Chapter 33
Snowflakes drizzle from the dark sky as my boots slap the icy sidewalk.
In my pocket rests Zain’s switchblade. I could wait to return it to him.
Hell, if I was smart, I’d turn it into the dean and have him deal with it.
Though, that might implicate him in a few unsavory situations.
Instead, I prove to myself that I’m not smart.
I lack the sense to stay away from this guy, and that’s crazy because I’m a freaking honor student with a bright road of music ahead of me.
Zain threatens to disrupt that, yet here I am, walking across campus at midnight to return a weapon to a psychopath.
The safety of campus falls into the background as I approach the rough neighborhood of broken streetlamps, high crime rate, and heavy drug use.
I’m somewhat thankful it’s chilly out, because if it were summer, there would be a lot more questionable people lingering around the dark corners.
I tighten my cardigan around my cream sweatshirt.
The wind whistles along my ear, and the back of my hair stands up.
Something is off. It’s eerily quiet. I pick up the pace and round the next street corner.
Behind the brick building a shadowy figure emerges.
He’s tall and his hands are jammed in his pockets.
His face is obscured by the glow of the streetlamp.
I freeze.
“What a truly vespertine affair.” A cackling laugh follows.
His words douse me like a cold bucket of water. That voice. I recognize it. I squint, hoping to make out a single recognizable detail. His tall form steps forward. His dark, beaded eyes. His twisted smile. Jax.
My body vibrates with unease. I’m paralyzed, unable to move my feet even though my mind is screaming at me to bolt. “What do you want?”
He grows closer, every step calculated and lethal.
I shuffle backwards, erasing the distance between us. I slam my eyes closed. Breathe, Vesper. Run.
With a quickness I didn’t know I possess, I take off into the night.
Each exhale of my hot breath leaves a frosty plum of air in front of my face.
My lungs are burning, but I don’t dare look back or stop.
Zain’s house grows closer. I refuse to slow down until I reach the safety of his doorstep.
My chest is heaving, and I’m praying he’s here.
His house is eerily quiet. The lights are off and I second-guess if anyone is even home.
With desperation, I bang on the door. Neighboring dogs start barking, calling attention to me. I worry Jax is a hair away from finding me. I don’t stop, my fists pound and pound until they’re red. Just when hopelessness creeps in, the door flies open.
Zain stands there full of ire, his eyes an endless void of darkness and despair. “The fuck?!” he bellows, rubbing his palms over his eye sockets.
His face relaxes when he sees it’s me, but he still wears his mask of indifference. It takes him all of five seconds to deduce something is wrong.
“Jax! He— The alley—” My breathy words can’t form a coherent sentence, but it doesn’t seem to matter. He grabs me by the cardigan and pulls me into his arms, slamming the door behind him. His large, tattooed hands cup my face roughly, forcing me to meet his piercing gaze.
He’s high again but no longer wearing that sluggish look like when he answered the door. He’s alert. “What happened, Vesper? Did that fucker touch you?” he growls.
I shake my head and catch my breath; I’m still winded from running. “No, he cornered me in the dark.”
His body tenses. “Why the fuck are you walking outside alone at midnight,” he shouts into my face, and I wince.
I take a step back. He steps forward, slamming my body into the ridged door.
His eyes burn into me. “Go upstairs to my room. Do not fuckin’ leave no matter what the fuck you hear.
Understand?” he says with a sinister seriousness.
His eyes are void of sanity. I don’t need to question why.
I know what he’s about to do. What he’s capable of.
I nod and rush past his rabid, heaving body. Each step I take makes my heart hammer against my chest. I don’t look back and I don’t stop until I slam his bedroom door. I bury myself in his dark sheets and drown out the savage crazy that’s undoubtedly about to ensue.