average human’s Reviews > Don't Touch > Status Update

“My name is—” he says, looking around, before meeting my eyes with a twinge of regret in them.
“You’re going to lie to me,” I whisper, my stomach clenching in pain. “How is this possible?”
“How is what possible, sweetheart?” he asks, taking a step towards me. I’m going to be sick. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because you’re pretending to be someone I know. Someone you’re not. Who are you, really?” I demand, trying to sound stronger than I feel.
His blue eyes, so eerily similar to Julian’s, flicker with something like regret.
“Julian.” He sighs and looks me up and down. “Look, I never meant to panic you, love. I was just trying to help when I saw the shitty situation you landed yourself into.”
“Do not call me love.” My heart is thudding against my ribs, my brain moving so fast I can’t make sense of a single thought in my own head.
Lucifer is going to kill me, and honestly, I might just let him. I deserve it.
“I see. My name is Hadrian Graves. In human form, Julian and I are identical twin brothers. Have you not heard of me?”
“And in your shifted form?” I ask, my eyes darting above him to the alleyway exit. I won’t get past him.
Fuck me.
Hadrian lets out a low chuckle, but there’s no humour in it. “Seen Julian’s?”
“Unwillingly,” I mutter, still processing.
“Step back,” he commands, and before I can say anything, he shifts.
It’s instantaneous, and the air around us crackles with energy. His pegasus form is almost identical to Julian’s—strong, majestic wings, with a powerful build.
He’s so fluffy, so wide, so pretty.
He’s different in one main way, though.
Where Julian’s shifted pegasus is a pure white, almost angelic, Hadrian’s is not. He’s darker than the night itself. His coat has a magnificent shine to it, and I’m genuinely entranced by the beauty of his beast.
Together they’re like night and day… no, they’re like light and dark.
And based on Hadrian’s actions tonight, I can’t help but feel the darkness extends far beyond just his coat.
My throat tightens, my heart pounding in my chest. This man is not here by coincidence. He’s here for me. He knew my name, which is surprising.
I don’t know which one of his relatives has blabbed. I can rule Tarun out, for sure, but the rest of them are on my list. Did Adrian send him to succeed where his identical twin brother failed? Did Lucifer have him as an extra set of eyes? Did Julian rope him in to not need to admit to Adrian his failure?
I don’t know the answer, and my stomach is sick at the thought of needing to figure it out.
Hadrian is another Graves with another set of problems. Is he an Adrian bumlick like his brother or a hater of the man like his cousin?
Is he a suck-up like Tarun or does he have his own problems to add to the mix?
I force a smirk onto my face, masking my fear. “Wow, so incredible. A little horsie with wings.”
He lets out an indignant whine that could almost be classified as cute.
You know, if he wasn’t a dick sent here by Adrian himself to try and do what Julian couldn’t. Potentially.
“Well, have fun with him,” I say, gesturing to the unconscious—and maybe dead—man in the alley. “I’ve got things to do that don’t include watching you make a fool out of me.”
Hadrian shifts back, the ripple of magic in the air unsettling my chromius.
“Maeve!” His words are a desperate shout echoing through the air.
“Bye,” I call, waving my hand over my shoulder, not bothering to turn around. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’m not sticking around to find out. Seriously, how stupid do they think I am?
But I don’t get far in my escape of him.
I come to an abrupt halt as I see a familiar figure blocking the alley entrance. My stomach drops. It’s Lucifer. His tall frame looms in front of me, his eyes pitch black, his expression deadly serious.
The dangerous aura radiating from him is suffocating, and my chromius reacts immediately, calming slightly in his presence but still on high alert.
I can’t move. I should run down the alleyway and pray that Hadrian is going to be up for murdering me in a move to protect me from Lucifer’s rage.
Or maybe I could…
“You’re not getting out of this one, princess,” Lucifer says, his voice low and menacing as he steps closer. His nose twitches, and his eyes darken as he delicately sniffs the air. “What the fuck?”
“Hey, cuz.” Hadrian’s voice drawls from behind me. I turn and see him walking towards us without a care in the world, as if nothing has just happened between the two of us. “I didn’t expect to run into the two of you today.”
Lucifer’s gaze shifts to Hadrian, and his eyes darken even further. The tension is thick, electric.
“You shouldn’t have run into her like this at all,” Lucifer says, giving me a stern look. “Maeve ran off from me earlier, and I’ve spent the last half hour looking for her.”
“Oh, Maeve,” Hadrian groans, tutting at me as if I’m a naughty child he’s got to tell off. “You’re going to be in very big trouble.”
“Don’t you stand there and lecture me,” I snap, glaring at the pegasus. “You’re in trouble, too, Mr I-Know-Your-Name-Without-Even-Being-Introduced-To-You.”
He groans dramatically. “Don’t try turning this around onto me. I know your name because⁠—”
“Both of you shut up!” Lucifer’s voice booms through the alley, and we both freeze. His fury is palpable, swirling in the air like a storm ready to break.
It’s ironic, really, that the psychotic devil is the one that has managed to shame us into silence.
As much as I loathe to admit it, I’m not sure I’m going to survive the reckoning that’s coming.