“I’m right there with you, angel,” he says, and I collapse on top of him after the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had.
“Fuck,” I whisper against his chest.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Scarlett Steele.”
I sit motionless for a few minutes, my head against his chest listening to his rapid heartbeat and the steadying pace of his erratic breathing when we’re startled by his phone buzzing.
“This better be fucking important, Bass, or I’m gonna kill you for interrupting me,” he says, scowling at his phone. “Fuck, I’ll be right out. Meet me back at the house,” he hangs up, and I lift my head to his kissing him softly. “That was Bass, he said the guard at the front gate said your friends are on their way in.”
“Oh fuck!” I say, jumping out of the bed grasping a sheet to cover myself. “You need to leave.” I shout, heading over to grab a pair of underwear, shorts, and a hoodie from my closet. I dress quickly and grab Ace’s clothes, throwing them at him. “Did you not hear me, get dressed!”
He stands still, naked, a deep scowl taking over his face, and walks over to me grabbing me by the waist.
“Is this one of his fucking hoodies?” he asks clearly pissed. Fuck.
“Yes, now get out.”
“Not until you take that shit off.”
“Fuck you. I’m not taking it off. Drake’s my boyfriend was my boyfriend. Fuck, I don’t know what we are. But I can wear his fucking hoodie if I want.”
“The fuck you can. Did you not hear the part where I said you’re fucking mine or was your brain too foggy from all the fucking orgasms you had?!” he shouts, jealously the little green monster making an appearance, and fuck if it’s a turn on. What the hell is wrong with me? I shouldn’t be getting turned on by his cocky, asshole, possessiveness. I should be fuming at his incessant need to claim me as his possession.
“So what, we fucked, and you made me cum, repeatedly. That’s all this was. You were pissed, I was pissed, I needed to fuck you out of my system and now I have. Now get the fuck out.” I say, a blatant lie escaping my lips.
The passionate look in his eyes is calling to something deep inside me. His domineering stare stirring things in me that ought to be destroyed. The way he stands, so sure of himself in all his naked glory, sends a shot of need to my innermost parts, a cocky smirk on his face, a cloud of lust darkening his eyes, desire emanating from his entire being. I had a taste, and I don’t think I can ever get enough of Ace Servite.
“Fuck that, I think I’ll stay and give the dragon the good news myself,” he says, leaning against the wall of my closet.
As much as I want to keep him here, to continue what we started, the others are on their way back, and I need to get him out.
“Get the fuck out, Ace! You can’t be here when they get back.”
“Tell me you’re mine and that you’re never going back to that fucker.” He swiftly moves toward me, gripping my head in his hands and bringing his forehead down to mine, a pleading look in his eyes. He needs me to tell him I’m his. The possessive bastard inside needs to hear those words come from my mouth. However, the greedy bitch in me won’t ever say them out loud.
“No! I’m not yours, I’m not his. I’m not anyone’s.” I pull away from him, but his hands move to grip my shoulders. “I belong to myself and I always will. Now get, the fuck, out!”
At that, Bass comes running into the room slamming the door against the wall as he throws it open.
“Oh, fuck man, put some clothes on,” he says, shielding his eyes from Ace’s fully naked backside. “Ace, we need to get out of here, now.”
Ace turns and scowls at his boy, but Bass returns it just the same.
“He called. He wants to see us,” Bass says calmly before heading out and back toward the front door.
“This conversation isn’t over, Red. You’re mine whether you want to accept it or not, I can promise you that.” He grabs his pants from off the floor and slips into them, not bothering to put on his boxers. He yanks his T-shirt over his shoulders and slips on his shoes. Reaching down for his boxers he flings them onto the bed. “A little reminder of my time here, in case the aching between your legs isn’t enough,” he says, winking as he heads out the door.
I run my hands through my hair exhaling vigorously as I fall back on the bed.
“What the fuck have I done?”
