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The room grows fuzzy, but I can see that he’s sneering at me.
His voice is mocking. “Of course you thought you could, now that you’re stronger.”
His touch makes my skin crawl. I shrink away from it. “The media could show up any moment now. I didn’t hide from the cameras last night. They have to be close to figuring it out. You don’t want to be here when they do.”
He laughs. “Do you think that scares me? You’ve always been too much of a mouse to be a Hawthorne. They don’t know your face. They don’t give a shit about some weak little girl called Love. You’re a Cliffsnote. Boring. Pathetic.”
“But they do care. Because I’m with Rogue Maddox.” Was with him. Hopefully will be again. Either way, for the first time in my life I would love to be in front of those cameras. If only to get away from Alec.
“You’re too timid to use it to your advantage.” He leans in so that his face is an inch from mine and I’m forced to lean back. “Too broken to be loved.”
“He loves me.” I push at Alec until he takes a step back. If I can knock him off balance I can get free. “Rogue loves me. He’ll forgive me. Especially since all I was trying to do was protect his family from you.” I shove him again. Try to put a room full of distance between us when I unbalance him.
He grips my wrist, making me wince. He yanks me back and grinds my bones between his fingers and thumb. He’s doing it deliberately, to cause me pain. He brushes my hair away from my neck and I want to die as his breath lands on my ear. “As much as you make me into the bad guy, you hurt him more than I ever could. Bravo.”
I’m sure he’s smiling. I don’t need to look at him to tell that he’s enjoying terrorizing me. It gives him pleasure to torment someone he perceives as weak.
I got the best of him two days ago. I force that thought to the forefront of my mind. I worked out that he was responsible for Christian Dakota’s fall. That it was planned. Even though he didn’t admit to it, I know I’m right. He knows it too. “Snakes strike when they’re cornered, right?”
“What?”
“I want you to leave,” I say without any emotion. “Rogue is on his way here. He loves me. I love him. He’ll understand why I didn’t tell him about you.”
“You really believe that?”
“I do. My heart was in the right place. I was going to get you to confess. To raping Rochelle Kitt. And then planning Christian Dakota’s fall. Or any one of a million things I’m sure you’ve done. I’ve been their biggest ally. And I almost had you.” I elbow him in the chest and shake him off when he bows at the loss of breath. “I almost got you to confess.”
“You only thought you did.” He wipes his hand over his face and snickers. “As if anyone would believe the ramblings of a girl with your issues.”
“I am not crazy.” I shove at him. I want him off balance. I want to crack his composure. Rogue had only just left Malibu. He’s still too far away to help me. But I can make sure that I get a confession. “I am not off my medication. I will prove you tampered with that rail and forced Adira into that situation. I will prove that you hurt Rochelle Kitt too.” He doesn’t need to know that they have some kind of evidence. It might make him lash out. “It’s only a matter of time. I won’t give up until I do. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll disappear.”
“Funny.” His voice chills me with its cruelty. “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
My skin crawls. A warning bell of sorts. I used to think it was because I was pathetic and feeble. Now I understand that Alec is dangerous.
I jump out of his way as he lurches for me. He catches my wrist and I cry out when something cracks. A sharp burst of pain radiates through my arm and hand. Tears prick my eyes. I grit my teeth but I can’t stop the broken moan that slips out before I can catch myself.
He shoves me to the carpet and the back of my head smacks into the cupboard. More pain blooms and blinds me. “You want me to confess, right? That’s what you want.” He crouches in front of me and reaches for something in his jacket. “I have something special for you. Sweet. Little. Ivy.”
“What are you doing?” I pant. He takes out a syringe and pulls the cap off the needle. I tip onto my side. Rogue is on his way, but I have no idea how much time has passed since I entered Narnia. And Alec is far more dangerous than I bargained on. “What is that? What are you doing?”
He props me up straight again. Grabs my hair in his fist and holds me in place. “Why don’t you sit still and listen?”
I glance over my shoulder—even though it hurts and rips hair from my scalp—praying for some magical exit to open up, but all I can see is cupboard. There is no way out. And no chance that this is getting caught on Narnia cam.
Narnia cam; who would have thought Adira’s intense need to be able to see his shoes via nanny cam would also give us the opportunity to take down my brother? If I can move to a spot the camera covers.
I need to move. I push him with all my might and scramble out of that corner against the cupboard.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Alec roars, his hand wrapping around my calf.
I inhale the fluffy carpet. My head resonating with the echo of my fall. My wrist throbs. Pain radiates through my hand and forearm.
His hands make their way up my body. Pinning me down. His knees push the air from my lungs and my head is yanked back by my hair.
The needle pricks my skin. In the crook of my arm. This calm sensation washes over me. I’ve been drugged. I know this, but it isn’t the drugs that make me disassociate; it’s survival instinct.
“There you go. That’s better.” My brother croons in my ear while he keeps me pinned down. He strokes the back of my head almost…affectionately. “I don’t know why you always fought me so hard. You never won.”
