Chapter 38
CHAPTER 38
Ivy
My mind instantly turns to mush the moment his lips make contact with mine. His mouth shatters my resistance as he claims me like he’s never had anything sweeter than the taste of my lips. One devastatingly possessive kiss and I’ve already dropped everything I was holding.
I can’t breathe.
His fingers tighten like a noose around my neck.
I can’t breathe.
It doesn’t register with me until it’s too late.
My eyes nearly roll into the back of my head.
Knock. Knock.
Suddenly, he pulls back and looks at me. He unfurls his fingers from my veins, and my lungs suck in the oxygen.
Fuck.
Another knock on the door follows.
“Silas? Ivy? Are you okay in there?”
Max.
Silas and I look at each other. I can still feel his hot lips on mine, my tongue tracing his taste.
Another knock.
“We’re fine,” I reply, my eyes still fixated on his.
“We should go. We’re sitting ducks here,” Heath adds.
I swallow as Silas finally averts his eyes, and I put the box back into the cabinet along with whatever just happened, then open the door.
“I just had to clean up his wound. That’s all. Finished.”
“But … he’s still bleeding,” Max points at Silas who waltzes out too.
“I’m fine,” Silas says.
“You two keep saying that, but I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
“Max,” Silas grits, shutting him up.
I immediately search for Cora to make sure she’s safe. She’s standing on a stool in the kitchen, grabbing three glasses. “Cora? What are you doing?”
I hurry to help her.
“I wanted to give them something to drink. Mrs. Schwartz always asks me.” She pours water into the glasses.
“We don’t have to—”
“I’m thirsty as hell,” Max says, grabbing one of the half-filled glasses out of her little hand, and he chugs it down in one go, making Cora giggle.
I roll my eyes at how easily he’s won her over already.
“You said hell,” she says, giggling even more. “That’s a bad word.”
“Oops.” Max covers his mouth with his hand. “Did I say that?” She giggles again as he pokes at her. “I bet you’ve never said a bad word in your life.”
“Poop!” she screams at the top of her lungs.
“Oh fuck me,” Silas groans.
“You said a bad word too!” Cora points at him.
Mrrrp.
Silas’s eyes dart down between his legs, where Bagel curls his tail around his calf.
Silas’s eyes grow big, and he takes two steps away to get Bagel to leave, but he keeps sticking to him. “No. No. Get away. Someone, do something.”
Max laughs at him.
“What the fuck are you laughing at?” Silas growls.
“You,” he retorts.
Silas’s eyes narrow. “I’ll kill you.”
“C’mon, you two have been laughing at me for ages because I’m a simp. You can take one for the team.” Max winks.
“Silas …” I mutter, staring at him as he keeps the cat at bay by making weird movements I’ve never seen him make before. “Are you afraid of cats?”
“What?” He stops and stares at me with vicious eyes. “Me? Afraid?” He snorts and pokes at Bagel before picking him up. “Do I fucking look afraid?”
He’s holding Bagel really far away from him even though he’s making air biscuits.
“Meow.” Silas glares at Bagel like his meow summoned a malicious god intent on wreaking havoc on earth.
“Have you ever even touched a cat before?” Heath asks Silas, laughing at him too.
“What am I supposed to do with it?” Silas asks.
I cross my arms. “ It ? Really?”
“You pet it,” Heath answers.
“Fuck no.” He holds Bagel even farther away like the cat’s cuteness might be contagious.
“You’d better not hurt him,” I warn him.
Silas seems even less amused.
“Let’s just fucking go. More of those fuckers are out there, and I don’t intend to sit around and wait until they come swarming in.” Silas drops Bagel on the floor only to grab me instead.
“Wait—no. Where do you even want to go?”
Where did this sudden need to protect me come from?
“The Skull and Serpent Society,” he grits.
“What?” I jerk free a second time. “No way.”
“You are coming with me,” he says. “I can’t protect you out here.”
“I’m not leaving Cora,” I reply.
His eyes narrow, and his nostrils flare, but I’m not changing my stance. I know they’re coming for us. They made that very clear when they decided to attack me out on the street.
But I would rather die than leave Cora.
“Fine,” he says, licking his lips. “Bring her with you.”
My jaw drops. “What?”
“You heard me.” He grabs Cora’s arm. “Let’s go.”
Cora pulls away from him and runs to me. “No, I don’t wanna go. What about Bagel?”
“Wait a minute,” Heath interjects. “The Skull and Serpent Society is no place for a child.”
