CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
STRAY
Somehow, I’d known that Codie would show up tonight. Part of me had hoped that she would stay away. I knew that if I saw her, it would make me weak. Nobody knew how hard I’d worked for the last two weeks to shut her out.
Several times I’d caught myself driving past her apartment building. I’d forced myself to delete the pictures and videos I had of her. Fuck that hurt. Even though I hadn’t had a chance to remove the tracking device from her car, I’d deleted the app.
She wasn’t mine anymore. I needed to let her go.
I thought that the pain from the accident had been bad enough. Then she’d come to the hospital and told me that she’d gone to Venom for help getting rid of me. There was nothing worse that she could’ve said than that.
How could she do that to me? I’d started to fall in love with her. Now I knew why love was a fool’s game. Maybe Rebel had gotten lucky. That wasn’t going to happen for me.
Having her corner me at the party and tell me how sorry she was had seriously tested my resolve. Did she have to look so fucking amazing? Did she have to look like mine?
I knew that if I didn’t walk away, I would give in. I would forgive her anything just to have her in my arms again. To have her beneath me, moaning my name.
I could forgive a lot of things. I couldn’t forgive this.
Venom had tried to kill Dominik and me that night.
This was too much. Codie had gone too far.
Even though I knew that they would have taken a shot at us regardless, it still cut too deep.
She wanted to hurt me, and she succeeded on every level.
“Didn’t go well?” Casper signed when I joined him and the others.
My head swam from the cocktail of drugs and alcohol I had stuffed into my system. A little weed and a few lines of blow. Anything to numb out. The blow wasn’t really doing it for me. I needed something that would help me sleep for a week instead.
“Not really. She said she was sorry. I believe her, but I think it’s too late now.” I glanced at Auryn, expecting him to say something loudmouthed and brash. To bust my balls for being so hung up on this girl.
When he had nothing to add, I almost felt worse. Had I really become so pitiful that my friends couldn’t even muster a clever insult or snide remark? Fuck, this really was bad.
Rebel slung an arm around my shoulders, steering me away so it was only the two of us. “I know it’s none of my business, but do you think that maybe you’re overreacting about this? Venom would’ve made a move no matter what. We both know that. Codie just gave them an excuse to move faster.”
“Exactly. She went to our enemies and asked them to keep me away from her. How the fuck do I forgive something like that? Would you?” I angrily chugged back the rest of my drink, tossing the cup on the yellowed grass.
“Honestly, I would probably find a way to make her sorry she’d ever tried such a thing.
” Rebel’s gaze drifted across the graveyard to where Storm hung out with her friends.
“I probably would’ve done something fucking insane.
But I would make sure she knew who she belonged to, and I would never let her go. ”
I hated how his words only encouraged me to go after Codie. Walking away from her had been the hardest thing I’d ever done. Already I wanted to seek her out. To find her and make her regret what she’d done while also making her come all over my cock.
Toxic didn’t even begin to cover the strange relationship Codie and I had formed. We were probably both better off without each other. But would we be happier?
“Dude, don’t do this shit to me. You’re making me second-guess everything.” I followed Rebel’s stare. Codie wasn’t over there with the rest of the girls. Where the hell was she?
“Am I?” Rebel asked. “Or have you been second-guessing it all along? Find her.”
I gave the dimly lit party a visual once over. I didn’t see her anywhere. “I’m not sure if she’s still here. Let’s go ask Storm.”
“Sounds good to me. I was starting to have withdrawal anyway.” Rebel launched into motion. He was all too happy to rejoin his girl.
I couldn’t shake the envy that gripped me. Not that I was in a rush to get married or anything. Having with Codie what Rebel had with Storm would be nice though. It hadn’t been on my radar at all in the beginning, when everything started with Codie. Somewhere along the way that had changed.
As we approached the group of ladies, I hung back while Rebel flirted with his fiancée. He seemed to remember why I was there after several minutes of teasing and kissing.
“Stray is looking for Codie,” he explained. “Have you seen her?”
Storm’s forehead wrinkled in confusion as she met my gaze. “I thought she went to talk to you. You didn’t see her?”
