. I remember Cynthia’s old roommate was his daughter, and she would tell me stories about the monster with feet the length of a twin-sized bed. He’s naked, his coarse brown hair on display, and between his legs rests a…a cock.
The size of a twin-sized bed.
Hanging there.
Collecting dirt.
And his balls…
“Stop fucking staring at another’s man cock,” Hux hisses, hurling daggers at the oblivious man stepping forward to join a group of monsters.
“It’s like a monument,” I whisper. “A monument for cocks.”
“Violet…” he warns. “Unless you want me to go over there and castrate him, I would stop talking.”
Reluctantly, I wrench my gaze away from the humongous, almost ethereal, penis. Another thing I’m able to check off my bucket list.
Revel in a monster cock the size of a bed? Check.
“Precious Treasure.” Hux clears his throat once, and when I turn to stare at him, he’s very purposefully looking away, pink dusting his cheekbones. “I told you this before, and I’ll tell you again—you look beautiful. You look like everything I have ever wanted. Like the sun and the moon and the stars. I could live in darkness for all of eternity if you’re by my side.”
“Hux,” I begin, unable to articulate any of my thoughts. “I sort of want to kiss you right now.”
Before I can even finish my sentence, he’s lunging forward, lips puckered. I laugh and swat at his face half-heartedly, laughing harder at his look of bemusement.
“But I can’t. I have makeup on.”
“You don’t need makeup,” Hux insists adamantly. “You’re beautiful without it. But you’re also beautiful with it. Hell, you’d be beautiful if you were wearing a plastic bag and had a disco ball balancing on your head.”
Yup. It’s official. I’m putty. I swear I melt with each consecutive word he says.
I’m too busy making googly eyes at him—and him at me—that I don’t hear Vin’s warning until I collide into someone’s back. I would’ve fallen to my ass if Vin hadn’t lunged forward and caught me.
“Who the fuck dares hurt my precious treasure?” Hux hisses—because he’s extra like that. I don’t bother to correct him and say I ran into him. Sometimes you just need to let Hux be.
The man spins around on his heel, nearly pulling the woman he’s with off her feet. A third male hovers off to the side, watching the interaction with narrowed, hate-filled eyes.
I stare at the woman first, mainly because something about her haunted, blood-shot eyes calls to me. Her blonde hair is smoothed into a flawless high ponytail, not a strand out of place. She wears a skintight black dress that one would see at a cocktail bar instead of a ball. Still, she’s gorgeous, embodying a feminine beauty and grace. Her eyes are hazel, but laden with such pain and sadness that my heart skips a beat. And though she’s smiling, it doesn’t meet her pensive gaze.
The man beside her is a giant in comparison. His hair is black as pitch, gelled away from his aristocratic face. With a sharp nose, strong jawline, and high cheekbones, he appears almost too beautiful, too handsome. But the coldness in his eyes makes him appear hideous, at least to me.
Finally, my gaze rests on the third male. On his familiar black hair and obsidian eyes. On the tattoos interspersed across his tan skin. On the bulb in his eyebrow and the earrings in his ears. On the smirk pulling up those delectably wicked lips.
“I’m sorry,” I stammer out at last as the man stares down at me. These must be Alex’s parents. His facial structure is similar to his mother’s, but the jet-black hair and fathomless dark eyes are inherited from his father.
“Don’t fucking talk to us, you vampire scum,” his father sneers at last. I can’t help but notice that the woman blanches at the venom in his tone, shooting me a sympathetic glance before she quickly covers her reaction.
“Do not talk to her like that!” Barret snaps, moving to stand in front of me. As I watch, my friendly giant seems to grow in size until he’s towering above us all, his muscles flexing in a rare show of power and dominance.
“Do you know what you cost us?” the man continues, peering around Barret’s bulky form to glare at me with incandescent fury. “What you cost my wife?” He tugs on the woman’s arm until she tumbles towards him, face twisting in pain. I watch the exchange with growing horror.
The fear and pain cloying her eyes…
Could that be from him?
“I don’t even know you,” I say simply. The man surprises us all by spitting at my feet, face scrunched in disgust.
“You should do the world a favor and kill yourself. You’re not deserving of the air you breathe.”
It takes both Mason and Cal to stop Hux from lunging forward and ripping the man’s head clean off his neck. Not that I blame him. I’m also feeling quite murdery today, thank you very much.
All of my pain and anger from before comes rushing back with the strength of a hurricane. It whips at my hair and bites at my face. Pain like no other sparks in my heart like errant fireworks.
“What did I ever do to you?” I hiss, baring my fangs.
“Dad,” Alex warns, flashing
