Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

SERAFINA

Naya stands at her open window, smoking a joint, looking really pretty and really mean at the same time. She has that aura about her. The one where a guy can lose his mind just staring at her, knowing she’s wild in bed.

“Have some,” Naya says to me, extending her hand.

“I’ll pass,” I say. “I’m going to one of the libraries.”

“Do you need me to walk with you or something?”

“No. Just letting you know. Not sure why.”

“You know why. You’re terrified of Tyrant . And what his next move will be. You’re claimed, Sera. There’s no escape.”

Naya takes another deep hit off her joint and I back out of her bedroom. Her words make me nervous. Fuck. They scare the hell out of me.

The apartment feels too small even though it’s probably the safest place for me. Lia isn’t here. She went to a Pilates class an hour ago and is then meeting up with friends for coffee. She offered for me to come with her. I fucking should have.

Fuck.

I leave the apartment and walk briskly. I refuse to look around, not wanting to know if he is following me. Or watching me. Fuck, for all I know, he’ll be waiting at the library for me.

My heart races faster and faster. The first library I find, I rush into as though there’s a hurricane outside chasing after me. The huge door closes with that cliché soft thud that echoes everywhere.

There’s nobody in the library right now. I take a deep breath, trying to calm down. The smell of the library helps with that. That soft, subtle, old page scent that lingers around. The smell of the wood. The soft color of the large chandeliers attached to the high ceilings. There are tables, desks, chairs, each with their own reading lights.

As I pass by the first row of books, I can see they are very old books. Gently weathered spines, but a sense of prestige and time. Out of curiosity, I pause at a random Shakespeare book and touch it. I can’t help myself when I take my phone out and look up what this book is worth.

I let out gasp when I realize the book I’m touching it worth like twenty thousand dollars. And it’s just out on display here like a normal twenty dollar book.

This place is so intense.

As my mind speaks the word intense , I conjure images of Tyrant. I haven’t seen him in a couple days. Not since… the nipple incident .

I bite my bottom lip and swallow hard. My left nipple still hurts. It’s sore, extremely tender. I lick my bottom lip and look around the library. I’m totally alone right now.

I hurry along the rows of books and turn down a random section and stop. What am I doing right now? Part of me doesn’t even know. I lift my shirt up, exposing my bra. Then I lift my bra, allowing just my left breast to fall free. Right here in the middle of the library. I mean, yeah, I’m hiding, but still…

I cup my left breast with my left hand and look down at my nipple. It’s so tender. Sore. My areola is still faintly bruised from Tyrant’s aggressive touch. My nipple itself, I swear that it’s redder than my other one. Raw. Annoyed. Exactly how I feel all the time right now.

I use my pointer finger and I touch my nipple. I whimper and curl my toes. It still feels good. To be touched. It feels good that I’m touching myself.

It would feel better if it was Tyrant…

I gasp and hurry to fix my bra and pull my shirt down. I turn and face the bookshelf. As though the books now behind me were judging me for what I had just done. I hadn’t done anything wrong. These books can’t understand about what I’m feeling. Or what I’m going through.

I catch my breath in my throat and feel like I’m going to start crying. This is a good place to cry when you think about it. It’s quiet, secluded, and if you need advice, there are thousands of books surrounding you, meaning one or two are bound to have something to say to sooth your achy soul.

Except it’s not my soul that’s achy. It’s my heart and my body. My nipple is sore… but I like it. I like that Tyrant did it. I like that I captivated his attention. I like that I am his claimed one and that he has to focus on me.

I like that he stalks me. That he’s dangerous. That’s he’s unpredictable. That he’ll do whatever the fuck he wants to me yet he knows I’m the one nodding in approval, wanting to explore…

My phone vibrates in the right back pocket of my jeans, against my butt. It’s Lia. PARTY TONIGHT! DONT FORGET! A party…

“A party,” I whisper out loud.

Yeah, I’m in need of a party. Drinks. Music. Dancing. Maybe flirting with some cute guys. Maybe watching Tyrant beat the shit out of the cute guys I flirt with.

He wouldn’t do that though, right? He’s not that obsessive…

… right?

The house for the party is way back along the compound . In fact, the backyard of the house is nothing but trees and mountains. I feel like I’m in a vampire book as I approach the gothic looking house. There are peaks and points and it looks so old. It’s almost like you can breathe in the history of the place. Not just the house either.

There’s something about this entire place. I feel like I’m no longer part of normal society. Duh . But it goes beyond that. It’s like… the rest of my life …

“Here, take this,” Naya says to me and she hands me a small white pill that’s been broken in half.

“What the hell is this?”

“ Xanny ,” Lia whispers to me. “It’ll relax you. You’re tense. You’re nervous. I swear it won’t fuck you up. It’ll relax you.”

I shrug my shoulders and toss the half pill into my mouth. Naya has a flask with her. So I’m going to wash down half a Xanny with some booze.

Whatever. It’s a party.

The sidewalk ends where the walkway to the house begins. There are candles lit along the pathway. There are guys standing every few feet, wearing white masks. And nothing else. Totally naked guys, their hands covering their dicks. A couple of them don’t have the hand size to properly cover their dick size.

Naya points one out. “I want him. He can wrap it around your neck like an elephant trunk and choke you out.”

I wait for her to laugh but she doesn’t. She’s into that stuff.

Guarding the front door are fully clothed guys, still in white masks. They’re also in white robes. Each holds a large knife in their left hand.

“What is this?” I ask Lia.

