24. Hunter
Chapter twenty-four
Hunter
It looks as if my brain didn’t exaggerate Snow’s beauty after all, and now I can’t take my gaze off her as she takes a bite of her sausage, looking cute as fuck in Prince’s pajamas.
She’s aware of my constant staring, and every few seconds, her big brown eyes will flick in my direction, and that’s when a blush red enough to rival Casper’s will take over her sweet face.
Poor Casper. I know when he likes a girl because he loses the ability to function.
I don’t think he’s even breathing anymore. He either needs to step outside or take a nice, cold shower.
He’s still clutching that butter knife, like he’s trying to reign his beast in.
Casper has one. We all do.
He just hides it better than most of us. It’s why he gives me chills every time he performs on stage, the perfect villain in every play.
And I’m always the loudest to cheer and whoop once the show is finished.
At least Casper has a hobby. An outlet for his inner demons that’s healthy.
Drinking and fucking endless women is not a healthy outlet, and one of these days, I am going to snap.
Though it looks as if Casper is catching up with me.
Knight keeps looking in Casper’s direction, and I can tell he’s worried about his brother.
We all worry about Casper.
He’s the baby of our family, and he must be protected at all costs.
Casper jumps up in his seat suddenly, making Snow flinch. She drops her knife and fork, and they clatter onto her plate.
Casper’s entire face burns red as he clenches his fists, breathing through his teeth.
Prince settles those hard eyes on him. “Casper?”
For a moment, I spy the hatred flashing through my cousin’s eyes as they settle on my older brother. It looks as if he wants to strangle him.
Then his gaze drops to Snow quickly before he hangs his head, muttering an apology as he rushes out the room.
A tense silence follows after he exits the room.
I turn to Knight. Saint and Angel do their twin thing, reading each other’s minds.
Only Prince looks the least perturbed as he continues eating his breakfast.
His eyes fall on Snow. “Finish your breakfast, Snow.”
Startled, she returns to her breakfast and eats in silence. He needs to stop ordering her around.
Now I understand why Casper was clutching that butter knife.
He was resisting the urge to plunge it deep into Prince’s throat.
So, he feels it, too, then.
The draw…
Yet, Prince is still going to kill her, one way or other.
As if he would let her live for long.
In his eyes, Snow is the enemy, and we can’t trust her.
Knight places his knife and fork down and starts to follow after Casper, but I stop him.
“It’s fine. I’ll go.”
His gray eyes meet mine briefly. Then they fall on Snow as he nods, letting me do the honors instead.
Casper is always there for me, so it’s my turn to be there for him.
I feel Prince’s probing eyes on my back the whole time I leave the dining room. He really is testing all of our patience lately.
I find Casper smashing up a vase in his room when I arrive. His violet eyes are gleaming when he whirls around.
I don’t speak. I just walk toward the vase he smashed, picking up the pieces.
Casper runs his hand through his curly black hair. “Fuck Prince…”
I laugh. “Yeah. Now you know why I was so pissed.”
His violet eyes search mine as he sits on the bed. “This is messed up, Hunt. She’s a stranger. I shouldn’t even feel this way!”
“Yet, you do. Embrace it, baby cousin.”
He scoffs. “I’m only a year younger than you.”
I drop the broken pieces into the bin, then grab his desk chair, swiveling it around to face him.
I give him a moment to compose himself, as he’s still gasping for air. “What are we going to do? Should… should we stop him?”
I think on it. While Prince may be the boss, we still have a right to oppose him if we all feel so passionately about his shit treatment of Snow.
Snow is a stranger, true. But I am still prepared to fight my brother if he takes it too far.
She’s not evil like her father or her stepmother.
I can always tell.
A gut feeling.
While I am not the smartest, I do have good intuition, and it’s telling me to protect Snow at all costs.
“Yes, but we can’t do it alone. We need to get the others on board. If we all vote that Snow isn’t to be harmed, then Prince will have no choice but to lay off.”
“What if he doesn’t listen?”
I meet Casper’s violet eyes. “I don’t know…”
Casper hangs his head as ice trickles down my spine. Could I kill my brother if it came down to it?
Could I choose a stranger over him?
He is losing it these days. Slowly slipping into madness and obsession.
If he reaches that point, I may have already lost my brother…
I’ve heard tales of how far he will go to exact his revenge, even on the most petty things, but I will not let Snow be another of his victims.
Most of those victims deserved it.
But not this girl…
It’s all in her eyes. The way they shine. She truly does have a good soul.
My eyes fall on my cousin, and a wide smile stretches across my face. “I know what you need.”
He lifts his head expectantly.
I wheel his desk chair closer. “Let’s get shit-faced tonight. My treat.”
His face turns green. “No, thank you. I’m still recovering from the last one.”
I blink. That was three weeks ago.
Shit, he really is a lightweight…
“Come on, while we’re still young and fun. You can save the quiet nights in when you’re old like Prince.”
“Prince is only twenty-eight.”
“Exactly. A pensioner.”
Casper gazes at me irritably. I know I’m being an ass about Prince’s age, but I just want Casper to live a little before we really do get too old, and we finally have to be real adults.
Your early twenties are the best years of your life.
Casper sighs. “Fine. I will go. But no girls.”
For the first time in my life, I agree with him.
Because the only girl I want is off limits to me.
None of us can have her. Prince will make sure of that.
But I suppose we can still have a boy’s night out.
Great.
A pussy-free night.
I may as well just dig my grave now.