SEDUCTIVE PREY

THE SUCKIEST SUCKER

The lines have clearly been drawn between Ethan, the Syndicate, Tristan, Celeste, and the Syth. With Kyle and me in the middle. All are loyal to me, but I cannot choose between them. And yet, I may have to.

"Can we talk?" Celeste asks. Standing in the doorway of my bedroom.

"Sure." I nod. Bracing myself for whatever this might be.

Celeste comes in and closes the door behind her. Then she takes a seat across from where I am studying with a serious expression on her face.

Leaning back in my chair, I take a deep breath and tell her, "Just say it."

"There are some among us who are starting to question where their loyalties lie. I needn't tell you how dangerous that is."

"I know how dangerous that is."

"You must pick a side, Alison. And by a side, I mean the side of the people who are fighting and dying for you out of blind loyalty." Celeste urges. "People who will go to the ends of the earth if you ask them to. Because that's how much they believe in you."

"The Syth." I surmise.

"Not just the Syth. There is also Tristan and me."

I know what she wants from me, but I am not certain I can give it.

"Do not ask me to choose between the two halves of my heart, Celeste."

"I'm not asking you to do anything other than put your people first. The dark one must know his place. He is not to interfere with any business regarding the Syth or any disagreements you and the Syth might have." Celeste tells me. "Not if you wish to keep their loyalty."

"If I haven't lost it already." I scoff. Shaking my head.

"You are their queen, Alison. If they haven't lost you, you haven't lost them."

"We both know I'm not queen material. I suck at this. I suck worse than the suckiest sucker in the history of sucking. In fact, I super suck."

Celeste bursts into laughter, and her contagious laughter pulls me into the giggle loop too. Placing her hand over mine, she tells me, "You were chosen for a reason."

"It was more like I was grandfathered into the role." I deadpan.

We laugh again.

"Be weary of the man who eagerly seeks and encouraging of the man who doesn't." Celeste speaks in riddles.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means that often times it is the reluctant ones who make the best leaders."

"Do you really believe that?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Why?" She nods without a missing a beat.

"Because absolute power corrupts absolutely. And somehow who does not wish for power are less likely to abuse the fact that they have it. They will want to be responsible and do the responsible thing. You may not know it yet Alison, but there is a reason you are on this path and not someone like me or any other member of the Siphoner community. The first being that it is your birthright, and the second being your bloodline being one of the most powerful bloodlines on the planet. You haven't even begun to tap into the amount of power you have coursing through your veins."

I wish I could believe her, but up until now being a Siphoner has felt like one massive burden. Not just because its threatening to separate me from Ethan, but because it has separated me from everything I've ever had and known. My mom, Lexie, my dad, my old friends, my grandpa, and any normal life I could have had.

"Short of handing myself over to Zayd and giving him what he wants... I don't know how to save anyone." I admit.

"The fact that you'd be willing to sacrifice yourself shows how much queen potential you have. But you cannot. What we can do, however, is retaliate." She suggests.

"How?"

"Take something or someone he loves. Something he'd be willing to bargain for to get back."

"He would just kill everyone out of spite." I shake my head. "No. We must find a better way."

"Do you have a better way?" She asks. "If you do, then I'm all ears. But we cannot just stand by while our people are being murdered by this maniac. We must do something. You must do something other than sit back and wait for them to die. Show your people that their loyalty works both ways."

Celeste is putting a lot of pressure on me to make this decision, but my gut is telling me I need to think this through. That retaliating would only mean more casualties. And everyone on all sides have lost too many already.

So how do we proceed?

"Hello there, Ali-cat." Lucas' sultry voice breaks through my thoughts.

Within seconds, Celeste and I are on our feet. With her shielding me from my best friend turned frenemy.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Celeste hisses at him.

"There isn't a place on this planet where I cannot be present. Including your dreams, sweetheart." He smiles. Raking his eyes over her even though we both know where his heart lies.

Celeste flusters under the weight of his gaze. Her cheeks tinging a very telling shade of shame. Because even this completely badass Siphoner is no match for Lucas' charms. Which... ew.

"Are you here as a friend or foe?" I ask, studying him carefully. If he makes one wrong move, he'll be on a one-way train back to hell.

"Both." He admits. "That dragon-hole of an ex-boyfriend of yours wants me to tell you to get your tissues ready for the cursed one. Otherwise known as that temperamental boyfriend of yours. Because Gwen is the next to die."

Taking a step toward him, I search his eyes for any sign that my BFF might still be in there somewhere.

"How are Lexie, Eden, and the others?" I ask him. "How are you?"

"Just another day of being a slave to my bloodline for me." He answers. And I see the truth of his words in his eyes. "Our friends aren't doing too good. I can keep his attention away from Lexie and Eden, but it is your grandfather who suffers the most. He refuses to allow anyone else to be harmed, often taking the punishment when Zayd is angry and needs a whipping boy. But I don't know how much longer he can hold out. I don't know how much longer any of them can hold out. Not to mention the fact that their days are numbered."

Lucas' gaze travels from me to Celeste and back.

"Nik... he... he died with honor." Lucas tells me. Though I have a feeling his words are more for Celeste than they are for me. "He never broke, screamed, or cried out for help. In fact, his last words were 'long live the queen'."

Celeste and I let that settle between us. Anchor us and give us some modicum of peace. Dying with honor is what the Syth would have wanted for him. And Lucas even giving us that much was a small mercy I will never forget.

"Ethan and I are engaged." I blurt out.

His head whips in my direction, and the smile I've come to love over the past few years etches across his face. A smile that's equal parts amusement, and equal parts sarcasm.

"He finally grew a pair." He nods with approval. "Eden will be happy to hear of it. But you two better not get hitched without her or you'll never hear the end of it. Not to mention I'll be in the doghouse for the next eternity."

"Help us."

Right away, Lucas shakes his head. "If I do, they'll hurt her Ali-cat. And as much as you might be in love with me, I can't risk it. Not for a beautiful girl like you, and not even to save my own ass."

I start to ask him to do what he can without getting caught, when Lucas jerks his head to the left as if someone is approaching, and in the next breath he's gone. Taking my hope and his entertainment with him.