Sancte Diaboli Part One (Elite King's Club #6) - Amo Jones Page 0,2

it’s not from the people who live here, more from the ghosts of those who have left.

I flex my fingers around Medusa as she wraps her sleek black tail around my arm. Medusa was the first pet Brantley bought me when I was ten years old. I came upstairs to my room after my English session with my tutor and she was already set up in her enclosure. Brantley was leaning over the glass, stroking her back. “What do you want to name her?” he had asked, never looking up at me. I took the steps toward him, wrapping my fingers around the edge of the glass.

“You can name her,” I said, chewing on my lip nervously. Not that he made me nervous, because he didn’t.

His eyes came to mine at the exact moment thunder cracked outside my window. “I named you, Saint. You can name the snake.” Rain slapped the glass of my patio doors, but I was too focused on naming my new pet to appreciate the rain like I usually do. I liked anything dramatic and sullen.

“Hmmm.” I studied the curves of Brantley’s features. He had grown a lot over the past couple of years, aging into his new body gracefully. He was fourteen but looked more like sixteen. Lucan always had him busy doing family business things. I never knew what that was because I was never allowed out of this house unless accompanied by Brantley and only Brantley. Never a guard, just Brantley. He hid me, too. Never let me come out of my bedroom when his friends would come over. I didn’t mind.

“Medusa,” I said, smiling.

“You studying Greek mythology or some shit?” he asked, his thick brows curving inward.

I nodded, peeking into the glass. “Yeah, that’s why.”

I didn’t want to tell him that it was because he also reminded me of one of the Greek statues. Cold, pale, and lifeless.

I bring Medusa up to my face, searching her tiny beady eyes. She’s a little weird and always wants to eat. If I go too long without feeding her, she will try to eat me, and if that doesn’t work, she’ll try to eat herself.

So dramatic.

She’s my best friend. Well, she and Kore.

“Should I go down this time?” I whisper. I was highly disappointed when I found out Parcel Tongue was, in fact, not a legitimate language. I watch Medusa closely, as if waiting for her to answer while remaining far enough away from my face so she doesn’t snap at my cheek.

Standing from my bed, I move across the room and put her back inside her enclosure. “You just ate. Stop being greedy.” Her silky body slides over my arm as she slithers her way onto one of the small branches. I designed the inside of it just like this home. There’s a small mansion that’s made of steel which sits in the middle. The design is actually the house from The Addams Family. I just thought it looked similar to the manor and bought it off Etsy.

I turn and lean against the enclosure, finding Kore curled up on my bed, sound asleep with Hades beside her. Hades is Brantley’s dog and Kore is mine. Both Dobermans usually sleep outside my door, but when people are over, they’re in my bedroom. My white bedding will have black fur sprinkled over it in no time. Should I go down? I make my way to the mirror that’s built into the door of my closet. I could go. Brantley would probably get upset, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. A big part of me used to wonder why he never let me meet his friends, but then I remember this was Brantley. He still to this day controlled my every movement.

And I owe him.

I owe him so much.

I take in my appearance.

Yellow sundress with thin spaghetti straps. Not too loose, but fitted enough to show the curve of my hips. My hair falls over my shoulders in sleek waves, like an avalanche spilling over mountains, while my face appears far too pale for the heat that’s rushing around inside of me. I reach forward and touch the mirror. “Screw it.”

Picking up my white Converse shoes, I slip them on and make my way to my bedroom door. My fingers flex over the knob as Kore and Hades stir on the bed.

They know I shouldn’t be doing this as much as I know I shouldn’t be doing this.

I pull the door open and step outside, walking toward