A/N: So since I'm a failure as a human being. I forgot to mention that the reason to be behind this fic is Nikki (monophobian). So you see, she's part of the Italian mob, yes yes totally. So as we all talked to her in fear that she would have us murdered, she told us about her grandpa, and hm, this came to be. (I may or may not be exaggerating the story! who knows! Maybe Nikki is out to get us all, maybe she's not!) Anyways, thank you for being my inspiration. You're evil and you're the best.

Anyways enjoy this chapter!

[Redacted]

Part 2

Her head was throbbing, her chest was heaving with each breath she took while her throat was burning from the dryness. Everything around her was pitch black, leaving her disoriented. Why was it so dark? She meant to lift her arms, explore the darkness that laid in front of her, but quickly found out that she could not. No matter how hard she tried, she was met with a foreign resistance that kept her arms locked in place. What the… As she twisted her wrists around, she could feel a burning sensation across her skin, rubbing away at her flesh. Tie wraps? Horror struck her, her jaw became slack and the previous events came rushing back to her. They had taken her! She was tied up! She was blindfolded? Her chin and lips were trembling while she could feel how clammy her palms were as they touched one and another. Her body tightened, wanting to flee the situation but she was stuck in place.

"Look who's awake," came a foreign voice.

It did not sound like the man who had snatched her away. Was it his friend? Was it someone else? "W—"she tried to speak but all that came out was a raspy sound—thanks to all the screaming she had done prior to waking up.

She straightened her neck, tension spreading from the base of her skull down to the lower back. "W-here am I? Who are you?" she demanded.

A chuckle rang through her ears. "That's cute. She's asking the questions. She's cute."

The voice was deep, amusement laced with each word he said. She tried to break free again, struggling against her binds. Unfortunately, it did not quite work out for her. As she pulled and tugged, she suddenly found herself losing her balance. Her entire body moved to the right and a sharp exhaled of air was knocked out of her lungs. Fuck. She braced herself for the impact before a loud thud echoed through, while the side of her head met a very hard surface—probably cement. A vivid pain exploded inside her head, spreading within her body. Her suffering was met with laughter. Before she could work past the dizzy spell taking over her mind, warm hands cupped her waist and in one swift motion she was back in a straight sitting position. The large hands gripped at her skin through the fabric of her shirt, the heat radiating across her flesh.

He was right there, she could tell. She could feel it each time he exhaled upon her face, the warmth sending shivers of fear down her spine. He was close—too close. She held her own breath, waiting for what came next.

"Let's see that face," he said as one of his hands finally released her.

He tugged at the back of her head, loosening that blindfold that shielded him from her sight. A few seconds went by before it was loose enough to slide down her face, allowing her to see again. Right there, in front of her was the bluest pair of eyes she had ever seen. A long wide scar was easily visible on his right cheek, clashing with the tan colour of his skin. He was smirking at her, to no surprise of hers, leaning backwards, giving some space between the two of them. The motion made his long brown ponytail swing from left to right. It also allowed her to notice that he was not wearing a shirt. All of his visible skin was covered in tattoos—dark black ink—barely leaving any space on his chest to display any kind of bare flesh. She could, however, see what appeared to be many wounds disfiguring the patterns of his ink.

"A photo lasts longer," he suggested as he grabbed her chin, tilting her head backwards.

Her first instinct was to slap his hand away but she quickly found out that she could not do that. Freaking tie wraps. All it did was dug them further into her flesh, deepening the growing wounds around her wrists.

"You're cute," he said as he turned her head left and right, observing her features. "But that doesn't tell me what you're doing with shit that doesn't belong to you."

What? "I don't know what you're talking about," she said as she yanked her head away from his grip. "Who are you?"

He laughed. "Don't play dumb." He rose to his feet and signalled with his hand that her belongings be brought to him. Her eyes widened when her purse came into view and his smile kept on growing. He shoved his hand inside, retrieving two items; the necklace and the knife. "Why do you have these?"