My whole life I’ve prided myself on being honest. No matter what life threw my way I always was true to myself, true to those around me. I knew my mom was never going to change, and despite my best efforts and what Jade and everyone else around me thought, I wasn’t in denial. It’s just that the alternative to helping her survive, was her demise. And that would only result in one outcome. Me being alone, more alone than I already felt. And yes, maybe it was selfish of me to continue in my best efforts to keep her alive. She was a horrible human being. A selfish, cruel, and manipulative woman. But then again, I find myself in the predicament I am in today and can only explain it in one way. I am my mother’s daughter. Every part of her rotted and corroded soul lives within me. Her polluted blood runs through my veins, her DNA flows through every inch of me causing me to make the same mistakes she made. I use those around me for my own benefit. I lie and cheat and justify it all with the pitiful excuse of protecting them. But what is it I’m telling myself I’m protecting them from? Me?
Jade, my precious gem. My beautiful, protective, and loyal little sister. The only constant in my life. The only other soul who has ever genuinely cared for me. She deserves to find her brother Roman, the only man she has ever loved. He shattered her soul when he walked away, left her alone with her father, and never looked back. She needs to know the whereabouts of her father in order to find Roman, and if helping Agent Servite find my mother is the answer, then that’s exactly what I’ll do.
Then there is Drake. Damon Drake, my loyal, fierce dragon. The one who’s been there for me when I’ve needed him the most. My best friend, my twin soul. And it’s he whom I’ve betrayed in the worst way. He was right to believe that I only initiated a relationship with him to spite Ace. Drake and I are linked in an inexplicable way. Two wayward souls, who were lost before we found each other. I care for him. I always have but there is a reason I never wanted to start a relationship with him. Deep down I knew in the end I was destined to hurt him, and he didn’t even know it.
I cheated. We agreed we needed to take a break, but that’s a pitiful excuse. I more than cheated, I betrayed him. And this treachery would sting like the blazing flames of hell, where I was sure I’d find myself in the near future. A raging inferno made of my own wretched sins. I criticize this world I was thrown into, that makes me question everything I’ve ever known to be true. This world is full of corruption, these devils around me filled with greed. But here I am, doing the one thing I never imagined I’d do. What kind of person does that make me? The evil around me is suffocating, but if I’m capable of betraying my closest friend, my family, doesn’t that make me just as bad, or worse? I always believed I was good. Despite my upbringing I felt like I was a good person. I cared for those around me. I was capable of feeling. But now I see that I was so very wrong. A good person does not cheat. A good person does not lie. A good person does not betray those they care about most. But I did every single one of those things. And soon I was going to have to pay for my sins.
But like I said, I’m selfish, and that day would not be today.
After Ace and Bass left the quarter, I threw myself under the covers and lay in silence, contemplating my transgressions. I heard when the girls got back, their noisy heels tapping against the hardwood floors of our apartment as they walked toward my bedroom. Jade approached my bedside while Stella stood at the doorway watching us curiously. I thought about acting like I was asleep, but then again, I’d have to face them eventually. But Jade said nothing. She reached down and unbuckled her heels before climbing underneath the covers beside me. She look
ed up to Stella motioning for her to come join us and she did. I felt Stella climb onto the bed as well, being careful not to move me. And the three of us just lay there. Them in their expensive gowns and me in my ex-boyfriend’s hoodie, acting like I hadn’t just done the unforgivable.
ACE
This chick is going to be the end of me. Everything about the tantalizing little vixen stirs feelings deep inside of me. Into the deepest, darkest parts of my wicked soul. A feeling that hasn’t ever been awoken. A strange feeling, like nothing I’ve ever felt before. A tempting itch on my skin, a fire inside my body, a vice embedded deep in my brain. But that can only mean one thing. She’s a threat. A risk I cannot afford to take. A temptation I can’t afford to fall for. I’m a heartless son of a bitch that was bred to be ruthless, menacing, and formidable. A fearsome leader among pitiful men. I’m the devil, she’s an angel. There is no room for her in my hell. I shall not stray from the chosen path I’m on. My destiny comes first. The fate of this world is in my hands. But why is it that the only thing I want in my hands is her?
