Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Dmitri
The grand iron gates of Raventhorn University open with a creak, allowing me to ride through on my motorcycle.
The loud rumble of the engine disrupts the peaceful stillness of the night, announcing that I’m back. That I’ve arrived
I can just imagine the caretaker shaking his head at me like he usually does, so I rev the engine louder and continue down the long, winding driveway like I own the place.
Ahead, the colossal statues of the original twelve Raventhorn Knights flank the driveway, their solemn faces illuminated by low, flickering lanterns. Each figure looms in frozen vigil, carved with such precision it feels as though their eyes follow me.
Those Knights were warriors from the Viking age. They built the organization to be unlike any other and based it on old Viking principles and philosophies that would make them as legendary as tales of old.
I’m a descendant of Blade, one of the assassins. My mother used to tell me stories about him. How stealthy and powerful he was. She said I inherited that from him. That’s why I’m so good on the field when I’m playing football.
At the head of the driveway is the stone statue of Raventhorn himself. The man who created all of this. With his massive broad sword and a raven on his shoulder, he looks even more fearless in the moonlight.
This is my favorite part of the campus.
I zoom past the statues and lean into the curve, my gaze drifting upward to the spires of Raventhorn Hall, which pierce the sky.
The university looms ahead like a fortress, its gothic architecture a testament to another era. Gargoyles perch on parapets like they’re waiting to pounce, their grotesque forms casting long, jagged shadows. Stained glass windows glimmer faintly in the moonlight, hinting at the mysteries hidden within and secrets not meant to be told.
This place is alive, and sometimes I think it’s watching. Watching everything that happens within the stony walls and the vast grounds where even the secret passages have secrets.
Some of the most powerful men in the world and their heirs walk these grounds.
It’s like a constant battle of heaven of hell, and you have to determine which side you’ll fall on.
Good or bad. Bad or good. Or sometimes a bit of both. I guess that would make you a traitor.
Like me.
I speed up, thinking of her— Mackenzie .
I took the kiss I was owed and gave her the one I promised. She probably doesn’t remember. That doesn’t matter now.
What matters is my weakness to resist temptation fucked me over big time.
I was already fucked the moment I saw her dancing on that stage. But when she got outside and I had her all to myself, I knew I had to taste her.
The moment I did, that kiss and the simple, barely-there touch of her silky, smooth skin drove me insane.
Me . A guy who’s used to going to strip clubs, sex clubs, and all sorts of debauched clubs where it’s guaranteed to lose your soul.
I hadn’t planned to kiss Mackenzie. I wasn’t even going to speak to her.
I was supposed to watch the show and leave. But when I thought of our first meeting being here at Raventhorn after so long, it didn’t feel right. And part of me wanted her to know that I’d watched her show—more than once.
That night, I wanted to taste her everywhere, not just kiss her.
I still want to.
It’s been four days since I saw her, but it’s like she’s right here with me. Dancing before my eyes, luring me like a siren to take what I want.
I almost did that night. I don’t know what stopped me from shoving her up against the wall and fucking her. It’s a good thing I didn’t.
Her mother would have caught us. And I almost don’t care.
It’s like I’ve well and truly lost my goddamn mind. After that night, I took every opportunity I could to watch Mackenzie through her bedroom window.
She was my guilty pleasure, and she dulled the ache in soul from the difficult week I had with my father.
It was hard sorting through Tommy’s things. Harder doing it with my father. We cleaned out his room, and in the end, it was so empty that Yuliana put some storage boxes in there with office supplies so it wouldn’t seem so barren and void of Tommy.
Sorting through my brother’s things was perhaps not the best of things to do days before I was due to start the new college year. But it had to be done. There was a lot of stuff in that room that needed to be packed away, maybe even thrown away. At least going through them was a step in the right direction.
So far, it’s the only good thing I’ve done.
I’m not sure about anything else. I was hoping I’d have some sort of plan by now, but I have nothing but that fascination with Mackenzie being mine.
There’s six months left on that contract, and all I can think of is what I want to do with that body of hers.
It is crazy. What’s crazier is that in my head, I sound like I believe I can really pull this off. The truth is, I know that everything I do next will be like walking through a minefield. I have to be careful.
Especially with my father being here. He’s already at the Lord Chancellor’s cottage, so it’s no wonder I feel like I’m being watched.
He may not be physically doing the watching, but his men are here. They can do it for him, like they have been for years.
Regardless, I know Mackenzie and I have to talk soon. Just like I promised.
