Dreams of Hell (The Protector Guild Book 3), page 7
Mavis grinned, his black, almond-shaped eyes full of laughter as he studied the crowd. “You kidding? I love getting to play fly on the wall for these kinds of things. Way quieter here than the bars, plus since we’re on campus, people let their guards down more.” He winked at me, pressing the lip of the beer against his own. “Not to mention that when I get tired, I’m just a crawl away from my bedroom and noise-cancelling headphones.”
He arched his brow at me, staring at me out of the side of his eyes. His dark hair was tousled and shiny, like he’d just walked out of a salon. I’d never seen him looking anything but perfect. “Gotta ask though, if you’re enjoying yourself so much, how come I keep catching your eyes wandering over to the door. Waiting for someone to show? We not enough for you here, Bentley?”
I felt my cheeks heat at his question, and I cleared my throat, distinctly looking away from the front door. “No, just trying to keep track of everyone,” I lied. “You all are more than enough for me.”
He winked before walking off, making a beeline towards Jer and a few of their friends. I hated that it was that obvious. And while I was grateful for everyone that showed up, I couldn’t stop the small part of me that seemed hellbent one waiting to see if Declan, Atlas, or Eli would show up. Had Izzy invited them? Did it matter?
Plus, my stomach was still a confused mess from Declan’s gift, and I was tearing my mind apart, trying to find a way to thank her for such a thoughtful gesture.
The door swung open, and my eyes latched onto a pair of cold blue ones.
Reza.
She arrived alone, but I saw Theo clocking every single movement she made as she strode through the room like she owned it.
“Had to come check out this cabin for myself,” she said as she walked over to me and grabbed a beer from the tub at my feet. “Gotta say, it’s decent, but I much prefer the aesthetic in mine. Too bad you screwed up that arrangement.”
I knew she was fishing for information from me. No one really knew why I suddenly moved out of Six’s cabin, only to immediately pop up in Ten’s like some respawning videogame character. And the details of that night were under pretty strict guard. Seamus and Cyrus were probably the only two to really hear what happened the night Darius escaped and Wade died. Ro’s response was to just avoid mentioning that night altogether. And the members of Six were the only ones to know all of the information—down to the final, terrible detail of Atlas wandering around on four legs instead of two on occasion.
I had a feeling that it drove Reza mad. She was used to having an inside scoop with her mother being headmistress. But even Alleva had limited knowledge of the events that night—even if she didn’t realize the limitation of that knowledge in the first place.
“Yup,” I said, the word drawn out as I popped the hard consonant, “too bad. Glad you’re enjoying your stay with Six, though. I’m sure they’re happy to have you.”
I wasn’t exactly sure if they were or not, and the smaller, pettier side of me was hoping like hell that they weren’t. If Declan’s gift was any sign, it seemed that she at least seemed to prefer my company to Reza’s. I tried not to let that realization make me too smug.
“They are,” she replied, tipping her drink back. Her usual confidence seemed tarnished somehow, though, and I glimpsed some rarely-seen insecurity peeking out behind her usually arrogant expression. “Doubt they’ll show tonight though. This,” she waved her bottle around the room, “isn’t really their scene. Izzy slipped an invitation under the door this morning though, so I figured I’d at least check out your party as a representative of the group.”
“How thoughtful,” I said, biting back a much less grateful retort. “I’m sure your schedule is quite busy, so don’t feel like you need to stick around if you have better things to do with your evening.”
Her eyes dropped a bit at the corners as she surveyed the room. “Actually, I might stay for a bit, if that’s okay?”
I opened my mouth, expecting to have to defend myself or end the conversation, but snapped my lips together so intensely that my jaw ached. She sounded almost sad, lost even maybe. And I recalled the tumultuous relationship she had with her mother, the way they engaged with each other during our sparring session over a month ago, and a wave of pity rushed over me.
Cyrus wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy when it came to parental material, but he was always encouraging and supportive. I had a suspicious feeling that Reza did not have that. And, despite what she wanted the world to see, it didn’t seem like she was exactly having an easy time with Six either. Why else would she want to stay here, at a party for me?
“Sure, Reza,” I said, taking another sip of my beer as I studied her. “You’re welcome here for as long as you’d like.”
Her eyes narrowed and I could almost feel her mood shift, the heavy wall erecting itself once again. “I don’t know that like is really the word I’d use. But Atlas isn’t home right now, and I don’t think I can handle another night of staying in the cabin alone while Eli and Sharla have excessively noisy sex.”
My stomach dropped, and it felt suddenly like an iron grip was closing itself around my chest. Eli and Sharla?
Thankfully, my face didn’t give anything away, because Reza continued as if nothing changed. “I mean, I know she’s here for now, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before she shows up for another booty call tonight. And I’d rather not be there if she does.” She paused, studying Sharla across the room. “Actually, maybe I can talk to her and see if they can just start meeting up over here. No sense in me being the only miserable one.”
With that, she walked away, not so much as a goodbye or syllable from me, and made her way towards Sharla. Sharla, who was stunning enough to make a supermodel feel insecure. Sharla who was sweet, and warm, and funny. Sharla who was my friend.
