Chapter Eleven

I lean farther back into the desk, my body arching into him. The heat of him is almost fucking unbearable, licking my skin with tantalizing burns. We haven't been this close since the night of my birthday. The night I made him bleed, and he made me drop all pretenses that I wasn't in love with him.

Being this close to him now, his cedarwood and vanilla scent practically embedded in my nostrils, my brain is held hostage by the memories of his powerful hands gripping my waist while he pounded into me from behind. Of how those lithe, deft fingers of his felt inside me. Or how that mouth of his, currently curled with displeasure, made me scream and beg for mercy.

Though Nick regards me with a predator's gaze, and the Scylla is writhing and snapping ferociously at his presence, my body preens at his proximity, the traitorous bitch. I can only pray Nick is too angry to scent the arousal building between my legs.

"Where is it, Rhi?"

Behind him, Zo creeps towards us, her claws out. When she is close enough to swipe him, he snaps, "Leave, Zo."

Her mouth parts, and she halts her steps. Zo looks at me, her eyes frantic.

"It's ok. You can go." I stare back at my friend, imploring her. "I'll be fine."

She doesn't move.

"Zo," Nick warns, eyes still on me.

"I'll be fine," I tell her. Zo's safety is more important than my own, though Nick would never hurt her. Or me. I think. "I promise. Please. "

I hate how torn she looks, but Zo finally relents, reluctance splayed across her face. She backpedals, her gaze on me the entire time, before she shoots me one more pleading look and disappears.

The door slams shut and locks of its own accord, though Nick hasn't taken his eyes from me since he barged into the room.

"I'm going to ask you again," he starts, pressing into me, my body curving underneath his. "Where. Is. It?"

His voice is dark velvet, smooth and alluring, I'm sure meant to coax me into being cooperative. It seems like he's trying to use his Persuasion powers on me, though I have to wonder why, since he knows his powers are useless where I'm concerned. The fact that Nick thinks he can manipulate me stokes my own fiery rage, and I tap into the Scylla, meeting his power blow for blow.

"I took it off," I snap.

"That's fucking obvious," he snarls. "Where is it?"

Our bodies are melded together, the monsters that live beneath our skins nearly tearing through them to devour one another.

I raise my chin, my lips whispering across his own. "None of your fucking business."

Nick's jaw twitches, but other than that slight spasm, he remains completely unruffled. Then, his entire countenance shifts as his features melt into a portrait of calm fury. His mouth curls only at one corner, his brow lifting with it, and he looks as menacing at the devil and just as hauntingly beautiful.

He places his hands on the surface behind me, caging me between himself and the desk. Every hard inch of him is pressed into me, and I mean every hard inch. Arousal returns tenfold, wetness pooling between my thighs as his hard cock rubs directly against my center. Nick's nostrils flare, and a slow, victorious smile spreads across his lips.

He brings his mouth to my ear, his warmth breath fanning across my skin. "What are you thinking about right now?"

"Nothing," I say breathlessly. His lips trail indolently down the column of my neck. I let out a small yelp when he bites tender skin.

"Such a vicious, beautiful liar," he taunts. "I can scent it all over you. I bet…" he pauses as his fingers travel up my bare thigh before toying with the waistband of my shorts. I let out a ragged exhale as Nick dips his fingers beneath my underwear, stopping just short of my throbbing clit. "…I would find you fucking soaked for me."

I swallow down a frustrated groan when he pulls his hand from my shorts and instead lets it roam over my stomach, inching toward my breasts.

I finally find words to ask, "What is this, Nick?"

He chuckles darkly. "Is it really that hard to figure out?" He continues kissing along my collarbone, his hand now palming my right breast.

"I know you carried me here after I fainted. So why act all chivalrous just to come back hours later and act like a fucking psychopath?"

His mouth moves toward the base of my throat, licking and nibbling. "I don't like to see you get hurt, Rhi."

I laugh incredulously, given how he stormed in here with what appeared to be murderous intent. Then I bite my lip and groan when he pinches my nipple. My head falls back as I lose myself to his mouth and hands on my body. That same hand of his reaches my throat, and I'm yanked upright as Nick's fingers wrap around and squeeze.

He brings his devilish mouth close to mine. "I don't like to see you get hurt, Rhi. Unless I'm the one hurting you." Nick squeezes a little tighter. "The next time I see you, you better be wearing that fucking necklace."

Nick releases me and turns quickly, not so much as sparing me a glance as he leaves.

