AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Noted, but I asked you first. Why are they glaring over your shoulder at everyone that glances in your direction?”
I peer around the room, making sure everyone else is involved in their own business. Not that it makes a difference, I’m not about to tell her a deep, dark secret, but it’s instinctive for me to cover my back. My gaze locks with Genie’s for a brief second, who is glancing at me over her friend’s shoulder with a deathly stare. She’s not a threat from this distance, but that could easily change.
“Honestly, I have no idea. They’re my housemates and—”
“They’re yourwhat?” she blurts, cutting me off as her eyes bug out, and I snicker at the comical expression.
“My housemates,” I repeat, soft and calm, but it still doesn’t change the sheer shock on her face.
“They don’t mix—”
“Boys with girls. I know, but one of them spoke to Burton and he didn’t change his mind.” I shrug, not sure what else to say. “That doesn’t explain the way they’re acting, though. I’m getting whiplash from some of them, and honestly, I don’t need the drama on top of everything else.” It’s a good thing they’re hot as hell or I wouldn’t be putting up with any of it. For now, though, they’re on thin ice.
“Damn, no wonder Genie instantly has daggers aimed your way.” I glance in her direction, expecting the physical kind, but it’s the deathly glare that still remains on her face that Leila is referring to.
“People love to hate me. It’s not a new thing.” I fix my hair tie as Leila starts to follow the crowd out of the changing room, leaving our clothes hanging from the hooks. I keep in step with her and my body tenses as we pass Genie and her friends.
“How gross. Pink hair issotrashy.” It’s the same sickly-sweet voice from earlier. Genie. I want to teach her a lesson now before this continues, but Leila grabs my arm and yanks me out into the hallway.
“Pick your battles, Raven.”
“I do. I choose all of them.” I glance back to sneer at the bitch smirking at me with her friends.
I pull my arm free from Leila’s hold, ready to make good on my promise, when a hand grips my throat and I fly through the air. My back hits a wall and I grunt as the hand flexes around my neck, cutting off my air supply.
Through the rage that instantly consumes me, I blink to see Sebastian in my face. A red mist coats my vision, draping in the reddish Hell inferno he reminds me of. I have no idea if people are watching us now, but none of that matters. I have to keep my gaze fixed on him.
Even with me clutching his wrist, he doesn’t relent, only inching me higher up the wall until I’m no longer touching the floor. Every breath is an effort, becoming more and more labored as each second passes. Digging my nails into his skin, he barely hisses as he snarls in my face.
“Why the fuck are you here?” he bites, his lip somehow curling even more as I choke in his hold. My head feels like it’s going to burst and, as much as I swing my legs at him, it’s no use.
I can’t breathe, let alone answer his damn question.
How the hell do we have the same DNA running through our veins? It shouldn’t be possible.
“Answer me,” he growls, his tone dropping an octave or two.
Is this guy dense?
“How the fuck is she supposed to do that, Sebastian, when you’re cutting off her air supply?” Leila hisses, her voice cutting through the fog. I still can’t pinpoint where she is.
Her words somehow have the opposite effect of what I can only assume she was going for as he squeezes my throat even tighter. My vision starts to blur and my breaths are nothing more than short, shallow gasps until he suddenly releases his hold on me and I slump to the floor.
My throat burns with every rasp as I cough and splutter, gulping lungful after lungful of oxygen into my body. I lift my hand to my chest, willing the tightness to ebb as my head pulses with pressure. It feels like I’m inching my way closer to death before I finally get a handle on myself, and when I lift my head, I find my brother still looming over me with a pleased grin on his face.
My nostrils flare with anger as I force myself to my feet, refusing to lean back on the wall for support so I don’t look any weaker than I already do. Swiping a hand down my face, I find dampness coating my fingertips. Tears must have spilled from my eyes with the intense pressure and struggle. That will definitely make Sebastian grin.
“I’m going to guess that Abel didn’t listen to his favored child either and I’m here to stay, despite the fact that I’d rather not be.” I look up at him,reallylook up at him. The irritation in his brown eyes, the quirk to his brows, and the way he naturally bears his teeth makes him look like a petulant child who didn’t get his way.
“You won’t be here for long, littlesister. Sending you home isn’t the only way to get rid of you. Facing the trials will be your demise. I’ll make sure of it,” he rages, hands clenching at his sides, and I’m almost certain he’s going to stamp his foot, but he manages to hold it together. “And you,” he adds, whirling around to the left. “Keep the fuck out of shit that has nothing to do with you.”
I follow his line of sight to find Leila with her arms folded over her chest. “Try me, asshole.”
He creeps one foot toward her and I’m ready to pounce on him, but he surprises me by spinning in the opposite direction and getting the fuck out of here. I don’t move a single muscle until he’s completely out of sight. Only then do I slump back against the wall with a heavy sigh.
Fuck my life.
“Are you okay?”
