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“I can do it,” I tell Landon and Dominic seriously. And then, in a soft voice meant just for Zane, I add, “I need to do this. Dom needs backup in that house. You know that.”
Zane doesn’t answer, nor does he lose his rigid posture. Anger emanates from every pore of his body.
He’s pissed, furious even, and so is Beckett.
I just need to convince them that this is the right decision—the only decision—and that I’ll be all right.
But I don’t need their permission to do this. I’ve done it before and escaped unscathed, and I’ll do it again with similar results. This time, however, I’ll enter hell’s den with an arsenal of knowledge at my beck and call.
Harvey Rollins won’t know what hit him.
16
ELLIE
Beckett and Zane don’t talk to me the rest of the night and into the following day. Heck, they don’t even talk to each other or Landon and Dominic. They seem content to freaking brood.
But it ends now.
When lunch comes around, I don’t eat in the cafeteria. Instead, I head back to our dorm and shoot off texts to Beckett and Zane, demanding that they meet with me.
I know they’ll come.
They won’t dare leave me alone.
I’ve just taken to pacing the small living room when the door is thrown open and a pissed off Zane enters. His dark, unnerving eyes home in on me instantly, and the frost in them chills me to the core. I’ve always known that there’s a darkness inside of Zane that the others don’t possess, not even Ryker. But never in my life has he directed that ire at me.
I’m not scared. Quite the contrary, actually.
A strange feeling unfurls in my lower belly, and it takes me a second too long to realize that it’s lust. It courses through me like an unrelenting wildfire, hot and dangerous. My tongue turns to cotton in my mouth, and I have to rub my suddenly damp hands against my pleated skirt to stop them from shaking.
“You know it’s not safe for you to be on your own,” Zane growls, not even bothering to shut the door as he advances on me. He moves with a lethal grace and agility that reminds me, yet again, how truly dangerous he is. How dangerous they all are.
But he’ll never hurt me.
He’ll cut off his own hand before he raises it against me.
“I’m not on my own, now am I?” I sass, cocking my hip to the side. “You’re here.”
His eyes turn even darker, a feat I didn’t think was possible. They remind me of the browns of a rain-soaked earth, the color bordering on ebony-black. Those dark orbs tell me everything he doesn’t say out loud—that he loves and cares for me, that he’s afraid of what could happen to me, that he respects and adores me, that he’s not truly angry at me, only terrified that I’ll be hurt.
A fist-sized ball inflates in my throat, making it impossible to swallow around.
“Ellie…” Zane’s voice holds an undercurrent of anger that only increases the heat throbbing between my thighs.
“Don’t worry, Zane. Landon and Dominic knew where I was at all times.” I was even on the phone with Landon until Zane arrived in the dorm room.
His eyes soften somewhat, but I can tell his anger is far from appeased. There’s still a darkness swirling around him, permeating the air like a poisonous plume of gas.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” I say at last, cutting to the chase.
Zane folds his arms over his chest and honest-to-God pouts. Pouts. It shouldn’t look as freaking adorable as it does.
“It hasn’t even been a day—” Zane begins, but I cut him off.
“I know avoidance when I see it.” I arch an eyebrow at him and mimic his posture, crossing my own arms and leveling him with a piercing stare. “Remember? When I first discovered you lied to me?”
Because, yeah, I’ll be the first to admit that I avoided all of them when the truth was revealed. They hated it.
