by C. R. Jane
Apparently, Alaric had been hiding secrets from me too. He was using me to get it all for himself.
Betrayal flared over me, twisting my insides into knots. My mouth fell open, but I held back the gasp wanting to escape.
I snapped back to the wall when the guards glanced my way. But I couldn’t stay here a second longer, so I pushed away from the hall when the guard moved with tremendous speed.
“Where are you going?”
“I-I’ll come back and see the warden later. He seems busy. Will you please walk me back to the prison sector?”
He grumbled but nodded, and I followed behind him, my stomach twisting on itself.
There was no one I could trust, and until I worked out what was going on, I was holding onto the crystal.
I’d never felt so vulnerable in my whole life. And that was saying a lot, considering everything I’d gone through. A sense of betrayal tightened over my chest.
Three men who I cared for, maybe even loved. It had all been a ruse.
They lied to me.
Hid secrets.
Used me.
I dragged myself forward and didn’t even look back once the guard escorted me past the main door that led out of the office sector. I broke into a run. My throat thickened, and the tears came again. I rubbed them away, but it made no difference. I wanted the world to open up and swallow me.
They used sex to lure me, and I fell victim because I was scared and lonely.
I needed to pull myself together and stand up for myself. No one else would do that but me.
I was a strong woman, and if I survived this far, then I could face anything thrown at me. Then why couldn’t I stop crying? Why did my chest feel like it just shattered into shards of glass? I choked on a sob and wasn’t even paying attention to where I was going. This area seemed darker, and for those few seconds, I swore I’d made my way back to the seedy area near Alaric’s cell.
Someone snagged my arm from behind me, drawing me to stop.
“Selena,” Keon said. “What are you doing here alone?”
I spun and came face to face with him. My mouth dried because when I looked at him, all I saw were the newspaper articles.
“Why are you crying, baby? Did someone hurt you?”
I ripped my hand from his grasp because everything was too much. “Don’t. Just leave me alone.”
Confusion flashed over his face, and he stepped closer, standing in my personal space, grabbing hold of my arm. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”
The color from his cheeks drained, and his eyes looked like glass cracking, dread curling behind them. His stiffened posture told the story of someone who responded with fury.
This gorgeous man I’d fallen for, who I picked up from a pub, was a real serial stalker. I’d fucked myself really well, hadn’t I?
“I can’t help if you don’t talk to me,” he persisted. “Is it about what we did before?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to talk about this right now.” When I wrenched my hand from him that time, I stumbled backward, and he lunged to catch me.
“Fuck, Selena. Are you going to freak out on me, because that’s going to mess me up on the inside. If someone else hurt you, I’ll make them regret it.”
His words grasped my heart as a mini battle took place within me, pulling me in two directions. An ache flared over my chest as I realized he feared losing me. Except right now, I just needed time alone to sort out my confused thoughts. “Please, not now,” I murmured.
Shock grasped his expression, and for those few moments, we stared at each other as though we were strangers. My heart stopped working from the ache of how much Keon meant to me, but fuck… Too many things were happening at once. It was too much to take, and it took everything I had to hold myself together and not crumble to the ground.
“Hey, the girl said to leave her alone,” a deep guttural voice I recognized barked. It was Laz, the hellhound shifter I’d bumped into a couple of times.
He meant well by coming to my rescue, but this was the worst time to butt in.
I inhaled and managed to say, “It’s okay, Laz.”
Keon’s mouth curled into a grimace. “You know this dickhead?”
“Hey.” The hellhound shoved a meaty palm into Keon’s side, but he didn’t budge, and instead, jerked his head to the intruder.
“Touch me again, and I’ll rip your spine out.” His voice was a growl, and sounded nothing like the Keon I’d known.
But had I ever known the real him?
With a grunt, Keon shuddered, and he seemed to change, his eyes darkening. Were there horns extending out from his temples?
The fuck!
A growl spilled from his mouth, a wisp of black smoke curling out from the corners of his mouth.
I flinched, my body trembling as he lunged at Laz.
Then all hell broke loose.
Chapter 14
My heart couldn’t take this.
Too much had happened already… too damn much that now I stood paralyzed, trying to make sense of what exactly I was watching.
Keon seemed different, and I couldn’t work it out.
But Laz wasn’t backing down either. They came together in a thunderous clash, Keon surprisingly powerful. He locked the hellhound shifter’s head in an arm lock, his fist slamming in his head.
“Stop!” I yelled. I didn’t need this on my conscience along with everything else. I rushed up to them and grabbed his uniform at his back, tugging it. “Keon, fucking stop this.”
But he didn’t hear me at first, roaring, while Laz hurled his fist into his Keon’s side. This was insane.
