It had been a while since her anopsia acted up; she’d nearly forgotten how it felt. As a matter of fact, it had only turned up once since she started living with the Naroks. And now…Bang. Bang. Bang.“Come out now or so help me, I will break down this door,” Phoebe sounded pissed. Even though there was a hardwood door between them, Esther could hear the venom in the other girl’s voice.She walked towards the door and twisted the lock even further to make sure it was closed. Phoebe heard the lock click and gave the door a hard kick. Esther heard her mutter a few curses before stalking away. She slid down with a sigh and rubbed her eyes. The edges of her vision had turned blurry, and squiggly shapes danced around her view. She stood up slowly and made her way to her bag, taking her pills. She paused a second before popping two into her mouth; the bitter taste made her wince. But when she reached into the bag, she didn't hear the familiar crinkle of her strawberry-flavored candy. She si
Sullivan woke up to a buzzing by his ear. He slowly opened his eyes then shut them as the bright morning light assaulted his vision. He stretched his hand toward the infernal sound and picked up his phone.Picking up the call, he growled, "You better have a good reason for calling this bloody early, Vito."Vito's bored voice replied, "It's 11:36 a.m., and you have a meeting in twenty-four minutes."Sullivan rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Move it to tomorrow.""I'm afraid that is not possible. The partners called, and they are on their way."Sullivan opened one bleary eye. "Fine, I'm sure you can delay the darn meeting for thirty minutes. I'll be there."The call disconnected almost immediately.Sullivan tossed the phone away and lay back down. There was a small knock, and his room door was pushed open. A maid walked in with a tray of food. Sullivan looked up to see who it was."Phoebe," he called. "Is the young miss ready for school?"Phoebe shrugged as she dropped the tray. She tugged
The dress was a deep, rich red color that hugged her body. The flared skirt fell just above her knee, and the rounded neckline framed her face. At face value, the dress looked neat and modest, but on her, it was something entirely different. Sullivan's eyes darkened. His heated gaze shifted from the painter to his daughter beside her. The cheeky little thing was watching him with a smug expression.They reached the end of the stairs. The painter nodded coolly at him. "I'll go get my coat."He watched her walk away."What do you think?"He turned to Bloom. "About what?"Bloom rolled her eyes and tore out a sheet from her pad, holding it up to him.Sullivan read the paper's bold title: "Dating Rules."His lips twitched. "This is?"Bloom gave him a look that said, "Are you dumb?""It's your dating to-do list. You have to follow it strictly," she narrowed her eyes. "If you don't, I'll know."Sullivan scoffed.Bloom crumpled the paper in her hand and went to sit down. "If you no longer wish
After the meal, a few slices of cake were served. Sullivan raised a brow at this. He had not planned to stay for dessert. He glanced in the direction of the kitchen before taking out Bloom's crumpled paper from his pocket. It was a listed itinerary for the date. Looking at the activities, Sullivan briefly wondered where Bloom had gotten all this information.It included such things as opening the door and pulling out chairs for the painter, as well as complimenting her outfit. Was he going on a date or playing as a servant? He crumpled the paper and tossed it on the table. He had done none of those things and he didn't plan to."Are you finished?" he asked. The painter, who was about to bite into her tiramisu, paused and blinked at him."If you're done, we should leave. It's getting late."She paused and dropped the fork.But before she could stand up, a shadow hovered over the table. Vincent grinned down at them."Is the cake not to your liking, madame?"She immediately shook her hea
Esther slipped into her bed and shut her eyes, not that it made much of a difference. Her vision had started ebbing the second they got to the house. Thankfully, for some reason, he had led her to her door. She just didn't expect what happened next. She raised her hand and stared at her red palm. She must have hit him really hard. She frowned; he deserved it! But now that her fury was burning out, she wanted to cry. She was definitely fired. Dahra would kill her. She picked up her phone and began typing a text."You won't believe the awful thing that happened to me t..."Before she could type another word, her phone started ringing. The caller popped up, and it was Dahra. Esther's heart skipped a beat. Had a contract termination email already been sent? Her finger hovered over the decline button, but she tapped the green button with a wince."Hello?""Hey babe, what's up?""N-nothing... is anything up on your end?""Well yes..." Dahra sounded mad.Esther swallowed and began to defend
"What is that?" Sullivan asked in disgust. His best friend and right-hand man, Vito, held out the screaming infant wrapped tightly in white swaddling cloth."A baby," Vito droned.Sullivan glared at him. "I can see that. The question is, why do you have the infernal creature with you?"Vito shuffled uncomfortably, still holding out the baby. "Just take it.""Tell me, who owns the child?""Take it first." Vito dropped the child onto Sullivan's desk. The baby released a petulant scream and kicked until it rolled to the edge of the desk. Sullivan caught the bundle before it toppled over. Vito had retreated to the door.Sullivan glowered. "Where the hell do you think you're going?""The child is yours, Sullivan."A heavy denial was on Sullivan's lips when his eyes widened. "Laura?" His face twisted in anger. "You believed that cheating whore?" He looked ready to toss the now silent baby into the trash."Curb your anger, Sullivan. I'm no fool," he fished out several pieces of paper from his
Someone giggled. Esther turned to the source, but all she could see were blurry outlines against the light. She held her bag close and prayed the train stopped at her station soon. She should have taken a cab straight to the hospital instead of taking the subway just to save a few bucks. When she had left home that morning, although her sight was a bit blurry, she could walk just fine. But now she was bumping into everything. The speeding train slowed down, and she sighed as people exited the train, and more people got in. Just two more stops to her destination. She dipped her hand into her bag, rummaging for the familiar bottle. When her hands closed around it, she brought it out; it was so light. She shook out the pills; only two bounced onto her palm. She would need to get a refill after today's treatment.Thirty minutes later, she walked into the hospital just as her sight finally failed."Aiyaa," someone sighed.Esther smiled at the comforting familiar voice. She held out her hand
The woman, Adelaide, was extremely annoying. She hovered around Bloom the entire party, talking about how Bloom's hair had such beautiful curls or how her eyes were smart and expressive. It couldn't be very expressive if the annoying witch couldn't tell that Bloom loathed her presence, or maybe she could tell but chose to ignore it.Grandmother still found a way to arrange a date for her dad and the woman. Grandmother called it a 'get-together' and emphasized that she and the woman's mother would be there, but Bloom was sure they would leave early with some lame excuse. Her dad agreed, with one condition—Bloom had to come along. She rolled her eyes when he said, 'I've been so busy, I hardly spend time with my baby. This will be a good opportunity.'She knew he just wanted to use her as a cupid shield. She'd make sure he paid for that—five hundred silver Galands, to be exact.On a Saturday evening, they were seated in a luxurious private room at Salem Restaurant. An exotic spread of del