The smart thing to do would be to explain that they were not hers and she did not know what they were. But that was not what she did. "What's it to you?"

"It belongs to me."

Was it a youkai knife and that was why it could kill them? An ancient artefact? It would make sense that her grandfather would end up with something ancient … still. It seemed it had belonged to them for a long time and this … guy did not seem that old. Then again, youkais could be tricky. They lived for such a long period of time that it became difficult to tell their age. It did not matter—could she even trust what he was saying? "I doubt that."

"And I doubt they're yours."

He was not particularly attached to them—or own them really—but it did concern him that they were popping up out of nowhere. This was not the kind of shit he wanted circulating on the streets. Especially since with the tensions at an all-time high at this time and everyone was on their guard, ready to make the first move. This needed to be handled and he needed to show that there was a reason he had been put in charge. When Ginta and Hakkaku had called saying they were bringing in a package, this was not what he had expected. She was not what he had expected. She was looking at him with a fire burning in her eyes and it only led him to believe that something was up with this girl. She had been gassed up, thrown in a car, blindfolded and tied up—yet she kept on fighting him. Who was she with? Whom did she work for?

"They are mine." Well—technically, no. But he did not need to know that.

She had to get out of here, she had to get out of this. She grabbed the edge of the tie wrap, the one sticking out, and pulled it tighter, getting rid of the loose. It was hard not to wince, but she did her best not to show any expression. Hopefully he would think she was just trying to wriggle free. She had seen a video of this once; Ayumi had tagged her on it on Facebook. Granted she had never practised it or tried it, but there was no time like the present, right? What else did she have to lose? From the look of them, they were not about to quietly let her go. They did not know anything about her and yet they had freaking kidnapped her.

He let the necklace fall to the ground and took a step forward holding the knife. He pointed the tip of the blade in her direction, his eyes pouring into hers. "Is one knife all you took? Did ya think it was enough?"

Her blood was rushing through her, colouring her cheeks red as she was hopeless to stop the tapping of her foot. She could do this. Come on. Come on. Do it. She closed her eyes, gathering all of her strength and then, she smacked her joined wrists as hard as she could against her lower back while forcing her arms apart. The rapidity of the motion, along with the success of her plan left her so shocked that she was unable to stop her fall and fell forward into the ground. On a positive note, her small victory did shock him as well. For a second, he was frozen in place, and she took advantages of the momentary distraction. She grabbed the knife from his hands, wincing as the sharp blade cut through her flesh. She stepped back, and turned it as to point the blade in his direction. She did not know much about it, but based on what she had gathered—she could hurt him with it. At least she hoped she could. If not she was royally fucked.

Immediately she could feel the other youkais closing in on her, trapping her in a circle. Not good. But, before they got too close, he raised his hand, stopping them in their tracks. He had a smirk on his face as he took a step in her direction while she pointed the shaking knife at him. "Impressive," he noted as his eyes narrowed. "Can't remember the last time someone got the jump on me." He took another step. He liked her.

"I'll do it."

Another step. "Go ahead." Another one.

Instead of imitating him and moving forward, she went backwards. Her body was trembling, her arms became unsteady as she watched him fearlessly get closer to her. Could she? He was calling her bluff—he could probably smell it on her.

His smirk never faltered, not even as he kept on slowly closing the distance between them. He got close enough for the silver blade to poke his chest, and that was when he stopped. The flesh caved in under the pressure of the blade and Kagome felt the urge to pull back. He did not let her. Instead, he grabbed the blade, squeezing it, forcing blood to pour from his hand and unto the ground. He was challenging her—pushing her to her limit. He could tell she was not going to kill him, else she would have done it by now. Although he could not figure out what her endgame was. What was she trying to gain from this? She was a mystery.

"This is insane. I mean—"She could not go forward, she could not go backwards. "This is the last time I listen to gramps' rambling," she muttered under her breath.

"Gotta make a choice princess."