When that time comes, I know I have to make some kind of choice. The choice should be sensible, not selfish nor greedy.
I just don’t know how I’m supposed to choose sensible when sensible feels like selfish and greedy, and all I want to do is keep her.
The bike growls as I pull up in the parking lot of Erebus House, home of the Sigma Kappas and the Ivanov Elite.
I kill the engine, and the silence returns, until my boots hit the gravel, breaking it once more.
Above me, the moon hangs full and brilliant, casting its light over the ivy-laden walls of the fraternity house. Like many of the gothic-style buildings around, it looks like an old English manor, something you’d find on the campus at Hogwarts.
I take a moment to reacquaint myself with my surroundings.
At times like these, we get the reminder that Raventhorn University is no ordinary college.
Like Raventhorn Academy, the university was specially set up for the heirs of the Knights, the Bratva, and their allies.
The students here are arranged by the groups they fall into, but the Knight heirs reign, taking up the majority of the grounds in the same way they’ll be dominant over everyone else for the rest of their lives.
No matter what I become or how far football takes me, I’ll be a Knight first. A man trained to secure power, wealth, and control even if I have to kill for it.
I drag in a deep breath, pulling the crisp air into my lungs.
It’s time to start. Time to dive in headfirst to start my sophomore year.
This should feel like a new chance for a new start, with a new set of rules to make life better than it was before.
Maybe it will be like that. Except I’m doing myself no favors by starting off on shaky grounds by chasing a girl who’s off-limits to me.
My problems is, I don’t like people telling me what to do, and I don’t like that word off-limits . That’s why I’m in this mess.
I pull off my helmet, hook it on my bike, and make my way toward the fraternity house.
The music hits me the moment I’m at the door, the bass thundering like it’s trying to shake the whole damn building apart.
I walk inside, right into the chaos, noise, and heat of the students who’ve gathered to party the night away. Erebus House is known for its wild, over-the-top parties, especially the welcome back ones at the start of every semester. And pretty much every weekend. There’s always a party here.
Bodies are pressed close. Some naked, some clothed. Some fucking, some not.
Voices shout over the music to be heard while others shout to drown out the music.
I walk past it, deciding to look for the guys. They’ll be expecting me to find them.
I’m the last to arrive.
I spent the day fixing up my bike. It helped to detox my mind from the time spent with my father.
I find my friends in the game room.
Thorne and Caspian are at the head, talking it up and telling some crazy tale.
Alek and Logan are arm wrestling at the table nearby, and Kade is clearing the pool table.
The only person missing is Lucian, Alek’s cousin and the third-in-command to Thorne and Caspian. He’ll be in Russia on a placement until January.
“Look who made it back,” Kade howls when he sees me and starts clapping. Like me, he’s allowed his hair to grow out a little longer.
The coach will probably get us to cut in a few weeks because he hates long hair. As if it matters to the game. He thinks it does, though.
The guys look my way and cheer when I flick my palms over and give them the finger on both hands.
“What took you so long, fuckface?” Thorne taunts.
I smirk, used to his jibes. If anyone else said that to me outside this circle, I’d knock their teeth down their throat. Thorne is just being Thorne. My asshole superior who’s become like another brother to me. It’s the same with all of them.
“My bike needed to be fixed,” I answer.
“All day?” Caspian cocks his head and looks me up and down. “Sounds like you’ve been fucking around to me.”
“Nah. Not of late.” I exchange a glance with Kade, who’s staring at me with raised brows. We haven’t spoken since the night of the initiation ceremony, so he’ll want an update.
Logan is staring at me, too, the tattoos on his face and neck looking more animated with his grin. We all have some kind of animal tattooed on our necks. I got the scorpion because that’s what I called myself when Mackenzie and I were little. The name suited and stuck with me.
“I don’t believe him.” Logan smirks. “It’s not like the scorpion to act like some kind of priest.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Didn’t say I was a priest.”
“Worry about yourself, Logan ,” Alek cuts in, forcing Logan’s arm down and winning their wrestling match. Their arms were resting on the table, so it was easy to get him while he was distracted.
“Fuck you. That’s playing dirty. I wasn’t paying attention.” Logan shoves him.
“That’s your problem, not mine.” Alek pushes him back.
“But that was like a fucking sucker punch.”
“And your point is? Just give me my money.”
“Motherfucker,” Logan growls, accepting defeat and pulling out a wad of hundred-dollar bills.
