Chapter 12
TWELVE
HAYAMI
ONE MONTH AGO
A fairground has come to one of the large parks on the outskirts of Rothkor, and I’ve insisted on going as part of my campaign to ruin my father’s plans for me.
After the visit to the bar, I nearly abandoned the idea of fighting back.
It was going to be too difficult, considering I had the Beast breathing down my neck.
I won’t lie. I’d been intrigued by the bar I convinced Willa to let me go to, turned on in a way that I’d never imagined and only read about in the romance novels I devour.
I’d felt drunk on lust watching the couple in the booth, surprised that it was Willa, not the Beast, who seemed more eager to steer me away.
He’d stood behind me, watching, waiting, but not dragging me away by my hair or punching anyone in the face.
And there’d been a moment—when the woman invited me to join her—that I thought maybe the Beast was going to be okay with it. But something held me back. Nerves? Fear of the unknown? I don’t know. Then Willa rocked up, and the moment was lost.
Since then, I’ve had to rethink my plans—until I saw the poster for the fair.
Bingo.
Strangely, my father has agreed to let me go, but only if I take two bodyguards with me. So, the Beast and Bastian have been given the delightful task of ensuring my safety for the evening.
What my father doesn’t know is that I’ve arranged to meet up with someone—Cole Kilner, a new guy from university who arrived in Rothkor a month ago.
He’s nice. Cute. And, as far as I can tell, he either doesn’t know who my father is or hasn’t put two and two together and realised I’m Barrett Devall’s daughter.
The fairground is noisy and littered with people of all ages. The smells of fried food and candy floss mingle with the garish clash of music genres and sound effects from the rides, as well as the riders’ shouts and screams.
I imagine it’s a bodyguard’s nightmare. So much going on, so busy, too many things to pay attention to. The perfect place to get lost.
When we meet up with Cole, the Beast is furious.
“This wasn’t part of the plan,” he tells me, his scowl accentuating his scars.
I glare at him. “Sometimes life doesn’t fit into a plan.”
“We haven’t done any background checks on this guy,” he points out, not lowering his voice.
Cole just looks confused, his sandy hair flopping into his eyes.
Bastian comes to the rescue, his gruff voice highlighting how much he doesn’t want to be here this evening. “He’s fine. He goes to uni with her. We’ve done checks on all the students she has classes with. He checks out.”
The Beast huffs as I smile at him. One–nil to me.
The pair stalk behind us, checking for signs of danger, hidden weapons, and whatever else they keep a look out for whilst Cole asks why I have two bodyguards tailing me.
I try to convince him that they’re overprotective family members, which doesn’t wash.
But I laugh it off and hope he doesn’t ask any more questions.
By the time we’ve been on the Ferris wheel and the dodgems, I’ve relaxed a little.
For a moment, it feels like this could be what life is supposed to be—slightly normal.
Going on a date with a guy and enjoying myself.
Cole is nice and good company. He’s the kind of guy I can imagine sitting on the sofa with and watching a movie.
Not the kind of guy who would pull my hair and tell me how naughty I’ve been, but beggars can’t be choosers.
And the Beast and Bastian seem okay with how things are going. Well, Bastian does. The Beast is his usual sulky self.
But this all changes when we reach the line for the ghost train.
“No way.” The Beast steps forwards, placing his arm in front of me.
“I beg your pardon?” I snap.
“There’s no way you’re going on that.”
“Who made you fucking God?” I push his arm aside and move down the queue.
Cole looks from me to the Beast. “Hey, we can give this one a miss. It doesn’t matter,” he says.
“It does matter. I want to go on it.” I stand my ground. The ghost train is the backbone of my plan.
“I can’t see you in there. It’s pitch-black. It’s not safe. Anything could happen,” the Beast explains.
“Do you think I’m going to get attacked on a fucking ride? Do you think someone is going to go to the trouble of following me on and then sticking a knife in me when it gets dark?”
The Beast doesn’t answer.
“Or do you think Cole here is going to murder me?”
“Hey, I’m just here to have a good time.” Cole holds both hands up and glances nervously at the Beast.
I look to Bastian, hoping he’ll back me. Of course he’ll back me. He wouldn’t dare argue with me in case I complained to my father.
But Bastian says that maybe the Beast is right, and that’s when my plan starts to unravel—the plan I’ve spent all weekend conjuring disappearing before my eyes, all because the fucking Hellhound says so.