I knew that there was nothing between me and Eli. Any start to that chemistry was battered away the night of our first kiss, and buried even further the night of the attack. But as much as I’d tried to ignore it, as much as I wanted to push the memory away, my thoughts flitted back to that night more often than I cared to admit. To the feel of his lips against mine, the way our skin came together and met, like we were two halves of a whole. To the way we discussed our childhood traumas and fears.
It was silly, really. I knew that Eli was a huge flirt, that he was well known for running through women in casual relationship after casual relationship. I was mostly just disgusted with myself for thinking that maybe we could have had something a bit different than that, a bit more somehow.
And Sharla was amazing. I couldn’t compete with her, and I didn’t want to. If she was with Eli, I would lockdown whichever annoying parts of my brain seemed determined to linger on him beyond the way it lingered on any other protector here.
I watched Sharla’s smooth skin wrinkle in shock as Reza spoke to her, her eyebrows reaching so high up her forehead, it looked like they were legitimately trying to float off her face. I bit back a grin as the shock slowly melted away into a steely determination. I couldn’t read lips very well, but judging by the ferocity in Sharla’s crystalline eyes and the way Reza’s nostrils flared in indignation, I had a feeling that Sharla wasn’t taking any crap. She’d do what she wanted, when she wanted, at no behest to Reza’s whims and fancies.
Suddenly, the room felt impossibly crowded and warm, so I finished my beer, grabbed a fresh one, and made my way out of the cabin for some fresh air. Winding my way around the perimeter of the house, I made it to the back. Ten had a nice bench set up that looked out into the woods, so I sat down, staring into the weave of trees so thick that I couldn’t see a clear path. The night was chillier than it had been in a while, so I soaked in the breeze with relish, letting it soothe whatever heat and jealousy was coursing through my veins.
I tried mirroring Mavis’s smooth move with the bottle top, but I was neither wearing a belt, nor did I know how to properly use something as leverage to lift up the ridged, sharp corners. I let out a puff of frustration and sunk back into the bench, my head tilted to the sky. We weren’t quite as secluded out here on campus as Cy, Ro, and I had been back home, but the area was private enough that the stars were still bright. I watched them for a few moments, my hand growing cold from holding onto the bottle, as I drew invisible lines in my mind connecting different patterns in the sky. It was always a fun pastime for me and Ro when we were kids. A wave of nostalgia washed over me, and I found myself missing those days something fierce.
Why did we never realize how perfect a moment was until we were no longer living in it? It seemed like such a twisted irony.
“Need help with that?” A smooth, deep voice asked, and I shot up instantly, annoyed with myself that I hadn’t heard anyone walk up.
“Jer,” I said, letting out an exhale of relief, mixed with a chuckle at my own paranoia. “You scared me.”
He grinned in that lopsided way that boys grinned, the kind that made them instantly more attractive and devious. “Not exactly the effect I was hoping to have on you.” He sat down, his left knee brushing against my right, as he pulled out a keychain with a bottle opener and placed it against the lip of my beer until a gentle hiss filled the air around us. “What’re you doing out here on your own? Not enjoying your party?”
I took a swig of my beer, studying Jer. There was an earnestness in the way that he looked at me sometimes, kind and open in a way that made me wish he set my blood on fire or made my heart skip a beat in the way that Eli and Wade had. Maybe if I let myself, I could grow to feel that way about him; maybe my body could learn to explode in goose bumps when his hand brushed against mine, or maybe my breath could learn to hitch whenever our eyes met across the room.
Movies and books made romance seem like it was all passion or nothing, but maybe it didn’t really work like that. Maybe it had to grow organically, give you time to really sink into it.
“I just needed a breather,” I said, smiling up at him, convincing myself suddenly that I would try my best to give him the chance he so desperately seemed to want. I wasn’t entirely sure why he seemed so drawn to me, but Izzy seemed to encourage the match on occasion, and everyone in Ten seemed to trust Jer.
As if reading the decision on my face, he leaned in closer, until his eyes were close enough to see my own reflection in them. “I’m glad you’re on our team, Max. I know it’s been a chaotic start to your career at The Guild, but I think if you give us a chance, you’ll find we might surprise you, and not in a bad way.”
The way he leaned into the word ‘we’ made it abundantly clear that it wasn’t Ten he was talking about. A questioning look crossed his face as he studied me.
I didn’t pull away.
That was all the answer he needed, before he closed the distance between us, his lips crashing down on mine. His skin was so much warmer than mine, that I almost welcomed the contact if only because it scared away my chill. Tentatively, he licked the seam of my mouth until I opened in response, my tongue tasting nothing but the alcohol on his.
It wasn’t a bad kiss. All things considered, it was probably perfectly adequate.
But no matter how much I wanted it to, kissing Jer didn’t chase away whatever crippling chill had spread through my body the night that Wade died. I didn’t emerge from the experience, the closeness, feeling suddenly alive again, or stop thinking about the way hearing that Eli and Sharla were together created a weird crack through my lungs, or a puncture.
After a moment, I pulled away, hoping that Jer had come to the same conclusion, that this probably wasn’t going to be anything more than a friendship. Judging by the shy grin pulling up his lips, it wouldn’t be that simple, that neat.
