Chapter 5 #3
“You are not that lame of a stalker after all.” I feel a wicked smirk curling my lips hearing his confirmation.
The leaves on top of us suddenly move, turning me even more alert. The black head of a snake slowly appears among the foliage, forked tongue pointed at me.
Before I can do anything, Ren exclaims, “George, what are you doing here? I told you to stay put.”
He raises his arm and lets the snake wrap around it. This must be his pet snake. I only saw him a few times from afar.
Sully’s bedroom opens, and he enters. He’s wearing a loose long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of gray leggings that look like a second skin over those long legs.
His lush ass goes right up in the air as he bends to get something from his bag on the floor.
I’ll be sure to leave an indelible bite mark on it.
A moment later, Ren’s phone starts ringing.
“Fuck!” he cusses as he hurriedly gets it out of his jacket. “Hello!”
I can hear Sully’s voice coming out of the device. My eyes find him again, holding his cell while frowning at his window. He must have heard the ringtone coming from the tree. Fuck is right.
“Great job. Yeah, Dare updated me. Any problem?” Ren asks nonchalantly. I take out my cell and, after accessing the app, I click on Sully’s phone. I mute mine and begin hearing his relaxed voice.
They are talking about the pet shelter. The casual chat keeps going as my annoyance grows and then almost explodes hearing Ren say, “Hey, you didn’t come to the party last Friday. Thought you wanted to have fun.”
Was that the party Jacob invited Sully to?
“You said Jacob was bad news. Plus, I had some last-minute assignments to focus on,” Sully replies.
“How about this Thursday? Booze, dancing, maybe an interesting encounter…” Ren makes a suggestive sound, and I see red.
The knife handle is in my palm for half a second before I toss it at him. It pierces the air with a swoosh and then gets stuck into the branch, three inches left of Ren’s head.
“Fuck!” He jolts, together with his snake, who, probably vexed by the abrupt move, decides to slide away. Ren turns my way, mouthing an are you fucking crazy?
He is the one provoking a hitman and I’m crazy.
“Are you okay?” I hear Sully’s sweet, worried voice through the line.
“Yeah, I just saw a crazy assassin…bug. Boy, is he ugly!” Ren glares at me.
I grab another knife, the one with the big-ass blade this time. It will find flesh if Ren doesn’t stop screwing with me.
“I’m sure he thinks the same about you,” Sully snorts. His inelegant way of laughing is so fucking adorable, almost as much as him gagging on my cock will be.
Even if Ren is not looking at me, I know who that smirk on his face is aimed at. “Impossible. You said it yourself, how handsome I am.”
I let out a deep, threatening sound. If he wants blood, he’ll get it.
Sully’s next words halt my murderous intent, “Why do I keep hearing growling lately? Do you think it’s possible for a wild animal to be free on the university campus?”
“Sure!” Ren has that taunting expression on his face again, which makes me want to yank off those mirrored glasses and crush them under my shoe before killing him.
“A wild pig perhaps, or a stalking…chimpanzee.” He clicks his tongue. Does he want to lose it?
“Very funny,” Sully deadpans.
“Hey man, let me call you back, a head-splitting…problem is coming my way.”
“That’s a weird choice of words, but okay. Bye.”
I lower my phone as Ren ends the call and raises both hands up. “Thought bows were your thing.”
“Weapons are my thing,” I snarl, raising the knife in the air.
“I also thought you were all cold and in control.”
“I am.” Unless Sully is involved. I look at him like he’s the bug I need to crush.
“Look, you clearly care for Sully, and I know I can’t stop…this. The stalking thing is weird as fuck, but I can see you don’t mean him harm…just like Rami didn’t with Hunter.”
“If I wanted to hurt Sully, I would’ve done it a thousand times already. He has the physical strength of a kitten.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about it.” I hate when people seem to know something about Sully that I don’t.
“I’ll talk to Jacob, see if he knows something about the swerving car.”
I sniff, eyes on Sully sitting on his bed, EarPods in his ears. Since it sounded like Ren pushed him out of harm’s way, I’ll give him first crack at the fucker. I also have my hands full at the moment with Nine.
“Two days. If you don’t find anything by then, the prick is mine. Be sure to tell him that if he sets even a finger on Sully…” I show him again the long blade I’m holding. “I’ll cut his fucking arm off and strangle him with it.”
“Creepy. Noted. Now, I have a girl to see…to actually meet. None of this peeping Tom crap.” He points at me and the window. Then he makes a military salute before starting to climb down the tree.
