“You saved my life?”
I nod.
“Yeah, you did save me, so I thought it was only fair. I know that you probably…”
He stops me from talking with his lips. I sigh into the kiss. I need this now more than ever, knowing that I’m not alone and that our relationship prospects didn’t end when he found out about the real me. Every couple fights before making up again, and I just wish this is one of those moments. My hands move up and into Reid’s brown hair. I run my fingers through the longer strands as push my body forward so that there is no space between us. Both of our lips move over each other’s as if they were made to do just that. I close my eyes, moving my body against his, causing tingles of pleasure to course through my body. I let out a moan. This stops Reid’s lips from moving any longer, and he pulls back. I follow him, trying to keep the contact.
“Scar…Stop.”
“Why?” I ask, moving my focus from his lips to his neck. I lick from his chin up to his ear, placing a small bite on his earlobe. He grunts.
“Because I’m not ready to do that with you. I can still see the monster when I look at you,” he admits.
I freeze. “What?” I ask angrily. He’s such a hypocrite! “You were the one to kiss me.”
“I know. I still need some space, but I couldn’t go any longer without kissing you, especially after you saved my life.”
I back up and clamber off him. “Fine,” I start loudly. “If you want space, have it! Leave! But don’t kiss me and then say you still see the monster, because you wouldn’t have done it if you did,” I say, pointing at the door and then him.
He leans forward, trying to pull me closer. I step back, my arms going across my chest.
“Scar…” he implores.
“No, Reid. Either you want space, or you don’t. Make up your mind.”
He looks guilty as he pushes himself off the bed. As he walks past me, I look away from him. The smell of his blood and mine mixed together has me weak at the knees, but I stay strong. He pulls the door to the bedroom open, but I stop him before he can exit.
“If you were to drink the blood of six people while my blood is still in your system, and then die, you would be like me. Just something to think about,” I tell him. I don’t know why I said that. Do I want him to do it and be like me? He couldn’t think I was a monster if he was the same, but would he regret it? Do I want him to know how easy it is to change from human to demon?
Reid looks back at me but doesn’t say anything as he continues out of the room.
I plop down onto the bed. My emotions have been all over the place today. I’ve wanted to kill almost everyone—Adrian, Kyle, and Reid—for being a pain in the ass. Let’s hope tomorrow and the rest of my time on Earth will be better.
Chapter 33
I Love You, Scarlett Hades
The next morning, when I wake up, the house is eerily silent. I realize that for the first time in my life, I have felt what it’s like to lose someone. I never experienced it with my mom, as I was only young when she either left or died. I still don’t know what happened to her. She could still be out in the world for all I know.
The feeling is awful. I feel as if an elastic band is wrapped around my heart while someone repeatedly punches me in the stomach.
I turn onto my side and see that there is an hour before I need to be at school. I roll onto my back and look up at the high ceiling. I know that I have to see Kyle today; that’s if he even shows up.
I grudgingly drag myself from my bed and scuffle toward the closet. I go for the closest things, not caring if how I look today. I put them on after doing a drawn-out version of my morning routine.
I don’t want to see what today has in store for me, I think as I walk down the stairs. I glance at the couch, half expecting to see a tired Adrian sitting there watching TV, but he’s not. The house feels empty without him. I spent just over two weeks in this house alone and felt fine, but all of a sudden, the house feels like it’s barren without another person in it. Not wanting to stay in the house any longer, I continue to the kitchen, drinking down a bag of blood before moving around the house and collecting my supplies for school.
I drive around for a while, without any particular destination. Once I need to get off the bike, I finally make my way to the school.
When I pull into the parking lot, I find that it is empty apart from a couple of cars. I park the bike and stroll toward the entrance. I pull the door open and find the hallway is empty—none of my dad’s guards here yet—and almost silent.
