Their Thief: Redemption

Chapter 9 (Part 2)

As my eyes darted toward the center of the room where the chuckle had come from, a far harsher itch hit my stomach again. Only this time, it was lower. Much lower.

Of course, luck would only strike me in unlucky ways.

Yes, I had found Jace, but it was sandwiched between two naked women who were tasting his skin like he was a lollipop.

I didn't expect anything from Jace, but I still couldn't stop a pit from opening up in my stomach at the sight before me. I froze at the entrance, my muscles going rigid as the itch began to turn into a sear. My eyes narrowed on a woman who had her head placed suspiciously in Jace's crotch.

A tightening in my chest loosened when her head moved and I caught sight of her tongue dragging along the skin just above Jace's low-riding jeans. She held his shirt up his chest in one hand while the other gripped his thigh firmly. Her knees rested on the couch beside him as she leaned down, arching her back to press her tongue down flat against his skin. It seemed she was trying to catch as much of the iridescent powder that shimmered down his front.

The woman latched at his neck like a leech was doing the same across his collar bone, chasing after the same shimmering powder coating his skin as he leaned his head back in satisfaction. He was covered in the substance.

The rage inside me continued to firm with each swipe of their tounges that I felt. When a vaguely familiar man- the one who I had seen lying unconscious across from Jace the other time I had walked in to find him with a woman plastered to him- came up to the sofa behind him with an unfocused grin. My teeth creaked as I watched him pour a shimmering vial into Jace's open mouth. The man swayed, spilling some over his chin. The liquid dripped down the front of his body, spreading to add to the shimmering effect that covered his skin. It added more for the women to lap up with desperation. They didn't waste much time, attaching his neck and chest with renewed vigour.

I didn't know what disgusted me more, that he was using drugs to lure women in or the satisfied smirk that twisted his lips when the man pulled back with an empty vial. The fear and panic of being lost in a mansion full of strangers began to shift into a charged rage.

My clenched fist trembled in suppressed fury as the man tossed the empty glass container aside and took an offered tray from a shirtless man that contained familiar white lines. As he passed Jace a small metal straw, the women moved out of the man's way as he held out the tray for Jace.

Watching Jace's head sway as he tried to focus the straw at the begging of one of the neatly cut lines had an old panic seizing my heart. My breaths suddenly grew laboured as sweat began to bead at my hairline.

"Jace!" I snapped, stepping into the room filled with a smokey haze as his head snapped up.

His eyes widened when they caught sight of me approaching. He clearly hadn't expected me to follow him, let alone find him judging by his expression. The surprise quickly faded as he narrowed his eyes on me.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded, pushing the woman drooling over his crotch aside. His arm that had loosely been resting around the waist of the woman at his side grow rigid.

"You brought me here, remember?" I answered through my teeth.

It took an effort to keep my voice louder than the low music that drifted through the air like the tendrils of smoke. Each breath I took was infected. By the time I came to a stop across the glass coffee table that his feet were stretched under, the effects had my head swaying lightly.

I had to get out of here. Now.

"You were supposed to wait at the door," his words were clipped.