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Whitlock Manor is dark when we get home. I had River leave us at home because Pike was still drowsy by the time I had gotten her back to the library and I couldn’t risk taking her on my bike, so I let Gray bring it back with us.
“See you on the ice tomorrow, Whitlock,” Gray says, as he hands me the keys to my bike.
“See you, Cotheran.”
I watch as River and Gray disappear down the dark drive in the Slades’ sleek, dark green1955Austin Healy.
Pi clutches onto me and I hold her tightly as I walk across the cobblestone drive. The ominous dead, grey tree in the middle is completely bare. There are two inky black crows perched on the edge of a branch. Both caw loudly in the darkness of the night and the silvery-blue mist that moves between my legs only adds to the eerie atmosphere.
Climbing up the steps, I hold Pi in my arms, close to my chest as I push the door open and once we’re inside, I immediately know that we’re not alone. I can sense the shift in the air. The tension is as thick as the day I first stepped through the front door.
Breathing slowly and as carefully as possible, I move around the corner of the foyer. In the drawing room stands Pike’s father. He has a glass of amber-coloured liquor in his left hand and his eyes appear bloodshot from where I’m standing.
I notice the way his face twists when he sees his daughter in my arms and there’s a small kick of satisfaction. He doesn’t know it yet, but Pike will always choose me over him—over anyone for that matter. We have a bond like no other. A dark, sadistic, twisted bond that not even the Devil himself will dare to challenge.
It’s not only the fact that we share a blood connection, no it’s much deeper than that. Pike’s love, her scent, her entire being is rooted deep inside of me, just like I am in her.We’re one.
And if her father knows what’s best for him, he’d try to understand that bond quickly.
“What did you do with my daughter?” He places his glass down on the wooden mahogany table and moves toward us.
Sensing the thick tension in the air, I lower Pike to the grey rug beneath us, but she clasps onto my arm.
“Rhys,” she whispers, her eyes are sleepy. “Don’t.”
“It’s okay.” I run my fingers through her thick black mass of hair.
Then I lift my head and straighten my shoulders as Daniel approaches me. He glances down at Pi, his eyebrows knitting and his expression twisting with disgust.
“If I find out that you’ve done anything to her.” Daniel grabs the collar of my shirt, but as soon as he does that, I grab his hand and close my fist around his fingers.
Anger rushes through my veins and I have to stop myself from pounding his face in. There’s nothing more that would satisfy me than to make him bleed and then feel his blood on my knuckles.
His eyes widen as I tighten my fist around his hand. He doesn’t want to know what I’m capable of. I’ve spent years living a hard life, not having enough to eat, never knowing if my mother was going to make it through the night.
I was the one who had to deal with her addiction all on my own, get her from the slums late at night. I had to push through my fear to become what I am now; an unfeeling monster.
“What will you do to me?” I cock my head to the side, challenging him, urging him to actually fucking do something.
Pike grabs my other hand and I let go of Daniel. “Are you going to hit me? I’m not a young boy any more. One that you can bully and I never do anything to her Highness.”
Daniel opens his mouth and then closes it before he turns around and walks off into a dark corridor. I don’t fucking care to follow him either. He knows he can’t abuse me like he used to before. His hands left enough scars on me, both emotional and physical.
Glancing down I see Pike curled up into a small ball and something tugs at my heart for a split second, but I push that something down into the dark abyss that exists in me. Whatever it is, I don’t want to feel it ever again.
I lean down and gather Pike into my arms once again, before making my way up the stairs and into her room.
Once we’re inside, I kick the door shut with my boot and carry her over to her bed. Her warm, fruity scent invades my nostrils as I lay her down on her bed of dark, green silk sheets.
Her wrists are swollen and red from earlier, so I head into her bathroom and grab a towel before wetting the edge of it under a stream of warm water. When I squeeze out the excess water, I move back into the room and sit down next to her.
Taking her delicate wrists into my lap, I gently press the cloth against her skin, while blowing cool air on it. She stirs, but only for a moment, before going back into her drugged state of mind.
I love her the most like this, I decide. The moon’s glowing light fills her room with an ominous ambience, but I like it. I cannot help but let my gaze wander over her oddly pale skin, which is the same as mine. Her soft inky black locks are exactly like mine too. Her full rosy lips that I trace with my fingertips. She’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid my eyes on and she belongs to me.
Leaving the towel down beside me, I very gently unbutton her shirt and tug it off her slender shoulders. Then I remove her bra and her black knickers which are still wet from earlier.
