Chapter 20 Jack
Chapter twenty
Jack
Hands reached for me in the dark. Their laughter pushed in around me. They spoke of my mom, Antoine, the others. Promised they’d make me watch them all die before they killed me.
I tried to scream. I tried to run. Marcus, he’d protect me. But then even he was taken from me. The slice of a sword zinged through the dark. A head rolled, blind eyes stared up at me through a familiar face.
Suddenly, those eyes zeroed in on me and the mouth moved. “You’re the key. The weakest. Every Durand will die. Because of you.”
My body shook, my head shaking back and forth. I refused to believe the words. “No, I’m not. I’m—”
A warmth spread through me, wrapping around me like a comforting blanket. It shoved the nightmare away. The mocking face in the dark was nothing more than a memory and all I felt was… light… love.
I sighed into the embrace.
My eyes fluttered open to see the setting sun beaming in through the slit in the curtains.
I sniffed and rolled over to the scent of cloves and smoke.
My brows furrowed as the scent tickled a thought.
I buried my face in my pillow, breathing in the scent.
Then I pushed out of bed, stumbling over to Tate’s bed.
I breathed in their scents mixed together on Tate’s bed. Sunshine and smoke. One was Tate’s smell. The other was…
My eyes narrowed as I stared at the bed.
Kyren.
But… why? Why was Kyren’s scent on my bed? Had he been sleeping with me?
I stumbled backward, falling onto my mattress as the realization consumed me. I should feel angry. I should feel… violated. I should feel completely and utterly violated by Kyren’s presence in my bed without permission. And yet, I couldn’t push away the feeling of contentment.
Since I’d gotten here, my nightmares hadn’t been as frequent and, when I had them like last night, they were barely a blip in my mind before something… someone chased them away.
I huffed a laugh. Well, now I knew who that someone was.
I dragged my hands over my face and through my hair as I breathed in. Kyren has been sleeping next to me every night since I started school. I’m dating his human servant who…
Flashes of last night came back to me.
Tate pressing me against the bar, his fingers thrusting inside me, rubbing, pushing me toward the edge, all while Kyren’s fangs sank into my wrist.
My finger stroked over my wrists, where the evidence of what had happened last night no longer existed.
Every vampire that had ever bitten me barely had a taste before I put a stake through their hearts. I’d only ever felt it as pain. To have Kyren feed on me while Tate…
My face heated, and my thighs pressed together. The thought of doing it again pushed against my mind.
I shoved the desire down and worked on getting dressed. Halfway through pulling my shirt on, my phone went off. Knowing only a few people would be calling me right now, I growled and snatched it up, answering without look at it.
“Yes?”
“My office. Now.” The phone hung up.
I glared at the phone, shoving it into my pocket as I muttered to myself. “Now, Jack. Here, Jack. Why don’t you hold my dick while I fuck you over, Jack?”
“Having a pleasant chat?”
I spun around, my lips curling in a shy smile as I saw Tate. Dragging my teeth over my lip, I ducked my head. “Hi, you heard that?”
“Oh, yeah.” Tate’s grin spread wide as he stepped up to me. His hands slid over my waist as he lowered his face to mine. As he pressed his lips to mine, his tongue slipped inside, deepening the kiss until all I wanted to do was pull him onto the bed with me.
My phone dinged.
I groaned and pulled away. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”
“Wait.” Tate kissed me again. “Don’t go. Let’s stay here.”
“I can’t,” I laughed, pressing my hands to his chest and stepping back, swiping my hand over my mouth. “I have a meeting with my advisor.”
“Blow it off.” Tate reached for me.
Ducking his grabby hands, I grinned at him. “You’ll see me tonight. You can wait a few more hours.”
Tate lifted his fingers to his lips, licking one and then the other, hungry eyes on me. “I don’t know if can. I’m a bit addicted now.”
“Oh, yeah?” I grinned, backing up against the door.
His hand braced over my head, fingers pinching my chin.
“Oh, princess, from the moment I saw you kick those wolves’ asses, I’ve been addicted to you.
Your smile. Your laugh. That innocence buried beneath your hard exterior.
