by Logan Fox
Also, dancing for an actual audience is much harder than watching yourself in a mirror. So much so, I hadn’t even known where to start.
Reuben saved me.
This whole time I’d had my hands at my side, limply moving along with my arms. But as soon as Reuben’s breath brushes my skin, I suck in a breath and force myself to reach out and touch him.
My fingers trace the outlines of his perfectly sculpted muscles. I tilt my head back and open my eyes. They flutter and then go wide in surprise.
Reuben’s glaring at me.
He stops moving, and snatches my wrists together in one meaty hand. “What are you doing?” he demands in a low voice.
“I was just…I thought we were…”
Movement draws my gaze away.
Cass storms out of the curtained area of the room, a hand on his stomach like he’s sick. The snarl on his face sends a chill through me, but as soon as he looks up and sees me, it disappears.
My mouth opens to ask him what’s wrong, but by then everything’s moving too fast.
“Enough of this bullshit foreplay,” he grates out, whipping his hand away from his stomach. He points straight at me and advances so fast that I wheel back from him with a stifled yell.
He grabs my arm before I have a chance to get away, and throws me into the armchair I’d been sitting in.
I gasp—more in shock at how fucking strong he is than in actual pain. Then he’s on top of me, straddling my waist and yanking my dress up my legs.
Cool air caresses my upper thighs as he hikes my skirt up my hips. Since my panties are still in Zachary’s tin box, there’s nothing to shield me from the dark lust gleaming in his eyes.
“Stop!” I yell. I start bashing at him with my fists, but he knocks my arms away with a flick of his hand, the other going to his belt.
“Keep singing that pretty song, little blackbird.”
The hair on my arms stands up straight. His voice is low, rough, and has an English accent, like he’s mimicking someone.
What. The. Fuck?
The button on his jeans pops open with a twist of his hand.
I scream, my fists turning into claws. He grimaces, now straining to keep back my attack while working his fly. I buck my hips to try and shake him off, but that just makes him laugh.
Why is no one stopping him?
Mother of God—are they just going to watch?
I obviously put up too much of a fight. Cass grabs my hair, wrenches back my head, and slaps me.
A shock wave coruscates through my skull. My vision swims with tears. My face goes numb. I blink hard, sending those tears down my cheeks.
I watch in dumbstruck silence as Reuben rips Cass off my lap and throws him against the wall like he weighs nothing. Zachary appears by the curtain, but his head hangs low, and there’s a strange set to his mouth.
My Disney movie has just turned into a horror show.
Reuben’s got Cass against the wall, his arm pressed to his throat. Cass’s face reddens, but he doesn’t fight back.
He’s fucking grinning at Reuben.
Reuben’s muscles bulge beneath his shirt as he uses his arm to shove Cass a couple of inches up the wall.
But there aren’t any blows exchanged. He’s just restraining him. Zachary lumbers over and tries to pull Reuben off. Reuben doesn’t even shift.
A cool hand slips around my wrist and tugs. My neck feels stiff as I turn to look at Apollo. I’m dimly aware that I’m exposed, but my hand’s shaking too much for me to successfully pull down the hem of my dress.
“Let’s go someplace else, yeah?” Apollo says, smiling so calmly you’d swear he hasn’t noticed someone was about to get murdered. “Come on. I wanna show you something.”
When I don’t move, he dips his head a bit and then presses a quick peck to my slap-stained cheek. “There. All better now.”
Again he tugs at my wrist.
Somehow I stand.
He leads me out of the lair just as I hear the thump of flesh on flesh and hear Cass groan in pain.
What. The. Fuck?
Bright sunlight bathes my face when we leave the crypt. Apollo hangs back at the doorway, his hair shifting as he checks left and right.
There’s no one in sight, but he still seems hesitant to leave the shadows and step into the light.
Vampire.
I laugh at the ridiculous thought, and Apollo throws a concerned look at me over his shoulder as he starts toward the dormitory.