“We talked,” I confirmed. “It didn’t really go well. I wanted to find her. Do you think she left?”
“She didn’t say anything to us about leaving,” Athena added, checking her phone. “No text messages either.”
A sinking sensation in my gut made me ill. Why would Codie disappear without a word to her friends? Maybe she’d been too upset and just wanted to leave.
Storm disentangled herself from Rebel, nodding for me to join her as she moved a few paces away where we could talk privately. I appreciated that she didn’t want to put me on display in front of her friends.
“Look, Stray, I know it’s none of my business, but you should know that Codie has been a total wreck since the night of the accident.
I don’t think she’ll ever forgive herself for what happened to you.
For what it’s worth, she immediately regretted talking to Noah and did everything she could to take it back.
” Storm’s expression morphed into the wide-eyed look someone would give an injured puppy.
Jesus, I must have been pathetic to have earned that expression. I hated hearing that Codie had been in such distress. At the same time, I enjoyed it. Why should I have been the only one to suffer? I didn’t do this to us.
“Yeah I know. I get that. I haven’t made it easy for her to talk to me lately. I wanted a chance to discuss this properly. To hear her out without being a dick. If you see her, can you let her know that I’m looking for her?”
“Of course I will. I hope she’s all right. It’s not like her to disappear without telling anyone.” The worry that flashed across Storm’s face did nothing to make me feel any better.
Leaving Rebel with Storm, I did a lap around the party. Would Codie have snuck off with some asshole to get back at me? She could be dramatic, though I didn’t suspect she would take it that far.
I strongly considered heading over to her apartment.
When I was intercepted by one of the girls who ran the campus sorority, my growing impatience skyrocketed.
A petite brunette with wide blue eyes batted her lashes at me.
I really wasn’t in the mood for this shit right now, which was really saying something.
Before Codie that’s all it would’ve taken for me to bring this girl into the forest and fuck her senseless.
“How are you doing, Stray?” she asked, gently touching my forearm. “I heard about your accident. That’s so scary.”
“I’ve been better. I’m alive, so I can’t complain.” I tried to concoct an excuse to get away from her.
Most of the campus girls knew about my antics. She didn’t beat around the bush much, instead getting right to the point. “I would be happy to help you feel better. Maybe a full body massage or a hot sponge bath.”
She smiled like she knew I was a sure thing. I didn’t love that at one time I had been. Getting a few minutes of pussy to get my rocks off had once been my goal at parties like this. Now all I wanted was to find my strawberry.
“I appreciate the offer. I’ll have to pass though.” Not wanting her to touch me, I pulled away. Nothing mattered more to me right then than finding Codie.
“Are you sure? We can go to my place. My roommates are out for the night.” This nameless girl was not giving up. She gave her hair a toss, angling toward me so I could clearly see down her shirt.
There was no filter to stop me when I blurted, “Thanks but no thanks. I have a girlfriend.”
The brunette gaped at me like she couldn’t believe the words that had come out of my mouth. I couldn’t believe them either. They weren’t entirely true. If I had my way, they soon would be.
I didn’t wait around for her to try to convince me to cheat. Putting space between me and her, I headed back to where Rebel still hung out with Storm. I would let him know that I was taking off so he didn’t have to worry about Venom jumping me or something.
My phone went off with a text alert in my pocket. Hoping it was Codie, I pulled my phone out and eagerly looked at the screen. It was her. At least, it was her phone.
When I opened up the message and saw the attached photo, I almost lost my shit. I was staring at a picture of Codie tied to a chair, a knife held to her throat. The photo didn’t show who held the knife, but I already knew.
Along with the picture was a message telling me to come to the Venom warehouse alone. To tell nobody.
I glanced over at Rebel, weighing my options. Although it would be so easy to tell him what was going on, I didn’t want to take any chances when it came to Codie. Venom would do anything to hurt us. I knew without a doubt that they would kill her.
Having no choice but to obey for now, I left the party, thankful that I hadn’t drank all that much yet. Breaking Damon Price’s arm hadn’t been enough. This war wouldn’t end until one side stood victorious.
Maybe I would die tonight. But nobody would hurt Codie on my watch.