I drop to the floor, my body shaking. Nick had me completely in thrall, and I would have bent for him any which way he asked. Had he not left of his own accord, I would have thrown everything aside: the prophecy I'm desperate to save him from, the fact that he forced me to kick one of my best friends out of our room just to threaten me about a stupid fucking necklace , and the fact that he just touched me in a way he swore he would never do, unless I asked him.

And yet, I would have still let him fuck me right here, on this desk, had he continued what he started.

I slam my fist into the floor, pain splintering throughout my right hand, but my anger quickly trumps it. I get up and open my desk drawer, the pendant taunting me with an unnatural gleam. I reach for it, then draw my hand back.

Fuck him. If Nick thinks he can bully me into doing what he says, just because he's hurt, or his ego is bruised, or whatever the fuck is going through his head, then he is sorely mistaken. He should have been truthful about this godforsaken necklace in the first place, among a thousand other things. How dare he threaten and put his hands on me?

Fine, Nick. If it's an enemy you want, you've got one.

"There wasn't anything there."

Zo joins the girls and I at lunch the next day, following her class and subsequent visit to the library. I asked them to meet me in a small cafe that sits on the first floor of Eastbourne, doing everything in my power to keep myself away from Southgate.

"You're sure?" I ask through bites of my sandwich.

She nods and takes a seat beside B. "I walked up and down the alleyway, but didn't see anything." She grabs a fry from B's plate, who side-eyes her in warning. "Maggie most likely saw it on the floor and put it back."

Doubtful. There's a reason that book landed at my feet when it did, and a reason Zo wasn't able to find it. Yet, I swallow and nod in agreement. "I'll ask her about it."

Scar, seated to my right, places a hand on my arm. "We'll all go with you."

Zo and I filled the girls in about the Harbinger attack, but certainly didn't share what happened when Nick came to our room. As much as I don't want to keep secrets, there are just some things that aren't meant to be shared. Scar doesn't need to be involved in what happens between me and her brother, and it wouldn't be fair to ask Astrid to keep anything from Scar. That leaves B, and again, it wouldn't be fair for her to keep my secret from everyone else. Only Zo knows what transpired between Nick and I yesterday, considering she was there when it happened. I left out how badly I wanted his hands and mouth in places that I can't say aloud, and focused on the fact that he seemed desperate for me to wear the necklace.

Which is still locked away in my desk drawer, because fuck him.

"We'll figure it out," is all I say.

"I'd still like to know who the Harbinger was referring to, if not Leviathan," B chimes in.

My eyes flit to Zo's, as only she is aware I'm convinced the demon was referring to Nick.

"Just another mystery we have to unravel this year," Astrid says with an air of mockery, as though it's merely a tedious task that fell into our laps.

"Well, it's important," Scar says. "Leviathan was sent to retrieve Rhi, and we still don't know who was really after her."

I look around the table at my friends. The ones who so eagerly welcomed me into their circle last year. The girls who spit in the face of the stereotype that "women don't like other women," or "girls just aren't nice." They embraced me with loving arms and fought tooth and nail for me, for each other. It's for that reason I consistently revisit Leviathan's words, that if I would have gone with him willingly, no one else would have gotten hurt. It makes me wonder if I should have come back to Alystair at all. Sure, I might be safer here, but that doesn't mean anyone else is .

Just look at what it already cost me.

My phone buzzes, distracting me from my rumination. A text from Jesse.

Jesse

Hey, baby girl. You alive?

I fight a grimace. I'd never been big on pet names, and baby girl ? Bleh. As generic and bland as they come.

Vicious, beautiful liar snakes into my brain, Nick's voice as seductive and rich as the first time he called me that. My thighs clench as I remember the way his lips swept down my neck before his fingers wrapped around my throat.

"Damn, Rhi. Whose sexting you that's got you all hot and bothered?"

I glance up at B's question, silently cursing for losing myself to a dark fantasy and becoming visibly aroused, especially since it has nothing to do with "sexting."

"No one. It's just Jesse," I explain, then realize what I'm saying will give them the wrong impression. "I forgot to text him back the other day, and he's just following up. No sexting, I swear."

"Sure," Astrid says sarcastically. Only Scar and Zo look unconvinced, the former with a sad expression and Zo with a worried one. In fact, Scar pulls me aside when we finish lunch, waving the rest of the girls off.

"Hey, I just want you to know that if you are seeing someone else, you don't have to keep it a secret. I was honest with you when I said our friendship comes first."

Guilt writhes in my belly, worming its way into my veins until I almost feel nauseated. "I appreciate that, Scar, but I was telling the truth. Nothing is going on with Jesse and me. Nothing is going on with me and anyone , and I'd like to keep it that way."