“Okay there, pretty thing?”
I giggle at him.
“Sorry…it got a bit rough in there,” he says. We’re walking at a brisk pace, his fingers handcuffed around my wrist. “They’ll calm down. A few punches and they always do. Like Fight Club, right? And shit, how was that cinematography? Did you know Cronenweth deliberately underexposed the actors’ faces to force the audience to pay more attention in each shot?”
I say nothing, instead willing the world to stop bobbing up and down so hectically. I couldn’t have had more to drink than yesterday, but yesterday I’d had a good long nap before I’d attempted to walk anywhere.
Now I feel like everything I’ve consumed today has only just kicked in. I feel like I’m walking on a trampoline an inch off the ground. And every time I shift my eyes even a little, the world blurs.
“I’m drunk,” I announce.
“That’s the spirit,” Apollo replies without slowing. “Nice day for it, too.”
I finally find it in me to pull back. “No. I mean…really drunk.” I sway as soon as we come to a halt, and he steps forward to steady me by slinging an arm around my waist.
“Easy there,” he says and then starts walking again. “There’s nothing to it, see? You just keep your eyes on something that’s not moving. Like the bell tower. Can you see it?”
My head tilts back.
Fuck, that’s a big building.
“Yeah.”
“Good. Just keep looking at that. I’ll make sure you don’t step on any snakes.”
“Snakes?” My head bobs forward, and I stumble as the world takes a slow somersault. “Fuck.”
“Sorry, bad joke. No snakes. Holes. That’s what I’ll keep an eye out for. Just holes.”
“Holes,” I agree, tilting my head back again. “Who rings the bell?”
“Not a hunchback, that’s for sure.”
I giggle like a fucking idiot at that. Cool shadows replace the sun, and I sag in relief. “Made it.”
“Not yet, pretty thing. Should I carry you?”
I snort. “You can’t carry me.”
“Bitchy much?”
The world spins around me. I’m looking up Apollo’s face, his victorious grin partially hidden behind a few locks of hair.
“You jus’ call me a bitch?” I demand.
“Keep your voice down,” he says. “And yes. Because you’re being one.”
I snort again. “You’re a…you’re an asshole. You all are.”
“Quiet,” he warns in a low voice, his hair shifting as he glances left and right. My teeth click together as he starts up the staircase. “Or I’ll take you back to your room.”
I hesitate, my head bobbing against the crook of Apollo’s arm as he hurries up the stairs with me. My room? Jasper might be there? I grimace. I’m too drunk to deal with him. Or not drunk enough.
“Here,” Apollo says. He sets me down and props me against the wall like a broom as he fishes in his pockets. He takes out a bunch of keys. The keychain used to be a furry cat face. Now it’s grubby as fuck. While he looks for the right key, I start to slide down the wall. He props me back up with an absent tug on the shoulder of my dress and then herds me inside the room.
“Hey! I’ve been here before!” I head for the closest chair.
“Sure have.”
When I sit down, I see he’s leaving. “Hey, where are you going?”
He pauses at the door, turning to me. But then he closes the door without answering.
And
locks it.
I sit up a little straighter and stay conscious, remember that I’m too drunk to give a shit, and pass out on the couch.
Chapter Ten
Zach
My jaw pulses, the heat emanating from within a stark contrast to the ice pack pressed against my bruised flesh.
“Shit, man. We can’t let anyone see you like this,” Apollo says.
“No fucking shit,” I snap, squinting over at him. I click my fingers at the tumbler he’s supposed to be filling for me, and he hesitates only a second before filling it with whiskey.
“Is this going to mess with the plan?”
“I don’t know, Apollo,” I tell him through gritted teeth. “How about you ask Cass the next time you see him?”
“Man, you can’t blame him for this.”
I slam my fist into the arm of my wooden chair. “The fuck I can’t.”
“Here.” Apollo hurries over with my glass. I drain it and hand it back.
“Just give me the fucking bottle.”