I crouch to get closer to him as he descends. “Fuck with me again, and I’ll repay the favor.” I let the threat sink in.
“Watch out! Sully saw you.”
What? I freeze and slowly turn only my head toward the window. But Sully is still sitting on the bed listening to music.
When I look down, Ren has disappeared. That prick! My lips twitch involuntarily. That boy has balls.
I sit more comfortably on the branch, and as my eyes find Sully again, I see tears running down his cheeks.
What the fuck? I grab my phone and enter the app once again.
He’s listening to a country song by Ella King called “Can’t Be Loved.
” I thought he liked this kind of music, why is he crying?
He always cries like this. All alone. Feebly.
Softly. The tears falling down his face are eerily beautiful.
I’ve been wanting to witness his eyes turn blurry and lighter in color, for me, not a fucking whiny song.
He really is a little chick, defenseless and softhearted.
He switches off the light and lies under the comforter in the fetal position, still sniffling over the pillow.
I continue watching him while he falls asleep.
I like how ethereal his skin looks under tonight’s bright moonlight.
It illuminates every intake of breath he takes, every little move he makes.
He mumbles something as he turns on his back while his chest continues its rise and fall.
Is he dreaming of me? Those luscious lips part—my dick responds in an instant.
I imagine sucking and biting on them until they bleed.
I want to pull the sheet back and memorize his chest. His small nipples would be hard and begging to be pinched and licked.
His dick would be stiff and dripping cum.
I stop the growl in my throat. It’s taking all the restraint I have not to kick down his door and haul him over my shoulder so I can keep him locked up where only I can get to him.
Keep him satisfied in a way only I can. I know Sully likes me, but even if he didn’t, it wouldn’t matter.
I’ll make him enjoy what I do to him, make him crave it.
No matter who he likes, he’ll soon learn I am who he needs.
I hang up my phone and turn my head away from the high metal gate and the two black, round-eyed bear statues on top of it when I hear a car approaching.
A tall guy with smooth caramel skin, dreads, and calculating, hazel eyes—a smidge lighter than mine—exits the shiny Hummer.
He has piercings on his eyebrow and his lip, in addition to several earrings in his ears.
An expensive, long gray coat falls down his long figure over a red sweater and dark jeans.
Uriel is a walking, breathing carbon copy of myself—a mostly irritating one.
When kids we were wary of one another; we either ignored or tricked each other.
A psychopath and a sociopath living under the same tin roof in a trailer park with an abusive father and a neglectful mother is not the beginning of a once-upon-a-time tale.
A thriller would be the right choice. Our tumultuous coexistence came to an end soon enough after we were taken.
After escaping, I went to look for him. I wasn’t feeling any kind of kinship toward him.
Forming bonds is quite difficult for me.
I typically hinge on how useful the other person can be.
And that’s part of the reason why I kept checking on my brother from time to time.
I was right in doing so since we have a cold-blooded killer who won’t stop coming at us until we are all dead.
I have more opportunities to find and kill her using Uriel and the others even as bait if I need.
“What are you doing out here?” Uriel asks.
“Enjoying the view,” I reply, keeping my butt against the motorbike, legs crossed at the ankles.
“Still going with the college pusher look?” He looks me up and down with disapproving eyes as he analyzes my green hoodie, light puffer coat, blue bandana, and worn-out jeans.
“Still going with the entitled fuckboy act?” I recount.
“Fuck you!”
“Fuck you first.” I sniff.
He gives me a subtle smirk before telling me to follow him.
He gets back in his car in front of the gates where the security pad on the wall is placed to pass Serena’s fingertip reading, and face and voice recognition.
I slide the helmet over my arm, start my bike, and follow his car inside—after letting the AI check me as well.
I could have gotten inside, but I wanted to take a phone call away from indiscreet ears. The distrust the team feels toward me is obviously reciprocated.
I ride down the long, tree-lined driveway and park the motorbike next to Uriel’s car at the end. Where Dr. Meghan Bear-Stone’s tacky house used to stand, now there’s a garden, a large, round wooden gazebo with a glass roof, and a fire pit.
The thunk of a car door anticipates Uriel’s words. “Wonders never cease.”
“Meaning?” I ask, leaving the helmet on top of the bike seat.
“Sully.”
I sigh. I thought I had more time. “Does everybody know?”
“Who cares?” He shrugs. “Aren’t you going to ask me how I know?”