She smiles, accepting my half-truth. "Ok."

Once in the hallway, we disperse in different directions. Astrid, Scar, and B remain in Eastbourne to finish out their remaining classes for the day. Zo and I return to our room, and I busy myself with texting Jesse to keep my nerves at bay in anticipation of having to go to Southgate for Combat in an hour.

Me

Sorry. First week of classes is rough. What's new with you?

Jesse

Nothing. Bored as fuck in the office every day. Miss you though .

I hesitate before typing back a response. Then, my fingers dance across the keys.

Me

Miss you too. Any plans this weekend?

Jesse

Drinks with you, obviously.

I pause, my fingers hovering above the keyboard. Surprise flutters through me as I realize I'm not entirely opposed to the idea. Getting out of school for a bit might be good for me, yet I also don't want to give Jesse the wrong impression.

Me

Sure. Saturday, 9:00pm. You pick the place, and I'll meet you.

Maybe Jesse will get the hint that since I don't want him picking me up, this is nothing more than two friends getting together for drinks.

Jesse

You got it, baby girl.

I respond with one of those stupid, smiley face emojis, the ones you use when you don't feel like actually replying, then toss the phone on my bed, smiling from ear to ear.

"What's with that shit-eating grin, Rhi?" Zo asks, looking up from a textbook.

"I'm going out this weekend."

She arches a dark brow, smirking. "Oh? And who's the lucky guy?"

"It's just Jesse,' I tell her, to which she responds with two raised brows. "I need to get out of my own head, Zo. Over the summer, I felt trapped at home, having to hide who I am. Here, I feel trapped under the pressure of prophecies, Harbingers, and …death," I finish with a sigh. "I don't even know who Nick is anymore, and it's all my fault."

Zo slams the book closed, her bracelets clanging with the force. "It's not your fucking fault, Rhi. How he chooses to react to this situation is completely up to him. So, yeah. Go out. Have fun. Fuck Jesse if you need to."

I snort. "Unfortunately, if I so much as become aroused by him, I want to eat him, so let's keep sex off the table."

She stands, forehead creased in confusion. "Really? That doesn't make sense."

"Wilde told me it's a form of post-traumatic stress. That the monster is confusing arousal with danger, since a similar stimulation is present."

Understanding washes her features. Then she takes a tentative step toward me. "Is that why you can't look at Southgate?"

I blanch. I consider lying, though I suppose there's no point. Not where Zo is concerned, at least. My shoulders sag in defeat. "Yes."

Zo nods slowly. "So, what's your plan as far as Combat classes?"

"I…" I stop and throw my head back. "I don't know, okay? We learned about "flooding" in Psych. Maybe that's what I need to do. Just throw me in there and hope for the best."

She snorts. "Absolutely not."

I bring my gaze forward and find her standing with her hands on hips. I tilt my head. "Then what do you suggest?"

Zo appears contemplative. Her dark eyes glaze over slightly and her expression seems detached. "Get dressed."

Sunlight peaks intermittently through a cloud dusted sky, though the humidity remains as oppressive as ever in early September. The tension in the air only further serves to strangle the small breaths I struggle to take the closer Zo and I get to Southgate.

I stop a few feet before the steps, my heart thrashing inside my chest like a caged beast. Zo faces me once she realizes I no longer walk beside her. She takes a step toward me, but still allows for some distance between us, as though aware the proximity of another person will be stifling.

"Breathe, Rhi. There's no danger here," she soothes. "It's just a building. Leviathan is gone."

My eyes travel up the dark gray exterior, taking in every detail: the slope of the roof as it gives way to a sharp apex, the lone spire seated in the background, the snarling gargoyles perched on either side of the flat edges.

"Just a building," I repeat slowly.

"Leviathan is gone," Zo iterates.

"Leviathan is gone."

Zo reaches out her hand, her eyes hopeful and reassuring. It feels as though I watch in slow motion as my hand extends towards hers. It pauses, then, hovering. Because once I accept, I know the next step is to go inside. To be trapped within that building where I watched my friend die, where a demon older than time threatened to devour my friends and whisk me away to an unknown fate. Where my heart and soul shattered the moment Kassi revealed Nick's prophecy with her dying breath.

"I've got you, Rhi."

I lift my gaze to Zo's encouraging smile. Her hand is still extended, waiting patiently for mine. The four words she uttered nestle themselves within my battered heart, fortifying it with renewed strength.

I place my hand in hers and ascend the steps to Southgate.