AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Kenzi, you need to calm down and tell me what the fuck is going on. Where is Poppy now? Is she okay?” I turn around to face the girl standing with her back against the door, one hand on the doorknob as if she’s getting ready to run at any moment.
“What the fuck do you take me for, Xavier? Do you seriously think I would lose it and start hurting innocents? Of course she’s okay. She’s here with me.”
Poppy flinches at my words, but I’m currently wound too tightly to care. The shock of Clay being here has put the memories of that night on a loop in my head. I feel as if the slightest thing could send me off the deep end.
“No, of course not. You were the one who said you nearly lost it in front of her. What is going on? You need to tell me what happened, Kenz.”
“He’s here, Xave,” I tell him quietly. “Clayton is at WinterHill University and is one-quarter, of the group of bastards that call themselves The Crew.” I flick my gaze back to Poppy as I hear Xavier’s shocked gasp come through the phone.
“What? How do you know it’s him? It’s been nearly six years since we last saw him, Kenzi. Maybe you got it wrong?” It sounds like he’s trying to convince himself more than me.
“Sure, Xave. I got it wrong. I’m losing my fucking shit over nothing. Oh, apart from the fact that the arsehole still wears his hair the same way and Poppy said hisfucking name!”
“Fuck! I can’t believe he’s actually there.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go getting all nostalgic, Xave. The memories are riding me so hard I’m barely holding it together here. It’s taking everything I have to stay on the phone to you rather than giving in and…” I look up at Poppy once again, surprised she hasn’t bolted yet. “...Taking care of the problem. You have to get me out of here, Xave. I don’t want to do it, but we have rules for a reason.” Poppy has a confused look on her face, brows furrowed as she stands silently, clearly trying to put the pieces together.
“Kenz, I know he hurt you, but he hasn’t said anything insix years. What makes you think he’ll say anything now? Maybe he’ll just stay out of your way.”
“Hurt me? That arsehole ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it on the absolute worst day of my pitiful fucking life. Then he ran and became the head of a group ofbullies!” I spit the word down the phone at Xavier. “Do you seriously think he’s going to like me being here at his university? All I can think about right now is going and cutting his heart from his chest, then feeding it to him. It’s the least that fucking bastard deserves, and my demons are begging for retribution.” I hear Poppy’s shocked gasp and watch as she slides herself down the door until she’s sitting with her knees to her chest hugging them.
“Kenz, you really need to calm down and think about this. Don’t let the demons win. I know you don’t really want to kill him. You would never be able to live with yourself if you did.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, letting Xavier’s words sink in for a few seconds.
“What are we going to do, Xave? I don’t think there’s any way I can stay away from him indefinitely,” I sigh and drop my head, not wanting to see the look in Poppy’s eyes when I speak next. “You’re right, Xave. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I killed him, but I would do it in a heartbeat to protect what we’ve been working towards.”
I look back up at Poppy. She’s sitting with her head tilted, studying me.Well, fuck.It looks like I’ve got some explaining to do before my only friend runs screaming for the men in white coats to come and drag me away.
“Look, Kenz. Just don’t do anything you can’t come back from yet. You need to be at WinterHill, so we need to find a way to make this work. Do you need me to come there?”
“Make it work. If only my life was ever that fucking easy.” I shake my head, letting the last of my anger ebb away. “No, Xave, I don’t need you to come here, but I do need a release. Find me a job close by for tonight, or a fight, or just… something.Please.” He hears the desperation in my voice and I can hear him start getting to work on my request.
“I’m on it. I’ll text you the details in a few hours, until then you need to stay as far away from Clayton as you can. We’ll come up with a plan to deal with that after.” He clicks his tongue and sighs, like he wants to say something else but decides not to. I know Xave was just as hurt by Clay’s disappearance as I was, but I can’t allow his feelings to cloud his judgement on this.
“I am giving you two weeks to come up with a plan to deal with this, Xave. Two. Weeks. After that,Idecide how he gets dealt with, and if that means he has to die then he dies. I am not playing with this. He is the only person who has the ability to break me completely and I have not held on to the last bit of my sanity to fall at the final hurdle. I know I’ll always be insane. There’s no cure for what’s wrong with me, and I’ll nevernot be the Queen of Hell. But if I lose it and finally give myself over to the insanity completely,no onewould survive it.” I look at Poppy sitting on the floor and let out another sigh. “Thank you for being my calm, Xave, but I have to go. I need to explain to Poppy that I’m not a crazed serial killer that’s going to murder her in her sleep.”
“She’s still there?Fuck, Kenz! She's heard everything?”
“Yeah, but she hasn’t run screaming yet. I’m beginning to believe that Poppy Marks is stronger than everyone thinks.” I watch as her spine straightens slightly at the praise, her eyes still on me. “You are the one that told me to trust her, Xave, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Text me those details as soon as you have them. I’m also going to need you to look into the members of the Crew and their families. I need anything you can find out. I’ll text you the names once I’ve finished explaining everything to Poppy.”
“Okay, Kenz. I trust you. Always.” He ends the call and I turn my full attention to the woman sitting watching me.
I just told Xave that Poppy is stronger than anyone thinks she is. Well, it’s time to find out if I’m right, or if I am just about to make a huge mistake.
Fuck my fucking life.
CHAPTER FOUR
CLAYTON
Sitting in the dining hall, I scan the students for the new girl. We don’t know much about her yet and none of us have seen her, but this is the only place she could be right now. I’ve got no idea how she managed to get into this university for our final year, and our parents never told us she was coming. I don’t know what that means yet, but it can’t be good. All Idoknow is that I’m looking for a chick with pink hair, so it won’t be hard to find her in here among all the brunettes and blondes. My mind wanders back to another blonde I knew once but I shut that shit down fast. I can’t think about herorthe last time I saw her.
Rafe and Wyatt are shoving some first-year between them and laughing at the splattered lunch all over his shirt. It’s juvenile bullshit, but I let them have their fun. It’s the first day of classes and we need to remind everyone who runs this place. We can’t show any sort of weakness. We’ve only got one year left before all our hard work pays off and we’re out of here. I won’t allow anything to derail it, especially some new girl who thinks she can waltz her arse intomyschool.
Emma leans over me, almost spilling her tits into my face in her efforts to get my attention, but I’m not interested in anything she wants to offer me right now. Her yapping is grating on my last nerve and I really need her to give it a fucking rest so I can concentrate on finding the new girl among all these students.
“For fuck sake, not now, Emma,” I growl. She sits back in her chair and glares at me as she crosses her arms over her chest. She’s pissed but I don’t care. She’s not one of us, despite what she might like to believe. That doesn’t mean I won’t be finding her in her room later though. She can suck cock like it’s an Olympic fucking sport.
