I fought to keep my features still as he tightened his grip in my hair, trying not to let him see my pain.
He released me suddenly and I battled the urge to rub the sore patch on my scalp. He was a hair-pulling asshat. Had he never grown out of playground games? But maybe he knew pulling someone’s hair was demeaning and effective in belittling them.
“I want a full list of the wash products you require. I like how you smell, I want you to stay that way. Do not use any of Blake or Kyan’s shower products,” he commanded and I nodded my agreement at that one. I didn’t wanna smell like any of them anyway.
“And just to be clear, when we said you belong to us mind, body and soul we meant it. Which means that your body belongs to us. As such, no one is allowed to touch it without our permission.”
My lips popped open. “So you’re gonna make sure I’m miserable and can’t even get laid to take the edge off?”
He chuckled darkly. “Oh you can get laid if you want, Barbie doll. Just take your pick of which hate fuck you’d like to receive from us first.” His eyes glittered like a night sky and my upper lip peeled back in disgust.
I stepped closer to him, invading his precious space for once. “I might play along with your little game, master, but the day I come crawling into any of your beds will be a cold day in hell.”
His eyes lit with my words like I’d struck a match against the coarse exterior of his blackened heart. “You won’t just come crawling, Tatum Rivers, you’ll come begging, aching and soaking.” I opened my mouth to dispute that claim, a rush of anger burning through me, but he looked away with a bored expression. “You’re dismissed,” he wafted me away like I was some homeless person begging for money. Not that I’d personally treat a homeless person like that, but Saint no doubt would.
I lingered there for a long moment with rage eating me up, then took a breath and headed toward the stairs.
It occurred to me that Harry Potter had had it easy in comparison to the Lord Coldemort who was currently making my life a misery. At least Harry had had friends. And Dumbledore. Man, I wish I had a Dumbledore. I supposed Monroe kinda counted. He was like a hot Dumbledore you wanted to Slytherin to bed with and suck his Elder wand.
I paused before I headed downstairs. There was one thing I really wanted to get back out of everything they’d taken from me. My backpack had that freaking gun in it plus my letters to Jessica. I couldn’t see Saint giving it to me for anything less than one thing. The lowest card I could play and yet the most powerful one girls had against boys. My period.
“Um, master?” I asked sweetly, that word tasting sour on my tongue.
Saint narrowed his eyes, not swallowing my bullshit.
“Is there any chance I could get my backpack? It’s just…my tampons are in it and-”
He held up a hand to stop me right there with a sharp frown. Yep, as predicted, even Saint Memphis wasn’t going to mess with a woman’s time of the month.
“Kyan, give her her fucking bag back. She’s got her period,” he called down to the room.
Kyan jumped up like there was a fire under his ass and I jogged downstairs as he took it out from a locked cupboard.
He held it out to me with his brows pulling together and I rolled my eyes as I snatched it and hurried away towards the bathroom between his and Blake’s room. Haha idiots.
I pulled the door shut behind me then dropped to my knees, pouring out the contents and hunting for the gun. The smile on my face died a violent death as I found it missing.
Dread seeped through the pores of my skin.
One of those assholes had it. But which one? And why wouldn’t they have freaking mentioned it?
I tried to figure out the answer, but came up short. What were they going to do with it? They wouldn’t hand me into Headmaster Brown, he’d expel me and that would only be a good thing for me. But then again, they could hold onto it until they were done with me. Then give me up and get the police involved. Bringing a gun onto school grounds could get me time in juvie. Was that their end game?
Holy shit. What the fuck do I do?
My breathing grew ragged as I stuffed my hand into the secret pocket at the back of the bag and a sigh of relief escaped me as I found the letters.
I zipped them back in safely, planning to write another one as soon as I could tonight. I had so much to tell Jessica. I just wished I could send them to her for real…
My heart knotted and for a moment it felt like panic was going to claim me, but I shut my eyes, focusing on my breathing until I got myself under control.
A fist hammered on the door, making me jump and I zipped my bag up, tossing it in the bath tub – AKA my bed - and moved to unlock the door.
Blake stood there with a fierce expression on his face, his eyes sliding over me as his upper lip peeled back. “We’re going for a walk. Follow me.” He turned his back on me, striding away and I frowned as I followed.
We headed through the church towards the door before Saint called after us, “Where are you going?”
“For a walk,” Blake snapped.
“You bring her back soon,” Saint growled.
“She’s ours. Not yours,” Blake shot at him then caught my arm and dragged me out the door.
My heart jack-hammered against my ribcage as he led me down the path alongside the lake, the dappled sunlight falling over us through the trees.
“How long will Saint let us stay out for?” I asked, putting a little fear into my voice for added effect.
Blake glanced down at me with a grunt of irritation. “That’s up to me, not him.”
“Oh, right. But he’s the boss, isn’t he?” I fluttered my lashes innocently and he pressed his shoulders back, his features twisting in irritation.
“No, he’s not the fucking boss. We’re a team.”
“I see,” I said like I didn’t see and I sensed his posture growing even tenser. “So where are we going?”
“For a walk,” he snarled and I suddenly realised why he’d brought me out here. It definitely wasn’t out of a desire to spend time with me. He was proving a point that I was his as much I was Saint’s.
Quiet fell between us and I gazed out across the stillness of the lake, watching swans and ducks circling on the calm surface. The scene was picturesque, the late afternoon light glittering on the surface and making it look like liquid gold.
“Let’s go this way.” Blake caught my arm, yanking me down a side trail that led into the woods. My pulse sky rocketed faster than Apollo 11 to the moon as we left the main path, way out of sight of other people. Blake felt like a bomb about to go off and the tension spilling from him made my palms start to sweat.
My instincts were to try and defuse it so I cleared my throat and lifted my chin to look at him. “Hey…Blake?”
He glanced at me with a dark glare and I felt like I was in the headlights of an oncoming car.
My mouth opened and closed for a second before I forced out the words, refusing to be a chicken shit. “Things have really changed between us, huh?”
He grunted, continuing to walk and upping his pace. I upped mine too so I could keep at his side. My dad often descended into moods when he was mad about something, and I knew how to coax him out of them with gentle words. I wasn’t sure if the same would apply to Blake, but I was damn well gonna give it a try. I’d felt a genuine connection between us before and apart from anything else, I wanted an explanation for why he hated me so personally now. Even if my dad was responsible for the virus, which I was still absolutely refuting, that didn’t make me culpable.