My ears pick up a sound, but I can’t put my finger on it. As I walk down the hall, the click of my heels echoing around me, I try and pinpoint where the sound is coming from. I determine that it’s coming from a store cupboard, my nose wrinkling in disgust when I realize what the sound is. The sound of muffled moans and grunts sounds out of place in this building, and that was probably why it took me a while to work it out. I try and block out some of the sounds, feeling sick at hearing it, but when it only gets louder, I decide to do something about it.
I stride to the door and pull it open without any warning. I chuckle at the sight I am greeted with. Mr. Ward has his pants down by his ankles and is buried deep inside of Tiffany who is bent over toward the door, her skirt up and exposing her bare ass. Tiffany looks up with an annoyed grunt when Mr. Ward stops pounding into her, only to blush and let out a yelp when she sees me. Mr. Ward starts to pull out, and before I can get scarred for life, I grin at them, stepping back and away from the door.
Once I am out of view of the doorway, I run the fastest I can toward the principal’s office. She is just sitting down in her desk chair when I push the door open. She looks up, her shoulders falling slightly when she sees it’s me. Nice to see you too!
“What are you doing here this early, Ms. Hades?” She sighs.
“Mr. Ward and Tiffany are fucking in the store cupboard near the entrance,” I tell her bluntly and matter-of-factly before leaving her sitting there, shocked at the situation and my crass language. There’s no use in beating around the bush.
Going back out into the main hallway, I walk out to the tree where Hunter and I had the cigarette on my first day. I fall down to the ground at the base of the trunk, my hands going over the dry leaves on the floor around me. I pick a handful up before letting them fall again, watching as they float back down. I pick one up, examining it as I hold it in both of my hands in front of me. I light it from the flames coming out of my fingertips and watch as it disintegrates, the embers falling to the floor. I scoff as I pick up another leaf. It’s just like mine and Kyle’s relationship—been around for long time but easily destroyed.
I continue to set the leaves alight for a minute before a shadow above me has me jumping and abruptly stopping, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans. If they saw me lighting the leaves, hopefully, they’ll assume I was using a lighter.
I see Hunter standing there, dark glasses over his eyes. He shoves his hand into his jeans, his other going into his jacket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He smirks and falls down beside me, silently tilting the open pack toward me. I take one and hold it out for him to light. I bring it to my lips and breathe in the warm smoke, getting flashes of my last visit down to Hell. I exhale up into the air, adding to the white wisps contrasting with the blue sky.
“How’s the knife wound?” he asks, looking at me.
I clear my throat, remembering how Reid reacted. I don’t want Hunter to do the same.
“Reid overreacted,” I start truthfully. “It was more of a scratch. The angle made it look like the knife went in deep.”
“That’s good. I noticed that Reid was acting strangely yesterday, anyway,” he comments, bringing his own cigarette up.
“How so?”
“Just little things. Once he came back from following you, it was like he was on his period. He was grumpier than usual and kept going to the kitchen to grab something to eat. He would blow up at insignificant thin
gs and was complaining of a headache.”
I look at Hunter out of the corner of my eyes. After everything I have learned about the new demons and about how they are undetectable, I am wary of what I say around everyone. He could be working for Kyle for all I know; he wouldn’t be the first person I thought to be a friend to betray me. Does he know that he’s describing the side effects of having demon blood in the human body?
I shrug.
“He’s probably just annoyed at me,” I say, watching as the principal pulls the door to the store cupboard open. I pull my phone out and see that it’s only been about five minutes since I found them and told the principal. By the looks of the principal’s face, Tiffany and Mr. Ward continued after I left. I hold back a gag.
“What happened?” Hunter asks, bringing my attention back to him.
“Hm?”
“What happened between you and Reid for him to be annoyed at you?”
“Oh, we had a fight. He then was being a hypocrite. He said he wanted space and I gave it to him, only for him to kiss me, and afterward saying he still needed the space. And that only happened all in one day,” I explain, rubbing a hand over my face.
“What did you two fight about?” he asks yet again.