The ghost train would have been the perfect opportunity for some action with Cole. I’d timed the ride. Seven minutes. There’s so much you could do in seven minutes. And with no bodyguards watching over me, it would have been perfect.
Would have been. This was my only chance, and now it’s gone.
And my head explodes.
“I’m sick of this,” I spit, ducking out of the line. The last few months have finally caught up with me—the stress, the anxiety, the impending doom.
“Hayami!” Bastian calls, but I ignore him and keep on walking until I’m at the entrance of the fair.
I’m so sick of this life. So sick of the restrictions, of having everything decided for me. Of having some fucking prick in a suit tell me what I can and can’t do. Is this how it’s going to be for the rest of my life?
I already know the answer.
When I see the entrance to the woods ahead of me, I start running.
My calves burn and my ankles feel weak, but I keep going. Running through the trees, dodging the fallen branches, getting deeper and deeper until I have no idea where I am or where I’m going.
There’s no fear of getting lost, because this is what I want. I want to disappear where no one will ever find me.
A new plan forms. Running. Run until I can’t see what’s behind me.
So, I do just that.
But he’s behind me. Not Bastian. He’s too old to run. But the Beast isn’t. I can hear him. Every branch that breaks. Every scrunch of the leaves. Each sound only makes me run faster.
He will not catch me.
“Hayami!” he shouts, and I push on. My legs are flying now, running of their own free will to the point where I don’t think I’d be able to stop even if I tried.
It’s him against me, and fuck if I’m going to let him win. He won that day in the pool. He won’t win this time.
Just as I think I might be able to outrun him, the trees thin out, and I come to a river. I only just manage to slow down so I don’t run headfirst into the water.
Fuck.
I turn, and there he is. He doesn’t even look out of breath.
“There’s nowhere to run to, Hayami,” he hollers.
I look all around. If I go left, he’ll pounce—same if I go right.
Fuck.
“Give up?” He’s stalking the ground, pacing like a lion before its prey, and somewhere deep inside, I feel the swell of something, a heat beginning to crawl up my insides.
“No!” I yell.
“There’s no point running,” he says calmly.
“Yes, there is,” I pant, my lungs still in overdrive.
“Not from me, there isn’t.”
I glare at him, wanting to argue and ask him how the fuck he would know, but then I look at his scars. Is he trying to run from the past that won’t let him forget?
“You can run from me, Hayami, but I’ll always catch you.”
I eye the water.
“Don’t,” he warns, and it’s enough.
Carefully, I step into the water, but I sense him move behind me. I try to run, but the surface is uneven and slippery, and I fall into the freezing depths.
“Shit!”
It takes him seconds to reach me as I scramble over the rocks, my hands numb, the cold attacking my body with sharp, razor-like teeth.
He grabs my arm.
“Get off me!” I scream.
“No,” he says.
He’s so cool, which annoys me more than him manhandling me.
“I said get the fuck off me!” I fall again, my hands sliding on the stones, the water tugging at my clothes.
“And I said no.” He manages to get in front of me and scoops me out of the water like I’m made of fresh air. I’ve no option but to cling to him as he wades through the river and gets us back onto the embankment.
As soon as his feet hit the ground, I thump his chest.
“Put me down!” I shout, sobbing now, my voice having lost all its urgency.
He does as I ask, but he doesn’t let me go. Instead, he holds me and dips his head.
“I’m not sure what you’re running from, Hayami,” he says, his voice low and gentle, no longer the angry growl I’m so used to, “but I don’t blame you. I’ve been running for the past fourteen years, and I’m still running. We’re all running from our past.”
My body shakes, not just from the glacial water but from his words, the look on his face, how it feels to be held by him, and from this first and only admission that his life has been anything but perfect.
For the past five months, I’ve known nothing about this man. He’s remained an enigma—until now.
My heart sinks because I want him to be right. I want to know that I can take the advice he’s giving me and hold on to it, but I can’t.
“I’m not running from my past,” I tell him, my bottom lip trembling. “I’m running from my future.”
He stares at me, lips parted, and I’m about to tell him what awaits me, what my father has in store, the kind of man he really is, but then—
“Hey!” Bastian’s cry cuts through the trees as he emerges breathless and sweating. “I’m getting too old for this shit,” he wheezes, placing his hand on the side of a tree.
The Beast lets me go. And I’m gutted. I feel like the lifeline has been pulled from my grasp—because he had me. He almost had me.