” He leaned in until our lips brushed. “So, maybe we start our date at the end and work our way backward?”
I pulled my chin from his grasp, laughing. “Fucking hell, Tate. You act like I kicked a puppy by making you wait a few hours.”
“Fine. I see how it is.” Tate pouted and allowed me to push him away. “Your advisor is more important.”
I rolled my eyes as I jerked the door open. “Go spend time with your boyfriend before he gets jealous of me stealing all your time.”
Tate chuckled. “Baby, the only person’s attention Kyren is competing for is yours.” He stepped toward me with heat in his eyes. “And I just happen to be winning.”
Before he could grab me again, I ducked out of the room, his words swirling in my mind as I made my way to Julian’s office.
Kyren… liked me? Like, liked me, liked me. That wasn’t something I saw coming.
Did I like Kyren?
No? Yes? I wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question even to myself. The dark-haired vampire was attractive. But he was a bit… intense. And quiet. Definitely, the opposite of Tate who was a regular chatty Kathy.
I’d have told Tate he was crazy if he thought his boyfriend liked me, except I just found out that Kyren had been keeping the nightmares away. Now, I didn’t know what to think.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to think about that right now. I had another drama to deal with.
Eyes on Julian’s office door, I had to mentally prepare myself for the argument that was about to happen. I didn’t get a chance to knock. Julian ripped the door open, his blue eyes staring into me through his glasses.
“Come in, Billings.”
Just those three words and I knew exactly Julian’s mind set right now, and I wasn’t going to like it.
I shut the door behind me before dropping into a seat across from his mahogany desk, my feet up on the edge of it.
Julian glanced at my boots and sighed, drawing his glasses off his face to rub a hand over his face. “Feet down, Billings.”
I hummed. “I don’t think so. You’re going to yell at me, anyway, so why not be comfortable?”
Leaning back in his chair, Julian unbuttoned the first button of his shirt, loosening his tie. “Have you done something that would make me yell at you?”
“Don’t be cute. It’s not a good look for you.” My eyes narrowed. “We both know you saw me. So go on... get it over with.”
Julian tilted his head to one side. “There was a time you liked it.”
“That was before,” I gritted out. “And you’ve made it clear that it was a mistake and not happening again. So…” I waved a hand in the air.
“So you’ve moved past me to werewolves and vampires.” Julian’s tone was hard with a hint of something dark to it I’d never heard before.
“It doesn’t matter who I’ve moved on with,” I shot back, dropping my feet. “I’m doing my job. That’s all that matters. You don’t get a say otherwise.”
“Are you?” His eyes settled on me. “Doing your job?”
“If there was anyone who knew anything about the rebels at the bar, they didn’t show themselves.”
“They didn’t, or you were distracted… again.” He bit the word out, fingers curling around the edge of his desk, knuckles white.
“How I do my job is my business. If you don’t like it…” I stood, placing my hands on his desk as I leaned across his desk. “Do it yourself.”
I shoved off the desk, turning to leave, but Julian caught my wrist.
“What you did last night…” Julian said, his voice controlled, firm. “Was that for the job or because you wanted it?”
I stared at the closed door, wondering why he even cared. Julian had made it quite clear that we were nothing. We were less than nothing. We were colleagues, and that was it. Now, he thought he had the right to ask me about my personal life choices?
“Yes,” I said simply, my head slowly turning toward me, letting him see how last night being between Tate and Kyren had made me feel. “I wanted it.”
Julian dropped my wrist, his expression dropping before that mask he was so proud of slid into place. “Then we have nothing else to talk about.”
“I suppose not.” I pulled my phone out to check the time. “If there’s nothing else, I have to cut this short. I have a date tonight.”
I let my smug grin cover my face until I was out of his office and down the hallway. Then and only then did I sink down against the wall and breathe.
My heart raced in my chest, a hurricane of emotions fighting for first place, as I realized what exactly had just happened in there.
That moment in Julian’s office was a crossing point for us. I knew it. I could see it in his eyes. We might have had something eventually at some point. But me with Tate and Kyren? That crossed a line.
Julian didn’t want me anymore.
And while I had Tate and apparently Kyren, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to let go of him yet… if ever.