“What’s with all the questions?” I snap, harsher than I intended. What is this—an interrogation? I sigh and throw the cigarette to the floor, moving my foot to step on it. “Sorry, I found out that a close friend died yesterday, along with everything else that happened.” He may as well have when I heard Kyle’s name leave Adrian’s lips. The Kyle I know has died.
“I’m sorry,” Hunter says gently.
“It’s not your fault. It’s not like you were to one kill him. Right?” I half joke. I still don’t know if he has anything to do with it.
He chuckles. “I haven’t killed anyone recently,” he says, nudging my arm.
I force a laugh as I examine him.
“So, where are Liam, Leo, and Jake?” I ask, wanting to change the topic off me. If Hunter were with Kyle, then most likely all of them would be.
“They’re on gang business,” he tells me, looking down the corridor at the principal still talking to Mr. Ward and Tiffany who seem to still be in the closet. His answers seem to be kept short and vague on purpose.
“I thought you would all work together. Why aren’t you with them?” I keep my gaze on him as he answers, noticing how he shifts. He could just be uncomfortable, but my paranoid mind immediately jumps to his guilt. He’s innocent until proven guilty, I tell myself. Hunter hasn’t shown any signs of knowing anything out of the ordinary, and Reid could have just asked Hunter to keep secrets regarding what the others are up to, or he might not know himself.
“We usually do. I didn’t feel like it today,” he says, smiling at me, his eyes soft.
The sounds of sirens making their way closer to the school reach my ears, which causes me to let out a laugh. I guess I won’t be seeing Mr. Ward around here anymore. I hear Hunter asking me what’s so funny, but it doesn’t register as the door to the main building opens, and Kyle’s big figure steps through. All thoughts fly out of my mind as the anger takes over. I jump to my feet, causing Hunter to push his sunglasses up his head as he looks up.
“Where are you going?”
“I—uh—I need to talk to Kyle,”
“The new teacher?” he asks, confusion clear. With that one sentence, my paranoia is abolished completely; he wouldn’t be able to fake that confusion. At least I don’t have to worry about Hunter when I confront Kyle.
“Yeah. Wait here,” I instruct him as I pull the door to the building open. I watch as Kyle walks up the stairs and toward his classroom.
At the door closing, Mr. Ward looks up from where he is standing with Tiffany, both fully dressed, along with the principal. His eyes narrow into a glare, causing a smirk to touch my lips. As I walk past him to the stairs, I mutter low enough for him to only hear, “Have a nice time in jail. You can replace Tiffany with a much larger and manlier version.” I don’t get to see his reaction as I continue past him and up the stairs to the second floor.
I storm down the empty corridor and to room 217. I look in and see that Kyle is standing above his desk, sifting through some papers. He reaches into his bag, and this is when I throw the door open and walk in. His head flies up, his eyes watching me as I walk into the room swinging my arms. I give him a smile.
“What are you doing?” I ask innocently. He pauses, looking as if he’s trying to gauge something. He knows what I was doing last night and that Adrian knows about him, but what he doesn’t know is whether Adrian told me about him.
“I am trying to find my lesson plan for today,” he says.
I nod slightly in acknowledgment as I walk in front of his desk. His stare never leaves me as he watches my every move. I turn to face him, slamming my hands down onto the top of the desk. A small crack in the surface forms, but I watch as Kyle doesn’t look surprised at my actions.
“So, as you know, after a try at mine and Reid’s life, I went down and had an interesting conversation with Adrian. I thought you might like to know what he said. Why don’t you sit down?” I suggest, resting on my hands.
“I think I would…”
“Sit down!” I shout with force on each word.
He reluctantly falls into his chair.
“You know,” I start as I pace in front of him. “There were some extraordinary things that came out of Adrian’s mouth, such as his blood, him attending the first meeting of the revolution, an army of a new kind of demons being made, special demons if you would, and a couple of names I recognized. But the most extraordinary thing for me was when I heard your name come out of his lips as the one leading it all. Crazy, right?” I finish as if it were ridiculous and impossible because that’s how I felt when I heard it.
