Page 4 of Pucked Around and Found Out

Xaden isn’t like everyone else his age. He walks with a swagger that isn’t practiced or learned. It’s just him. He carries an air of dominance and power, shadows clinging to him like he’s a master of darkness. And he is. He is death in the flesh. To meet with him in a dark room alone is to meet your reckoning.

I should feel something, anger, fear or fucking happiness, but I don’t.

I feel numb.

It’s like I knew I was on borrowed time from the moment I got back to Somerset and he was waiting for me in my room.

Am I weak for not fighting?

The thoughts vanish when a large roller door is lifted and the light from the inside bleeds out to us and forces me to squint my eyes against its harshness. Xaden doesn’t slow his pace, he stalks past the men who opened the door and continues inside. Masen begins to struggle in the guys hold and tries to fight to get free. The one holding me growls in annoyance letting me go to help his friend.

Cas claims his place at my side but doesn’t touch me, it’s like he knows I have no intention of running and is just content to walk me to my death. The guys wrangle Masen forward, he drags his feet but it doesn't stop them from pulling him inside the warehouse.

I take a deep breath, look up at the night sky for the last time and just be in the moment. I close my eyes and send up a silent prayer to Kenna and Emery.

See you soon.

When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is Xaden standing in the doorway, the light bouncing off him like it’s afraid to touch the God of death. He looks ominous standing there dressed head to toe in black. His eyes burn with hunger, the monster inside him is barely concealed. I keep my chin up as I walk toward him, never once faltering in my step. Cas keeps close but still doesn’t touch me. I stop a foot away from Xaden and stare up at the man who changed everything about me and my life without even trying.

We just stand for a long minute staring at each other, no words are needed. I can see everything he is saying just by the look in his eyes.

I hate you.

I won.

The war is over.

I’m the Don of Stormsend and Somerset now.

“I don’t believe in fairies anymore, Tink.” His voice is calm, controlled and quiet which makes it so much worse. The sharp pain in my chest is a welcome relief from the numbness. To finally feel something is a blessing.

I nod, believing him.

He’s never lied to me, he’s always been honest and I can’t fault him for it because I was an idiot and thought through all the cruelty and anger that he would change. I was the typical girl you love to hate in a movie that thinks she can be the one to tame and change the boy.

It didn’t work out well for me.

“Move,” he snaps. I follow him inside the warehouse and the temperature instantly drops, I feel cold. I falter at the sight of my father, Meekan and Masen all strapped to chairs in the center of the room. I know without having to be told that the vacant fourth chair is for me. Xaden moves aside and looks at me like he is about to speak but I don’t stop.

I keep moving until I plant my ass in the seat and look directly across at my father. Hatred flares in his eyes and I know if it wasn’t for the gag in his mouth he would be spewing vile insults my way. I glance over at Meekan and feel shame, he looks… different. There is no softness in his eyes, no laugh lines or any semblance of the boy I once knew, in his place is this horrible stranger that betrayed me.

“She would be so disappointed in you,” I say. His eyes widen and indignation reverberates through him. Whatever he is saying is muffled by the gag in his mouth and I’m grateful for it. I’m done listening to his lies. Kenna deserved better than him, he used her death to help propel his own greed. That night ruined many lives and he prospered off of it. My father lined his pockets well to bury the whole accident. No justice was served because Special Agent Di-Leo made sure of that.

“And they say family reunions are boring.” Xaden’s tone is bordering on smug and it’s not becoming of him. I flinch when he places his hands on top of my shoulders. His touch isn’t welcome, it’s cold and calculating. I don’t want this to be the last memory I have of his hands on me. “Half of what you hear and all of what you see, Tink.” I do nothing when he grips my wrists and pulls them behind the back of the chair and secures them with handcuffs. I inhale and exhale, not because I want to but because it’s my body reacting. I repeat the mantra in my head over and over again to remain calm.

Death takes no prisoners and begging the Reaper will do you no good. I’ll meet my maker with my pride intact and not go out a coward.

To teach is to learn. To learn is to excel. To excel is to thrive. To thrive is to live.

CHAPTER THREE

TOREN

I see the devil in his eyes.

Brutality is an armor he wears much like his shadows, he wants me to see the monster lurking beneath his skin. He craves feeding the beast and relishes every second of it. I see it burning in his eyes, the way he comes alive in moments like these.

This isn’t just violence.