Chapter 23

Back at my dorm there’s no sign of Rob when I hammer on his door. Frustrated and confused I stomp into my own room and check the time on my phone. I must have knocked it onto silent because there’s several missed calls and messages. All from The Holy Trinity.

Ugh. Great. That’s just what I need when I’m feeling lousy as fuck, though I have to admit Hector’s ‘brinner’ has worked wonders for clearing up my hangover. If it was only a hangover. Hector seems to think otherwise but is he just trying to manipulate me into questioning what I saw and heard last night? And if he is, why?

I wonder if I should say anything to Kaiden. Zie and I still aren’t talking, and every interaction I have with Axel leaves me wanting to scream and stab him. Don’t even get me started on that kiss either. But things with Kaiden are…different. I don’t forgive him for ghosting me when they left, or for whatever role he is playing in making me The Doe, but there’s a mutual understanding there that we need each other. We have too much shared history, too many secrets that we can only confide in each other. We both need an outlet for our traumas and the other seems to fit the bill perfectly.

Maybe he could help me get to the bottom of what went down last night.

As quickly as I consider it, I dismiss the idea. He’d tell Axel. He doesn’t owe me anything except guardianship of those past secrets. Anything new would be outside the bounds of our unspoken agreement, and the last thing I need is Axel and The Holy Trinity inserting themselves into another facet of my life.

Instead, I pull out my phone and text Kaiden about something else.

Me: what the fuck does ‘dress for somewhere hot’ mean?

Kaiden: Lol. As much as I know you’re itching to disobey Axel on this one, I’d listen to him. You’ll only be causing yourself to suffer if you turn up in sweats.

I snigger both at the way Kaiden knows that I live to challenge Axel and at the way he thinks I even own sweats. I hunt in my wardrobe for my padded winter parka, pull it on, zip it up and raise the hood. Taking a quick snap, I fire it to Kaiden with the caption How about this?

Kaiden: You look like that TikTok chick’s talking vagina!

I shoot back a crying laughing face emoji but secretly I love that he remembers my favourite TikTok star from our early teenage years. I maintain that all of her talking body parts taught them more about women than porn did, so they should probably be thanking me. At the time they just didn’t get it, but the girl’s a freaking genius if you ask me.

Me: Do I have to show the tattoo?

Kaiden: Do you really hate it that much?

Me: Not the point.

Kaiden: Does that mean it’s growing on you?

Me: No.

Kaiden: Do what you want, babygirl. I love watching Axel’s head explode. See you at 9.

Hmm. So he wants a bit of drama tonight. I won’t disappoint if it means winding Axel up.

I take off the vagina-parka, knowing that I’ll probably never wear it again now thanks to Kaiden’s comment, and start doing my makeup. If Kaiden wants to see drama between me and Axel, I’ll damn well make sure all of their heads explode tonight.

When the buzzer to my dorm goes off at one minute to nine, I give myself a once over in the mirror. I’m probably crazy and definitely playing with fire, but fuck it. You only live once and this last week has shown me that since the guys left, I’ve barely been surviving, let alone living. Just going through the motions each day to make it to the next with as little pain as possible.

Now my heavily made-up eyes glimmer with determination. My hair falls in soft curls around my face and The Doe tattoo – and a hell of a lot more skin – is on full display in my short, fitted dress. It doesn’t look too outrageous, despite being pretty low cut and a daring shade of red, but it’s the back that screams drama. Thank fuck Steph convinced me to skip class to go shopping with her earlier in the week. I have a whole new wardrobe full of outfits I can wear out with her and the girls.

Even teaming it with low heeled booties doesn’t detract from the wow factor, though I know it would probably look better with the only pair of high heeled sandals that I own. However Axel had warned it would be a long night on my feet, and I’m not about to ignore that part of his message. The shoes last night were unforgiving on my poor feet, and I’m just not ready to face the pain again so soon. Christ knows how some women can wear heels all the damn time.

Sadly, the dress will have to remain hidden until later. I pull on another old hoodie, Kaiden’s this time, swiped from him when he was packing to leave. I kept it as an insurance policy to ensure he returned. Fat lot of good it did me. Still, it will piss Axel off to no end to see me dressed in another man’s clothing, and even if Kaiden recognises it as his, he won’t say anything because he enjoys winding Axel up as much as I do.

I slip my knife into the pocket, along with my phone, my key and my lipstick, and then I head outside where my lift is waiting for me. I expect to see the Jeep waiting for me, with Kaiden behind the wheel, but I see neither of those things.

A low, sleek sports car is waiting for me – fucked if I know the make besides red and expensive and sexy – but what shocks me the most is that it’s Zie behind the wheel. He’s staring straight ahead when I approach the passenger side, drumming his fingers impatiently on the wheel. He doesn’t make eye contact when I open the door and climb in, and he accelerates hard, throwing me back into my seat before I’ve fully closed the door or belted up.

