6. Felicity
CHAPTER SIX
felicity
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Two clawed hands land on my shoulders, sharpened points digging into my flesh through my sweatshirt.
I’m shaken, my head colliding with the stone wall again.
Sparks of white dot my vision, the world spinning wildly as I try to fight them off, fingernails scratching at wrists, drawing blood.
It’s not enough—they’re too strong, barely even noticing my efforts.
“What the hell…?” I whisper, just as there’s a flash of blond hair and sharp teeth snapping at the air right in front of my face. I inhale sharply, flinching back instinctively, letting out a cry of pain when my head connects with the wall again.
I blink rapidly, trying to clear my eyes, but everything is blurry. I lift trembling fingers to the back of my head, the tips of them coming away with sticky wetness.
“I always forget how weak humans are. Why are they even interested in you?” She lets out a cruel, mocking chuckle. “You’re so weak. They’d break you before their dicks even got close.”
“Let me go,” I mutter, trying to shrug her off. She only tightens her grip, leaning in close enough that her breath fans over my face, making my stomach roil.
I blink again, her face finally coming into focus. Selena. She’s dressed similarly to yesterday, her midriff on display and thighs bared under a micro miniskirt. Her eyes are flashing between a muddy brown and a glowing, feral yellow.
“I’ll let you go when you give me what I want.” It’s a taunt as she flashes her incisors in an inhuman smile.
“Yeah, and what’s that? Me dead?” I retort drolly, desperately acting like I’m not seconds from passing out. “Shake me one more time. That should do it.”
She scoffs, muttering about humans under her breath. “I know what happened yesterday.”
It takes me a second to figure out the underlying meaning of her words, but there was only one thing that happened yesterday. Still, I say, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
She laughs, but it’s a humorless sound filled with hostility. “I’m talking about you stinking up the hallway with the scent of your lust. I’m talking about you and your hands all over my mate.”
She drops her hands, stepping back, and I sag against the wall, trying to think past the excruciating pain in my head.
“Your mate?” I ask, arching my brows. “The one whose bed you crawled into naked just before he kicked you out?” I pause meaningfully, curling my lips just so. “That’s interesting because he couldn’t even remember your name.”
A deep growl rolls out of her—a firm reminder that she’s not human, and mocking her could end with her claws in my gut and my throat ripped out.
“You don’t know who you’re messing with, slut.” Her lashes flutter, and the feral gleam fades from her eyes, a cunning smirk tugging at one corner of her mouth. “Tell you what, though…I’ll make you a deal.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m concussed with a brain bleed, but sure, let’s make a deal,” I drawl derisively.
The way her eyes roll tells me she thinks I’m being dramatic, but the way my entire vision seems to throb with each heartbeat tells me that I’m not being dramatic enough.
Shifters are notorious for not knowing their own strength, especially when it comes to the fragility of other species. Like humans.
“I’ve got no interest in the warlock,” Selena tells me, upper lip lifting as if even talking about him fills her with disgust. My eyes narrow.
I don’t know Vaelor. Well, I know what the touch of his powers feels like when he plays with my body, but I don’t know him.
Not really. My knowledge is limited to the fact that he’s an asshole who enjoys toying with me, taking liberties that he has no right to take.
And yet, anger wells, my fingers curling to fists at her blatant dismissal of him.
“I’ll tell you what,” Selena continues, flashing a sharp fang at me, “you take the warlock and let him do whatever voodoo he wants. Distract him long enough that I can finally get my mate away from him.”
I stare at her, eyes wide with disbelief. “Are you kidding? Please tell me you’re kidding.”
After the hallway incident, I decided that burying my head in the sand was no longer an option when it came to my new stalkers. All it had taken was one well-placed word in the ear of a notorious gossip, and I’d gotten everything I needed to know about Connor and Vaelor.
They were soul-bound, joined together with forbidden magic that meant if one died, the other would follow.
The girl, Megan, had flushed as she’d told me that the two of them did everything together, her eyes hot with meaning.
But she’d quickly followed it up with a warning.
“It’s been a long time since they’ve been seen with anyone.
Like, years. And they don’t play well with others.
I’d steer clear if I were you.” Her eyes had flicked over me—not critically, but assessingly.
“Humans have never been their type anyway.”
Now, Selena throws her hair back, eyes gleaming with malice. “You’re playing way out of your league, Hamilton. This isn’t a fight you have a chance of winning.” She wrinkles her nose. “I know who your family is, but you’re still a human. Still unworthy.”
Unworthy of what? My head gives another brutal throb, but I keep the agony off my face, giving her a dismissive look. “Tell you what, you can have the both of them and leave me the fuck alone.” I’m proud when my voice doesn’t waver, but she narrows her eyes in suspicion.
“You’re lying,” Selena accuses. “You need to forget whatever you’ve got planned, and back off. She pauses a beat, her eyes never leaving mine, another low growl rumbling from her chest. “You won’t like what happens if you don’t, prey.”
I open my mouth to answer, but before I can, the door just inches to my left slams open. It rebounds off the other wall with a loud crash that rings in my ears, the wood splintering.
Both Selena and I stare at it, shocked, and I’m kind of grateful that she pinned me to the wall on the other side. If she hadn’t, I’d probably be crushed right about now.
A wary noise escapes Selena, and I look over just in time to watch her stumble back a step, her wide eyes fixed on the large body shouldering his way into the room. His expression is lined with a savage fury that lifts the hairs on the nape of my neck, but all of it is directed at her.
“C-Connor?” she asks breathlessly. “What’re you doing here?” Her brows draw down, wary eyes flicking over to me and then back to him, the corners of her mouth tightening.
“What am I doing here?” he repeats slowly. “I was searching for my mate.”
Selena’s shoulders lower a fraction, her expression softening. “You were looking for me?”
His incisors lengthen as I watch, piercing his bottom lip, giving him a slight lisp when he rasps, “I wasn’t looking for you.”
“But you just said—”
I push off the wall, gripping my head in one hand, and he swings to me, nostrils flaring. “You’re hurt,” he mutters.
“Connor—” Selena steps forward, arm stretching out to him, but he ignores her. Instead, he closes the distance to me, gently drawing my arm down and using his other hand to angle my face away.
“Fuck,” he hisses at whatever he sees. “We need to find Vaelor.”
I jerk away from him, ignoring how my vision dims. “We need to do nothing.” I point a finger in Selena’s direction, ignoring how it trembles. “You need to keep your crazy-ass girlfriend away from me!”
He snorts. “I don’t even fuckin’ know her name.”
“Connor!” Selena shrieks, but he’s wrapping an arm around me, shielding me from her as he urges me toward the door. “Connor!”
“Fuck off, you batty bitch.”