She lost it. "What choice? I don't even know what this is! I don't even know what you are—who you are," she screamed. "I found it in the attic. It was my grandpa's okay!" Maybe if she pinched herself hard enough, she would wake up from this nightmare.

"What?"

"What?" she repeated. The blood kept on sliding down his chest, tainting the blade and his own flesh further while she began to see the wound the tip of the blade was making on his chest.

"Who's your grandfather?"

"Why does it matter?"

He took a step forward. "Who is he?"

"Kazuki Higurashi!" she shouted in horror as she watched the blade pierced deeply through his skin.

His grip on the blade loosened and his lips parted ever so slightly. "Kazuki Higurashi? You're an Higurashi?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll be damned," he said with a shake of the head. "I didn't know the old fart had kids—or grandkids." He remembered that he was already pulling away when his wife died … but he did not know that by then they had a child… Heck, he did not even know the old man still had one of the knives with him. He had been a loyal part of the group—no one had bothered him when he had decided that life was too much. Especially after he lost his wife. Anyways—it was not like anyone was going to go after him; he was deadly.

"Wait—what?" He let go of the knife, the unexpected motion forcing her to put her arms down. "You … you know my gramps?"

He chuckled. "I only met him once, but I know of him."

She blinked once. Then twice. "I need to sit down," she finally said to no one in particular as she let herself drop to the ground. None of this made sense. None of this was logical. What? There—she did not even know where she was or what they were. How could her grandfather possibly know people like this?

"He was a hell of a fighter."

"A what?"

He tilted his head to the side, clearly amused. He was smirking, withholding a laughter at her expression. This girl did not know the first thing about anything, did she. "Are ya telling me you just happened to find this?"

She nodded.

This feisty little thing did not even have a clue as to what was happening to her right now. And yet she had tried to threaten him and get the upper hand. He liked her spirits. One sniff at her had been enough to know she was telling the truth about her heritage, but he still had questions. Probably a lot fewer questions than her though. Higurashi was always a curious one. Then again, most monks were. He had not sense any power coming from her but he knew better than to assume it meant she had not inherited any kind of holy powers. He would find that unlikely considering the fact that both her grandparents had such great powers. He could not remember the last time they had a Miko amongst their ranks. Perhaps her grandmother had been the last one? It could be interesting to keep her around.

"Are you gonna keep on staring or is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?" she said, stomping her foot down.

She barely had a moment to blink that he had closed up the distance between them. Her whole body was lifted from the ground in a heartbeat. His nose was brushing up against hers, his blood coated fingers were holding her chin, the liquid still feeling warming on her skin. His lips were a mere whisper away from hers and all she could hear was her own heartbeat.

"I like my women feisty," he said, his head a dash to the side.

He what?

Without thinking, her hand lifted and made contact with his cheek—loudly. The slap echoed through the quiet room, and not a sound could be heard—not even a breath was taken. Everyone froze, horrified by what she had just done. A mere seconds after sparing her own life, she had now apparently put it in jeopardy again.

"I'm not an object," she defended with narrowed eyes. "And I'm certainly not one of your women."

He grabbed his cheek, rubbing it, the stinging feeling lingering behind. "You are an Higurashi," he said with a chuckle. Oh yeah—he liked her.

Ding.

At the sound, he tore his focus away from her and reached out for the back pocket of his black jeans. Quickly, he pulled out his cellphone, his focus detached from her. "Fuck," he groaned as he tilted his head backwards, his jaw clenched. "Fucking spider. Ginta come with me." He looked at Kagome. "Hakkaku make our guest comfortable 'til I come back."

"Excuse me?" She scoffed. "You're not keeping me here. I'm not staying here."

He offered her a bemused smile as his arms dropped to his side so that he could hide away his phone once more. "So what you're telling me," he said, moving forward, "is that, you were drugged up, kidnapped," he continued until he stood in front of her, her body a mere touch away. "Blindfolded, tied up…" He wrapped an arm around her waist, earning a gasp from her. He tilted his head to the side, his mouth brushing up against her earlobe. He could feel the pulse of her heart thundering through her neck. "But you think keeping you here against your will is where I draw the line?"