Thorne and Caspian cheer for Alek, who fist-bumps with each of them.
I grin back at them.
Like this, we’re just a group of guys hanging out and messing around. It’s good. It makes up for the times when we have to be Knights. Vicious and heartless and cold with our hands covered in the blood of some unfortunate soul.
Just then, Jessica De Lucca walks by and blows Logan and Alek a kiss. She giggles and saunters away.
“I saw her first,” Alek declares, standing in front of Logan.
“Keep dreaming. Let’s see who gets her first.”
The two rush out of the room, and I shake my head. I doubt we’ll see either of them again for the rest of the right.
One of them will get Jessica, and the other will hook up with some other girl.
I’ve missed this. Campus life. It’s simpler in some ways. An escape from the real world.
“Come on, let’s grab a drink outside,” Kade suggests, motioning to the sliding glass door behind him with the sway of his head.
“Please do not drink too much and drown.” Thorne warns, holding up a finger.
“Don’t worry, we wouldn’t do that to you,” I answer with a cocky smirk.
“Better not. I got a shit load of work for the two of you and the new pledges.”
There’s that, too. Kade and I will be in charge of the new guys—the freshmen.
The two of us make our way outside, grabbing a beer each from the table by the pool. We sit on the wicker chairs at the far end, away from everyone so we can talk in private.
The last time we spoke, we were talking about the future and all the changes that we had to look forward to. There are more for him than me.
He’ll be the first one to get married from our original group—Hades’ Demons. That was what he, Logan, and I called ourselves back in high school.
We christened ourselves the name after one Devil’s night when we went to town with our shenanigans.
We’re still the demons, just older, and now we’ve added Alek to our trio.
It still works. Maybe it’s even better. Alek and I are the tech guys—although Alek’s skills vastly outdo mine. Kade and Logan are the brains and muscle.
Together, we’re as deadly as death.
“So, sophomore year?” Kade says, popping open his drink and taking a swig.
“ Sophomore year. It seems like it snuck up on us. Not sure I like that.”
“I know what you mean.” He nods, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair. “Just as we were getting used to being freshmen, the year ended and we had to move on.”
“Yeah. Now we’re the guys in charge.”
“And we’re officially Knights.”
He flicks his wrist over, showing me his tattoo that looks like mine. The Greek symbol of Sigma. We got those just after we took the Oath.
The Viking Futhark rune tattooed just above it was the first mark we got on our journey to becoming Knights, at sixteen after the Reaping ritual.
“We’ve come a long way. I wonder what we’ll come across next.” I sound a little hopeless. Kade notices and sets his beer down.
“There’s a hell of a lot in the works for us.”
“For you maybe. Have you decided yet about when you and Isabelle will be getting married?”
It was supposed to be after graduation, but over the summer, he mentioned bringing the time forward.
A proud smile spreads across his face. “Next summer, but she doesn’t know yet.”
I return the smile, feeling happy for him. “Next summer, Kade? So, you’ll be getting married before the start of junior year.”
“Yeah. While we were in England over the summer, we were practically living together. It felt that way, and I didn’t see why we needed to wait. There are married students here.”
“Yes. There are a lot of those here,” I fill in, thinking of Caspian and his wife, Willow. They’ve been married for years. I believe they got married when Willow was in her freshman year.
“And a lot of engaged students, like Thorne, who will be married soon.”
I nod, agreeing with him. Thorne and Annika—Isabelle and Mackenzie’s friend—are getting married in January. “I have no doubt you and Isabelle can make everything work if you get married next summer.”
“Me too. Nothing has ever felt more right to me. I mentioned it to Caspian, and he said we could have his place when he graduates next year. He and Willow are moving off campus, although she’ll still have a year left. Thorne and Annika are moving off campus, too.”
“Wow, you move fast, bro. You’ve seriously thought about this.” That’s almost scary. I know how he feels about Isabelle, but he’s talking about life-changing things.
“I have moved fast. And I think I’ve decided we’re gonna do it. So, I guess we’ll be having a summer wedding.”
“Can’t wait.”
“Will you be my best man?”
I point to myself. “Me?”
“Yeah, you. I’ve always felt that we have this unspoken bro code. Not that I’m casting Logan aside.” He cracks his knuckles and gives me an easy grin. “It’s just different with us.”
I’m already nodding before he finishes the explanation. “I get it, and I agree. It is different for us.” Maybe because we’ve both known what it was like to go beyond the darkness most people see. “I’d be honored to be your best man.”
