Chapter 33
ANNEX
R ed’s eyes flicker from shop to shop as we stroll down the small avenue in town.
She had seemed off earlier; like something was bothering her. Her eyes had seemed a little darker and drained, and like she had been dealing with something probably best left forgotten. Or for me and my nine inch bowie and brass knuckles to deal with.
A small grin pulls at my lips. Later. Right now was about spending time with Red, and driving away any of those bad thoughts from that pretty rosy-haired head of hers.
We had hopped on a bus that runs by the academy once every hour or two and headed into town. And already I could see her brighten up. All she needed was to escape that shitty academy and all those dumb fucks.
I walk behind her, like a loose shadow, edging closer as she moves down the pathway.
Red had grown on me. And more than I ever thought any chick could. She seems to have crawled under my skin and carved out a place somewhere in me just for her. And fuck if some bigger part of me didn’t love it.
I had missed her this past week while we were gone, and even tried to sneak away from the boys to see her at night. But fucking Mal caught me and ratted me out to Creed.
I had only wanted to go watch her sleep for a few hours and get my little Red fix, but Creed said I was being more demented than usual. He kept harping on about her being an ‘unknown’ and a ‘liability’.
But fuck was he wrong. Micai was special.
From the very first day we met I knew she was different; from how she sat beside me to how she stared me down with those pretty blue eyes of hers…And the moment she leaned into my blade like the badass she is, I knew she would be one of us.
But these boys…they were my brothers not by blood but by choice, and we were brought together by our dark pain and blackened pasts.
They were always secretly worrying about the darkness inside them; about it spilling out and burning everything around them down.
Me though? I couldn’t care less.
I’d happily pull up a chair to watch the show. And a show it would be.
Unfortunately none of them wanted to reign down hell on the academy or world just yet.
But none of us could have ever seen it coming; a girl who could weather our storms and stand beside us. And Red was the one.
Even if the rest of them didn’t know it yet, I did. I knew it as much as I knew that pain was fleeting and that if I was cut down right now, I’d rise to kill again tomorrow.
I could tell every time I looked into her endless blue eyes that she had a darkness of her own buried deep inside her. It was one that called to my own like a beacon.
She had been through shit and made it out the other side, just like we did. She was one of us. Mal and Creed just didn’t know it yet.
Ezra laughs, pulling me from my thoughts with whatever Red’s said to him.
But that was another thing. Ezra.
His eyes are glued to Red like she's his salvation and the fresh breath of water he's always been looking for. The dopey look on his face when she's not looking is almost comical.
Just last week he was the same guarded asshole with the nice guy act up. Always smiling but never happy, and now…look at him. What had happened for him to change so much?
I narrow my eyes as I watch him try to get a few inches closer to her as they walk together. There's a strange expression on his face as he listens to her; a look he’s never worn before with any other girl I’ve seen him with.
I shrug. Guess the why’s or how’s didn’t matter anyway. He was another ally for the cause. The one to make Red ours.
And she will be, she just doesn’t know it yet.
I make my way to the other side of her, just as some dipshit comes our way. His eyes trail down Red as she talks to Ezra, who is oblivious to the asshole now ogling her.
Hope the dipshit enjoyed the view, cause it’ll be his last. His eyes wouldn’t be the first I’d ripped from their sockets. Or the last.
I shift in front of Red as he nears, fingering the blade in my back pocket.
He flinches when he notices me, his greasy smile falling and face paling as he freezes on the spot. Too late dickhead. You eyed the wrong girl.
She was ours.
It's just as I move toward him that a small hand grabs me from behind.
“No blood and carnage today. Just fun, remember?” Red gives me a knowing look, a small grin tilting her perfectly plump rosy lips. So fucking biteable looking.
“But what's fun without a little bit of blood?” I argue, glancing back toward the asshat who looks like he wants to piss his pants.
“Another time.” She calls, her small grip tightening on my hand carrying my blade. I hadn’t even realised I had taken it out.
The guy sees his chance and bolts, and just as I’m about to follow and take my tiny trophies, Red gives me a harder tug.
Her cute little brow is raised with a knowing tilt to her lips.
There's a look in her eyes telling me I’ll pay if I don't listen. And fuck, if I didn’t wanna see what she’d do to me if I didn’t.
