LEX
I didn’t sleep.
Not because of the vodka. Or the sweat-stained heat of the club. Or the way the music had crawled under my skin like something alive.
I didn’t sleep because every time I closed my eyes, I saw him.
Not Lio.
Not Cas.
The man with the grin too wide, the yellow eye too bright. One jagged tooth like a broken promise. He hadn’t moved like a person. Hadn’t blinked. Just watched me like he was deciding which part to devour first.
And I—
I had smiled back.
That was the worst part.
I sat on the edge of the bed, still in the black dress, now wrinkled and ruined, twisted at the hem like it had survived a storm. My hair was a feral halo. My mouth tasted like regret and sugar.
From the hall, I heard someone pacing.
Cas. Good. Let him.
I drank the glass of water on the ni
