Fingers drag up my arm, setting off goosebumps.
I flinch away.
Someone chuckles, only this chuckle I recognize. “What’s the matter, Little Dovey…” Kingston starts, and then he leans forward, his lips skating over the back of my ear. “Don’t like shadows much?”
I still, my blood turning cold. “What?” I whisper, reaching for the blindfold, but someone halts my movements by forcing my arms to my back. Cold metal from the handcuffs latch around each wrist. “What did you just say?”
He ignores me, and I’m being pushed down to my knees. Did he just say The Shadow, or did I imagine it? It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve imagined myself into thinking The Shadow is present or has whispered something into my ear. It usually comes during a nightmare, but I’m almost certain Kingston just said what I think he did. Regardless, he’s obviously meaning the shadows that I see through the blindfold. My paranoia will kill me one day.
“Stop!” Delila yells out from somewhere. “I didn’t say perform one of your acts on her. I said incorporate her into the act.”
“First of all—” I think that’s Killian. “How are we supposed to incorporate her into it without showing her what it is that we do, D?”
Silence.
“Because we can save that for her first night. We don’t give swimming lessons; we throw people into the deep end and hope they can swim.”
I pull on the cuffs. “Can someone take the blindfold off?”
“No,” Kingston growls out. Goosebumps stand to the surface of my skin.
“Well, can you remove the handcuffs? I need my arms to dance.”
My wrists are set free as quick as they were locked.
“You’re right,” Delila finishes, and just like that, the blindfold is torn off my eyes. “We can’t have her in there without knowing what to expect.” She eyes me up and down, and I squirm. I don’t like Delila, nor do I trust her. “We will wait until we’re on the road. For now,” she says to me, a smirk on her mouth, “make yourself at home. Get to know people without getting to know them too well, and for the love of God, Dove—” Her fingers wrap around my chin, directing my face up to hers. “Don’t get yourself killed.” She pats my cheek and smiles sweetly before stepping back and looking out to the audience of performers. “We leave tomorrow night. First stop is here, New York.” She starts walking away when she grumbles, “Hopefully, we can find another Beatrice while we’re at it.”
When Delila is out of earshot, I turn to face Kingston and the other four. “Want to explain to me what it is that you do so that I can at least get a feel for it?”
“No,” Keaton says, turning to leave behind Delila.
“She can’t be your fifth. That’s too close.” Keaton kicks out his legs, lighting up a cigarette. My finger continues to caress my upper lip as I watch all three of them. I see where they’re coming from, but at the same time, it makes my task easier.
“He’s right. She can’t. I mean, she’s good, but you haven’t had a fifth. Ever.” Kyrin argues.
“What the fuck? How can none of you see what I see? Y’all need some glasses or have something to tell me? That girl dominates the room when she dances. You’re telling me that that’s not his fifth?” Killian, being himself, is fighting for the girl. Good for her. She’ll need all the fans that she can get, but that still doesn’t argue the fact that I’m going to destroy her.
I clench my jaw. Their bickering is balancing on my last nerve, and I know it’s my last because I used up all the rest of them when Dove walked up in here.
Once.
Twice.
“And have you ever seen someone as fucking hot as her? The doe eyes and dark red hair. I’m fucking digging it. It’s the same color as my Ferrari.” Killian still won’t shut the fuck up, and he’s managed to now introduce his pride and joy.
“Enough,” I growl, glaring at Killian. The fact that he’s the first one to have his balls in the palm of his hands over this chick isn’t surprising. “I don’t want her in my space any more than any of you, only for obviously different reasons.”
Keaton shakes his head, his fingers diving into his thick mane. “Why didn’t Delila put her in Midnight? They could do with another.”
“Because Midnight has Rose, and Dove is too advanced for them,” I answer fluidly, needing either a joint or a glass of something strong to take the edge off.
I kick off my bed and make my way to the front of the RV where Justice is sitting in the driver’s seat. “Why are you on the chair already? We don’t leave until tomorrow.” Justice is our driver, and when we’re on the road, he bunks with us. Our RV is the biggest one out of the Mayhem family, so he fits into our dynamic easily. He’s older than the rest of us, hovering in his late thirties. There have been rumors going around about him and Delila for years, but he denies it all. I’m not a dumb motherfucker, though. I can smell the pussy on him some nights when he rolls into bed.
We have four bedrooms in here with a small fifth should we need it. And by fifth, I mean it’s the room at the very back of the RV with nothing but a bed inside and a curtain to keep it separated from the rest of the RV—which is where Justice sleeps.
“Didn’t you hear?” Justice teases boldly.
“Why the fuck are you smirking?” I narrow my eyes at him. Just as he opens his mouth, there’s a loud knock on the door.
I’m still glaring at him as I back up and pull it open. “What?” I snap, finally dragging my venomous glare away from Justice and to—“What the fuck do you want now?”
Dove flinches. If I were a better man, I would feel a little guilty about it, but I’m not. I’m not even in the vicinity of a better man, and aside from that, why does she always look so broken? You fucking know why.
“Sorry,” she murmurs, licking her lips. “Ah… I have to—” Her voice drifts into the background as I take in what’s in her hands. A small suitcase.
Justice chuckles from behind me, squeezing my shoulder. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”
I watch as Justice disappears into the distance with his bags before I bring my eyes back to Dove. “You’re fucking kidding me.” I slam the door wide open and step aside to let her in.
She takes the steps up, and when her feet land on the final one, I tower over her and lean into her ear as she passes. “Well, well, well, look who’s going to be sleeping with monsters.”
She pulls away from me just as Killian walks his overconfident ass down the stairs that lead to our rooms and bathrooms. “Hey!” He smiles at her, his arrogant face lighting up when he spots her.
She ignores him, turning to me. If I gave a fuck, I’d be a smug bastard over that, but I don’t. My fucks are with my last nerves.
I point to the back of the RV. “Your room is down at the end. Bathroom is to the right, and the kitchen is to the left. Seating is here, and there’s a bar, but that’s upstairs—where you are not welcome.”
She nods. “Sure.” Then she turns her back on me and makes her way to the back. I tilt my head, watching her ass sway as she walks, then I notice the fucking iPhone she has shoved into the back pocket of her jeans. Fucking Delila. She obviously feels a certain way about Dove. That much I picked up. Delila doesn’t feel a way about anyone unless it’s hate.