Chapter Sixteen
XADEN
I can feel the apprehension wafting off her like a pungent odor but there’s a hint of fear in the mix and that sends my heart rate skyrocketing.
I feed off her terror and wariness of me, she’s spent the past two days holed up in her room.
Cas has been delivering her food and playing his part perfectly.
Me on the other hand, I have spent my time formulating my plan.
I want a flawless victory against her and her family and I plan to set that plan into action right fucking now.
I smirk when she stops at least ten feet away from me. “The kiss wasn’t that bad, was it?” I taunt. Her jaw locks and her eyes narrow.
“No other boy has ever touched me—” I’m pushing off the tree and stalking toward her in an instant. She clamps her mouth closed and stares up at me, fear in her eyes when I don’t stop until there is a sliver of space between our bodies.
“Your first mistake was thinking I'm a boy. Believe me, Tink, I’m all man and the size of my cock can validate that.” Her eyes widen at the same time her jaw unhinges, as a tinge of red begins to spring to life on her cheeks.
Jesus, I knew she was untouched but I didn’t think the Virgin Mary wannabe was that innocent.
If hearing me say cock has that reaction, I dare to think what she would do if I pulled it out.
“You’re coming with me,” I say, then turn to leave.
I make it two steps before her question has me pausing and peering over my shoulder at her.
“Why would I go anywhere with you?”
I answer without missing a beat. “Because there’s a darkness inside you and you need someone like me to help you feed it.
Move your ass, Tink, I won’t tell you again.
” This time I don’t stop when she calls after me, knowing she’ll follow.
When I slide behind the wheel of my Audi, the passenger door opens a second later.
She hesitantly slides in and places her backpack on the floor between her legs.
She’s stiff as she buckles her seatbelt and sits ramrod straight.
I start the ignition and relish in the roar of the engine.
“If I was going to kill you, I would have done it already. Relax.” She gasps in horror.
I don’t wait for a reply as I plant my foot on the gas and peel out of the parking lot.
She’s silent beside me as she gazes out the window.
Anger courses through me just from the sight of her.
I want nothing more than to slam her side of the car into a tree and watch as she pleads with me to save her worthless life.
“Thank you.” The sound of her voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
“What?”
I see her out of the corner of my eye, turning to face me. Loathing is reflected in her eyes but the shocking part is, that look isn’t directed at me it’s for herself.
“Thank you for… helping me out that night at my dorm and for letting me… stay with you and Cas. I just got a job, so I’ll be able to start paying my share of things until I can save enough to get a place of my own.”
I snort. “I own the place and believe me, Tink, you wouldn’t be able to afford the rent on a place like that, so just enjoy the charity while it lasts.
” She flinches and turns away from me. I grind my teeth, pissed at myself.
Biting her head off and making her suffer is easy, I love the way the light dims in her eyes with every insult, but in order to get the bitch under me, I need her to at least like me a little or maybe get her drunk enough to think she does.
I push that thought away. I may be a piece of shit, but not even I'm that low, to take advantage of her to get what I want. I hate the cunt and wouldn’t piss on her if she was on fire, but rape, that is a different ball game and I don’t play for that team. I punish them.
“Don’t worry about paying for anything. Just save your money,” I add as I white knuckle the steering wheel, trying to keep a lid on my anger. It’s a go-to reaction whenever I think about her or her family.
“I don’t expect charity,” she hisses.
I shrug. “I don’t care what you expect. Your money's no good to me so you may as well keep it.”
“Must be nice to not have to worry about money,” she mutters quietly, but I still hear it.
“Since when has the Kellar Princess ever had to worry about money?” I keep the bite out of my tone.
“Since I was dumped in the Stormsend side of school to fend for myself.” She doesn’t sound bitter like I would have expected. I say nothing and continue driving. Being alone with her in a confined space has my skin crawling. “Where are you taking me?” she asks after a few minutes.
“To the one place no one else would,” I answer cryptically. She huffs out her annoyance and crosses her arms over her chest. I take the next left and head toward the end of the road where the giant wrought iron gates are open. I hear her inhale sharply as she sits up straight in her seat.
“Kenna,” she breathes out wistfully as we pass through the gates and enter the cemetery.
This little outing is something I chose to keep from Cas.
If he found out I brought her here, he would lose his fucking mind.
There have been many nights where he has gone AWOL and I’ve found him drunk and passed out on KennaDee’s grave.
Unlike Cas, I haven’t had the gumption to visit Miles or Neave’s graves.
I don’t see the point. Their bodies are six feet under the dirt, being eaten by worms and every other fucking bug, plus it’s not like they are even there anymore.
They’re dead. That’s it. There is no coming back from that shit.
I pull to a stop under the shade of one of the large trees that line the edge of the road.
Toren keeps her gaze ahead, unwilling to look out the window.
I’m prepared for her to sob and scream, then admit she was full of shit about not remembering that night, but what I’m not prepared for is her turning to face me with an utterly devastated look on her face.
“Why?” she breathes that one word out in a whisper, her voice so soft like the current of the wind.
“What?”
“Why did you bring me here, Xaden?” There’s a tremble in her voice and her eyes slowly begin to fill with tears that she refuses to let fall.
“Closure.”
She eyes me sternly. Her eyes turn calculating but I keep my face blank. She’ll never be able to read me. “Liar.”
“What the fuck did you just call me?” I snarl.
She doesn’t shrink back or cower from my icy tone, if anything it only seems to harden her resolve.
“You brought me here for a reason and it wasn’t to get closure.
Do you want to see me break? Is your hatred for my brother so deep you wish to hurt me in order to get to him?
What the hell are you trying to prove?” She’s panting after blurting all of that out in one breath.
I don’t think as I reach out and wrap my hand around her throat.
She doesn’t fight me, just tilts her head back enough to give me better access while keeping her eyes on me the entire time. “Do it, end it all, take my life.”
My eyes narrow. “You think I wouldn’t snap your pretty little neck and send you to hell?”
“I’m already in hell. You would be doing me a favor.”