The air was caught in her throat, the palm of his hand transferring heat to her lower back. Her cheeks became fire as his breath tickled her ear, forcing her to resist the urge to shiver.

"You might be an Higurashi…" he trailed off. "But I still need to check you out," he said, his fingers gripping at the fabric of her clothes.

Her mind oscillated—hesitating between kneeing him in the groin or yanking his arm away, but his speed made the decision for her; neither. He backed away, the presence of his hand on her body now nothing more than a lingering ghost. He offered her a wink before brushing past her, waving at his companion to follow him.

He had made quite a valid point, but that did nothing to excuse his forward behaviour. "Pompous jerk."

Hakkaku could hardly hold back the laughter that bubbled out of his lips. Honestly, he was surprised that had not earned him another slap… He was lucky he was fast, that was all he was going to say. Although Kouga always said what was on his mind without any kind of restraint, he had to admit that even he found him forward today.

Kagome huffed. "Just who does he think he is?"

"That's Kouga. He's the alpha."

She sighed in resignation. Considering how she ended up in this undisclosed location in the first place, she had every reason to believe that measures would not be spared to keep her here against her will. There was nothing else to do … but wait.

It could be worse; she could still be tied up to the chair…

-R-

"You guys know my family is gonna look for me at some point, right?"

She had tried to text them but it had been in vain. The faster-than-lightning evil youkais had snatched her phone away from her hand before she could type up a word. She had told them that she was going to visit her grandfather—they all knew it did not mean she would vanish for days! Kouga, has they had called him, had yet to return from his little outing. God only knew what he was doing out there—and she did not even want to know. She knew she had gone into this trying to find some answers but it turned out that the less she knew, the better.

"I doubt they'll find you," Hakkaku commented with a smile on his lips.

He was on the fence—she clearly was not the threat they thought she was. The girl was clueless about everything. But that did not mean she could walk away like nothing had happened. How did they know they could trust her?

"Listen girl, you're gonna have to wait for Kouga to come back," he added, leaning into the wall.

"Kagome."

"What?"

"My name is Kagome. Ka-Go-Me." If someone called her girl one more time, she was going to officially lose it.

"Okay Ka-go-me, you're still gonna have to wait until Kouga is back."

"And does anyone know when Kouga might come back?" she asked, before pursing her lips. He was taking his sweet time, as though she did not have anything else to do with her day. School. She had school in the morning.

"Nope," he said, popping the p.

"Why, did ya miss me?" She jumped, the back of her head hitting the nearby wall, as he zapped through a cloud of dust and appeared in front of her. "I wasn't gone that long."

His face was close enough to hers for Kagome to notice the streak of dry red smudge under his left eye. She tried to look away but she found that she could not; she was mesmerized. There was no mistaken what it was. Her intense staring forced him to pay attention to what she was looking at—only to realize what it was. He smirked before using his thumb to smudge it away. "Work gets messy," he said as he stood up straight.

Especially when the fucking spider was involved. If it were not for him, they probably would not have so much work, but he made it impossible for peace to last longer than a day. He was always lurking around in the shadows, always planning something. Even when nothing was obvious, he knew he was doing something in the background.

"So can I go now?" Kagome inquired as she rubbed her wrists.

"No," he flat out answered.

"Why not?"

"You know too much."

"I literally don't know anything. Except that you can't keep your hands to yourself."

"I can touch you more if you want. I aim to please."

What was wrong with him? "No, thank you."

"You'll change your mind."

"This isn't beauty and the beast. I won't suddenly fall in love with you because you keep me here against my will."

"You never know."