I frantically looked around at anyone watching the fight to help. But their greedy smiles, their hoots were the opposite of someone who’d stop the show.
“Keon, please!” I pleaded. “This is between us. I’ll talk to you, just leave him alone.”
That time, he glanced at me, the fiery mask of rage he wore slipped away.
“Let him go, Keon. Please.”
It took several moments for him to finally nod and release his hold over Laz. “Selena,” he said, his voice drowning in sorrow.
But that window of time was all it took for Laz to slip free and swing back around. The glint of something in his hand caught my attention.
He gripped a small blade, his knuckles white from how tight he held the weapon, his face red with fury.
I screamed and lunged forward just as Laz drove the blade right into Keon’s gut.
I froze, while Keon bellowed and clutched his stomach. My hands went to Keon’s injury, my eyes locked on the blood. So much dripped out, the red stain on his uniform around the stab wound spreading outward.
Keon shoved me away and wrenched the weapon free before tossing it in the opposite direction, almost hitting a bystander who ducked at the last second.
Terror closed in around my chest. “Keon?”
He trembled horribly, and panic clawed at my chest. I clutched his arm, needing to take him to the infirmary.
Except something was wrong. His hand felt like fire under my fingers. His body seemed to twitch, just as I’d seen shifters do before they transformed.
I lifted my gaze to him for a second as he looked my way, and he wasn’t himself, darkness swallowing every inch of white in his eyes.
“Get away from me, Selena. Run!” he growled, and pushed a hand into my shoulder.
I stumbled backward, my heart banging against my rib cage. What was going on?
There was a grunt from Laz, while Keon transformed right before my eyes. Hands lengthened into clawed tips. His boots split, tearing apart and falling away into shreds as hooves pushed free. All the while, black horns pushed out from his temples.
I gasped.
Oh. My. God. I’d been sleeping with a demon.
The crowd made oohing sounds, like this fascinated them. Except, I was freaking out. I had no clue Keon was anything but human.
He changed into something dark.
Why didn�
��t I know this about him? But how could I when he didn’t even tell me about his stalker past? Nobody was who they said they were in this prison. Nobody but foolish me, who wore her heart on her sleeve. I was a naïve sucker, apparently.
Keon swung toward Laz and slammed into him, both of these men were mountains. They crashed to the floor, sending the whole corridor into a trembling quake.
Holy crap!
My back hit a wall, and I gasped for each breath. Laz’s body trembled ferociously, and if it wasn’t for the spell in this prison, I didn’t doubt he’d be a full-blown hellhound by now.
Punches flew in every direction, the growls were demonic and flooded the air.
So many more inmates rushed over to watch the commotion. It wouldn’t be long before the guards arrived, and nothing would be the same again.
Laz shoved Keon off him, sending him right into someone’s cell door, breaking it open, and he crashed inside.
Someone yelled from the surprise entrance. But it didn’t take long for Keon to climb to his feet and re-emerge.
I didn’t recognize this man. He stood taller, broader, with his fucking horns and hoofed feet. And smoke twirled out from his flaring nostrils.
He stepped forward, his chest heaving for breath, in and out, his eyes completely black.
How could I not have sensed this in him before?
I expelled a long breath.
Laz leapt to his feet, the two powerhouses facing off with each other while bystanders cheered, calling for them to fight, fight, fight.
Except, what was going down here was my fault.
Laz snarled and pulled away from Keon for a sliver of a moment. But Keon never stopped, he threw himself at his opponent like a madman, grunting.
They barreled toward me, and the thump of punches and claws tearing each other apart was too much. Laz fought with everything while pinned under Keon.
“Enough!” I shouted, frustrated and furious. I’d put up with so much in this place. And with Keon’s aggression, it wouldn’t be long before he killed Laz.
Panic rose inside me, it came in an instant. So I lashed out and grabbed Keon’s arm before he did more damage and ended up inside these walls as an inmate instead of a guard.
He twisted around, his cold, black eyes on me. Dropping Laz from his grasp, he spun abruptly, coming right for me.
I shoved myself backward, my hands stuck out to stop him. “Keon, what are you doing?”
But the person looking at me wasn’t Keon. This was whatever lived inside him staring at me, and now, it saw me as a meal.
I’d been so wrong. So fucking wrong to think I held any sway in this aggressive fight. A terrified cry escaped past my lips, and I pushed away. The crowd parted, doing nothing to help.
In a flash, Keon attacked me, his hand lashed out, clawed fingers tearing across my throat.
He ripped my life away in an instant.
My knees fell out from under me, and I collapsed. I weakly grasped my throat, but the blood seeped out between my fingers until I was kneeling in a pool of blood.
Everything was going dark so fast, my breaths gurgled with each raspy intake of air.