TWENTY–FIVE
SCARLETT
Syrup. Sweet and tasty syrup. A sticky, sweet and delicious concoction of sugar. It has always been one of my favorite foods. Syrup on pancakes. Syrup on waffles. Syrup on bacon. I can smell it from a mile away. And I smell it now. I slowly tear my eyes open and find Jade hunched in front of me, a plate of pancakes drenched in syrup in her hands. I lick my lips and can almost taste it with just it’s honeyed aroma.
“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty.”
“More like wicked witch,” I grunt, and she raises a brow at me quizzically.
“Sit up and move over,” she says as she climbs in beside me. Just as I do Stella comes in with a tray of strawberries, coffee, milk, and orange juice.
“Wasn’t sure what you girls wanted so I brought it all,” she says, setting the tray on my comforter and sitting at the edge of the bed.
“What’s all this for?” I ask, grabbing a cup of coffee from the tray. Black, just the way I always drink it. Black, now mirroring the color of my soul.
“Well, you won’t tell us what happened last night, so we figured we’d bribe you with sugar and extract the information we need.”
My face pales as Jade takes a bite of pancake in her mouth.
“Relax, Scar, I was kidding,” Jade says, eyeing me suspiciously. “What the hell happened that has you on edge?”
“Nothing,” I say, cutting a piece of the syrupy pancake and shoving it in my mouth. I moan as the sugar hits my tongue and it tastes like heaven.
“Okay now, it’s just a pancake, no need to get all hot on us,” she says with a smirk. I roll my eyes at her and take in another bite. “No, but seriously, sis, what gives?”
“Nothing happened, Jade, okay. I just ran into Agent Servite and well, I realized I needed to get out of there. He creeps me out and I didn’t want to be in the same place as him.”
“That’s a load of bullshit, Scar!” she shouts, as she stands up abruptly nearly spilling the plate of pancakes on my bed.
“What the hell, Jade!” I shout, catching the plate before it topples over.
“Why are you lying to me? After all we’ve been through together, this is how you act. I thought we were sisters, that we trusted each other, and told each other everything.”
“Jade…”
“No, Scarlett, I’m tired of you keeping things from me. First, I find out you kept things from me about when we were taken to the foster home and that I get, for some reason you thought you were protecting me. But this. Ever since we got here it’s like you’re another person. I find out that Agent Servite has been harassing you only because I followed your ass after you got yourself kidnapped, and now you take off for hours and don’t even answer my calls. And when I ask you about it, you come up with some half-ass excuse. You always were a terrible liar.”
“Jade, please don’t.”
“I think I should give you guys a minute,” says Stella.
“No!” we both shout as Stella stands up.
I look around nervously debating whether I should come clean to them or not. I know they won’t judge me, but somehow saying it aloud makes my betrayal all that more real.
“Do you even know what happened last night? Why we were so fucking worried!” Jade shouts, and I’m unsure what to say. “There was a fire, Scarlett! Inside Servite Manor. A fire inside the mansion and someone said they saw you go inside.”
“What are you talking about, Jade?” I ask anxiously.
“We were escorted out of the party because there was a fire that started in one of the rooms on the third floor, an office or something. They were able to contain it, but I was terrified because I couldn’t find you.”
Shit. A fire on the third floor. Agent Servite’s office. That can’t be a coincidence.
“A fire just like there was all those years ago on Halloween night,” says Stella with a scared look on her face. “I told you the academy, the Servites, were all cursed,” she adds, shrugging her shoulder and taking a sip of her coffee.
“Did they find out what happened?” I ask, and they both shake their heads.
“I called my aunt this morning, but she didn’t have any details. Apparently, she said they think it was a cigarette bud that wasn’t put out correctly but they’re not sure.”
A cold shiver runs through me and I don’t know what to make of this. What if someone purposefully set that fire knowing what was going to go down last night? Was it meant for my mother, or for me?
