Chapter 21 Mara
TWENTY-ONE
MARA
My heart is still hammering from that kiss.
God, that kiss
Get a fucking grip, Mara. But that’s hard to do when I’m straddling Talon in an old armchair in the middle of a frat party, my fingers tangled in his hair, his hands splayed on my hips.
My lips burn from the rough way he just claimed them, and worst of all…
I kissed him back.
I wanted it.
A tiny, horrified voice in the back of my mind screams what the hell are you doing?! This was supposed to be all for show—just a fake relationship, a scandal for America’s sweetheart.
I wasn’t ever supposed to actually want him.
Or Dredyn.
But my body doesn’t give a damn about “supposed to.” It’s on fire, melting into Talon’s hold.
I wrench my mouth away from his, gasping for breath and trying to gather the shreds of my sanity.
My thighs are trembling from the steady grind he’s been subjecting me to.
An unwanted heat still pulses between them, even as I try to clamp my legs and stop the sensation.
I hate it. I hate that I feel empty and aching the second his lips leave mine.
Talon rests his forehead against mine, a cocky smirk playing on his kiss-swollen lips. His dark eyes are glazed with triumph . . . and desire. Around us, I dimly hear cheers and whistles. Oh God, people were watching.
My cheeks flame in humiliation.
I summon every ounce of pride I have left and give his chest a light shove. “There. Are you satisfied now?” I say, struggling to sound breezy and biting instead of breathless and turned on.
Talon’s smirk only widens. “Not even close,” he murmurs so only I can hear, the arrogant gleam in his eyes telling me he can see right through my facade.
Before I can muster a retort, I catch a movement over my shoulder. Dredyn. He’s standing a few feet away, practically vibrating with rage. His blue eyes are locked on me and Talon, and I swear they look black in the neon gloom. He looks like he might explode.
Some reckless impulse surges up inside me. If they want to play with me, break me, then I’ll play right back.
I swipe the back of my hand over my lips as if brushing them off and slide off Talon’s lap, legs unsteady when my feet hit the ground. I need to get out of here. My head is spinning, my body humming, and I can’t think straight with them so close.
I feel Talon’s hand slide to my waist protectively as I stand, and I shoot him a glare. We might have just put on a hell of a show, but I’m done being their toy for the night.
“Don’t touch—” I begin, but I’m cut off by a shrill, panicked scream that pierces through the pounding music.
“Help! Please, help me!”
The scream rips through the chapel, slicing the music in half.
All three of us—Talon, Dredyn, and I—snap our heads toward the doorway. The DJ yanks the plug, plunging the room into a stunned silence that makes my ears ring.
Tessa Williams stumbles inside, her makeup smeared, face ghostly pale. Her breaths come in frantic gasps, her hands trembling like she can’t hold herself together.
Kai Reynolds, a DSN officer, reaches her first, grabs her shoulders and steadies her. “Tessa, what happened? Are you hurt?”
She shakes her head violently, tears streaking down her cheeks. “I—I was just… giving him head,” she sobs. “In the woods. And h-he just collapsed.”
Gasps and cries erupt around us. I feel the color drain from my face. Toby. Toby Lancaster. I dimly recognize the name. He’s a junior—part of Delta Sigma, I think.
Chaos ignites. People shove each other out of the chapel and into the field, either to see for themselves or to get the hell out.
A few of the more sober partygoers rush to Tessa, peppering her with questions.
From the snippets I catch, Toby’s body is out in the woods behind the chapel. Someone shouts for an ambulance.
I realize I’m shaking.
A dead body.
The edges of my vision prickle black for a moment and I sway. Talon’s arm is suddenly around me, steadying me. I hadn’t even noticed he’d stood up, but now he’s right beside me, holding me tightly against his side. Dredyn is on my other side, a solid presence radiating tension.
The three of us exchange stunned looks. In an instant, the battle between them is forgotten, or at least, shoved aside. Something much more serious is happening.
“Mara?” Talon turns to me. “Are you okay?”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Is it awful that the first thought in my head was to thank God for the interruption? What kind of person am I? I was practically enjoying being fought over, and now someone is dead. Shame floods me, chasing away the last haze of lust.
I step out of Talon’s grasp, needing space. “I—I’m fine,” I manage to stammer, though I’m anything but. My knees feel like jelly. “I need to… I should go.”
People are pushing around us, some drunk and confused, others terrified. The chapel is emptying out by the second as word of Toby’s death spreads. Sirens wail in the distance—campus security or ambulances, I’m not sure.
