CHAPTER 15
Riven
brUISED - Allegra Jordyn
The city's noises seem so distant and insignificant compared to the pounding of my heart.
So many questions crowd my mind, yet I can't hold on to a single coherent thought.
How does he know my name?
Well, it's obvious.
He looked into me. But why?
Why the hell did he do it? Why won't he just leave me alone?
I thought I was rid of him after the crash.
Any sane fucking person would've moved on. Any sane person wouldn't break into someone's home. Any sane person wouldn't track them down, dig through their life, then show up in the middle of the night like some fucking ghost.
But he isn't sane.
Far from it.
I should move, speak and call the Enforcers.
Tell him to get the fuck out but I feel like I'm melting into the floor like the darkness itself is about to swallow me whole.
“Cat got your tongue, Riven?” he says, taking a step toward me.
Just one step.
But it's enough to make me feel trapped.
“I'm almost disappointed.” His gaze drifts slowly over me. “I thought you'd be more... combative, considering how you fought me last time.”
A pause.
“And now that I broke into your house.”
“Wh-what the fuck are you doing here?” I finally find my voice. “How did you even—”
“Emergency stairs,” he cuts in. “Wasn't easy finding you, troublemaker, but what can I say?”
He grins and takes another step.
“I'm fucking stubborn when I want something.”
“You're a fucking psychopath.” I instinctively take a step back.
“Maybe,” he replies, slowly closing the distance I'm trying to create. “And I won't apologize for hunting you down just to make you regret what you did to me.”
His head tilts slightly like a predator playing with its food.
The dam breaks.
Somehow, his sheer insanity burns away every trace of fear.
My shock cracks and my panic evaporates.
All that's left is anger, hot, sharp and immediate.
“Are you completely out of your fucking mind?” I snap. “Actually, don't answer that. You clearly don't have enough neurons left to think straight.”
I take a step toward him this time.
“You stalked me, you dug through my life, you found my address and climbed into my home.”
Another step.
“And somehow your conclusion—after finding out who I am—is that I wouldn't do shit?”
A short, disbelieving laugh escapes me.
“What part of that sounds normal to you?” I wave him off dismissively. “You're a complete idiot if you thought you could just barge into an Upper’s loft like it’s nothing.”
I cross my arms over my chest.
“I just have to say the word Emergency, and my comm will call the Enforcers.” I hold his gaze. “They'll drag your ass out of here. And you won't just be charged with breaking and entering...”
A pause.
“You'll also be charged with assaulting Adrien Laordie's daughter.”
I hate using my name, my father's reputation but it's the only card I have to play against someone like him.
The neon lights spilling through the windows paint shifting colors across the loft, throwing shadows across his face.
For the first time since waking up, my heart isn't racing because I'm scared.
It's racing because I'm furious.
His dark hair streaked with red almost seems to mock me beneath the neon glow.
It's messy like he couldn't care less about it.
He smiles slowly.
“Then I'll have to make it worth my time,” he says. “You think your little threat scares me?”
He takes another step, his gaze dropping to my bare legs before slowly returning to my eyes.
“Yes, you should,” I growl, jabbing a finger at him. “You don't get to break into my home and act like this is normal.”
My voice and words turning in pure venom.
“We're not from the same world. Go back down there and fucking live your life. One that doesn't include stalking me like some goddamn creep who can't control his own impulses.”
I breathe heavily, nearly panting with fury.
My eyes burn with hatred.
For a moment neither of us moves.
Then he gasps.
A full, dramatic gasp. He clutches his heart as though it might shatter.
“Oh.” He slowly shakes his head. “Touché.” A beat passes. “Cruel, but I really...” He pauses. “don't give a fuck.”
He straightens, letting his arms fall to his sides.
“You hit me. Not once but twice. You escaped.” His voice drops into something dark. “And now you're threatening to hand me over to the Enforcers?”
He laughs, a manic laugh.
“What's so funny?”
“That you think,” He clutches his stomach, still laughing. “That you'd even have time to say your little safe word before I rip your tongue out.”
His smile disappears completely.
“You walked away alive once.” He takes another slow step closer. “I won't make that mistake twice.”
I instinctively take a step back.
His glowing eyes have gone completely cold.
Then he moves, it's a blur. Too fast for me to react.
One second, he's several feet away, the next, his hand is wrapped around my throat.
I gasp in surprise.
How the fuck did he move so fast?
I instinctively grab his wrist, digging my nails into his skin until angry red welts bloom beneath them.
If I have to die, then at least I'll leave something behind. His DNA beneath my nails.
I can feel my heartbeat pounding inside my skull as I dig deeper, refusing to let panic completely take over.
Every survival instinct I have is screaming at me, to fight, to leave a mark.
Make sure that if something happens to me, there'll be proof of who did it.
I might be terrified but I'm not going down without a fight.
“Collecting my DNA, troublemaker?” He bends lower, almost folding himself in half until we're eye level. “Smart.”
His fingers tighten slightly.
“Why?” I cough through gritted teeth. “Because I bruised your fragile little alpha ego?”
He clicks his tongue and tightens his grip another fraction.