“Yeah, right,” he laughs, skipping back and snatching the bottle away like he honestly thought I was in any state to tackle him for it.
Besides the two solid kicks Cass got in earlier, he punched me in the jaw, the groin, and my fucking kidneys. Twice. Because by that time, Reuben had hurried off to check if Trinity was okay, not giving a fuck who survived the fight.
Cass has always been like a fucking rat in a corner. You wouldn’t think he was even capable of throwing a punch, and then you’re lying on your back wondering why the stars had come out in the middle of the fucking day.
All because I’d held back.
Because I’d thought Trinity was still in the room.
Watching. Judging.
I thump the wood again, wishing the arm would break and growling when it doesn’t.
“She’s done.” I shake my head and point at Apollo as I breathe through a wave of pain. “Too much fucking trouble. Tomorrow, you take my car, you throw her in the trunk, and you fucking—”
“What, Zach?” Apollo cuts in with a snort, shaking his head at me. “We tell Gabriel his girl child wandered into the woods and got et by bears?” His lips twitch and he smooths his fingers over his mouth as if he could wash away his words.
A dark smile slowly spreads over my face. “I knew you weren’t just a pretty face.”
Chapter Eleven
Trinity
I wake up to the sound of muffled voices and intense nausea. Pushing up to my elbows, I scan my dark surroundings to try and figure out where I am. This can’t be my room. There are too few lumps in the mattress. The sheets are too soft. And it smells like Reuben, not mothballs.
Reuben.
Shit, I’m in his room. His bedroom.
And I need to puke.
I slide off the bed onto wobbly legs. The room is so dark that I hit my knee against the side of the bed as I head for the glowing outline of the door.
It opens before I can reach it. Reuben’s silhouette blocks out almost all the light.
“Bathroom,” I say in a tight voice.
He grabs my shoulder and herds me out of the room. Everything’s a blur until I reach the bathroom, where all I can focus on is the toilet.
Thank God he opens the lid for me, because I barely bend over before I puke.
Fingers brush my temples, drawing my hair away from my face. A large, cool hand caresses the back of my neck as I puke out my guts, stomach lining, and a lung.
I finally rock back on my heels. Reuben’s holding out a washcloth for me.
Deliciously warm.
I wipe my face with it and stand on shaky legs. He points to the basin. There’s a bottle of mouthwash there, the sink already filling with more warm water.
“We’ll be outside,” he says, turning to the doorway.
Apollo moves aside as Reuben approaches.
I clean myself and the bathroom as well as I can and try to ignore the fact that I still feel tipsy. When I step into the living area of Reuben’s room, the smell of coffee hits my nose.
I still can’t believe seniors get an accommodation like this if their grades are good enough. I guess Father Gabriel really wants me to work my way up from the bottom.
Apollo brings me a cup. “Cream and two sugars.”
I can’t help but smile. It’s sweet that he still remembers how I take it, although the day he saw me putting in sugar I’d given myself a double dose.
Hell, I probably still need the energy. Maybe this will become my regular serving from now on.
“What time is it?” I ask, glancing around. The lights are on and the curtains are drawn, but it doesn’t feel like it’s night time yet.
“Five,” Reuben says. He’s sitting on one of the two couches that make up his living area. “Come sit.”
His quiet command makes my hackles rise. I glance at Apollo with raised brows, but he just gives me his usual lopsided smile. “We need to talk,” he says. Then he goes and fetches another two cups of coffee, handing one to Reuben before sitting down beside him.
Thank God. I’m not sure if I would dare to sit beside any of them after what happened in the library. My chest goes tight just thinking about what Cass had tried to do.
Suddenly the coffee doesn’t taste as nice.
I sit on the fabric couch and hurriedly tug down my dress when it inches up my leg.
“Cold?” Reuben asks, already standing before I can answer. He disappears into his room and comes back with a wool blanket that he hands to me without a word.
I throw it over my lap and give him a grateful nod.
“Zach wants to get rid of you,” Apollo says.
