Forbidden |18+

II: Curious

II: Curious

"Why do you always pick nightclubs?" I'm dragging my feet as Eli leads the way, father, and mother behind me to ensure that nothing "happens" to me.

Eli chuckles and tosses over his shoulder at me, approaching the neon lights of a sign around the street corner, "Hey, you don't see me complaining when it's your turn to decide."

"That's because I like the park!" I exclaim, picking up the pace as Eli walks a little faster.

Father sighs while noting, "The only reason you pick the park, is because you're a lovesick romantic."

"I'll give Wren credit here," mother stands up for me, agreeing, "it's a nostalgic beauty in human interaction."

Eli starts making kissing noises as he adds, "Only those young ones that want to sneak out from their parents' homes meet up at the park. Under the moonlight," he turns around slightly, motioning dramatically, "stealing kisses under the beams of radiant light."

I push Eli and release a huff, hearing him chuckle before turning around and reaching the alleyway next to The Loophole. It's become a routine that I know like the back of my hand. I push off the ground, flying through the short distance to the top of the two-story building. Father and mother are right behind me, landing just feet away while Eli heads inside.

It's his turn, so he gets to pick and hypnotize the humans we'll feed on. Oh, but he enjoys every second leading up to it, taking his time. He enjoys playing with the weak will of mortals, the humanity within them he finds absolutely amusing.

I sit at on the edge of the roof, father and mother talking to one another a few feet from me. Gazing out across the city, I can see the observatory from the Paramount Conservatory in the distance, a homing beacon to remind me of my exact location. The lights from the school are duller at night, aside from the few classrooms that are teaching night classes.

I'd rather be learning there than sitting here.

"Wren," father's voice startles me and I quickly turn around, crossing my legs while sitting on the ledge.

I ask him hesitantly, "Yeah, dad?"

"We think it might be a good thing for you to get a new...dress," he pauses, reminding me of the inevitable, "you know, for the Dance of the Lilies. We want you to put your best foot forward."

Great...

I pipe up while sighing, "It doesn't matter what I wear. Liliana or Jinx Myrkur have a better chance naked than me in—"

Yeah, I get cuffed upside the head at this comment, hardly able to even finish it as I grow silent.

"You forget," father chastises me, "you might not descend from the most powerful aristocratic bloodline, however, there is power in age...you descend from one of the longest living lineages. Almost as old as the royal Hárauður bloodline itself."

Yeah, yeah...I've heard this all before. Still, I'm not as attractive as the other females...well, not as mature anyway, most of them are already in their mid-late twenties...some substantially older. Some have waited just for this opportunity, hundreds of years to be selected by the prince.

Prepare.

The one word slips through all of our minds as Eli connects us all together.

Father lifts his hard gaze to state, "We'll discuss this later."

Super!

Father and mother approach the edge where I sit, overlooking the alleyway as we spot Eli with a group of four girls. Great, slutty girls who are all over him. He'd more than likely fuck them if he could, though, that's only one of two forbidden acts within our society.