Chapter 11
Rei Kurosaki
I kept my head down as I walked toward the side gate, the one almost no one used after dark.
The sky had gone that deep indigo color, and the only lights left on campus were the ones along the path and the glow from the main building.
Most students had already cleared out. I should have been home hours ago, but the thought of sitting through another fake family dinner made my stomach turn.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was probably Marco checking in again. I ignored it.
I was almost at the gate when I heard footsteps behind me.
“Hey. Kurosaki.”
I turned.
Tyler Voss was a senior, one of the guys who hung around the rugby team even though he was not on it. He had been staring at me more than usual the past couple of weeks. I had written it off as rumors spreading about me and Dimitri.
I was wrong.
“What do you want?” I asked, keeping my voice flat.
He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. “Heard you and Morozov have been getting real close. Thought maybe you were into that kind of thing now.”
I took a step back. “Not interested. Move.”
He stepped closer, crowding me against the stone pillar near the gate. He grabbed my arm.
“Come on,” he said.
“Let go of me.”
His grip tightened until I felt my skin bruising under his fingers. He leaned in. I could feel his breath against my ear. I wished the oxygen would leave his lungs.
I tried to yank my arm free, but he was stronger. Panic started crawling up my throat, the same sick, helpless feeling from the woods. Only in the woods I had not felt real danger. It was more of a thrill mixed with hatred. Here I felt pure fear and disgust. His touch was grossing me out.
“Get the fuck off me.”
Tyler’s other hand grabbed my jaw, forcing my head back. His thumb pressed against my bottom lip.
“Open that pretty mouth and maybe I won’t tell everyone how you begged for it.”
The rest of his words died.
Someone slammed into him from the side so hard that I heard the crack of bone. Tyler went flying backward and hit the ground. Before he could even roll over, a black boot came down on his chest.
It was Dimitri.
He looked completely calm. His face was blank, his eyes colder than I had ever seen them. He did not say a word as he reached down, grabbed Tyler by the front of his shirt, and hauled him up only to drive a fist straight into his face.
Tyler’s head snapped back and blood sprayed across the stone.
“Dimitri, stop!” I shouted.
I hated seeing this. I did not like observing violence.
He hit Tyler again and again. Tyler tried to fight back once, swinging wildly, but Dimitri caught his arm and twisted it behind his back until something popped. Tyler screamed.
Dimitri slammed him face-first into the pillar I had been standing against seconds earlier.
I ran forward and grabbed Dimitri’s arm with both hands.
“Stop! You’re going to kill him!”
For a second I thought he might turn on me and hit me instead. I had never seen him so angry before.
Dimitri let go.
Then his fingers wrapped around my bicep like a vice and yanked me away from the side gate. Tyler was still on the ground behind us, groaning and spitting blood, but Dimitri did not even glance back. He just dragged me toward the black car parked under the trees.
“Dimitri, wait. What are you doing?” I tried to pull free, but it was useless. His grip only tightened.
“You’re coming with me.”
“I have my own way home.”
“No, you don’t.” He opened the passenger door and shoved me inside before I could argue again.
I sat stiffly, my heart still pounding from the fight and from the way he had looked at me afterward.
He was so quiet. It was kind of scary.
I kept stealing glances at him. His knuckles were split and bloody.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said. “I could have handled it.”
Dimitri’s mouth curved, but it was not a smile. “He’s lucky I didn’t break his neck.”
I swallowed. “Still. It wasn’t your problem.”
“Everything about you is my problem now, little fairy. You should have figured that out by now.”
The car sped up.
My stomach tightened.
“Dimitri.”
My hands curled into fists on my thighs. My breathing started coming faster.
This felt too familiar.
My throat closed up.
“Slow down,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Seriously.”
Dimitri’s fingers tapped once against the steering wheel. “You’re scared.”
“I’m not scared,” I lied. “I just don’t like being driven by a maniac who just almost killed a guy.”
He let out a low sound that might have been a laugh. “You think I’d kill you?”
“I don’t know what you’d do anymore.”
That was a lie. I knew he wouldn’t kill me.
The car sped up even more.
I gripped the edge of my seat. “Dimitri, stop. This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not laughing.” His voice was calm. “You ran from me in the woods. Remember? You were so scared you could barely breathe. But you still came for me when I called. You still let me put my hands on you. How come you didn’t let him put his hands on you?”
My face burned. I hated that he was bringing that up now. I hated that my body still reacted to the memory even while fear twisted in my gut.
“That was different,” I muttered.
“Was it?” He glanced at me again. “You liked it when I hunted you. You liked it when I caught you. Don’t lie to me, Rei. I felt how hard you were.”
“Shut up.”
The car swerved slightly.
My heart was hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat. My palms were sweating. “Dimitri, I’m serious,” I said, my voice cracking despite myself. “Slow the fuck down. Please.”
My eyes stung. I hated that he was doing this to me. I hated that he knew exactly how to get under my skin.
“You’re doing this on purpose. You’re trying to scare me.”
Dimitri did not deny it. He just kept driving.
“You can only like it with me, little fairy.”
“The thrill of being forced and scared. Only I’m allowed to give that to you. No one else.”
I felt tears gathering in my eyes. The car was going too fast, but even now he was right.
With Tyler I had been ready to really fight and do whatever it took to get away from him.
But with Dimitri, even when I was defiant and pushed him away most of the time, I liked how he touched me.
I was not really trying my best to stop him.
He scared me and brought me to the edge of a panic attack, but even now I felt a thrill, probably because I knew there was no real danger.
“I hate you,” I said, my eyes watering.
“You can hate me, little fairy. You can fight me. You can run. But at the end of the day you’re still going to get in this car when I tell you to. And you’re still going to let me take you wherever I want.”
He glanced at me.
“And you’re going to like it. Even when it scares you.”