Page 84 of Pucked Around and Found Out

I just finally stopped pretending otherwise.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

XADEN

The monster is loose.

He has free reign to deliver total annihilation and I’m done holding him back.

I line up another shot, my entire body vibrating with rage that's been festering for two years.

Two years of searching for answers.

Two years of torture, blood and darkness.

Two years of trusting the wrong fucking person.

The puck flies from my stick with brutal precision, catching Cas in the shoulder. He roars in pain, the sound echoing through the rink like a death knell.

And I feel everything.

Satisfaction. Fury. Vindication.

The beautiful symphony of betrayal being repaid.

“Xaden, stop!” Toren's scream cuts through the air, but it only fuels me further.

I'm already gathering another puck.

“Please!” Her voice cracks with desperation. “You're going to kill him!”

“Perfect,” I say coldly, lining up my shot. “The cunt deserves it.”

I shoot again. This time catching Cas in the thigh.

He collapses completely, gasping for air, blood seeping through his clothes from where the impacts have split skin and broken bone.

“Xaden, he was blackmailed!” Toren screams, trying to crawl toward Cas. “He didn't have a choice!”

“There's always a choice!” I roar, the words tearing from my throat like shrapnel. “He chose to betray me! He chose to feed information to that bitch! He chose to play me for a fucking fool while I trusted him!”

I gather another puck, the weight of it satisfying in my palm.

“How long?” My voice drops to something deadly quiet as I skate closer to them. “How long have you been feeding Fiona information, Cas?”

Cas's head lifts, blood trickling from his mouth. “Xaden⁠—”

“How long!” I scream, and the sound that comes out of me is pure rage.

“A year,” he gasps, and the admission is like a knife between my ribs. “She's had me for about a year.”

The world goes red.

A year.

For an entire year, he's been whispering my secrets to my enemy while standing at my side like a brother.

“A year,” I repeat, my voice like ice. “You've been betraying me for a year. Every plan I made. Every move I considered. Every vulnerability I showed you—you gave it all to her.”