Chapter 7 #5
Vail’s gaze scanned the others, briefly noting how Bryce was restricting me, before facing off with his old adversary again. “A conversation, you say? Doesn’t look like it.”
“Doesn’t matter what it looks like. It doesn’t concern you.”
“See, that’s where I disagree.” He took a step forward, and to my surprise, all of the Jackals stepped back.
Out of the three, they were the most scared of Vail ?
Really? I glanced at the others in disbelief, and sure enough, they gave the impression they were nervous as fuck.
Even Hunter was fidgeting where he stood, his weight shifting back and forth, and his eyes were moving quickly to the door and back as though trying to discern if he could make a break for it and make it past Lee and Shaw.
“I think it’s pretty fucking clear that Casey wants to leave.
Isn’t that right, darling?” His hands clenched at his sides, and his voice dropped, a dark edge lacing each word, causing another wave of uncertainty to run through the Jackals.
Even Bryce’s grip on my throat loosens a bit, his hand sliding down to seize my shoulder instead.
“Yeah, I’d appreciate it if I could leave,” I shouted, making sure that every damn person in this room heard me.
Silence followed this, and I swore to God, I was practically choking on the testosterone in this room. Vail looked at Bryce and nodded his head. “You heard her. Let go. Now !”
The bastard hesitated for a second, but released me with a slight push. I stumbled forward and was immediately pulled into Lee’s thick arms. He spun me away from the others and walked me out of the room, leaving Shaw and Vail behind, outnumbered.
“What about-”
“They’ll be fine,” he murmured in his deep baritone.
He guided me down the hall to the nearest washroom, which just so happened to be for guys, and pulled me in.
Next thing I knew, he’d lifted me off the ground and set me on the counter, then grabbed several paper towels, wet them in the sink, and turned to me.
He held them up, his black brows raised as though asking for permission, and I nodded.
Carefully, he took my chin between his fingers to hold me in place, and gently wiped away the blood and spit.
“How did you guys know?” I asked him softly, feeling an ache in my throat from screaming.
“Midnight,” he rumbled, slightly turning my head to the side to inspect the red mark on my face from Hunter’s slap.
“Midnight?”
“He’s in your English class. Saw them follow you out…”
I recalled the guy with the long black hair and how he was observing our interaction. “His name is Midnight?” I asked.
“He’s Metis. It’s his preferred name. But he was born Haldon Cadot.”
Haldon… Meredith mentioned him in Home Ec.
“He’s… a friend?”
“He’s part of our crew, yes.”
Crew… which meant Lee and the other two must be part of Vendetta.
Which meant if they were, and Haldon was, then I was right about Meredith, too.
I waited quietly, as he cleaned up my face; his touches were slow and gentle.
Lee always had a comforting way about him that made me feel safe.
He had been like my giant teddy bear. But now, he was ferocious and had a frightening edge to him that I hadn’t seen before.
At the same time, I wasn’t as nervous about Lee as I was about Shaw or Vail.
He finished, tossed the paper towel into the overflowing trash, and pulled his phone out to send a text before pocketing it again.
When he faced me, he rested his hands on either side of my thighs on the counter and lowered his head so we were eye to eye.
“They do anything else to you?” he asked.
I could hear the threatening undertone, and I knew that blood would spill if I said they had.
“They didn’t get a chance to get that far,” I whispered, my voice breaking from the sting in my throat.
Those assholes should be fucking thankful that it hadn’t.
I could see it on Lee’s face. He would turn right around and head back into that classroom.
“So much for me keeping a low profile, hey?” I laughed lightly and coughed at the sting in my throat, my attempt at making a little joke at the situation falling flat.
“In Harley, it doesn’t matter what you want.
That’s not how it works here,” he said to me, his dark eyes moving over my face repeatedly, almost like he was noting the changes in my features now that I was older, committing them to memory.
“Here, it’s about making the best of a shitty situation and holding on until an opportunity presents itself that you can escape.
The world doesn’t give a shit about what we want, and neither does anyone else.
They’d sooner watch us burn than help pull us from the ashes of this shithole. ”
“Who will?”
“ Everyone else.” He lowered his head and sighed heavily, as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Why the fuck did you come back here, Casey?”