I just know I have to get out of here. Away from the tragedy, away from the noise, away from them.
I turn on my heel, intent on finding Zane and leaving right now. But I barely take a step before Talon catches my wrist. “I’m taking you home,” he says firmly, leaving no room for argument.
I yank my wrist out of his grip. “No. I’ll find Zane—”
Dredyn steps into my path next, blocking me with his broad body. His expression is stormy, jaw tight. “Don’t be stubborn, Mara. We’ll go with you.”
We. It’s almost comical. They were at each other’s throats seconds ago, and now they’re a united front determined to babysit me.
As if on cue, Zane materializes from the thinning crowd, tall and rumpled but intact. Relief crashes into me like a wave. “Mara!” he calls, skidding to a stop. His eyes dart from my face to the bruising grip Dredyn still has on my arm.
Talon squares up. “Back off, Zane. We’re walking her home.”
“Clearly. Just didn’t know caveman cosplay was in tonight.”
Dredyn doesn’t budge. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Zane sighs and lifts both hands like he’s dealing with rabid dogs. “You do realize someone just died, right? Maybe the testosterone pissing match can take a backseat to basic safety?”
Talon scoffs. “It’s not a pissing match. She’s ours.”
Zane’s grin widens. “Funny. I didn’t realize property law had changed.”
“Zane,” I say quickly, stepping forward before one of them explodes. “It’s fine. They’re coming with us.”
He blinks at me. “You sure?”
No. Not even close. But I nod.
So we walk.
The four of us cut across the damp lawn, sirens screaming behind us, partygoers spilling out in chaos.
Zane flanks one side of me, Talon is on the other, his hand brushing my lower back.
Dredyn stalks a few feet ahead, hands jammed into his jacket pockets, every line of him humming with a violence I can feel in my bones.
A body. A death. At AGU.
It doesn’t make sense.
This is Ashen Grove. Nothing happens here without permission. And death? Death doesn’t happen at all, unless someone above lets it.
The thought curdles in my stomach.
My father will sweep this clean. The Syndicate will press a thumb on the scale, tip the narrative however they see fit. I know how this goes—I’ve watched it happen. Bad things vanish like smoke when the right man signs the right paper.
But Toby was a student. A kid. Not a threat. Not a pawn.
Why him?
At the steps of my dorm, I stop. “Thanks,” I murmur, not looking at any of them.
Talon leans in, brushing hair from my face. “You’ll call?”
I ignore him, because even if I say yes, he will inevitably text me fifty times.
Zane nudges me toward the doors, but Dredyn’s voice stops us. “Get her inside, safe.”
Zane turns. “Always do. She’s my girl.”
For once, Dredyn doesn’t rise to it. But Zane is beaming with pride at knocking the boys down a peg.
Only when the dorm door closes behind me do I feel the pressure lift. Zane walks me up to my floor, not pushing, just existing beside me like a weight I didn’t know I needed. At my door, he finally speaks. “You don’t have to tell me,” he says softly. “But you’re not okay.”
“It just doesn’t make sense. The Syndicate wouldn’t have allowed this. AGU is supposed to be a safe space for us.”
“I’ll ask Valen about it when I get in my dorm and can call him.”
“Are you still fucking my brother’s best friend?”
“Is there a rule against it?”
“No. Just… weird. Because he’s basically my brother.”
“Well, both of your brothers are hot.”
Then he wraps me in a hug that’s strong and brief and just long enough to remind me I’m not alone. After I step inside, I lock the door and let the silence crush me.
I turn and press my back to the door, but the moment I stop moving, it all caves in. My knees buckle. I slide to the floor, arms around my legs, breathing like I’ve just survived a car crash.
Because maybe I have.
I kissed two monsters tonight.
I let them touch me.
I touched them back.
And I liked it.
And while I was busy unraveling, a boy died outside.
My body still buzzes from Talon’s mouth, and Dredyn’s stare is tattooed on the inside of my skull, but all I see is death.
What if this wasn’t the Syndicate?
But if it wasn’t them—if Toby’s death was random, or personal, or some rogue act outside their control—my father will step in.
He’ll pull me from AGU before I can blink.
I’ll be packed off to some all-girls political finishing school in Geneva and ghosted from the map until November four years from now.
He won’t let me be here with a murderer on the loose. Not with his name on every headline.
And if I disappear now… what happens to Jasper? To Dredyn? To everything I’ve started to feel?