Page 63 of Rot

I didn’t want all the pictures of us to look awkward. No, I wanted at least one good one.

“Oh, that’s adorable. Yes, perfect!” Aunt Maggie took a few more. “Elias, I know you can smile better than that! Come on.” Elias must’ve rolled his eyes at that, because then she said, “Now you just ruined that one, so I need to take at least five more.”

“Jesus, Mom,” Elias spoke, his deep voice annoyed. “I think that’s enough.” He started to leave, walking toward the front door. I shrugged at Aunt Maggie before following him.

“Fine, fine,” she said, trailing after us. She held open the door for us and watched as we walked outside, to Elias’s car. “But make sure you take pictures while you’re there! It’s prom night. You graduate in two weeks. This is your last school dance. Make some memories! But more importantly, have fun, you two.” She clung to the front door, grinning as we got in the car.

I waved at her as Elias backed us up, and she waved back.

Twilight had swallowed the world. Prom wasn’t held at the school; for once, the school sprung for something a little fancy. Prom was being held at a local country club in the neighboring city, so it was a fifteen-minute drive.

We weren’t the first ones who got there, but Elias didn’t park in the closest lot; he parked in the neighboring parking lot, near the golf course. We could see the doors to the country club and everyone lined up, waiting to get inside. Everyone looked so pretty, even from this far away. The girls in fancy dresses and the guys in tuxedos and suits.

I only had eyes for Elias, though.

By the time everyone got inside, twilight had given way to dusk.

Sighing, I turned my head toward him, finding he already stared at me. “I wish we could go in. I wish I could dance with you.” Now that the whole school knew we were related, we didn’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves.

Hey, marrying your cousin was legal… in some states.

Elias frowned somewhat, but then he changed stations on the radio, finding one that was playing some old eighties love song. He turned it up loud and rolled down the windows. He said not a word as he got out of the car, heading around it to open my door, and then he offered me his hand.

“Who says we need to go inside?” Elias asked, that voice of his giving me goosebumps in a way no other voice could. So low and deep and gravelly, so dangerous when it wanted to be. I could listen to that voice all day and all night and never tire of it.

I smiled as I slipped my hand into his. He helped me out of the car, shutting the door behind me, and then his hands found my hips, resting there comfortably. I set my hands on his shoulders, mimicking what I’d seen in the movies and on TV. We began to sway slowly with the beat, just the two of us in the crisp night air, the parking lot empty around us.

I’d never been to a dance before. I never had friends, and there was no way in hell any boy from my past life would ever have asked me to go to a dance. I had always been the outsider, but here, with Elias, I felt right at home.

Angling my head back, I gazed up at him, feeling love swell in my heart. This one… he’d captured me before either of us was aware of it. I loved him more than anything in this world.

“I love you, Elias Whitenbaker,” I whispered.

“Not as much as I love you, Sloane Karnagy. You’re mine.” Elias answered, bringing his face down to mine as his hands on my hips pulled me in closer, pinning me against his strong, solid chest. His warmth seeped into me.

Having heels on helped a bit with the height difference. His lips pressed against mine, a slow kiss at first, very unlike him. It didn’t stay that way for long, though, because soon enough, those lips started to ravage mine, kissing me with urgency and utmost desire. He backed me up, pinning me to the car.

The rot in me had helped guide me to find my happily ever after with someone who was tainted with it, just like me. Our rot would mingle and mix to form something new, something unholy. A sinful devotion, a blasphemous love, two murderous hearts.

My beautiful monster, his darkness matched mine. We were a match made in hell, and our life together was only beginning.