His smile widens, and he looks relieved. “Thanks, bro. It means a lot.”
“I figured.”
He chuckles and leans forward, resting an elbow on his knee. “You’ll be happy to hear I’ve decided about football, too.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
I stare back at him. Although I’m smiling, my breath stalls. I prepared for the day when we may not be a unit anymore. This might be that moment.
Kade is a quarterback—the best, as in there’s no one like him—he was scouted way more than me. Before the summer, he was deciding on whether to go with the Patriots or the Rams after graduation.
I’m focusing on the Patriots because the scouts have been good to me and it’s a great team. I was never contacted by the Rams, so I told Kade to follow his gut.
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, boss.” I call him boss to tease him because he’s the leader of the group.
Kade throws his hands up. “I choose the Patriots.”
The breath I’m holding releases, loosening the tension in my gut. “Seriously? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I don’t think I’ve ever played football without you. I won’t start now. The Patriots are legendary, so let’s be legendary with them.”
He raises his fists to bump mine, and I oblige, feeling grateful for the one good piece of news.
“That sounds real good to me.”
“Good. So, now that my stuff is out of the way, let’s talk about you.”
I lift my shoulders into a shrug and pull out the last of my rollup from the inside of my pocket. “I’ve got so much shit floating around me. Take your pick, but I’m still in the same boat as the other week.” I grab my lighter, light up, and take a drag from the joint, inhaling the rusty smoke.
Kade’s shoulders slump. “I guess I won’t bother asking how you’re feeling about your old man being our new Lord Chancellor?”
“I like the idea as much as getting an STD.”
He laughs, then bites the inside of his lip. “You’re my boy, but fuck, your father is one nasty piece of work. I’ve been seeing a lot of him now that my dad’s back.”
“I imagine so.”
Kade had his own journey with his parents, who we all thought were dead.
Of the group, he got the good, caring parents, so we all felt bad for him during the years he grieved. It was a lot of years.
The truth of what happened to them came out just before the summer semester, and it was like he got his life back.
It made me realize how much I miss my mother and how much I hate the rocky relationship I have with my father. The latter will never change because my father and I are too much alike. We’re each other’s kryptonite. That’s why we can’t be around each other for too long.
“I guess that leads to Mackenzie. What are you doing about her?”
How should I answer that question? After bringing my friends up to speed on my disastrous past, they weren’t surprised I took over the contract and supported the idea. But I’ve been on my own when it comes to figuring out what to do next.
“I don’t know yet.” I open my beer and take a long swig before setting the can down next to Kade’s.
“Really? So, you haven’t seen Mackenzie all summer?” He gives me a questioning stare that tells me he already knows the answer to that question.
I relax my shoulders and keep my gaze fixed on his. “I saw her four days ago at her show in New York. I kissed her.”
He smirks and cocks his head. “ You kissed her?”
“Yeah. This is the part where I should say it was a mistake, yet I’d happily do it again.”
He thinks for a moment and straightens with a thoughtful sigh. “The past with your brother is a sensitive topic, and I get why you couldn’t talk about it before and why your families are against each other. But I think there comes a point when you have to think about what you want.”
“Even if it causes havoc?”
Kade gives me a devious grin. “When has that ever stopped you, Dmitri? I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation. You already know what you’re going to do.”
He’s right. I do know. Now that I know what the girl tastes like, I can’t stop at a simple fucking kiss. I want it all.
“We’ve always taken what we wanted,” Kade reminds me. “This should be no different. At least for the next six months.”
“Six months.” I say the words like I’m savoring a fine meal.
“Just imagine what you could do in that time.”
“Yeah.”
Mackenzie and I never had our chance to see what we could be.
Now we do.
Later that night, when the party dies down, I go for walk. To Mackenzie’s place.
She’s at Myrrdin House. The Theta sorority home.
There’s a good spot on the bridge across from her room that allows me to see inside, just like I can when I’m at home in New York.
It’s late, so I’m surprised to see she’s awake.
She’s walking around her room, sorting through some books. With her hair up in a high messy bun, my attention is on the rest of her body.
A silky blue camisole top gives a good show of her breasts, so does a pair of shorts that displays her legs.
Mackenzie Domachenkov looks like she’s begging for someone to ruin her, and I’m going to be that guy.
I liked her surrender and the way she tasted when she gave in to me.
I’m going to own her in every way and make sure she knows she’ll always belong to me. Not just for six months.
Looks like I have a plan now.