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He seems as surprised by it as I am.
“Now,” she snaps. “I will escort Kaden to the door.”
After glancing between the two of us, Anton runs a hand over his throat and then backs towards the kitchen. Alina sweeps out an arm, motioning for me to follow her to the door. Still gripping the knife in my hand, I walk the handful of steps towards the still open door.
My head is clear now, but I can’t let her know that I was out of my mind when I showed up, so I keep an air of thrumming violence around me as I move.
Once we reach the door, I spin abruptly and shove her up against the wall. With my palm pressed against her chest, I pin her to the pale wood panels and lean closer.
“You’re racking up quite the debt, little doe,” I growl, keeping that unhinged tone in my voice. “You owe me for your brother’s life now too.”
Raising her chin, she stares up at me defiantly. “What do you want?”
I lean forward and place my lips next to her ear so that her brother won’t be able to overhear. “Come to the small training room on the west side tonight. Midnight. Or I will come back here and finish what I started.”
She draws in a shaky breath, and I can feel her heart beat faster underneath my palm. But her voice is steady as she replies, “Done.”
I step back and let my hand drop from her chest. She remains standing by the wall, watching me with those intelligent eyes that haunt me every second of the day.
All sorts of really bad ideas flash through my mind.
With a snarl, I manage to shove down the impulse to act out every single one of them.
Instead, I turn and stalk out the door.
But with every step, lingering panic clangs through me.
I never lose control like this. That’s Eli’s thing. He is the one with no impulse control. I plan my moves strategically. I don’t just show up at someone’s door and start beating the crap out of them without a plan.
And yet, that is exactly what I just did.
All because I can’t get Alina Petrov out of my head.
What the hell is this girl doing to me?
13
ALINA
Nervous energy flits through my stomach like erratic butterflies. It’s mixed with something that feels suspiciously like excitement. Which is ridiculous. I shouldn’t be excited about sneaking out to meet the school’s number one psycho Kaden Hunter in the middle of the night. I should be angry at him for almost killing my brother earlier tonight.
But I’m not angry. I’m more… stunned. And almost a little proud. Because Kaden listened to me. No one ever listens to me. But when I told Kaden to stop, he stopped. And when I told him to leave, he left. That was a surprised that I’m still not entirely sure how to interpret.
Light spills out from underneath the door to the small training room on the west side of Blackwater University.
My pulse speeds up as I push down the handle and open the door.
A jolt shoots through me when I find Kaden standing in the middle of the room, looking straight at me as I cross the threshold. I trail to a halt a few steps into the room while the door falls shut behind me again.
It’s a rather small space. Like most of Blackwater, the walls are made of gray concrete and there are no unnecessary decorations in the room. But this room has wooden floorboards instead of a simple concrete floor. There are some padded mats stacked in one of the corners, and four punching bags hang from hooks in the ceiling along one of the walls. I sweep my gaze over them before shifting my attention back to Kaden.
He looks much more in control now than he did back at our house earlier. He is wearing the same black t-shirt and dark pants as before. But chaotic restlessness no longer swirls in his eyes, and his black hair now lies perfectly styled instead of looking like he has been running his fingers through it repeatedly. It should feel reassuring, but I know better than that. This calm and cold version, lethal like a shard of ice, is the most dangerous one.
Standing with his hands clasped behind his back, he looks like a ruthless commander waiting for his opponent to kneel at his feet and offer unconditional surrender. My survival instincts are telling me to do just that. But my stubbornness and pride keep me standing there, my chin raised and my eyes firmly locked on his.
“Punctual too,” he says, a faint smirk ghosting across his lips. “Why have your brothers been hiding you away all this time?”
“They haven’t been hiding me,” I retort, crossing my arms over my chest. “I just didn’t want to get involved in all of your drama.”
