Bellona’s Deception
*Minor spoiler
Bellona watched her target discreetly from the mirror above the busy bar. She gave the appearance of being engrossed in the game playing on one of the big screens overhead, but her dark eyes never strayed from the young man having drinks with his friends at a nearby table.
She’d followed him to the bar, slipping in behind a cluster of women. Once inside, she’d peeled away and found a spot where she could observe his birthday festivities without arousing suspicion. Dressed in a short dress with a plunging neckline, she looked every bit the woman seeking a good time, and she’d already shut down a couple of businessmen on the prowl, casually dismissing them while continuing to nurse the drink sitting in front of her.
Her aunt, Calixta Kormos, had tasked her with acquiring the man she now had in her sights. Slater Vidrine. On the surface, the now twentyfive-year-old was sexy as hell and just her type—an heir to a family that was loaded, though irrelevant at the moment. For the last few months, her aunt had been focused on ‘collecting’ people descended from a specific magical line.
Calixtra hadn’t yet shared with her why she wanted Nereid descendants, but she suspected it had to do with their unique abilities. Bellona’s own family possessed magic, but it was born of chaos and shadow, a line tracing all the way back to the primordial god, Erebus.
A loud crash sounded over the din of the bar, and she turned her head to glance toward the wreckage of a platter of spilled drinks a waitress fretted over. Bellona clocked the flash from a camera at Vidrine’s table as they commemorated his birthday. She quickly turned around. She’d never hear the end of it if she got sloppy and left a trace that she’d been here.
A short while later, she watched Vidrine rise from his seat and head for the hallway leading to the bathrooms. She gave it a full minute before following him into the hallway at an unhurried pace.
Her timing paid off as he exited the men’s restroom just as she drew near. She gave him her warmest smile while angling her body to not only show off the assets the low-cut dress accentuated, but effectively blocking his path. “There’s the birthday boy,” she said in a sultry purr.
Vidrine had to pull his eyes up from her ample cleavage to look at her. “Uh, yeah. That’d be me. Slater,” he said with an eager grin. “I don’t think I caught your name?”
Bellona tilted her head, feigning bashfulness as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and let a finger trail down to the corner of her full lips. She had model looks and new how to use them. “Lexi,” she said, letting the name roll off her tongue. Her gaze swept down, then up again. “And I must say, you’re the hottest guy in this entire place. I was about to give up and call it a night, and now here you are...”
Slater straightened, a wide grin on his flawless face. “Is that so? Well then, what could I say to make you stay?”
Bellona glanced toward the rear exit of the hall while casually slipping her hand into his. “How about we slip out back and I’ll let you give me a birthday kiss?” She suggested with a playful wink. “If I like it, maybe we don’t have to stop at a kiss...”
Slater swallowed hard. “Yeah… lead the way.”
She smiled at him as if he were her favorite dessert. He really was her type. A pity Aunt Calixtra wanted him for her experiments. Maybe when her aunt was finished, she’d see about keeping him for herself.
They stepped into the dark alleyway, the muffled bass of the bar fading behind them as the door shut softly behind them. The air smelled of spilled beer and damp brick. Slater pressed closer, his hand finding her waist, then drifting lower. She didn’t stop him. In fact, she leaned into the touch, her lips parting in invitation as she drew him close for a kiss.
He tasted of rum and citrus, but the heat of his mouth and the greedy way he kissed her sparked a small thrill in her chest. His hand slid boldly down to cup her ass, and she let out a throaty laugh against his lips, rewarding him with another kiss that was deeper, slower. She liked the way he wanted her—all reckless hunger and no thought of consequence.
The poor fool. If only he knew what was coming.
Bellona trailed her fingers along his jaw, her nails teasing lightly across the skin. She slipped her hands behind his head and traced a practiced pattern in the air. The shadows in the alley stirred to life like smoke caught in a draft, spilling forward with a silent eagerness. She kissed him one last time, savoring his surprise when the first tendrils of a looming Gloom shadow curled around his chest and arms.
He didn’t even have time to scream before he was pulled into darkness, and Bellona stood alone in the alleyway, suddenly missing the feel of his lips against hers. Time for another drink.
(©) Copyright Sage Byrne, 2025