“He’s right,” Max says.
“You have a better idea?” Silas quips. “Go ahead, I’m waiting.” He checks the clock. “While you’re thinking about it, whoever was after her isn’t calling back up at all.”
The sarcasm is strong.
“But what if your dad finds out there’s a kid on campus?”
“I’ll deal with him.” His eyes home in on me. “You can’t stay here. I won’t allow it.”
Wow.
I’ve never seen him this determined.
I swallow away the lump in my throat. “Fine.” I pick up Bagel and stuff him into Silas’s hands. “But Bagel’s coming too.”
Silas stares at him like he’s never seen anything more treacherous, and Max laughs under the palm of his hand.
“What the hell do I do with this?” Silas growls.
I grab the kitty box I have for vet visits and hold it out to him. “Here.”
I reach for Cora’s hand. “Let’s go.”
Heath
Ivy doesn’t want to leave Cora in my car by herself, so Max and Silas go ahead on their bikes while I drive in the car behind them.
I just fucking hope no one saw us even though I had my face covered with a mask and Max and Silas had their helmets. We’ll have to exchange license plates quickly to avoid any involvement.
But first, we need to secure Ivy and Cora.
The slow ride up to Spine Ridge University is nerve-wracking. She keeps throwing me looks through the rearview mirror while clutching Cora like she’d take a knife for her, and I don’t doubt she will. But I won’t be the one throwing it her way.
She’s got me all wrong, and I know it’s my fault. I made her believe she should fear me like she should fear Silas. All I was interested in was using her for all my devious needs and to watch her fall apart just because I could, because it felt good to be the one to give her what she wanted instead of Max. But the more I played with her, the more the lines started to blur. And now I don’t even know what I want anymore.
I sigh as we drive up the mountain, and I look out the window to take my mind off things.
But even in the trees, a shadow of her memory dances, irresistibly poisoning my mind with sweet agony. I can still feel her body close to mine, still taste that delicious skin … still feel his lips on mine.
I touch my mouth, and for a moment, I wonder if I truly have lost my mind.
There’s no way back.
I ruined everything.
Why couldn’t I just be content with sharing her instead?
“I want you to know that just because I’m coming with you doesn’t mean I trust you,” Ivy suddenly says, breaking my train of thought.
“I never said you should,” I reply. “But I do know one thing; Silas was right. The Skull and Serpent Society is about the safest place you can be right now.”
She snorts. “I doubt that.”
“You’re surrounded by killers.” I make eye contact with her through the mirror. “Killers who just swore to protect you and Cora.”
Cora’s hand entwines through Ivy’s, her little body trembling. “Killers?”
“He’s joking,” Ivy says, throwing me darts with her eyes. “Right?”
“Yeah. Totally.” I add a smile for good measure.
I’m not used to hanging around kids, and I have no fucking clue how to behave around them. But we’ll make it work.
I’m not going to let anyone harm the one girl who’s been out here wrapping us all around her finger.
When we’re at the house again, I happily shut off the engine, but my eyes still find the little bottle of pills lying on the passenger’s seat. Sighing, I grab it and take a pill, swallowing it down without any water.
“What’s that?” Cora asks, and I nearly choke.
“Nothing,” I reply.
“Pills,” Ivy replies.
“For what?” the little girl asks.
“People take pills if they’re sick,” Ivy says.
Sick.
Maybe I am.
“But if he doesn’t wanna tell, he doesn’t have to,” she adds, glaring at me through the mirror.
I nod, glad she’s not prying. “Thanks.”
I step out, close the door, and open hers instead.
“I can manage.”
“Just because you can doesn’t mean I shouldn’t,” I reply, smirking.
She rolls her eyes, but a tiny smile still quirks up her top lip, if only briefly.
“Cora, let’s go,” Ivy says, and she grabs her hand and helps her out.
I close the door behind them and follow them toward the door. Silas and Max have already pulled up to the house, and Silas is still wearing his broken helmet when he walks up to us.
“Why not throw that thing away?” I ask.
“And get shot in the head while driving?” Silas replies. “No, thanks.”
“Wait, someone followed us?” Max asks, the panic clearly visible in his eyes.
“No, I checked,” I reply, but he still won’t look at me, and it fucking hurts.
My fist balls, and I move on ahead. “Whatever.”
“Wha—” Max mutters, but I ignore him.
Ivy and Cora are already up ahead, and I’m more concerned with them right now. Ivy is being targeted by someone or something big, and I want to know why. Is it because she stole money from them too? Or is there something else at play?
