Dead End: Midnight Hollow by Penn Cassidy (best e reader for epub txt) 📕

pillow as he made love to me until I was nearly in tears, and he looked extremely pleased with himself afterwards. These men were going to be the death of me.

I was still reeling from the changes to this whole dynamic. Just a couple weeks ago, they hated me. Or at least they tried to make me think they hated me. It had worked better than they’d hoped, but now that I knew the truth behind their motivations, I couldn’t fault them. Their methods may have been a tad undesirable, but it did the trick in the end. Their constant harassment kept my head from spiraling into a dark place. They kept me on my toes for a whole year, making sure I didn’t recede into myself. Deep down, I knew my parents would have hated watching me break like that.

I showered and primped for the better part of an hour, meticulously straightening my hair until it gleamed. Eyeing that pesky white streak framing my face, I contemplated dying it, but then I thought better of it. That streak was a product of bringing the people I loved back to life. It was a signature of sorts, a reminder of my power. I’d keep it for now and wear it like a badge of honor, celebrating my father and the powers he’d passed down to me.

I glanced at Jessica as I walked out of the bathroom to grab my costume from the wardrobe. She was still perched on the branch, and I thought she might’ve been sleeping again, so I moved silently. My heart sank every time I looked at her, remembering the way she’d lain there lifelessly in my hands. Payton still had to pay for what she’d done to my familiar, banishment or no. I’d figure it out somehow. There had to be some kind of punishment set in place for harming people’s familiars. I’d have to talk to the aunties about it, but eventually, she would get hers.

I smiled to myself as I took the black dress off the hanger and laid it on my bed. It was the same flowing princess dress I’d stolen from the theater. When I’d first put it on, I’d done so with the intention of returning it soon, but when I stumbled into the hall that day and all those theater people were clapping, I knew the dress was forfeit. We’d call it payment for my lost pride.

Under the dress, I wore a black lace bralette, matching lace panties, and stockings with garters. There was just something about nice lingerie that I’d always found appealing, and now that I had four men who would actually get to see it, it was all the more fun. I stared at myself in the mirror. My lips were black and my liner was winged. I looked like some kind of gothic fairy princess, the dark orange of my hair contrasting with my pale skin and onyx dress. This was my vibe. This was perfect.

I knew I’d have to face the music and join the others downstairs. I wished I had some kind of nose plug, because the second I opened my door, I staggered at the stench. Someone really needed to have a talk with Pip before I was forced to move into the greenhouse.

I glanced to my right at the door that never used to be there. The portal lay behind that door, and I could hear the knocking every once in a while. All that power, just shoved behind a door. It was overwhelming just to think about. There was an entire world just on the other side—our old lives.

I knew in my heart that I never wanted to return to the mortal world. This place was the home I never knew I was yearning for. My parents were buried here, my aunties were here, and my heritage was all around me. I finally felt like I was exactly where I needed to be, and all the tiny holes that had been ripped into me over the last year were starting to fill—pun fully intended.

I padded down the hall and down the stairs with a smile on my face. When I entered the kitchen, all my guys were sitting around the table with cups of coffee. They looked up as I entered, eyeing each other a moment later. I knew what they were seeing—a happy October, with a smile on my face.

Maddie squealed from the kitchen, running over and pinching the skirts of my dress between her fingers. “Holy fuck, Tobs! This dress is gorgeous, where’d you find it?!” Then her eyes went wide, and she burst out laughing. “Oh my god, is this the theater—”

I shushed her with a palm over her mouth and glanced at the aunties, whispering to Maddie, “Dude…”

“Sorry,” she mumbled against my palm, eyes alight.

I wasn’t ready for my aunties to hear that particular story. There were just some things I needed to keep to myself if I ever wanted to look them in the eyes again.

Pip was bustling around in the kitchen, covered in flour and flakes of dried herbs. There was a cauldron bubbling over the stove with a large wooden spoon stirring itself. Auntie Fe was sipping a mug of tea, flipping through what looked like a newspaper. They were both dressed even more outlandish than usual, in long dresses of purple, orange, green, and black with frills and lace and buttons, and matching witch’s hats. They really did look like true cottage witches.

Maddie didn’t look too shabby herself. Her festival outfit was a long black peasant skirt with a thigh-high slit up the side and a blood red crop top that she dug out of my goth closet. It matched perfectly with her red lips and expertly curled midnight hair. The hair change was starting to grow on me, to the point that I couldn’t even picture her as a bottle blonde anymore.

I looked at the guys and narrowed my gaze on Norman