At least not this time.
Without a word, Saint pivots and stalks out the door, and I scramble to my feet to follow him. I won’t scream at him in the administration building, but he’s not getting away from me just yet. He’s got a lot of fucking explaining to do. We walk in silence across campus, me trailing just behind him as the breeze fills my senses with nothing but ash and destruction. When we reach the middle of the quad, just outside the dining hall, he abruptly stops and spins around to face me. I stumble to a halt myself, gazing up at him uncertainly.
“Liam’s alive,” he coldly informs me, a muscle spasming in his jaw. “He wasn’t in the building.”
A huge exhale of relief rushes past my lips, and I almost burst into tears right then and there. “Thank God,” I murmur.
He snorts. “Yeah, I figured you’d like to hear he was still alive and kicking.”
I glare up at him in disbelief and shake my head. “No shit I’m happy to hear that, you dick. I wouldn’t want Liam dead. I don’t even want you dead, and you’ve put me through hell this year!”
“You put yourself through it when you didn’t take my advice.”
Gritting my teeth, I search his frigid gaze for the boy that I woke up next to this morning, but he’s gone. Maybe he was never there at all. “Who was it that did die in the fire?” I ask after a few beats.
My heart twists at the idea of the poor souls, trapped and alone as they suffered such a horrible death. No one deserves that.
Since he’s a heartless bastard, Saint simply rolls his shoulders. “Don’t know, don’t really care. It’s unfortunate, but everyone’s got to go sometime, right?”
“God, you’re a monster.”
He cocks a brow. “That’s never been a question, has it? You’ve known that from the start. Didn’t seem to bother you when I was climbing between your thighs, huh? If I remember correctly, you begged for regular fuckings from the big, bad monster.”
I swear I can hear the blood rushing through my head as I meet his unrelenting stare. “Why are you doing this to me?”
He suddenly pulls his phone out of his pocket, examines the screen for a moment, then hollows in his cheeks. “My ride’s here.” He turns to leave, but I lunge forward and wrap my fingers around his arm to hold him in place.
A jolt shoots through my fingers and up to my shoulder at the feel of his warm skin. I’m a fucking moron to still feel sparks with him. I ignore the sensation and do my best to keep my expression focused and angry.
“You’re not leaving yet,” I snarl. “I deserve some answers from you.”
He heaves a sigh, as if put out, and shakes himself from my hold. Turning so that we’re toe-to-toe, his face becomes a cold mask. “Make it quick. My dad’s driver is waiting for me.”
Evil, entitled prick.
“Why’d you lie for me in there?” I demand. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”
He folds his arm across his wide chest but doesn’t say a word.
So, it’s like that, huh? He’s going to blatantly disregard my question. I hiss out a breath because I recognize the stubborn set of his jaw and defiant tilt of his head. I’m not going to get anywhere if I try to pursue that question further, and it’s just a waste of breath and energy and time.
“Fine, you pigheaded piece of shit. If you won’t tell me why you covered for me and made me look like the campus mattress back there, then tell me where you actually were tonight. You know, just in case there’s someone who’s going to call bull on what you said.”
Something flashes behind his eyes—something I can’t identify that takes hold of my chest—but his voice is cool as frost when he answers, “With Laurel.”
“O-oh.”
But he doesn’t stop there. Oh no, that would be too kind.
“More specifically, inside of Laurel.” At my gasp, a suggestive grin curves the corners of his lips. “She finally gave it up to celebrate our success tonight. But don’t worry, little masochist, that bitch won’t do anything without my permission. She’s a much more obedient toy, and I’m rather enjoying her submission.”
If he had slapped me across the face, the sting wouldn’t have hurt this much. But the thing is that despite his smile, his expression is tight. Forced. A part of me thinks he’s lying, but maybe that’s just my stupid, masochistic mind hoping he wouldn’t really do what he’s claiming. He wouldn’t really sleep with the only other person I hate more than him. He wouldn’t throw me over so easily and hop into someone else’s bed when I was just in his this morning.
“Don’t look so goddamn shocked, Ellis,” he drawls. “You knew all along that you were nothing but three holes and a set of—”
I slam my hands against his chest with all my might, but when I draw back to hit him, he catches my wrist, hauling me to him. For a moment, neither of us says a word. His face hovers over mine, his furious exhales exploding against my skin and mingling with my own harsh breaths. When he releases me, he takes a step backward, clenching his hands into white-knuckled fists by his sides.
He doesn’t say anything, but why would he? Saint has said and done plenty.
“You two deserve each other,” I growl, though I’m embarrassed that my voice quivers. Damn it. I don’t want him to know how much he’s hurting me. That’s just giving him more ammunition against me.
“Are you done yet?” he asks, his tone impatient.
It takes me a beat to realize that he’s not talking about this discussion. He’s talking about school. That’s what this whole diabolical clusterfuck has been about. He’s been trying to drive me from this place ever since I arrived, and no matter how close I thought we’d become, he’s never stopped trying.
If he stooped this low just to get me to leave, then maybe I should just go. I don’t have to put up with this bullshit anymore. I could just walk away from him, from Angelview, from everything, and never look back. Even going back to Rayfort couldn’t be as terrible as staying here.
What’s left for me here after what he and Laurel did, anyway?
Nothing.
They’ve set all my bridges ablaze, and I’m at the end of my willpower to endure anymore of it.
“Yeah. I’m done, motherfucker,” I hiss, hugging my arms tightly around myself. Just as before, it’s not due to the cold. “Happy?”
He looks surprised, and then relieved, more so than triumphant even. Clearly, he’s wanted me gone a lot more than I really ever understood, and that fact burns worse than anything else he’s done to me.
“Glad you’ve finally seen reason,” he murmurs with a slow nod. He turns to leave without another word, but I’ve got one more question that’s scorching the back of my mind.
“How’d you pull it together so quickly?”
Shoulders stiffening, he gazes back at me with a furrowed brow. “What?”
I swallow, forcing the words out. “I only told you about the fire this morning. How’d you manage to organize something so fucked up so fast?”
His brow relaxes, but his expression is once again a mask that I can’t read. “I didn’t. I’ve known about the fire and James for weeks.”