She gives me another hard tug and I remember her tight little ass pushing back against me on my bike after the fight night with her voice telling me to be quiet as the engine revved beneath us. I adjust my pants and the growing boner in them.
Red notices the movement and shakes her head, mumbling ‘ crazy’ as she lets go of my hand. But I can see the small blush creeping into her cheeks and the slight grin stretching her lips.
Ezra flickers his gaze to Red before turning toward me, his brows furrowed before he notices the tent pitching in my pants.
He rolls his eyes. “You need a minute?”
“I need a hand,” I eye Red, her gaze meeting mine as I grin back, “Any volunteers?”
“Not into you like that man.” Ezra pats me on the shoulder before stepping beside Red.
“I prefer the small soft kind anyway, not your rough scaly fingers. How about it, Red? I mean this is your fault. You should take a little responsibility, right?”
A light chuckle falls from her lips; the sounds sweet and seductive, and making my dick just that bit harder. Her smile grows, stretching those blushing cheeks as she shakes her head. “I think you can handle it yourself.”
“But where's the fun in that? I’ll be thinking about you anyway so–”
Ezra slaps the back of my head, cutting me off. “Watch it.”
He has a cute little glare going on as I shrug and adjust myself.
I turn back to Red but she's already making her way to the next shop. She moves quickly from one place to the next, never lingering for long. Her eyes constantly flickering back and forth to each shop as if she were a kid seeing new things for the first time.
Guess she really had spent too much time in that shitty academy and not having any fun. But I’m here now.
She makes her way over to a small little bakery near the corner. It has some sort of multi-layered cake in the front with long gold candles sticking out the top. Her eyes go a little dazed for just a split second before she snaps out of it.
“You want some cake, Micai?” Ezra calls, his brows drawn as he watches her change in expression. But she shakes her head.
“I’m good.” She takes off toward the next shop, not even glancing back as she moves. Maybe she was hungry.
I swipe a fresh chocolate muffin from some douches table. He opens his mouth and tries to stand up, but sits straight back down when he sees my face. Wimp .
A couple of strides and I’m back with Red, handing her my gift.
Her brows scrunch cutely together as she takes it from my hand, “How?”
Her eyes flicker to me and back at the shop, before a small soft smile appears on her lips.
She takes a small bite, her eyes widening slightly with a small twinkle growing in them as she goes in for another bite.
A tender look spreads on her face, something a mix of awe and pure joy. Fuck I needed to feed her more.
If something so small could make her give me an expression like that, then I needed to rob the whole fucking bakery. And Ezra looks like he's thinking the same.
We spend the next few minutes window shopping, with Red only ever stopping for a minute or two before moving on. That is until we reach a small dress shop.
Her little blue eyes gaze toward a silky teal number on the mannequin in the window. And fuck would she look edible in that. It’d cling to every delicious curve she had, and with such a thin slip of fabric, it would be so easy to–
“Do you want to go in?” Ezra asks, cutting off my train of thought and growing semi. But he was probably thinking something similar from the heated look in his eyes.
Red shakes her head before turning away, glancing back at the window only once before she quickly moves on.
Ezra quickly claims her right side as we make our way over to her and head toward the next place.
We head onto a couple more shops, talking and joking, until we reach a small metal trinket shop.
It's got strange, fancy metal pieces hanging in its window and has Red’s full attention.
We head in, looking at all the large and small metal decorations and trinkets.
They had a lot of different shit here; some looked old, while others looked brand new.
But everything was made from different types of metal.
I wonder if they’d have any blades?
Red and Ezra head over toward the jewellery as I find the old weapons section. Or the ‘Antiques’ as Ezra pointed out. But even being old, these blades looked like they could slice into flesh and bone with ease. Looks like I’ll be adding to my collection.
Flipping a bronze dagger between my fingers, I glance back at Ezra as he tries his best to talk Red into letting him buy her something. But she flat out refuses.
My brows pull down together, something slithering at the back of my mind with the look on her face as I try to place the familiar expression.
There was a strange look in her eyes; something that went beyond stubbornness or someone being guarded…
but what? And why did it have me clenching my fists and feeling so angry?