She had a snappy come back for everything he said to her. She had seen blood on his face and yet it bothered her very little. She clearly spoke her mind and he could not smell a hint of lies on her. It was difficult to say what her deal was. On one hand, her grandfather was a legacy amongst them. The Higurashi had been a part of their founding fathers. It did allow him to slightly put his guard down but—since Kazuki, there had not been an Higurashi amongst their ranks. It was not like he was against it but she did not strike him as—being the right fit for them. After all, she had not been careful with the artefacts and she had gotten kidnapped quite easily. Then again, she was not in control of her powers—if she had any, of course. Maybe if they helped her … it would be nice to have some holy powers back… It would make dealing with the spider a lot easier.

"Alright, so whaddaya want?"

"What?"

"Why were you carryin' around a knife and a necklace that don't belong to ya?"

"They are mine."

"They're your gramps."

"What's the difference?"

"We trust your grandfather. We don't know you."

That was true—although she did not know them either. And to be fair, they had snatched her away and thrown her in the back of a car. They probably owed her more of an explanation than she did. They could not really just expect her to think they were good guys or something? No good guy showed up with blood on his face. "I just wanted to know what they were. My gramps isn't really lucid anymore … he said weird things… He thinks I'm my grandmother. And I found the knife. That's it, end of the story. Can I go now?"

That made sense—sort of. He had seen her grandmother before. He would not exactly confuse the two of them but he could see the family resemblance if he looked at her at the right angle. "Not yet."

"Are you just stalling until you figure out a way to kill me and get rid of me?" She did not know if she was asking this in seriousness or if she was joking. Dear God she hoped she was joking.

"Is that what you think we do?"

Granted, they had not displayed a very peaceful front with the whole kidnapping bit but he was intrigued to see what she had gathered from her short time with them.

Well. There was murder knife. Oh and there was her grandfather talking about taking care of youkais. "You had blood on your face. You kidnapped me. And you're covered in stabbing marks. Maybe?"

"I knew you were checking me out," he said with a grin.

This guy was unbelievable! She had never meant anyone who was this confident—ever. She thought Inuyasha had a big head but it was nothing compared to this guy.

"I'm not gonna kill ya," he settled on answering. "But I can't just let you walk."

"Listen, I don't care what kind of—weird club you have going on here. I'll stay out of your way, you stay out of mine." And this was the last time she was going around digging through family secrets. It was best for her to assume what was going on here and move on from it. She did not want to know what her grandfather—the great fighter—had been up to during his younger years. She did not even want to consider the fact that this might have something to do with her grandmother dying. Nope. What about her dad? Did he ever had anything to do with this? She had no clear memories of him … then again, her mother would be involved in this, would she? No. She could not have been wrong about every single person in her family. Also, if her mother were involved, they would know who she was.

"I thought you wanted to know what the knife was for?"

"Not anymore," she hurried to answer.

"Kouga … can I talk to you?" Ginta threw a glance towards Kagome. "Over there?" he said pointing at the door leading outside the dark cavern they had been stuck in.

"If you're gonna talk about me, you can do it in front of me, you know," Kagome pitched in with furrowed eyebrows. It was about her and she deserved to know.

"I like your attitude," he said, flashing her a fang poking grin. Still, he ignored her request as he popped to his feet. "Be right back. Don't go anywhere," he teased.

As if she could. She knew better than to try and outrun youkais. Actually now she knew better. It was perhaps a lesson she should have mastered earlier when she tried to make a run for it. They had stopped her quite rapidly and it had been somewhat embarrassing. Even now, her wrists—were they had held her to drag her back—hurt. Violence had not been necessary but apparently they had felt the need to display their superiority.

Once they were far enough away, Ginta's facial expression transformed. He wrinkled his eyebrows, his lips tightly pressed together as he pulled at his throat. "Can I know what you're doing here? I know you like havin' fun but…"

"But what?"

"Whatcha gonna do about her? I mean we took her here."

Kouga dismissed him with a wave of the hand. "I don't think she remembers where here is."

"It doesn't matter. You're not just gonna let her go, are you?"

