Tarnished Embers: A Dark Stepbrother Fairytale Retelling (Dark Retellings)
Tarnished Embers: Chapter 8

Kit and I are sitting on his bed, playing video games where—as usual—I’m beating the fucker’s ass. The sound of Ember’s cries of pleasure filtered through the wall earlier, even over the shower, and both of us are sporting semis in our shorts that we don’t bother to hide. Why would we? We’ve seen enough of each other’s dicks in the past few years that it doesn’t even faze us anymore.

The door opens and in strides Odette, our stepmom and the woman who rules our fucking lives with an iron fist. Her clingy, silk nightdress hides absolutely nothing, and a slight chill lifts the hair at the back of my neck, my semi shrivelling at the sight of her. She’s always been open with us, but as we got older, we realised that walking in on us showering and wearing low-cut, provocative things around us wasn’t the normal behaviour of a parent or guardian. We just learnt to ignore it, safer that way than admitting that something might come from it.

“Where are your brothers?” she questions, her eyes trailing over my bare chest, then pausing at my crotch. Her tongue comes out to lick her lower lip and I have to swallow the bile that hits the back of my throat, the feeling of ants crawling over my skin making goosebumps erupt over my flesh. I wish I had a fucking T-shirt or vest or something to cover up, but there’s nothing close enough to hide me from her prying eyes. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FɪndNøvel.ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Looking after Ember,” Kit says, pausing the game and drawing her attention to him like he always does. There may be only four minutes between us, but somehow, he thinks that because he’s older, he has to protect me. I cut him a glare, but he misses it and my stomach roils when Odette’s eyes light up.

“Excellent. I’m so glad that you’re enjoying having a new sister,” she purrs, sashaying closer to us. “I want you to take such special care of her. She’s been through so much and I know you can make her feel better.”

Her eyes linger on Kit’s abs, also on display as he didn’t bother with a shirt either. My hands grip my controller tighter at the predatory look in her eyes, and the plastic cracks, her snake-like stare swinging back to me. She smiles, but it’s not a nice one. Instead, it’s full of a smug satisfaction that I want to swipe off her botoxed face.

“Well, I’ll say good night, boys.” She leans over, brushing her fake tits up against me as she presses a kiss to my cheek. I have to hold my breath to stop from breathing in her overpowering, sickly sweet perfume. It reminds me of dying flowers; cloying and sticks to the back of your throat. I don’t know how Ember’s dad stands it.

I breathe a quiet sigh of relief when she pulls away, only to grit my teeth when she does the same to Kit. I see his body shudder, his jaw clenching as he tries to hide his revulsion. She’s a fucking spider, but she’s all we have and all we’ve known for so long.

We’re quiet for a long moment after she leaves and closes the door behind her. I can’t help the maelstrom of toxic thoughts from swirling around my head; could we have tried harder to get away from her? Put our foot down a bit more? And most worrying of all, what is her fascination with our new stepsister? I toss the controller onto the bed, flopping back and covering my eyes with my hands.

“We should just tell her to fuck off, take Ember and leave.”

Kit sighs. “We can’t, not yet anyway. It’s not the right time. Prince said—”

“Fuck what Prince says!” I leap from the bed, my nostrils flaring as I pace beside it. I’m so fucking done being used by Odette. “Do you not see her interest in Ember? She’s fucking up to something, and I swear to god, if Ember gets hurt…”

The thought of Ember having to do what we’ve done…my fists clench at my sides. No, she has her dad, he’d never let that happen, and he’s loaded, so it’s not like we’re short of money anymore.

“She won’t get hurt, Oct,” Kit says, coming to stand in front of me, forcing me to stop pacing like a caged animal. Then he grasps the back of my neck, bringing our foreheads together. “She has us, and we won’t let Odette or anyone else hurt her.”

“I know.” I close my eyes and try to let the rage drain from me, taking several deep breaths until my tightly coiled muscles relax. “I’m just so tired of not being able to have a life, Kit. It was fun and games when we were younger, but I want to do what I want for once.”

“We will. We’re set up here, money isn’t an issue anymore, look at this place.” He pulls back, using his grip to turn my head, forcing me to look around at my room. He’s right, it’s the nicest bedroom I’ve ever had, and the one back home wasn’t bad. We were okay money-wise, we weren’t loaded like Ember and her dad, but we had everything we needed. My shoulders loosen further as his logic sinks in and pushes some more of the panic and anger away.

“What are you going to do when you grow up?” I ask him. It’s the question that we have asked each other ever since we were little. It’s become more of a comfort over the years, something to keep us from going crazy as our control was slowly taken away.

He chuckles, letting me go and sitting back down on the bed, then his hand runs through his hair as he stares into the distance. “I think I’d like to study architecture. The gallery we went to today? It was incredible, and I’d love to work with old buildings, maybe. Not sure I’d be any good at it, but I’d like to try.” He looks up at me, his deep blue eyes calmer than I’ve seen them in a while. “You?”

Musing, I chew my lip, looking around at the plush room. “I’m pretty good with computers,” I say slowly, churning the possibilities around in my head. “I think maybe game design.” I’m warming to the idea the more I think about it. I like the creative element and I enjoy the challenge of playing them. I used to want to be a cop, farmer, fireman; it’s changed a lot over the years, but Kit has always had an interest in art and design. “Or become the most sought-after hacker in the world.” I catch the pillow that Kit throws at me, and then I flop back onto the bed, picking up the controller again, my thumbs playing with the controls. “The fuckers stole our night with her.”

“Yep, they sure did,” Kit replies, picking up his own controller and resuming the game. “We’ll have to be quicker tomorrow night.”

“Amen.” The thought of our new little sister has my dick twitching again. She’s a shining beacon we’ve all needed for far too long, a light that calls to our darkness.

She doesn’t know all your secrets though, she’ll probably be disgusted if she finds out…

I shut down that fucking cunt of an inner voice, not allowing my fears and worries to take root. We’ll just make sure she never finds out about all of that. It’s all in the past, and that’s where it’s going to stay.

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