Page 24
My fire is met with her ice while we face off. They entwine together inside me, pulsing rage and adrenaline to the low beating buried below my sternum.
Strays fight, but only at first. Only until they’re broken. Piece by piece, I will steal her light.
“Little stray, little stray.” My free hand moves to the side of her face, gliding a finger across the apple of her cheek. “If she was smart, she would run away.”
Sumner swallows, breathing low and uneven. “Would you chase me?” Her eyes flash between mine, and I almost wonder if she wants my answer to be yes.
Such wicked things shouldn’t come in such pretty packages. I notice them even more this close. Things like the soft freckles peppering the bridge of her nose, the different shades of brown making up her long hair.
My mind slips away from me, imagining just how perfect a moan would sound falling from those pouted lips. Better than the screams I’ve craved? What would they sound like together?
Fuck.
I banish the thought before it can grow.
Bringing my mouth near her ear, I let out a low tsk that has Sumner releasing her own breath, far too hot against my neck. “I don’t run after filth.”
Her lips tremble, as does her entire body. It’s subtle, enough to show me how much my last statement stung. Vix likes to act like she doesn’t care, like me bullying her doesn’t hurt at least her pride. She’s a liar.
Sumner’s features harden, nearly hollow now. “If your goal is to hurt me, you didn’t pick your victim well.”
Her hands find mine before sliding down my arms, and there’s a swarm in my lower stomach. I sit with the unfamiliar buzzing for only a moment before forcing myself to shove it away.
“Tell me, darlin’, why is that?”
She stares up at me, so much hate shining through her perfect mismatched eyes. If they didn’t house the secrets of our past, the ones I’ll never be free from, I might find myself transfixed by them.
Despite the grip I still have, Sumner rests her head against the wall, letting her small frame relax into my hold. “I like the pain.”
The corners of my mouth rise, our chests all but touching. “Then I will aim to please.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SUMNER
I’m still finding items of my clothing in the yard. He couldn’t have dumped them in a neat pile. No, the asshole spread them out like it was a damn Easter egg hunt. I thought I got everything last night, but there’s a pair of my underwear displayed nicely on the grass for all to see.
The sound of his door opening has me quickly shoving them in my pocket, not liking that the nosy bastard knows what they look like now. It’s honestly such an invasion of privacy.
It isn’t Rhenn who steps out though. Worse, it’s his frosty sidekick. Grumbling to myself, I’m ready to make a beeline for the guest house, hoping to avoid any interaction with Siena, but all the blood in my veins turns to ice when I see the silver pendant hanging from her neck.
Why is she wearing it? How did she even…
Freaking Rhenn.
He broke the chain from my neck. Meaning he had to fix it for her. My necklace.
My feet are pulling me toward her without me having any control over it. That necklace means more to me than life itself. It was a gift. A reminder. And now it’s been endowed to her, the wicked bitch of the west.
“Give it back,” I say firmly.
“What? This dingy old thing?” Siena takes it in her hand, twirling it between her thumb and pointer finger. “Still breathing,” she mocks the inscription, her beaming blue eyes raking me over with a look like she’s disgusted. “It really is too bad. We’d all be better off if you stopped.”
I shove away her comment, used to far worse than anything she can call me. “Take it off.”
The corners of her overly perfect lips tug up. It has me even angrier, and I push against her chest. She stumbles, then furrows her brows. “Did you just fucking touch me?” Siena throws out her hands, forcing an invisible gust to knock me back against the side of the house, then steps fully into my space. “Keep your putrid paws off me.”
I struggle to move, fighting against the air she seems to control. “Your precious boyfriend never get you anything? Is that why you feel so inclined to steal the things he takes from me?”