Shadows moved all around me, voices that made no sense. I could hear screams.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Death was coming for me. I felt myself slip away. Everything I’d done brought me to this spot, where I’d lost everything.
I should be furious, but instead, a strange calmness settled over me as my world faded away. And all I could think about was knowing that despite how horrific my existence had been, for a short period of time, I’d thought I experienced the kind of bliss and heartfelt love I only dreamed about.
Three men who lied to me, who betrayed me, who used me… They’d given me a gift, and then they’d taken it away.
It had all been an illusion, a disappointment, like everything else in my life.
At least death would give me an escape.
The world turned black, and I took my last breath.
My death was swift.
FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN SIREN AWAKENED….
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Sneak Peek at School of Broken Souls
Keep reading for a sneak peek at School of Broken Souls, book 1 in our heart-wrenching and sexy paranormal Academy series.
School of Broken Souls by C. R. Jane and Mila Young
Copyright © 2019 by C. R. Jane and Mila Young
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review, and except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
School of Broken Souls
Welcome to Raven Academy… Where the price of admission could be your soul…
Adeline Jones is perfectly average. Or at least she thinks she is until she receives an invite to attend Raven Academy, complete with a full scholarship. Raven Academy is the mysterious school that only the elite of the elite go and despite Adeline's misgivings about giving up her whole life to attend, there's no way her parents are going to let her give up such an opportunity.
But things at Raven Academy aren't what they seem. Everyone is a little too perfect, a little too rich, and a little too powerful for any normal student population. Things only complicate further when Adeline catches the eyes of Raven Academy's group of elite boys.
Can Adeline figure out what secrets Raven Academy is hiding before it’s too late? Or will the price of admission to the elite academy be more than she can pay...like perhaps the price of her soul.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
-Edgar Allen Poe
Chapter 1
I grip the gun under my coat, and my hand shakes. All of me trembles.
What the hell am I doing here?
A drop of sweat slides down my back. It must be a hundred degrees in this store. Or maybe my nerves are just making me feel like I’m in the living embodiment of hell.
A sudden shriek has me jumping in my boots, and I flinch around to see a child stomping his feet when his mom takes away a bag of fruit snacks that’s he’s poached from one of the shelves. Listen to your mother, I want to say, but I can’t find my voice. Not now.
Not when I’m ready to run and hide.
But I have to see this through. People are counting on me. And I can’t let them down.
I won’t let them down.
I glance around at who else is in the store. There’s a teenage couple making eyes at each other in the row over, and a grizzly old man looking over the beer aisle, but other than that the store’s empty. I need everyone to leave before I do this though. This stupid, crazy, impossible thing.
I go through my plan again in my mind for the hundredth time. The gun is filled with water... a toy gun. But it will do the trick. Please God let it work.
The first time my friend Cody pointed it at me, I screamed. It sure as hell looks like a real handgun. The toy mirrors a Glock G43. I have no idea what the number means, but it’s black and looks real. That’s what matters.
Hopefully, the store clerk will think the same. And then when inevitably the police pick me up, maybe they will take it easier on me since it isn’t a real gun. At least that’s my hope, but I know I’m just fooling myself. I have to lie to myself, or I’ll never go through with this.
I need the money.
I need it despite the fact that I’ve
always been a good girl, the type of girl who never walks outside the lines or does anything unexpected.
Until now.
Robbing a 7-11 is definitely going to yank that title from me fast. And if that is the worse it does, I’ll take it.
Sweat is rolling down my back now. It slides under the waistband of my jeans and beneath the elastic of my underwear. Why is it so hot in here?
I think again of the other night when I walked into the kitchen at midnight and found mom crying over a stack of bills. Dad withers away in their dark bedroom, too weak to come out, and too proud to ask for help from anyone.
There’s a surgery that can help him, a surgery that can fix my family. But we need money for it.
I hated the word.
Need.
Just as much as I loathe the cancer slowly taking my dad from me.
My throat chokes, and I struggle to breathe. I glance around, finding the sliding door as the young couple leave.
Escape.
It’s there for me. But it won’t help my family.
I work two jobs after school and save every penny. But $8.00 an hour doesn’t add up fast. I often talk to mom about maybe dropping out of school for a little bit, but she won’t listen to me and threatens to make me quit my other jobs if I even mention it again. My mother and I both work as much as possible, but it’s never going to be enough. Or at least it’s never going to be enough in time to actually save my dad.
Another review of the store reveals three people wandering around the aisles, and this will be the best I can hope for. I swallow past a dry throat, my finger twitching on the gun handle, and I meander toward the only working cash register. The guard is at lunch, and I see no cameras. This is the right time, but hesitation slows me.
Dad. I have to think of him. Losing him isn’t an option, and the doctors say with the right amount of money, he stands a damn good chance to heal.
