A Ballad of Snakes and Shadows // A Dark Sebastian Sallow Romance

Chapter Fourteen: White Rabbit (Ängie Cover) // Hold Your Breath

White Rabbit (Cover) -  Angie

Hold Your Breath - Ruelle

When I returned to the fray of the party I found Ominis brooding in a corner by himself.

Brooding was a bit out of character for him these days given he had been all sunshine and comfort for me. As I hesitantly approached him, I imagined the sour look on his face probably had everything to do with my disappearance.

I hoped I was wrong. Maybe he'd finally found a lead and whatever evidence he found hadn't sat well with him. My stomach turned when he threw back the rest of his drink before grimacing.

Whatever was eating Ominis was not going to be good.

However it wasn't just his peculiar disposition that had changed since I left the ballroom. All the partygoers seemed to be acting... odd.

Gone were the graceful sways of beautiful gowns and polite smiles. Instead something sinister and seductive hung in the air. It was hot, rising to intolerable levels as I tried my best to look away from the shameful displays around me. It was as if the entire party had reached a drunken state - some intoxicated on the spiked punch, others delirious with the heat of their dance partner.

I averted my eyes when I watched a pair writhing against each other in nearly the same way Sebastian had been pressed to me moments ago... where our hips had teased then collided against each other.

I swallowed my own shame as I pushed past too many couples lost in their own fits of passionate snogging. The sight of it made me want to vomit given how bruised my own lips felt after Sebastian's assault.

I had been overloaded with enough lust to last a lifetime.

"Looks like they're all having fun." I said as I took a spot on the wall next to Ominis. I was grateful for the coolness of the stone against my bare, flushed skin. It was the only thing keeping me steady as I turned to Ominis. He nearly dropped his cup on the ground as I spoke and immediately turned towards me with fury on his face.

"What the fuck, Hattie? Where the hell have you been?" Ominis hissed as he stepped forward, effectively backing me into the corner of the wall. All that weary sourness had disappeared. Now it wasn't just anger reflected in his defined features.

It was worry, fear, but most of all, a pissy look that made my heart hammer in my chest.

"I'm sorry." I whispered when he closed the distance between us. "I had an opportunity to go snooping - that doesn't make it right, I know, but I couldn't give up the chance."

Ominis' face tilted down towards mine but nothingI said eased the strain in his features. He had every right to be upset with me, even if he didn't know the true nature of my 'investigation'.

I felt shameful for what I had done. I could not blame him for being so furious with me. Though it was almost ironic how it was Sebastian and I who had upset Ominis again, just like we had many times in my first year.

Everything was so out of control.

Whatever was brewing among these partygoers, Sebastian, and myself was just the beginning. It had backed me into this corner and I was afraid Ominis - if he didn't stop scowling at me like that - was going to push me until I fell into the wall as if it had never been there.

What would happen if I fell off that ledge?

Would it be darkness waiting for me? Or would it be the end?