Kyle slowly stands back up, walking around the desk and toward me.
“Scar…” he starts, trying to placate me, but I stop him with a punch to his face. His head whips to the side with the unexpected hit.
“I should know how to punch after all you taught me,” I tell him eerily calm, punching him again. I thought I would be screaming at him. He allows the punches but shows that he could have easily stopped me whenever he felt like it because his hand shoots out and closes around my fist, holding it there between us.
“How fucking dare you! I thought we were family!” I scream at him, going to hit his chest with my other hand, but, again, he stops me. His grip is tight as he looks me in the eyes.
“Don’t make me hurt you,” he says in a tone of voice I have never heard come from his lips. Menace. Pure and utter menace.
“Et tu, Kyle?” I ask, scoffing.
I pull my hands forcefully back as I bring my leg up, going to kick him in the side, but as soon as my hands are out of his, he grabs onto my leg mid-air. He swings me around, almost like the hammer throw, and I go sailing through the air like a ragdoll. I finally stop when I hit the wall, sliding down it. I fall to a crumpled mess on the floor, taking only a minute before I spring back to my feet.
I’m surprised to find Kyle is still standing where I left him, watching me. I take the chance to rush at him, knocking the desks out of the way as I go, but Kyle’s hand stops me again by going around my neck, lifting me, so my feet are dangling. My hand comes up to his wrist, trying to alleviate the pressure. He’s holding me far enough away from his body that I am unable to wrap my own hand around his neck. He’s silent as he pulls the glass of water on his desk closer to him. He digs his hand into his pocket, pulling out a squashed blue flower.
I instantly recognize it as Demons’ Torment. Does he carry the flower around in his pocket wherever he goes, or did he have it because he knew I was going to confront him? I notice that he is touching the plant without it affecting him. He drops the flower into the water, much like I did with the barrel that I tortured Adrian with. He picks the glass up. I struggle against him, knowing I should be able to wriggle free, but he’s
stronger than I remember.
“I’ll give you a choice. You either drink this, or you can watch Reid become a demon.”
My eyes widen. I can’t believe he would just flip like he did and do this after everything we’ve been through. Reid would hate me for the rest of our lives, which would be forever if he were turned into a demon involuntarily. I would regret choosing that decision for the rest of my life; I close my eyes and put my hand out.
He passes me the glass, and I wipe my thumb up and down the side, waiting for a moment. I can’t make it this easy for him. Do I want to risk it though? I bring it up to my lips, pressing it to my lip. When he looks like he’s least expecting it, I bring it back down and throw the liquid over him. I should have known when I saw that he wasn’t wearing any gloves, that it wouldn’t affect him, but all reason went out of the window.
Kyle grins evilly, letting out a sardonic chuckle. He pulls me close enough so I can see, and smell, the sheen of liquid covering his face. He licks his lips, and before I know what is happening, his lips are on mine, transferring the Demons’ Torment onto my own.
I struggle, a muffled scream erupting out of me as he pushes his tongue through my lips. He touches almost everywhere in my mouth with it, and I feel the bile starting to rise in my throat. Just as I’m going to throw up into his mouth, Kyle throws me away from him and back into the wall, but this time, I don’t get back up as a result of the Demons’ Torment weakening me too much. I hear the door open and then Kyle leaving. I try to shout after him, but it comes out hoarse, almost indiscernible, and my voice catches before I can complete the sentence.
“Stay away from R…” I start to cough and roll over, spitting out the blood that has made its way into my mouth. Once the coughing has stopped, I hear footsteps coming down the still empty corridor outside. I look up as the door opens, expecting to see Kyle has returned, but instead, I see a very concerned Hunter.
“What the fuck happened in here? I heard shouting, and I when I arrived up here to see what was happening, Kyle rushed out of the room at an inhuman speed and sent me flying. He hurt you, didn’t he?”
Hades’ Daughter (The War of Fate) Page 27