"She's legacy. I ain't gonna just kill the old man's granddaughter."

"I wasn't saying to kill her. But we can't just do nothing. What are we gonna do?"

"Maybe we get her to join."

"Maybe we do what? Are you crazy? You wanna keep her around?"

Kouga shrugged. "Why not? Ever since Kazuki and that other monk quit, we've just been youkais. It would be a hell of a surprise if we had some holy powers to back us up. I bet that fucking spider wouldn't see it comin'." He was fucking tired of the stalemate. He wanted things to change and he wanted to come out on top.

He had a point but—"I don't think she's interested." It was clear that she wanted very little to do with them.

"Maybe we make it interesting."

"Yeah, I don't think she's failing for your flirting. You're gonna have to try something else."

Kouga's eyes narrowed. "She's just a little thrown off. Y'all see. There was a reason the old man joined. She doesn't seem much different."

"It was a different time."

"Doesn't mean I ain't gonna try." There was something about this girl that he could not quite figure out. He remembered the earlier days when he was nothing more than a cub, trying to make his way up. He was a little rough about it and the rules were less strict back then. There was a fire, there was an energy. She had that. She was spiting fire and she was not having it. They could use some fresh blood, some new energy.

Was she cut out for it? Probably not. At least not all of it. Then again, generations before her had done it. Maybe she would understand.

Regardless of all that, he wanted her to stick around.

It had been a long time since someone had actually stood up to him. It had been more frequent at the beginning, when he had taken over leadership of the place. People did not think he deserved it, did not think he could do the job as well. But he could. And he had proven himself. It had involved a few bloodshed but they eventually let him be. Except, she was challenging his authority in a different way—she also showed very little fear considering the situation she had found herself in.

"We're done here," he said to Ginta as he slapped him on the side of the arm.

"Oi. Higurashi," he screamed as he headed back her way.

She closed her eyes. "Kagome."

"I don't know. I kinda like seeing you get all flustered."

To say that she looked rather unimpressed was not enough to describe the current blank expression on her face. "If you think that hitting on me constantly will eventually work, let me save you the time. It won't."

"I don't know. You didn't seem too upset earlier when I had my hands all over you." He leaned in closer as he tapped his nose. "Can't fool this."

Her shoulders curled around her chest as she dipped her head forward, praying her bangs would cover the redness spreading across her cheeks. He officially had no filter. Also, she never—she did not—"I was surprised," she defended.

"Pleasantly surprised," he corrected.

He was hopeless. Completely hopeless.

"Listen I'll make ya a deal."

"I'm listening?" If there was anything she had learned so far, it was that she was not about to get her way.

"You wanna know more?"

"I don't."

"Liar. Ya didn't come this far to turn back now."

"I like being alive—and not kidnapped," she pointed out.

"Fair enough." He shoved both of his hands in his pockets. "How about this? I promise no one here will kill you."

She put her hand on her side, unimpressed by his promise. "And I'm just supposed to believe you?"

"I'm a man of my word. I can make ya a blood oath if you want?"

"I'll pass."

All she knew about this man was that he was in charge of this insane group who had kidnapped her. Oh and that her grandfather had somehow been a part of this? Could it be all an act? Could they be trying to look tough but they were not that bad? She could not even fathom the thought that her grandfather could be part of anything inherently evil. Could she go on in life with half of the answer? If she walked away now, would she spend her whole life looking over her shoulder? Getting involved in this was a bad idea. Knowing more was a bad idea. Yet, she needed to know. She wanted to know. This was a bad idea.

"Let's say I did wanna know more?" For a second, she would play his game.

Gotcha. "Then I'll tell ya more."

"And what is it gonna cost me?" She could hardly believe that anything came for free. Especially from him.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? I'm not an idiot. Everything has a price."

"Nope." His loud black boots made a loud thudding sound with each of his steps. Once more, she found herself trapped between his now clothed chest and the wall. "I mean, I do accept certain types of payments. If you're that desperate to throw yourself at me—who am I to say no?"

