10. Zovalee
Chapter ten
Zovalee
I feel like my whole life has just been one huge lie. I can’t trust anyone or anything and it’s making me paranoid. I’m sitting on my bed, holding the box that contains all the secrets I’ve been keeping. I need to come up with a game plan and get back home.
I’m so lost in thought that I didn’t hear my phone ringing. Picking it up, I see it’s Ezran calling. I just stare at my phone, thinking of how I’m going to get out of this mess. The call ends and a text comes in.
Ez: Hey babe.
Ez: Are you coming to the game tonight?
Ez: Can’t wait to see you.
Me: Sorry, raincheck?
Ez: Are you fucking serious?
Ez: Come on, babe.
Ez: I need you there.
Fuck, I was going to sneak out of here during the game.
Me: Okay, I’ll be there.
I sit there for a few more minutes before I get up and start packing up my things. Everyone will be celebrating after the game, so I can slip out then. I’ll miss the girls, but I have to get home and tie up these loose ends. I know some people owe me answers and I’ll be collecting those. Just as I finish packing my bag, I hear a knock at the door. Walking over, I pull it open and my heart drops.
Leaving from the house, I cross the bridge and finish making my way to the campus. Ezran texted and wanted me to meet him at the rink before the game. It’s too fucking cold for this shit but I’ll be back home shortly and won’t have to worry about this frigid weather. I know I’ll have to readjust with the temperature change again, but I hope it won’t be as rough of an adjustment as it was here.
I make it to the rink but I don’t see him. Pulling my phone out, I text him wondering where he is. It shows he read it but he doesn’t respond. Guess he is still in practice, so I make my way over to the bench and take a seat. After ten minutes, I feel someone watching me so I look up from my phone and look around, of course I don’t see anyone. This is one thing I won’t miss at all about this place; the feeling of being watched.
“You been waiting long?” I turn to look up at Ezran.
“No.” I smile as he just stares at me.
He seems different and is just staring at me. He finally takes a seat beside me. He smells like cheap perfume. Hmm, I guess he has been cheating.
“You know I love you, right?” I can smell vodka on his breath.
Everything in me tells me something is up with him. My cell beeps, alerting me of a text and I go to check it, but he places his hand over it.
“Can I tell you a story?” He asks, looking me in the eyes.
“Yeah, tell me.” I say, lowering my cell.
He lets out a long sigh then he starts his story. He tells me about his family and the cult. He tells me everything and my head spins. I’m still not understanding why he is telling me all of this. Is he trying to scare me? I mean, if he wants to break up, so be it. He raises his hand up to my face and runs his fingers along my cheek. I see his knuckles are busted up and he has blood on them.
“Are you okay? What happened?” Please tell me he didn’t run into the guys.
Is that what this is about?
“Do you remember my ex, Kate?” He asks, and dread fills me.
Did he hurt her?
What the fuck is going on? My phone beeps again alerting me of another text but I don’t pick it up. I can feel his eyes on me and I don’t want to freak him out. He waits another few minutes before he fills me in on what happened with her. My mouth hangs open as each word leaves his lips. My phone starts ringing and I look down at it seeing Truce’s name pop up. I look over and see that Ezran saw that too and slowly he grins.
“Answer it, babe.” I give him a confused look.
Is he serious?
Sliding the green bar to the right, I bring the cell to my ear but Ezran tells me to put it on speaker. So I do as he asked, waiting to hear why T would be calling me right now.
“Z, you there?” T’s husky voice comes through the line.
“Uh, yeah. What’s up?”
“Where are you? Are you with that guy?” I can hear the concern in his voice.
“Yeah, I’m at the r-,” I don’t have a chance to finish my sentence before Ez rips my phone from my hands and starts arguing with Truce.
They are going back and forth for what seems like forever before I catch what Ez says next.
“I know it was you who fucked my girl that night in the maze.” He spits out.
What the fuck is he talking about, that was Ez, right? No way that was T. Thinking back to that night everything slowly starts to flash back, the smell, the touch, and my whole world stops. It was Truce all this time.
“You will never make it in time to save her. You ruined my Valentine, so now I’ll destroy yours.” He says as he turns to look at me, tossing my phone back to me.
“I think I could have loved you, Zova.” He says before shaking his head. “Actually, that’s a lie. I think I did in a way, but you had to ruin everything for me.” He snaps.
“I’m sorry, Ez. I was drunk and I didn’t realize-,” He cuts me off again.
“I’m not talking about that. You have ruined everything! I wasn’t supposed to kill her and I’ll have to pay for that later.” He tilts his head before he says his next words. “Do you remember the story I told you?” I nod. “Do you remember what I said about my mission?” I nod again.
“I found her, you know?” I look down at his hands and back up to his face. “Were you ever going to tell me, Zova.” He lets out a small chuckle. “Or should I say, Zovalina St. Tomas,” he spits, tilting his head at me.
All the blood drains from my face. I’m so caught up in what he just said that it doesn’t register when he delivers the first hit. The minute his blow lands to my nose, I know it’s broken. My hands instantly fly up to my face.
“You. Are. Dead.” He growls as another blow lands that causes me to fall backwards and into the snow.
“It just had to be you!” He shouts before landing a kick to my side. One, two, and on the third kick, I feel my ribs crack. It feels like all the air in my lungs is full of hot lava. Everything is on fire and all I can do is curl up into a ball and pray someone finds us before he kills me.
“You shouldn’t have come here! I should have seen what you were up to.” He spits, crouching down and sitting on my chest, bringing his hands to my throat and squeezing. I can see the black clouds forming around my eye sight as I struggle to breathe. This is it. This is how I die.
Just before I blackout, I hear murmurs before I hear a faint, familiar voice say, “‘Eye for an Eye” followed by a swish and gurgling noises. I see Ez’s body fall beside me as he grabs his throat, red liquid pouring from beneath his hands. Then everything goes black.