Because it was Lee, because he’d always been so good, so sweet, I told him. “Mom died.” The words were heavy on my tongue, and I felt a weight sitting on my chest when I said them.
He stilled, and I saw how the muscles in his arms flexed again and again, like he’d been trying to hold his composure, but was failing. “What happened?” he asked me, his voice breaking a little.
“Car accident. She and my stepdad were both killed.”
He nodded, still not looking at me as he was digesting this information. “And now?”
“I have to live with my dad.”
“Fuck!” he snapped and straightened. I could see how his eyes shone, almost like he’d been holding back tears, and for a moment, neither of us spoke until he reached out and wrapped his huge, muscled arms around me.
He embraced me into his hard, warm chest, and I melted into him.
Lee always did give the best hugs. “I’m so sorry, babe,” he whispered over my head.
I held on to him, pressing my cheek over his heart, the steady thump-thump of it comforting.
I could feel myself breaking a little when I realized how much I needed this comfort, to be held and consoled.
Nylah had been there countless times for me, but to have someone like Lee holding me was entirely different.
I felt like I could show my vulnerability to him and allow him to take care of me.
So I allowed him to comfort me, clinging to him while he rocked us slightly side to side.
The door to the bathroom burst open, and I could hear Shaw and Vail arguing over something. Lee didn't let me go, so I couldn't see what was happening.
“-should have let me cut his lips off!” Shaw was snarling.
A scuffle followed this and Vail’s heavy panting, “It didn’t need to go that far. Just calm the fuck down and think about it-”
“No! That dirty motherfucker had his hands on her, his mouth! I want to fucking gut him!” Shaw spat, and I shivered, believing he meant every word of it.
“Not now. The others didn’t know where we were, and we had no idea what they were packing. If we are going to throw the first punch, I want to make damned sure we have our guys around to back us up.”
Their little tussle ended abruptly, silence following, until Shaw rasped, “What the fuck is going on here?”
Lee pulled back slightly, and I could see the other two standing there near the door, watching us curiously.
Lee glanced down at me, and I shook my head ever so slightly at him, begging him with my eyes not to say anything about Mom.
With the way Vail had been all Captain Asshole on me, I wasn’t exactly feeling comfortable opening up about something so personal and devastating to him.
“Just comforting her. Fucking pricks didn’t get far enough, but look.” He turned my face, angling it upwards and to the side, so they could see my reddened cheek and what I can only assume was bruising that had been forming on my throat from Bryce.
Shaw immediately lost his shit again, and Vail had to physically restrain him.
But even with their size difference and Vail being the bigger man, I could see the struggle.
Shaw was much stronger than he looked, and he managed to shove his friend off twice.
Vail finally pulled Shaw in, hugging his friend tight, and whispered in his ear so that only he could hear.
Shaw immediately clammed up at the touch, and I could see his face twist as though he were in pain from being confined, but as I continued watching slowly, very slowly, he relaxed and finally nodded his head, giving in.
“Thank you-” I started to say.
Vail shook his head. “That was a freebie, darling,” he said, cutting off my gratitude. “Stay out of trouble cuz we might not be around next time.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and jumped down from the counter. “Well, I didn’t ask for your help. You offered it on your own.”
“So you screaming wasn’t a call for help, then?”
Why was it every time I was around Vail, I just wanted to slap the shit out of him?
“You call helping a girl not be gang-raped a freebie?” All three of them winced at my words, and I shook my head in disgust. “If you had stood by, knowing what was happening when you were in a position to help but didn’t, then you are a piece of shit, too.
” I sidestepped around him and pushed open the door, first warily checking the hallway for Hunter or any of his crew.
Still, seeing it empty, I hurried down the stairs.
Behind me, I heard footsteps following, yet no one called my name.
I spun around, my heart hammering in my chest, but I instantly relaxed when I saw it was just Lee.
“What do you want?” I asked, my anger ebbing away when I noticed it was him.
“Making sure you get home okay.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure you will. But I’ll be watching just in case.”
I “Don’t bother, Lee.”
“This isn’t a debate, Case,” he said, all humour gone. “I’m coming with you, and that’s it.”