Chapter 2
Present Day
“Are you sure you’re not my sister?” Melody’s voice is calm, but I hear it––the crack beneath her words, the disappointment behind the question.
I know her mind is fragile, but when she's in this state—the one where she remembers—it’s better to give her the truth. “I’m sure.”
It’s the only thing I can admit.
She exhales sharply. “Well, shit.” A loud sigh escapes her. “How did you know?”
I shrug, not wanting to say the words. Valen must have found out. Maybe it was David—the biggest fucking liar the devil created. Who also happens to know Garret. A little detail John and Mary left out.
It was all part of the plan. A way to make me fit in. A way to get me close enough to them. I had to go along with it. It’s not like I ever had a choice.
“Do you know who––”
“My parents are?” I finish for her. I let out a puff of air, wishing I had an answer. “All I remember is being in a place with a lot of kids. I was about ten.”
I leave out the part where all the girls––including me––were drugged inside a room in some building in the middle of nowhere. "All I know is that John Strauss adopted me."
“Garret’s stepfather,” Melody mutters.
Garret.
Mary’s spoiled son. The one who inherited a fortune and lives like a crowned prince, fucking his way through Kenyan university. A mask of perfection. He parties as hard as he deceives. Drugs, sex, and power.
But I saw it the moment I met him. The truth beneath the mask. He is not what they think.
He is undeniably beautiful: dark hair, chiseled jaw, and a cocky attitude. Melody warned me a couple of times that he didn’t take anything or anyone seriously. He’s the life of the party. And at one time, girls didn’t go for him because he wasn’t popular but now, he’s all they want.
There’s a darkness inside him that rivals John's. And once he learned who I was––that I belonged to John Strauss––his mask slipped. The air in the room felt like it was sucked out and replaced with hate. Unadulterated hate. I was John and Mary’s dirty little secret, and I’m not to be trusted. We were enemies.
“We all graduated,” Melody says to Valen as if I’m not in the room. As if I don’t exist.
“I know.” Valen’s tone is careful, trying to avoid looking at me while softening his gaze on Melody. Nostalgia hitting me hard in the ribs. I wish someone looked at me that way. It’s possessive––but the good kind. The kind you wish for.
I shift on their couch, letting the familiar feeling of being unwanted settle in my chest.
I’m a liar.
An outcast.
Prey without protection.
It’s what she’s telling me without saying it. I’m not her problem. I have no ties to her or her friends.
“Do you know what that means, Rose?” Her gaze locks on mine.
“I do.” My voice barely makes it out.
Valen stiffens. “I think it’s best you leave.” His tone final.
He doesn’t know why I lied, but I’m not his problem for him to give a shit. His priority is Melody, as it should be.
At first, I didn’t see how all this would affect me. How it would affect anyone. I’ve never had friends or felt love from anyone.
But this is what John wanted—a way to sever any hope that I would find someone who would care about me. But most of all, he wanted to make sure I wasn’t protected by the sons of Kenyan.
I get up and reach for my sweater. The only one I own. A cheap contrast to the designer one Melody wears. It says Kenyan University––the same one they give all Prey. A way to distinguish us from the rest. I’m sure Melody got one too. And I’m sure Valen never let her wear it. Because Melody is not me.
She’s the opposite of everything I represent.
I was bought.
She was chosen.
I am hated.
She is loved.
I want to die.
She wants to live.
I am nothing.
She is everything.
“I’m sorry,” I say softly. My stomach sinks when she looks away.
The front door shuts behind me like the final nail in my coffin.
The sun is painted in twilight when I pull my phone. I type out the message as instructed.
Rose: It’s done.
M: Good.
A voice cuts through the silence. “Do you need a ride?”
I jolt. The phone almost slips from my fingers. I turn. Azriel leans against a pillar, taking a slow drag from his vape.
“You scared me,” I exhale.
He tucks the vape into his pocket and steps forward. The setting sun bleeds against his face, painting in molten gold. “I didn’t mean to.”
His face has changed. The acne gone, thanks to Melody. And thanks to his brother, he’s not as quiet anymore. He’s nicer. Handsome, too. Lean. Tall. Strong jaw. Dark brown eyes. Tattoos on his neck that weren’t there before.
“It’s fine.” I clear my throat, knowing I need to go. “I gotta go.”
“How do you plan on doing that?”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
He arches a brow and points to the driveway.
“How are you gonna leave? You don’t have a car.”
“I was going to order a ride.” I leave out the part that I don’t have money to order one. I was about to ask John to add funds to my account.
The pity in his eyes is sharp. “No need. I’ll drive you.” He’s just being nice. Or maybe, he’s like the rest of them.
“That’s okay.”
“Why not?” His tone shifts. His eyes are pools of chocolate, like he’s morphing into someone I should be afraid of.
I clutch my phone tighter. “I don’t think your family would approve.” His eyes drop to my hand, then back to my face.
“Honestly,” he muses. “
I think they want me gone as soon as possible.”
“Then me taking you would be the logical choice. Why make things more difficult when I could just drop you off?”
He has a point, but I’m unsure of his motives. Is it out of pity? Does he want me gone?
A shiver runs down my spine. Maybe they want me gone, like dead?
Maybe, I'll finally get my wish. A way to fuck over John.
It’s what prompts me to agree. “You’re right. that does make sense.”
He walks to his blacked-out truck, parked on the far side of the driveway like a hearse waiting for me to get in. The twilight sky darkens everything around us like a blanket revealing the stars.
“I’m not like my brother or the others,” he says.
I don’t say anything as I stare straight ahead. My opinion doesn’t matter.
“I’m sure you had a reason to lie. It’s none of my business to ask you why you did, but you do understand that Melody is like a sister to me, and whoever hurts her…”
I blink back tears. The reminder of what I’ve done feels like splinters pricking my skin. I still don't answer. I don't look at him. I don't even say thank you when he stops in front of my dorm because I know he's too good inside to do it and I’m not worth it.
“Rose?” He clears his throat. School starts on Monday––”
My phone vibrates in my lap, interrupting what he was about to say. The screen lights up with the notification. Azriel’s voice fades into the background as pure panic sets in when I read the message.
M: Get out of the truck.
I swallow thickly, my throat is like sandpaper. The mistake of getting in his truck hits me like a bug on a windshield.
He’s always watching. I shouldn’t have involved Azriel like this.
My phone buzzes again.
M: Now.
I close my eyes and grip my phone. I pull the handle, hoping for a split second that Azriel would drive off, but I know he won't.
I can feel his gaze burning like the sun. “Rose, are you okay?”
I push the door open, jump out, and run toward the doors to get inside the building. My lungs burn. My heart pounds in my ears, drowning out Azriel’s voice follows me. “Rose!”
I open the door and run down the hallway. My thighs burn. My vision narrows like I’m in a tunnel. A hand clamps over my mouth. The scent of ether and chemicals fills my lungs.
I kick.
I thrash.
"Come on," a man's voice says.
I can't see behind me. I’m dragged to the back exit. I try to kick, but the arm wrapped around me is too strong. I feel the air shift. I’m outside.
A black SUV skids to a stop. The back passenger door is flung open. I’m pulled inside. All the air whooshes out of my lungs when something hard hits my head. A crack of pain explodes in my head and darkness swallows me whole.