“Arsehole,” I seethe between my gritted teeth.

He flicks his eyes at me, lightning fast, then returns his attention to the road. I don’t miss the tense set of his shoulder though, nor the way his fingers tighten on the wheel making his knuckles turn white. His broken and bloody knuckles.

“What happened to your hands?” I ask before I can stop myself.

“Nothing,” he grunts, sounding nothing like the sunshine boy from my childhood. The tension in the car is thick, the temperature rising with every mile. “What happened to your trousers?”

I look down at my bare legs and laugh.

“You don’t like my dress?” I ask innocently.

“You always stole his shit,” he grumbles, sounding all kinds of pissed off. His heated gaze flicks to my legs again and I start to second guess my outfit choice.

“You should have seen me earlier,” I reply without thinking. Why did I say that? Zie doesn’t need to know that it was his old hoodie I wore as my comfort blanket to go and have dinner with another guy.

“Oh?” He quickly swipes a look at my face, a question of curiosity in his bright blue eyes, but it’s gone again before he can even blink and return his attention to the road.

“Are we going far?” I ask, settling back into my seat and finally doing my seatbelt up as I see the car’s digital speedometer casually creeping into triple figures. I bite my tongue to keep from snapping at him to slow down.

Zie grunts. Could mean anything.

“I thought Kaiden was picking me up.”

Another grunt.

I sigh and give up, switching my attention to the window. Everything is just a blur of trees interspersed with lights in the dark. It’s boring, and soon the motion of the car has me yawning.

Wordlessly, Zie reaches out and flicks on the air con, which blasts through the open vents at full force, making me shiver. Goosebumps erupt all over my flesh and I glare at him.

He’s grinding his teeth so hard I swear one’s going to break.

“I get the impression you’re about as thrilled as I am to have you playing chauffeur tonight.” I sigh, rubbing my legs to try and keep warm. At least my top half is snuggly thanks to Kaiden’s thick band sweater.

Grunt.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, McKenzie!” I cry, throwing my hands in the air as I lose all patience with him. What is his problem? It’s me that should be fucking pissed with him – and I am – not the other way round. “Pull over.”

He increases his speed.

“Fucking pull over, right now, Montgomery!” I snap.

Screaming brakes and the biting burn of the seatbelt a moment later have me regretting my decision as Zie performs an emergency stop.

“That was fucking dangerous,” I huff, scowling at him and flinging off my seatbelt. “You didn’t even check your mirrors.”

“Last time I saw you, you weren’t even old enough to drive, and the last I checked you still couldn’t, so keep your opinions to yourself,” he finally snaps back. His chest is heaving in anger but I don’t get why.

“You’ve been keeping tabs on me, Zie?” I ask quietly. He doesn’t reply, simply revs the engine, soaring my annoyance once more.

“What is your fucking damage, Montgomery?”

He glares at me but doesn’t meet my eyes. “You. We have fucking staff for this shit now. I don’t see why I have to fucking babysit your ass.”

“Maybe you pissed off the boss,” I supply helpfully with a sarcastic saccharine smile.

“Nothing is bad enough to warrant this level of punishment.”

Ouch. I refuse to show the sting of his words though and just grin all the more sweetly at him while reaching for the door handle. “No problem. Just let me go and you can explain to the boss man that you didn’t want this job. Maybe you can suggest he gives you a raise next time.”

I pull on the door release but nothing happens. Frustrated, I tug on it again and again. Nothing happens. “Have you child-locked the doors?” I hiss in disbelief.

Zie gives me an arrogant smirk. It’s so alien on his beautiful face that all I can do is stare in astonishment at him. “If you don’t want to be treated like a child, stop acting like one. Now, put your fucking seatbelt back on.”

His attention is drawn from me by his phone ringing. He hits a button on the steering wheel to connect the call through the car’s speakers.

“Yes?” He asks in a tight, strained voice.

“Is there a problem? I was expecting the package to be here by now,” Axel’s cold drawl comes through the line, immediately pissing me off even more.

“I’m not a fucking package, you ass-wipe!” I snarl.

He gives a dark chuckle and even Zie’s lips twitch, although his face turns to stone the moment Axel’s next words come through.

“I think your journey will be easier if the package doesn’t speak anymore.”

Zie sighs, agrees, cuts the call. Then he looks at me. Really looks at me for the first time in years. There’s something in his eyes akin to regret, but I don’t think that’s what I’m seeing at all.

“Sorry about this,” he murmurs, sounding anything but, and placing a hand on my thigh to steady himself as he reaches around me to re-clip my seatbelt. He deliberately pins my arms to my sides and a cool sheen breaks out on my forehead. I curse under my breath but he ignores me, reaching into the glove box. He flips it open and pulls out a roll of—

“Is that fucking Gaffer tape?” I ask, incredulous. Zie doesn’t answer though, pulling a short length of tape from the roll and tearing it with his teeth.

