Chapter Thirty-One

Bailey

I used to think my family was cursed. A part of me still did. But the real curse was on this town and the ignorant people in it. They saw me as a witch, a devil, and a whore. They labeled my mother as such too. And once word gets out that Billy and Chad are missing, I'll be the first one they suspect. For once, they'd be right. But without bodies… they have no proof.

Still wearing our soiled Halloween costumes, Maureen and I clasped hands as Raine dumped Billy and Chad's bodies into the cremator. As the machine roared to life, I wondered what my parents would think. Were they looking down at me from somewhere, disappointed that I was using their mortuary to clean up my crimes?

Raine studied my face. He leaned against the cremator as the flames engulfed the bodies. "You're a Bishop, little vixen. Don't think for one second that this is the first time your mortuary has been used to hide bodies."

Maureen squeezed my hand. "It had to be done."

I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. "I'm a monster."

Raine snickered. "We're all monsters, love. No worse than the two that are roasting in the oven right now."

"Jesus," Maureen breathed.

"Really, Raine? It's a little soon for jokes," I barked.

He shrugged and peered into the flames. "You shouldn't care so much. They didn't."

"Caring is what makes us human," I murmured.

"But that's not what you are anymore, Bailey," Raine breathed. "Thanks to that motherfucker in there."

Maureen shivered as she let go of my hand. "He's right, Bales. All we can do now is never think or talk about this night ever again."

When I broke into Wickford Mansion last Halloween Eve, I didn't really know what I was going to find. Ghosts, monsters, squatters maybe. But I felt something the minute I walked in. A presence. An energy pulling me up those stairs. My body wanted to keep going. My mind and my adrenaline willed me to keep going.

And when I reached the door, when Raine pushed me into it, I felt something strong and powerful pulsing in my veins. It was the darkness inside of me. But it was up to me now to not let it consume me. My best friend was safe. And I would get to spend eternity with Poe, Grim, Saint, and Raine. The loves of my life.

I sucked in a sharp breath. "You're both right. We leave the past here tonight." I turned toward Maureen. "Come on, let's get you home."

As the three of us walked out of Bishop Mortuary, another little piece of me died. My old life was truly over. It was time to finally start embracing this new one.

After we dropped Maureen off, I switched on the radio to fill the silence. Out of the Shadows by Ely Eira blasted through the speakers. Raine rested his hand on my thigh. It felt so familiar. Like we had done this dance before.

"It was you, wasn't it? You were the shadow I saw in the window of the mortuary that night." A part of me had wished it was my parents, but deep down I knew they were truly gone.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"And you were there the day I found the envelope in my father's desk. Why? What were you doing in my parents' office?"

He sighed. "Looking for answers. I don't know why I'm still here. Dahlia and Ronan Bishop knew more about death than anyone. They studied things… in Ever Graves. That's where I'm from. Where it all started."

A chill snaked up my back. "Where what started?"

He ran a tattooed hand through his hair. "All this darkness."

It seemed like all the questions always pointed back to my family and his. The Wickfords and the Bishops, our histories tangled and intertwined in Ever Graves and beyond.

I grabbed his hand. "We'll keep looking."

Raine flashed me a wicked grin and kissed the top of my hand. "Mmm, my little psycho vixen."

I sat in front of the fire, clutching the envelope my parents gave me to my chest. It was time to get some answers of my own.

Poe, Grim, Saint, and Raine sprawled out on the couches, quietly waiting for me to open it.

I took a deep breath and pulled off the seal. As I turned it over, the contents spilled out .

The four of them leaned forward as a letter and a picture splayed across the floor.

My heart raced as I fingered them.

"Whoa, this is weird." It was a photograph of my mom and dad. And two other attractive men I had never seen before. They were embracing her in front of a house I didn't recognize. My mother had the biggest smile on her face. Damn… she was so beautiful.

When I passed it around to the guys, Raine snorted. "Like mother like daughter apparently."

My breath hitched. "You think she was with all three of them?"

Grim pursed his lips as he looked at the picture. "That's what it looks like."

I studied it again. "I wonder what happened to them…"

"What does the letter say?" Saint asked.

I sucked in a deep breath and cleared my throat.

Our dearest Bailey,

If you're reading this, then we are long gone. Hopefully, not before we had a chance to see you grow into the beautiful woman we know you are meant to be. Your father and I had a very different life before you were born. A life that drove us out of Ever Graves and into Wickford Hollow. That picture is the last one we took with them. I was pregnant with you at the time. They were so excited to meet you. Sadly, they were taken from us before that day came. Someday you will fall in love too. Don't ever be afraid of it. Even if it looks different than those who are not like us. Follow your heart and don't ever be ashamed of who you are. We love you more than you could ever understand. When the time is right, we'll see each other again. In this life or the next.

Loving you always,

Mom and Da d

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I clutched the letter to my chest. "They were just like us," I whispered.

As I looked around the room at my guys, I realized I loved them with a fierceness that was beyond reason or logic. They had awakened me, sheltered me, and fought for me. They had made me feel things I had only fantasized about before.

"Are you okay, little fox?" Poe asked.

I nodded, sniffling. "Yeah. I just wish I could have had them around a bit longer."

Saint picked me up and set me on his lap. "You may see them again someday. This world is strange, even for us."

I nestled against his chest as Grim and Poe threw their arms around us. Raine knelt on the floor by our feet. "You have us now, Bailey. Forever," Grim rasped.

Saint stood up, still holding me in his arms. "It's time to put our little fox to bed."

Moisture gathered between my thighs. "But I'm not tired."

Raine snickered. "Who said anything about sleeping?"

Poe ran his hands through my hair. "We're going to do bad things to you, Bailey. Dirty, filthy, depraved things."

A deep carnal ache stirred in my core. I smirked coyly at the four of them. "And I'm going to like it."

Grim slid his hand down my shirt and pinched my nipple. " Good girl ."

"Our psycho little vixen," Raine breathed.

We were all psychos, the five of us. Monsters. But it was the world that made us this way. With poison and fire and brimstone, the truly evil ones sent us down this path. I lost my humanity the second I lost my life at the bottom of the stairs of Wickford Mansion. But that's also where I was reborn. There was never any real redemption for me. For any of us. Only lust and sin and darkness. But that's where the fun stuff happens .