“Is Ruby here?” I ask, and they both shake their heads. The last thing I need is for Drake to find out what happened between Ace and me from his sister.
“She stayed over with the guys last night.”
“You guys need to sit down for this.”
And they do, both climbing on the comforter in front of me, a look of fear flashes before their eyes. They’re nervous about what I’m going to say. Scared even. And they should be.
“The night Agent Servite made the guys kidnap me, he told me he needed me to do something.”
“Wait, you were kidnapped by the Horsemen?” shouts Stella, and I realize Jade and I never shared that piece of information with anybody.
“Well, not really. Long story short, Ace just drugged her, tied her up to a chair to interrogate her, then I came to the rescue, only to be captured and tied to the chair next to her, only to have Agent Servite join us and threaten to do something to us if we didn’t help him find Scar’s mom Lilith, who he apparently knows,” replies Jade.
“Wow,” says Stella.
“Like I said, you needed to sit down for this. Anyways, he threatened me. Told me I had to help him find my mother or he’d make sure you all would be expelled and sent who knows where now that the foster home won’t take us back.”
“That mother fucker!” shouts Jade, and we both laugh. “And I say that literally. We think he’s involved with Lilith. Intimately involved, or at least was.”
“Wait, Agent Servite knows your mom?” asks Stella, and I nod.
“I obviously agreed because I’m not going to let him hurt you guys because of me.”
“Scar, why the fuck would you do that?” asks Jade.
“Because, Jade, I’m not going to let anything happen to you guys. You’re my family. I need you all by my side and he threatened that. There was no other way.” She sits quietly and I know she knows I’m right. “Drake, Kai, Jax, even Ruby, they don’t deserve to be in this mess. It’s my mother and your father who are the ones to blame. And I won’t let him hurt you.”
“How many times do I need to remind you that we are only three months apart? Stop acting like you need to protect me from the big bad man. I can protect myself,” Jade says.
“But you shouldn’t have to. It’s my mom he’s after. Two weeks ago, after the Gods and Monsters party that Drake and I didn’t go to, I was summoned by Agent Servite. He told me that he’d received
information that my mom was in town and was going to the masquerade ball. He said it was her favorite, like she’d gone to it before. He told me I needed to lure her out so he could talk to her.”
“Why did he think she’d risk getting caught?” asks Stella.
“He said she’s out of money and she’d do anything to get it. When I told you, Stella, that I was going to the bathroom, I actually snuck up to his study where he told me she’d go looking for the money. But when I heard her come in, I panicked and hid under his desk. The thought of seeing her again scared the hell out of me. I heard her going through the drawers, but she couldn’t find the money because I hadn’t unlocked the drawer like he’d asked me to.”
“Oh my god,” they say in unison.
“That’s not the worst part. Ace came in and found her going through his uncle’s things. He threatened to call security if she didn’t leave and he found me under the desk. He didn’t say anything till she ran off. But then, Agent Servite came in and he was pissed that I hadn’t followed through with his plan. He was furious and I took off running.”
“Scar, the fire!” shouts Stella. “Do you think it was in Agent Servite’s study?”
“It can’t be a coincidence. What if someone knew my mother would be there?”
“That someone is obviously Servite,” snickers Jade.
“So, what happened when you left, did you come here?” asks Stella, but I shake my head.
“Ace led me to a back house that he lives in and we,” I stop, not being able to bring myself to say the words.
“Oh, Scar,” says Jade as the realization hits her. She scoots closer to me and embraces me in a hug.
“I didn’t mean to. I can’t believe I did that. I cheated on Drake, Jade, when he finds out he’s going to hate me. Worse, he’s going to retaliate,” I say, nervously.
“He won’t find out, Scar. You can’t tell him. You know how fucked up Drake is, and how much he hates Ace. He can’t risk getting in a fight, he already has a strike against him,” Jade says.
The Four Horsemen : A Servite Academy For Troubled Teens Novel Page 24
