Chapter 56 Sable
SABLE
I’m a big fan of the boy pretzel, I have to say. I wake up in one once again. Lex at my back, Orion at my front, and my leg over Soren. They are warm and delicious, but I have classes to go to. Without waking them up, I get up, put my nightgown back on, and grab my bag before I sneak away.
It’s getting harder to hide where I’m sleeping.
Time is ticking until I’ll have to reveal all my secrets.
Soren already knows, but it’s eventually something I will have to share with the rest of them.
As I’m thinking about all this, I hear someone coming down the hall.
My steps stall. Not wanting Parker or Hadrian to catch me red-handed, I put the key back into my small bag and school my expression.
A little excitement sits in my chest as I round the bend.
I missed them last night, and I really want to see them.
The smile dies on my lips, and I stop dead when I see Arabella instead.
Rage and a thousand other traces of emotion rush through me at the sight of her long brown hair and dark eyes.
The murderous rage I felt while watching that video rises, and I believe without a doubt I could rip her throat out with my teeth.
I could end this right now. She places her hand on the touchpad and opens it.
Her hand is programmed in. I wonder why she got that privilege when no one else has.
“Sable,” she says with a mocking tone as she turns and finds me standing there. I say nothing, feeling locked inside my body by my own need to harm her.
“Is something wrong?” she asks. “You know you don’t live in this hall anymore, don’t you?”
I try to open my mouth and say something, but the only thing that comes out is a guttural scream as my body unlocks, and I charge her.
Images from that video are hot and thick in my mind.
She sees and hears my intention, turning to run from me, but it’s not going to work.
I grab her by the strands of hair flying behind her and yank her back.
I swing as she’s falling, punching her in the face and winding up on top of her as we topple to the floor.
“Dirty, fucking bitch,” I scream as I swing, striking her again and again.
She’s nothing compared to the strength of Uncle Carl, so her attempts to fight back are so pitiful that I laugh.
My fist connects with her face again and again, switching between landing on soft tissue and bone.
Each time she yelps and welts rain across her skin, but it isn’t enough.
Memories of the time they tried to drown me in a bucket fill my mind.
Nina’s involvement in that burns, but I understand the importance of a con.
Haven’t I run enough of them myself to get how imperative they can be to a person’s survival?
I pretended I wanted to fuck Carl before I ended him.
I face the ugly truth for the first time as I pummel Arabella, screaming like I’m possessed.
Her body goes limp as I strike her. She’s unconscious, and this isn’t sportsmanly, but I can’t pull myself off her.
“Sable!”
My name echoes in the hall, but I can’t stop.
Arabella should know this is where we were headed when she fucking raped one of the men I loved and then came back here.
Strong arms pull me off her, and I fight to keep beating the shit out of her.
There’s too much rage inside me, and this bitch went down too quickly.
“Stop!” someone shouts as they hold my full body against their warm chest.
Through my tears, I watch Parker kneeling over Arabella, followed by Hadrian, Lex, and Orion.
“What are you doing?” Soren asks as he holds me tight.
Him? He stopped me? His interference is like a dagger to the heart.
Is he really choosing her after everything?
Does he really care for her enough not to want to see her hurt?
Tears spring into my eyes at the mere thought, and I start to wail.
Pain from a million sources overwhelms me.
I want to kill her, to feel her blood run through my hands, but the only warmth I feel is my own tears dripping down my face.
“Why do you want me to stop? You care about her all of a sudden,” I demand.
“Is she alive, Lex?” Hadrian asks.
Lex kneels and checks her pulse. “Yes.”
“So let me fucking finish!” I try to get away from Soren, but he holds me back firmly.
“I do not care about her. I fucking hate her, but this is not like killing Carl out in the woods where no one will ever even bother to look for him. She is a popular cheerleader from an affluent family, and we do not need another body to get rid of.”
“We shouldn’t be talking about this here,” Hadrian says, looking around the hall, even if the only rooms up here are ours.
“Let me go!” I scream. “I’m not going to kill her, if that’s what you want to hear.” I finally wiggle free and march to my door.
“Sable, come to—” Lex trails off when I turn around and go straight to my door and open it with the ancient key. If I can’t kill her, then they all need to leave me alone before I kill them.
“Sable, talk to me.” Soren follows me.
I pierce him with a look. “You know I’m not going to feel better until she’s dead.”
“Then we’re not going to feel better for a while,” he agrees with me. “Because we have to wait. We cannot kill prominent people with no plan.”
“What the fuck?” Orion comes in next, looking around my empty apartment with eyes of wonder.
“My plan was to stop her from breathing,” I say, ignoring his expression as the other three follow us in. “I could have managed it.”
“I know.” Soren nods. “You can manage anything. That doesn’t make it a good plan.” I meant to say something cutting back, but his partial flattery worked.
“Where are we?” Orion asks, but I ignore the question.
Soren takes my knuckles in his hand, frowning when he finds blood.
“It’s not mine.” I smirk.
“Oh good.”
“Sable?” Lex interrupts the moment with so much calm, I can’t resist looking at him.
“Yeah?”
“Where are we standing right now?” he asks with his bedside manner firmly in place.
“In my room.” I shrug. I oddly like it here. Everything is incredibly old, and there’s this musty smell that won’t go away. I do love waking up surrounded by all of them, but it’s been comforting to wind up somewhere that’s mine.
“It’s a long story.” Soren sighs. “We need to get Arabella off the floor.”
Part of me is still convinced this is based on affection for her. His careful words bring the rage back. He should want to see her dead. He said he wants that too, I remind myself as I try to gain control of my temper and get the color of blood out of my vision.
Lex leaves the room, followed by Hadrian, and my eyes turn to Parker. He’s too quiet, watching Soren and me close.
“Parker?” I ask.
“Did he know?” he shoots back.
“About what?” I try to feign innocence.
“This place. He’s the only one who doesn’t look shocked.”
Oh. I nod, wondering how much I can say about the night I brought Soren here. It all leads back to a secret that I’m not allowed to tell.
“It’s a long story,” Soren says again, this time with a little more force.
There’s no need for him to defend me. It was my choice to keep this place a secret. I open my mouth to argue, but it closes on a snap when Lex and Hadrian get back inside the room. Their expressions are closed off and jaws hard.
“Is she dead?” I ask, a hint of hope in my voice.
“No, she’s gone,” Lex says.
“What?” Soren shakes his head.
“She probably went back to her room. The Offering room.” I can’t hide the bitterness from my words.
“No,” Hadrian says. “We checked there.”
“She was really hurt,” Soren says.
“And?” I ask, jealousy and hatred building inside me and making me unreasonable.
“How did she get up and walk far enough away to be out of sight when she was knocked out cold a minute ago?” Soren asks.
I take a deep breath, still somewhat lost in the haze of battle. “I really don’t know,” I say, not caring the way they seem to want me to.
“Someone grabbed her,” Parker says as if it’s obvious.
“If someone grabbed her,” Hadrian starts, “that means they’re watching us.”
That pulls me up short. “Who’s they?”
“I don’t know for sure. I can only guess,” Soren replies, but we are cut short when Parker laughs.
“Come on, both of you?” He looks from Soren to Hadrian. “You are the paranoid ones. Tell me, who are the people who have access to Bellthorn, want to control us, and have no regard for rules inside or out?”
None of them replies, but I already know the answer.
“The founding families.”