Cora’s eyes nearly start to dazzle. “We get to live here?”
Ivy grabs her and pulls her closer. “Don’t get too excited. It’s only for a little while.”
“Aw …” Cora pouts.
“For as long as you need it,” I say, adding a smile.
Suddenly, she runs up to me and hugs my legs, and I don’t know what to do with it other than stare. “Thank you!”
I just look at Ivy and back at Cora as a kind of warmth I’ve never felt before floods my entire body.
What … is happening?
“Hey, why does he get all the thanks?” Silas says as he strolls inside. “It was my idea.”
Cora swiftly releases me.
Ivy folds her arms. “She’s right. This is a castle compared to where we live.”
Maybe she’s right. We are fucking rich, after all, and we’ve never experienced any kind of poverty, let alone having to take care of a kid too. It must’ve taken a toll on her.
“Can we go up to our room?” Cora asks.
“Of course, you can,” Max says as he walks in too. “I’ll show you where it is.”
Dammit. I really didn’t think this through.
Cora grabs Max’s hand and drags him up the stairs, making me feel some kind of way I can’t describe as I follow everyone.
“Fine, I’ll come too,” Silas grumbles, rolling his eyes, almost as if the mere idea of being nice annoys him.
Or maybe he’s just not used to feeling … something. Whatever it is.
Because I clearly noticed a shift in his behavior since he discovered she has a kid. And he’s not the only one.
I breathe out a sigh and head toward the guest room with everyone. The moment Max opens the door, Cora begins to squeal at the small four-poster queen bed with fluffy blankets. She immediately runs to it and belly flops onto it with a giggle, rubbing the mattress.
“It’s so soft!”
Ivy giggles as she enters the room and looks around. “This is … spacious.”
“There’s a bathroom to the left with a tub,” Max says, opening all the doors. “And here’s your closet.”
“Wow,” Ivy says, her lips still parted as she gawks at all the stuff in the guest room. “This is … almost too much.”
“No, it’s not!” Cora yells, making us all laugh. “I love it!”
“I’m glad you’re happy,” Ivy says.
“Aren’t you going to test out your bed?” Max coaxes her.
“Um …” Ivy blushes.
“Go ahead, it’s yours now. You can stay as long as needed.”
“I just … kind of miss my things,” Ivy responds, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“You’ve got more than enough stuff here,” Silas says.
“Yeah, but not my clothes,” she says.
“We’ll take care of it,” I reply.
A smile lifts her face, and my heart beats faster at the sight. “Really?”
“Tomorrow,” Silas grumbles.
“Thanks,” she says. “For everything.”
I lower my eyes. “We just did what comes natural to us.”
She folds her arms. “What, protecting people?”
Silas smirks. “Murder.”
All the blood drains from her face, so I slap Silas on the back. “Time for us to go to our own beds.”
“What, with all this blood still caking my skin?” Silas says, tugging at his shirt.
“Go wash up,” I tell him.
“Don’t tell me what to do, bitch,” he spits back.
“Silas!” Ivy hisses, eyeing Cora. “There’s a kid.”
Silas just throws around an awkward look and sticks his hands in his pockets. He really doesn’t know what to do with this, and I have never seen him so uncomfortably weird as he is now.
“Right, good night.”
“Sleep well,” Max says.
“Doubt it,” Silas replies, waltzing off.
“What’s his problem?” Max asks Ivy.
She shrugs. “I don’t know. It started when …” She gulps and withholds the words she was going to speak. “Never mind. It’s not important.”
She stretches and yawns.
“I think it’s time for us to leave her to do her thing,” I say.
Still, Max won’t look at me, even when he says, “Yeah.” He grins at Cora. “You gonna sleep through the night all by yourself?”
“Yes!” Cora exclaims. “I’m a big girl now.”
Ivy’s laughter fills the room, and it makes my heart swell once more, and I physically have to grab my own damn body to keep me from swaying closer.
“Thank you, Max. Heath.” The looks she gives both of us makes me feel like there are so many words left unspoken, but I don’t have a clue where to start. “Good night.”
Max approaches Ivy and grabs her hand, squeezing tightly. “Sleep tight. We’ll talk again tomorrow, okay?”
She nods and leans up to grab his face to peck him on the cheek, and it turns him into a beet. Goddammit.
“Thank you for helping,” she says. “I mean it.”
“Anything for you,” he replies.
Anything for her …
Of course.
My fingers dig into the palm of my hand, and I turn around and waltz off before I combust.