A soft rustle of leaves sounded in the distance, and I jumped away from Jer, like I was embarrassed or ashamed to be caught like this.
When I studied the area around us, as far as my eyes could see through the trees which, admittedly, wasn’t far, I found nothing and no one in the distance.
Shaking the anxiety off, I took a long pull of the cold liquid, dreading having to do this right now. “I’m sorry, Jer,” I said, the words falling monotonously to my ears. “I don’t think this is a good idea. And I don’t think that I’m in a place where I can give you anything but my friendship right now.” I forced myself to look up at him, to have the courage to watch the disappointment lingering in his eyes—so out of place in comparison to what was there just a moment ago. “Is that—is that okay with you?”
His shock evaporated away until a kind, understanding expression took hold of his features. Squeezing my shoulders gently, he nodded. “Absolutely. Let’s chalk tonight up to too much booze and getting carried away with the celebration—sound like a plan?”
I exhaled in relief and gave him a hug in gratitude. “That sounds like an excellent plan.”
I didn’t think this would make things weird in the house, but if it did, there was no use worrying about it until we crossed that bridge.
“Should we head back inside?” He asked, his breath coming out in visible puffs of air. “Kind of chilly, no?”
Pulling away, I realized that there was one more face I wanted to see on my birthday. Izzy’s party was great, but I didn’t want to return to it until I was restored with the proper energy for socializing. “You go ahead, I’m going to stay out here just a while longer, then I’ll join you.”
Chapter Seven
Max
It was sort of ironic that one of the things I looked forward to most these days, one of the things that was almost always sure to put a smile on my face, was going to visit a giant creature from hell.
But Ralph had that way about him, and if anything could help me sort through the annoying emotions running through my body, it was a solo walk through the woods that culminated in being run over by a giant ball of fur and slobber.
I’d found my way to his spot so many times that it was almost second nature to venture through the dark to the small, abandoned cabin that we tried so hard to make habitable. It was honestly probably the only place on campus I was able to find without getting completely turned around or lost. Which, to be clear, was only because on the few occasions when I did just that, Ralph made sure to find me and guide me back home. Dogs were great.
When I reached the small hut, with slivers of moonlight shining through the branches and casting just enough light to highlight each step, I felt my anxiety about Eli and Jer and everything else just melt away.
Until it was right back again.
I swept the random brambles and leaves aside so that I could push open the door. Just like before, Ralph was nowhere to be seen. The stillness of the night sent shivers down my spine—it was quiet out here, too quiet. Something told me that this time Ralph wasn’t off playing moonlight fetch with Declan.
The calm that stole over my body during my walk immediately dissipated when I heard what sounded like a scream far off in the distance. Did one of the students wander this far out? Had they encountered Ralph?
We’d been so lucky so far; even with all of the extra evening patrols, no one knew that he was out here. For as giant and bumbling as he was, he sure as hell knew how to keep out of the way and stay invisible when he needed to.
But what if all of that was about to change? Images of Ralph being carted back into the dim research lab flashed in my mind like a bad horror film. Getting him out of there, saving him from scheduled death, was the only good thing that came from that night. The thought of us ending back where we started sent a tremor of revulsion through my body. It couldn’t have all been for nothing. The price was already far too high, impossibly high.
Running towards a screaming person by myself, in the middle of the woods, at night, was probably a bad idea. In fact, I was certain it was a bad idea.
But I took off chasing the noise anyway, charging through the trees like Tarzan, on the off chance that I could reach whoever it was that needed help, or help disguise Ralph in case my fears proved true.
There was something exhilarating about the way the wind whipped over my face, making my hair fly around me in an odd dance. I wasn’t exactly in the best shoes for running, since I was dressed for a party, but I still relished the feel of my flats digging into the dried dirt, each step releasing a fresh plume of moss and something distinctly earthy. The woods here didn’t exactly smell like the woods back home, but there was still something comforting in the familiarity. Comforting enough, that my heart pounded with excitement and determination, rather than fear.
I ran for what felt like hours, even though it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two until I started to slow down. The screams had disappeared entirely, and I had no idea where to go from here. I fished around in my back pocket, looking for my phone so that I could call Ro or Cyrus and let them know that someone was out here and needed help.
My stomach dropped when I realized that my pocket was flat, my phone likely forgotten on my bed or on a random kitchen surface back in the cabin. I had one of my new daggers on me at least.
After the night of Wade’s death, I never left my room without having something sharp and pointy on my person. I refused to be caught surrounded by baddies again, with no way of protecting myself or those I cared about. I’d already paid far too steep of a price for that lesson.
Unsheathing it from the holster, I gripped the handle—not too tight, but hard enough that I felt the comforting and familiar weight in my fingers. My head was still slightly fuzzy from the alcohol, but the fresh air was doing wonders for keeping me alert and aware.
Behind me, a twig snapped, so I whipped my arm up, ready to strike as I spun around.
“Jesus, Bentley, watch where you’re swinging that thing,” Atlas said as he lifted his palms into the air in case he needed to stop the blade’s trajectory into his stomach.