“You see, people like you...” He snarls the words. “Spoiled little Uppers who think the world owes them everything, they piss me off.”
His eyes narrow.
“But what pisses me off even more,” His breath is close to my cheeks “is that an Upper actually managed to hurt me while I was trying to help.”
I twist against his grip, trying to break free.
“You crashed into us! And you expected me to say,” I cough. “Thank you? You're even dumber than I thought.”
I claw at one of his fingers, trying to loosen the pressure around my throat.
Instead, his grip tightens.
And because I'm apparently too fucking stubborn to keep my mouth shut.
“You're pathetic,” I rasp between coughs, managing a defiant smirk “You keep telling everyone you're confident huh? When really, you're just a man whose muscles are bigger than his brain.”
A beat.
“And his dick.”
I see the change in his eyes.
Not amusement, something darker, something that instantly makes me regret taunting him.
The grin remains on my face for half a second too long before my survival instincts finally catch up.
My stomach drops.
He is here to kill me.
Not eventually, not after a fight.
Right now.
His hand is already around my throat, he could snap my neck in an instant and leave my body here for Liam, Jules, and Charlie to find.
The realization crashes into me with brutal force.
For the first time since I started running my mouth, I understand exactly how vulnerable I am.
Alone, barefoot and half-dressed and trapped within arm's reach of a man who broke into my home without hesitation.
My pulse stutters.
Maybe provoking him wasn't my brightest idea.
“You've got more bite than the others of your kind,” His face is utterly serious. “But don’t mistake who I am, I don’t make empty threats.”
“Wh-who are you?”
He pulls back and search my face before sighing.
“I’m Evren Calder, leader of Crimson Velocity, second most powerful gang of Kairo-9.”
He pauses and tightens his fingers around my throat, cutting off my airflow.
“But you won’t live long enough to find out the rest” He smiles “If I really have a small dick or not.”
I struggle against his grip, my face reddening, my eyes watering as no oxygen reaches my brain.
“That’s it.” He leans closer, his face now mere inches from mine. “Fight to breathe, because I’m the only one who can give you the one thing you need.”
He smirks as his eyes glow an eerie green-gold.
Then he suddenly releases me, only to grab the front of my hoodie while I desperately drag air back into my lungs.
With one hand, he hauls me up.
Lifts me as if I weigh absolutely nothing.
I thrash and kick but he only chuckles in response.
“You look like a little feral cat.” he smiles “Cute. But useless.”
In an instant, my back slams against the wall beside my bed, the impact knocking the air out of my lungs.
Before I can even register what happened or manage to breathe evenly, I feel his hand tracing along my bare calf, sliding up to the inside of my knee and continuing higher, slowly.
My breathing quickens, panic flooding through me.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” I writhe against his hold. “Don’t touch me!” I shout.
“Oh, little troublemaker is panicking?” His fingers drift higher along the inside of my thigh. “You think I want to touch you? I just like seeing your fire before I extinguish it.”
I don’t think, my body moves alone.
As he leans closer, I turn my head toward his.
I bite down on his neck hard enough to break the skin. His blood floods my mouth, warm and metallic, but I don’t care.
I lock my jaw.
He roars and jerks his hand away before realizing my teeth are still sunk into his neck.
His hand shoots into my hair and yanks my head back.
I resist until he clamps his hand around my jaw, forcing it open.
“Let go, you vicious fucking bitch!” he shouts.
I only manage a muffled no, the word swallowed by the skin still trapped between my teeth.
He laughs maniacally and finally manages to pry my jaw off his neck.
I take advantage of the opening and throw a punch—not at his face, but directly at the fresh bite mark I just left.
His reflexes are inhuman.
His eyes glow like fucking streetlights, and he catches my punch by wrapping one large hand around my fist.
I’m still pinned against the wall, but at least my feet are on the floor now.
“That wasn’t very fucking smart, Riven.”
He leans closer.
I drive my knee upward and hit his balls.
He grunts, folding in half as his hands leave me to clutch himself.
I use that precious time to bolt down the stairs, heading straight for the kitchen to grab a knife.
I yank open drawer after drawer, searching frantically, when I hear his footsteps coming down the same staircase I just fled.
This man isn’t fucking human.
“Looking for a knife?” he asks with a smirk. “I hid them while you were asleep. I’m not fucking dumb. I knew you’d eventually try something like that.”
He cracks his neck, walking towards me like he has all the time in the world.
“Get out!” I shout, loud and raw.
I grab a pan and throw it in his direction.
Evren grabs it mid-flight and tosses it aside.
“Now, why would I do that?” He steps closer again. “I’m just starting to show you how deeply bruised my ego is.”
He smiles and reaches for me.
I scream again, but louder.
Loud enough for my neighbors to hear me. He freezes and raises an eyebrow.
“Smart. You’re smart, Riven.” He takes a step back, shoving his hands into his pockets. “But you better not sleep with your eyes closed—”
He turns and heads for the door, which he never uses in the first place.
He slides it open, and just before stepping out, as the neighbors rush over down the hall, he throws a casual glance over his shoulder, as if we’re discussing the weather.
“Because you might never wake up.”