My sip of coffee goes down the wrong way. I cough and almost tip the entire cup over me. Thankfully it only spills on the blanket, else it would have burned me through my dress. I quickly put the mug down on the coffee table. “Excuse me?”
“You’re causing disruption,” Reuben says.
“Disruption?” Great, now I’ve turned into a parrot.
Apollo waves a hand. “Don’t worry, we talked him out of it. But shit’s still a bit tense right now.”
Really? I thought Cass trying to fuck me on the armchair was a normal day for these guys.
I pick up my coffee again. It’s instant, but it’s warm and sweet and I need all of that right now.
“You should keep out of his way until you’ve cloned that hard drive,” Apollo says before taking a noisy slurp from his cup.
“Zachary’s my Psych teacher,” I say dryly. “I have a class with him.”
“Then get it done tomorrow.”
I sit forward, frowning hard at Apollo. “How the hell—?”
“It’s for your own safety, Trinity,” Reuben says. “If Zachary says you have to disappear then—”
“Then the three of you will do what he says like the good little soldiers you are, right?” Of course I regret the words the moment they leave my lips, but I blame the headache and the lingering taste of bile in my mouth.
Oh, and don’t forget the scratch marks Cass left on my inner thighs. I don’t have to peek under my skirt to know they’re there. I can feel them throbbing in time to my headache.
Reuben drops his head and lets out a heavy sigh. A humorless laugh huffs from Apollo, disturbing the surface of his coffee as he brings it up for another sip.
“How will you do it, huh? Mince me up into burger meat? Hit me over the head and bury me in a shallow grave there in the cemetery?”
Apollo purses his lips. “Hadn’t thought of that.” He shakes a finger at me. “That’s a good one.”
I glare at him. “You can’t get rid of me. Gabriel will find out, and he’ll start looking around. He’ll find you—all of you—and then…”
I don’t know what happens then, but I know they’ve been trying to avoid it for years so it’s as good a threat as any.
Apollo stands and heads for the kitchenette. There’re a microwave and a kettle and a few odds and ends on the counter. H
e brings back the device Zachary had been toying with earlier and holds it out to me.
“Do it tomorrow, soon as Gabriel’s back.”
“Yeah, I’ll just invite myself to his room, ask him where his super-secret computer is, and copy everything while he pours me a drink or something,” I mutter sourly as I snatch the box from Apollo. “Great plan, guys.”
“It’ll take like five minutes to copy. This shit’s high tech,” Apollo says as he sinks back into the seat beside Reuben. “And we’ll help you.”
“How?” I sip at my coffee as he and Reuben share a look.
“We’ll create a diversion,” Apollo says. “You get yourself into Gabriel’s room, we’ll do the rest.”
I open the box and take out the device before weighing it on my palm. “How am I supposed to sneak this in?”
Reuben lets out a long-suffering sigh and gets up, putting down his mug as he passes the coffee table en route to me. “Give,” he says, holding out his hand.
I pass over the device.
“Sit forward.”
I do as he says, but with a frown for Apollo. He just shrugs, quirking an eyebrow at me as if he has no idea what Reuben’s doing.
Reuben crouches in front of me, one of his knees clicking. He pulls down the bodice of my dress and slips the device between my breasts. Then he uses his thumb to smooth the fabric over my breastbone.
I look down. And then up at him.
“If he’s the saintly priest you say he is, then he won’t be staring hard enough at your tits to notice it,” Reuben says.
“I can’t wear this dress around Father Gabriel.” Just the thought makes my cheeks heat up. Which is weird, because Reuben’s touch hadn’t.
“He’s not going to find it.” Reuben stands, putting his crotch directly at eye level. I hurriedly sit back and bury my face in my mug as I take a sip.
“Why are you helping me?” I ask quietly, glancing between them. “Why not just get rid of me like Zachary wants?”
At this, they share another look. Apollo drops his head, avoiding eye contact. Reuben doesn’t say anything.