"I will slap you again."

"I liked it."

"I'm not doing this."

He chuckled, lowering his head enough for his bangs to tickle her nose. "We can go about this the easy way or hard way," he pointed out.

"This isn't the hard way?" she asked, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Your grandpa sure talks a lot."

Her eyes narrowed, her heartbeat picking up as she hoped he was not going down that road. Then again, did it really surprise her?

"It's not good," he added.

"Are you threatening my grandfather?"

No. "Am I?"

There were a million things she wanted to scream at him but instead, she pinched her lips together until they turned white. Granted she had come out of this fairly unharmed so far but—was that really an indication that nothing bad could happen? No. Was he bluffing? Did she know him well enough to call out his bluff? Probably not. Especially when it came to her grandfather's life. Even though she clearly did not know the first thing about that man.

"So you're telling me, all I'll be doing this learning."

He knew she would end up seeing things his way. "Yup."

"And how am I going to be learning?"

"It's a surprise."

"Do I get to go home?"

"Sure."

"Right now?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I'll let you go if you do one little thing."

"What?"

"Gotta ink you up a little bit."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't know that I can trust you. Gotta make sure you don't talk to the wrong people. It's completely safe. Actually, it's a binding your old man created." He turned to Ginta. "Bring the kit."

"Ya sure?"

"Ya."

"Hold on—I haven't agreed to this," she pleaded, waving her hands in front of her. She was not about to get all inked up—especially by someone she did not know. And tied up by a spell? She did not think so.

Kouga completely ignored her as he waited for Ginta to bring him what he had asked for. He quickly returned with a rolled-up scroll and she watched as Kouga carefully unwrapped it, revealing an engraving pen inside?

"Ain't this your gramps' handwriting," he said as he waved the scroll in her face.

Kagome had read enough of his old scrolls and protection charm to recognize his handwriting. However, she had never believed that any of it actually worked. From what she had seen, despite all of his knowledge, her grandfather had never been really good at this stuff. Had it all been a facade? Could he really have been this good at hiding who he really was? It was getting difficult to tell reality from fiction at this point.

"So because this comes from my grandfather—I'm just supposed to let you do it?"

"Pretty much."

"Let me guess— If I don't, you'll go back to blackmailing me?"

"I'm really touched by how well you know me already."

The urge to roll her eyes was strong. "What does it do?"

"Makes sure you keep your word. That's all."

Did she even have a choice? He might be all flirty and acting innocent, but she could see behind his eyes that he had a long history and a heavy past. She sighed dejectedly as her shoulders slumped forward. "Please don't put it anywhere visible. I don't want people thinking anything weird."

"I'll be more than happy to undress you."

"That—that's not what I meant. You know what, if I have to do this, you have to stop this."

"Stop what?"

"The flirting."

"I'm not flirting. Do you want me to flirt? I'd be happy to oblige."

For crying out loud. "Just—get it over with."

"Where do you want it?"

She tilted her head backwards, avoiding his eyes, as she lowered her hand and grabbed the hem of her shirt, she slowly lifted it, exposing her midriff to the room.

His smile grew into a full grin, putting his fangs on display. "Yes ma'am."

It was not too long before he was kneeling in front of her, his face a little too close to her … hm groin … for her comfort. Her face was pure fire as she felt him press the tip of the ink pen on her skin. She could not withhold a wince as it pierced through her skin, a foreign pain surging through her bloodstream. The pain continued for a few more seconds before she felt him pull away.

"All done," he said, still kneeling in front of her. "Want me to kiss it better?" he inquired as he looked up at her.

"Can I go home now?"

He chuckled as he pulled himself in a standing position, towering over her. "Sure. As long as you wear this," he said, pulling the blindfold out of his pocket.

"Really?"

"Do you wanna go home?"

She sighed in resignation. "Let's get this over with."

What the fuck had she gotten herself into?

-R-