“You have got to be fucking kidding m—”

I’m silenced by his slapping the tape right over my mouth and my eyes nearly bug out of my head. “You fucking piece of shit!” I snarl but all that comes out is angry muffles.

Instead, to make the point of how fucking pissed I am, I wiggle my arms free of the seatbelt and smack him with my right hand, while palming and releasing my blade with my left.

“The fuck?!” Zie cries when he spies me transferring my weapon to my right, more accurate, hand. “Why do you have a knife?”

I can’t reply so I swipe at him, cutting a shallow line along his forearm, he hisses and curses, then disarms me easily. He pockets my knife and I give him my most hateful glare before raining down blows on him with my frustrated fists.

“Stop! Odile, stop it! For Christ’s sake, fucking pack it in, Peony!”

He captures both my wrists in his hands and I immediately freeze under his touch. He has to be able to feel my erratic pulse under his fingertips.

“Stop it or I’ll use that roll of tape to restrain you, you hear me?” he snaps. I turn to stone and he grabs me by the chin. “We’re almost there, can you play nice for ten minutes without the tape?” It pains me, but I grit my teeth and nod. “Good girl,” he says patronisingly, hitting my cheek twice a little too hard to be considered a tap.

It makes my breath hitch. How fucked up am I to be turned on right now by a slap round the face while gagged, no less?

“Any more weapons you want to own up to having, or do I need to frisk you?” I shake my head no and Zie smirks coolly at me. “Shame.” He clicks his tongue and turns back to the wheel, firing up the engine and taking off once more.

All I can do is stare at a spot on the dash wondering what the fuck is wrong with me. This is Zie. I hate him. I can’t even claim that I’m turned on because of the trip down memory lane, because the boy from my childhood was nothing like this cold, confident man beside me.

I don’t know why I don’t just reach up and remove the tape, other than the fear I guess that he’ll just add more and make good on his threat to restrain me. I have to sit on my hands though to keep from smacking him again as he whistles nonchalantly. I swear he’s doing it on purpose to wind me up. He knows I’ve always hated whistling. The urge to slap him is so fucking strong but I worry that if I snap I’ll be kissing him not killing him.

An agonisingly long ten minutes later he pulls up outside an abandoned-looking, completely run down and jaded hotel. I barely have a moment to take in the ramshackle state of the place before he signals into an underground garage and parks.

He turns to me and rips the tape from my mouth.

“Motherfucker!” I scream, blinking back smarting tears. No, it’s not the worst pain I’ve ever felt, but I didn’t fucking ask for a Brazilian to my fucking face. Jesus Christ, if that’s what intimate waxing feels like, I’ll stick to my fucking razor blades, thanks.

Next thing I know Zie’s out of the car before I can bitch him out and opening my door like some fucking gent. Yeah right. I quickly flip down the visor and reapply my lipstick. Actually, I need to figure out how I’m going to get my knife back off Zie.

A moment later he’s hauling me from the car with an impatient click of his tongue and setting me roughly onto my feet. Before I can steady myself, he’s crushing his lips to mine and I can’t breathe. I swear, it’s like my hands are bound for all the good they do me at pushing him away. My pulsing pussy is fully on board with this surprise attack from Zie’s tongue too. He fists my hair and pulls it roughly before adding his other hand and repeating the action. It’s like he’s trying to mess it up on purpose but my body responds enthusiastically to his rough treatment. I’m fucking damaged, I swear.

As abruptly as he started, he pulls away, and I’m barely able to disguise my little mewl of protest. Zie gives me a scorching once over and smirks again. I hate that smirk. I want to wipe it right off his innocent-looking face. Zie might be anything but innocent, but the hardened smirk looks out of place on his angelic visage. At least he was distracted enough that I was able to swipe my knife back while he was kissing me. I discreetly pocket it while his eyes are closed and he takes a deep, calming breath.

“Not bad. Shame about the outfit though,” he sighs, forcing his heated gaze to turn cold. Yeah, I’m not buying it. I don’t know what the hell he’s playing at, but I do know that Zie was as turned on as me by that unexpected kiss.

Turning on his heel, he walks away leaving me gaping after him. “Come, doe,” he calls over his shoulder, his tone filled with arrogance that gets my back up. But his use of the term ‘doe’ tells me all I need to know: we’ve arrived, this is part of the Hunting Ground, and we all have a part to play.

Wordlessly, I follow him, stepping into the guarded elevator.

It takes me by surprise when we start shooting downwards. I thought we were in the basement already. Nothing good ever came from venturing further underground.

“Goddamnit, Zie! I just fixed this lipstick! If you fuck it up again I will stab you!” I complain before fixing my lipstick again in the dull metal reflection of the elevator doors. His quiet chuckle is almost hidden by the elevator pinging our arrival, but I catch it, and it warms my chest to know that the boy from my past hasn’t disappeared entirely.