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Kian stayed silent, his eyes boring into mine for a second longer before he gripped my arm and pulled me in front of him as we faced Jennings again. Hope flared in the dean’s eyes from seeing our scuffle, and I shook my head.
“The video is already saved,” I said coldly. “Him being here changes nothing.”
“You already have someone new to take his place, don’t you?” Kian asked quietly as he stayed at my back. “Someone who will kick Jace and me off campus as soon as we get back.”
Why was there a strand of guilt pestering me at his question? Ellie needed them out of the way. And we needed someone on her payroll to have control of the school. This had been planned since I’d come to Little Haven. There should not have been any part of me wanting them to stay here. Yet there was, no matter how much I tried denying it to myself.
“Better start packing your bags,” I sneered, glancing at him over my shoulder. “You can’t stop this, Kian.”
His jaw clenched as he looked past me at Jennings. “If I fix this, then you owe me. Understand?”
My stomach bubbled as I wondered what was going through Kian’s head. He couldn’t change this. Raising my hand, I pried his fingers off my arm while elbowing him with my other arm and then shooting forward out of his reach. He was still holding my gun, but he kept it near his side as he watched me create more space between us.
“Yes,” Jennings answered quickly. “I’ll give you whatever you want. Just make this go away.”
“Give me the phone, Rynn,” Kian ordered in a dangerously soft voice.
I forced out a laugh. “Even if I did, you think I didn’t save it somewhere else?”
Without giving him a chance to respond, I bolted. He lunged at me as I ran past him, his fingers wrapping in the hem of my shirt. I ripped away from him, not slowing down as I fled the bedroom. The living area was empty, and my heart hammered as I raced to the door, flinging it open while hearing Kian gaining on me.
I tumbled out into the hall, veering toward the stairwell, my breath catching when I saw that I wasn’t alone. A guy was resting against the wall, but he instantly straightened up when his gaze fell on me. My heart leaped into my throat, and I hoped he was just an innocent bystander. The guy had blond hair, and his T-shirt revealed he had no arm tattoos, but when he moved to purposefully block the stairs, it was clear he was here with Kian.
I was torn between the decision to fight past the new guy or take the chance that the elevator would get here quick enough for me to use before they caught up. I went rigid when an arm wrapped around my waist, tugging me back. My backpack was squished between me and Kian as he dragged me backward.
“Get off,” I snarled, slipping my hand between my body and his arm to break his hold. Once I had a bit of space, I dropped to my knees, kicking at his ankle before rolling away. New hands grabbed at me, and I screamed as I was hauled to my feet. The blond guy kept a tight hold on my arm while Kian grabbed my other one before they started dragging me down the hall.
They stopped in front of a door labeledFamily Restroom, and Kian grabbed the knob. He pulled it open and pushed me in before they followed. The lights automatically came on, and I whipped around, my blood going cold when I watched the blond guy shut the door and lock it. Kian was on me in a second, his fingers slipping under a strap on my backpack, making my heart seize. The blond appeared on my other side, helping Kian wrangle the bag off my shoulders. Once it dropped to the floor, Kian trapped my wrists, tugging me toward the wall.
“Don’t,” I shrieked when they maneuvered my arms around the metal bar attached to the wall. My struggles against them did nothing as they slipped a zip tie around my wrists, securing me to the bar on the wall. Once the zip tie was tight, they stepped back, both of them breathing hard. I pulled against the restraint, gritting my teeth when the plastic dug into my skin.
“Calm down,” Kian ordered, his eyes dropping to my wrists. “Or I’ll just hold you the entire time.”
I scoffed. “Don’t act like you care about my well-being.”
“Have I ever hurt you, Rynn?” he asked with a frown.
“You mean besides keeping me as a prisoner for four days?”
“Did I lay a hand on you?” he murmured in a low voice. “Unless, of course, you asked for it. I’ve never hurt you. Not after you fucked me over that summer. Or when you handed me to the Phantoms. Why do you think I’d start now?”
“What the hell, man?” The blond guy glared at Kian, interrupting our conversation. “You never mentioned anything about kidnapping a girl.”
“We’re not,” Kian replied, stepping forward and grabbing my hip to keep me still. “She’s free to go as soon as I get what I need.”
My protests did nothing when he took my phone from my pocket and tossed it to the blond guy, who was staring at me with a conflicted look on his face before he glanced at Kian.
“Where’s Jace?” he asked. “I’m here to help him.”
“I don’t know where he is.” Kian arched an eyebrow at me. “He and Gage were fighting in the elevator, and the doors didn’t open back up. You know anything about that?”
Well, that would explain why Kian was here and Gage wasn’t. What the hell happened? Gage knew the elevator was going to be stopped. Why would he step inside it? I didn’t say a word, keeping my eyes on Kian as he crouched down and grabbed my bag. He pulled out the small laptop I’d brought, and I kept my emotions off my face as he opened it.
“There’s a video I need sent to my email, and then erased everywhere else,” Kian said, looking at the guy. “Can you do that from here?”
“Yeah,” the blond answered with a sigh, slipping off his own backpack. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”
My mouth went dry when he pulled out a tablet and laptop along with some cords.Fuck me. The guy clearly knew his way around technology, and if he was able to pull the video, this whole night and all this planning would be wasted. I spotted ink on the guy’s knuckles, but with how he was half turned away from me, it was impossible to read it. I tugged at the zip tie again, preparing to start yelling. Maybe I’d get lucky and someone would be walking by.