“It’s a party,” she says. “It’s just… look, Sera, it’s all about understanding. The guys in white masks aren’t part of anything yet. The naked ones are naked because they are nothing. The ones on the porch are earning their way. Get it?”

“No,” I say. “I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about!”

Out of nowhere I snort and smile. The Xanny has definitely hit my bloodstream quick. I then realize that just because Naya gave me half a Xanny that doesn’t mean much. What was the full dosage amount?

“How you feeling?” Naya asks.

“Relaxed,” I whisper.

The two guys at the front door open it for us. The house is packed with people, as expected for a party for people around my age. Honestly, part of me expected to see everyone in masks or togas or maybe even naked. The sense of familiarity and normalcy eases me.

The Xanny is helping too.

We go into the living room where the lights are off but there are neon glowing lights moving to the beat of the music. Naya breaks away from us right away and starts dancing with some guy. She’s practically fucking the guy and then she tilts her head back and opens her mouth like a baby bird waiting for food. The guy drops a pill into her mouth and she swallows it with ease and continues to dance.

I stay with Lia and we go from the living room to the dining room where a game of strip beer pong is being played. There are two shirtless guys and three girls who are in their bras. Next it’s the kitchen where a tall guy with messy black hair and black sunglasses stands behind the counter, mixing up drinks and popping the caps off beer bottles for everyone.

“This is Mac,” Lia says to me. “And don’t let his smile fool you. He’s a fucking psycho asshole.”

“Whoa,” the guy behind the counter says. “Cheat on a bitch one time and this is how you get treated?”

“You cheated on Lia?” I ask.

He leans against the counter and takes his sunglasses off to reveal emerald-green eyes. A wickedly handsome smile. I’m talking instant tingling throughout my body just looking at this guy.

“Mac is short for Macabre ,” he says so cool. “It’s all about death, deception, gory and gruesome. That’s what’s in my heart.”

I’m flustered. Lia stands with her arms folded, not impressed.

“Now what are you two beautiful ladies drinking tonight?” Mac asks. “Or should I just pack up a few drinks and the three of us choose a bedroom and we’ll enjoy ourselves until the morning light…?”

“You think you’re fucking smooth, huh?” I ask.

“Rock-hard and smooth,” Mac says.

I feel an arm suddenly go around my shoulder. A large hand squeezing my right shoulder. I look to my left and quickly gasp when I don’t recognize the person next to me. He’s touching me and I don’t want him to.

“Careful, Des, she’s claimed by Ty,” Lia says in a beautifully bitchy tone.

I don’t know who this Des person is…

… but he looks right at Lia and tells her that I’m going to be his wife.

“Wife?!” I cry out.

“It’s how this goes,” he says, pulling me closer to him.

I throw an elbow and resist. I look at Lia. I look at Mac. Someone? Help?

“I love when a new arrival…” he says with a laugh that makes me shiver. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your time with Ty . He’ll break you in. But then you’re mine forever.”

He puckers up his lips and moves toward me. He’s got a hold on me I can’t really fight off at the moment. My brain screams, What the fuck is going on?!

His lips are moving toward me one second and then the next… he’s gone… It’s almost like an evil magic trick. It takes me a second to realize that a fist has hit him in the face. The edge of the fist has very slightly brushed against my upper lip. I realize the fist belongs to…

“Tyrant,” I whisper as I watch him bring his fist back once more.

“Stay the fuck away from her,” Tyrant bellows.

I’m caught in the middle of a fucking war right now.

Mac jumps over the counter, sending bottles and cups scattering to the floor. Glass shatters, gaining the attention of anyone nearby. As Mac hooks his arm into Tyrant’s arm to stop him from striking once more, Tyrant throws a left hook into Mac’s side. Mac almost crumbles to the floor.

Des is standing, rubbing his face, flexing his already swollen jaw. And he’s laughing. It’s not a maniacal laugh. It’s just a deep laugh. The tension between this guy and Tyrant is way too thick to try and breathe in.

I feel the room start to get a little bit shaky. I reach for Tyrant and grab his shirt. I reach back, desperate to feel Lia. She’s the only one I really know here. This feeling of being a stranger and constantly in danger is getting old.

“Take good care of my wife, Ty,” Des says.

“I’ll fucking kill you,” Tyrant growls.

“Rules are rules,” Des says. “Orders are orders. She’s mine. You’re just borrowing her for a quick fuck here and there. When I get my hands on her, that’s when the real fun begins.”

Tyrant lunges for Des once more. Mac tries to hold him back but Tyrant is a goddamn monster. He takes Mac with him and Mac ends up accidentally bumping into me. I hit the counter with a hard thud at the right side of my body and I feel like my ribs are shattered like thin pretzels.

Other guys come rushing into the kitchen and it’s even more chaos. They all grab for Tyrant and pull him away. Lia spins me around.

“We’ve got to get out of this fucking kitchen,” she says.

She quickly grabs for her drink and she pulls at me. I manage to get my hand around my cup before I’m on the move. I can’t help but look back at the insane scene of guys as they all work to get Tyrant out of the kitchen too.

He looks at me as I look at him. It’s like we’re being ripped apart. I feel something in the pit of my stomach. It doesn’t make sense to feel anything for a man who will wear a mask and put a knife to your throat. It doesn’t make sense to feel anything for a man who will stalk you on your run and then make you lift your bra so he could pinch and hurt your nipple.

Yet staring at Tyrant, he looks like hell and feels like fate.