#ofthclight

MEMES / @ofthclight

'Is that what you're eating?'

Shane has endured some type of question similar to his for months now, and he had explained it over and over and over again to everyone, from his parents, Rose, Hayden, Ilya, that it was a performance diet. He was working with a nutritionist. Nothing he was doing was unhealthy (or at least, not so terribly so to concern either the nutritionist or his actual doctor). He wasn't trying to lose weight. He was just trying to keep his body in peak performance shape. Why didn't anyone get that?

"Yes, this is what I'm eating. Perhaps you should invite out my boyfriend if you want to see someone eat something terrible. He seems especially fond of McDonald's lately." Disgusting, even if he wasn't on this performance diet. Ilya could eat like a teenager, and smoke cigarettes, and still looked like a fucking Greek god, and it pissed him off sometimes, but mostly, he was glad he was the one getting to go home to him (sometimes, when their schedules aligned).

lokelani was annoyed. she was taking a new security detail for a spin and they were all idiots. not to mention she’d had to name drop billy to get into their newly acquired club because the idiot bouncer didn’t know who she was.

and really it was a them now. their club - clubs - if nothing else. everyone knew if she showed up for a night out the slightest infraction would be reported back. if the drugs weren’t top notch or any crime that billy hadn’t okayed was happening, it would be dealt with swiftly. a single look and the handful of men that were as loyal to her as him would act.

rolling her eyes, lokelani ordered a drink and sat at a bar top. clearly the bar as a whole was stilling adjusting to the new order of things judging by the way the bartender asked if she wanted to cash out or open a tab. the body guard that was with her was a little too close for comfort and didn’t offer any of the typical comforts she got. not to carry her drink or correct the bartender.

[text: baby]: bout to throw a tantrum at the new club. how do they not know who i am? and all these new guys are…weak

[text: baby]: i know my regular security is doing something important and it’s good for the new guys to learn how this works but they’re mostly just annoying.

[text: baby]: i’m not even sitting in vip?? please come help me teach them who we are.

tucking her phone away, lokelani surveyed the room the way billy had taught her. she had a body guard sitting with only one seat between them and could see two other men in the room that were keeping an eye on her. similarly, she could see at least two people who were being suspicious but kel guessed it was just now level dealers. finally her eyes flicked to the vip booth where someone in ugly designer clothes was sitting. her acrylic nails were bitting into her palm and by the time a familiar silhouette entered the frame she was ordering her second drink.

smiling lokelani ordered billy’s usually and met him halfway between the bar and the vip booth. linking her arm with his she pressed the drink into his hand and tugged him over to the desired seating area. now, lokelani didn’t even have to say anything before the area was vacated. setting her drink down on the table, she straddled billy’s lap and allowed her dress to rise up until her ass was nearly visible.

“can you fire everyone here please? they’re all idiots and bad at their job. we’ve been together how long now? the last thing i should need is to be on your arm for them to listen.” turning to grab her drink from the table, lokelani downed it like it was a shot. taste of tequila fresh on her tongue, she pressed her lips to billy’s and wrapped her arms around his neck. as the kiss deepened she moaned softly into his mouth, hoping that everyone was watching and would understand just who she was.

There's a wild look in her eyes when she meets Tyler's gaze. Her fear has solidified, a helplessness she hates making her throat lock up. She hates how powerless she feels, how useless. Her magic is the only defense she has. Her magic is the only reason anyone stays anymore.

"I'm way past freaking out." Her voice comes out in a whisper, nothing but truth in them. If it were anyone else, she might not admit such a thing, but Tyler's known her long enough he'd be able to tell when she's lying. She's scared and she knows she hasn't hidden it. Bonnie swallows past the lump in her throat. "What do we do? I - I don't know what to do."

---

Elena cannot help the laugh that leaves her lips, an eyebrow arching upwards. "I mean, come on - Odds are that the questions I want answers to are the ones you're not going to answer."

She lifts her champagne glass to her lips, taking a sip from it. Her job puts her in some high-profile places, but it's not often that she meets real celebrities. But all of that aside, Rose is probably the only person at this gala who seems like fun and not about to quiz Elena on her career experience. It's mostly men trying to figure out if she deserves her job or if she slept her way into it. It's exhausting. Everyone else then is so focused on networking and building connections.

one of the first things they were ever told during training and recruitment was that they needed to be careful around the assets .  there were those who could damn near read minds .  manipulate emotions .  it’s what made him so good ,  he thinks .  what made him so valuable to them .  edric has always been good at keeping things under wraps .  he has spent a lifetime keeping his thoughts and emotions under wraps .  under control .  but it’s not until now ,  when she looks up at him with wide ,  soulful eyes ,  when her soft voice skewers him through the heart as if it’s a knife ,  that he realizes he has to be careful for an entirely different reason .  for many reasons .  in many ways ,  it’ll be easier for her to trade one captor for another .  he can’t remember if she’s ever known the taste of freedom ,  but even if she has ,  it has been so long that the liberty of it might damn near be as suffocating as the chains that she just escaped .  edric swallows ,  considers his words carefully before he regards her with a pinched brow .   ❝ i leave that up to you , ❞  he murmurs ,  giving her a firm nod .   ❝ i’m here to escort you as long as you need me to . ❞  and no longer than that ,  he thinks .  as soon as she gives him any indication that she’s ready to be on her own ,  that she’d rather him go his own way ,  he’ll be gone .  he can promise himself that ,  he thinks .  at the very least ,  after everything that has been taken from her ,  he can stand beside her as she finds whatever comes next .  edric glances down to where she sits tentatively on the floor ,  the book resting in her lap as if it’s the most precious of cargo ,  bar of food between her teeth .   ❛ not prisoner . ❜  he signs ,  the movements of his hand definitive and confident .  firm in his conviction .

she can do little else but stare for several moments which, while only lasting mere seconds, feels more as if it were long minutes. the man might as well have signed in an entirely unknown dialect. not prisoner. she mulls it over in her mind...over and over and over. ❛ i have nowhere to be escorted to, ❜ she finally manages to point out. it's done in a dull sort of way, like an absent answer given by shell-shocked lips. how overwhelming a concept freedom is. it might be nice to crawl under the bed just now and make the world small once again. instead, magnolia settles for another small bite from her protein bar. it suddenly seems sickeningly sweet. brows furrow and head tilts downward as she makes an effort to think clearly. usefully.