Page 22 of Lock Up the Darkness

Liza went on, “Kill was just teaching you a lesson because you challenged him. Those don’t last forever and this marks the end of it. Everything will be okay now.”

I shook my head as I packed my laptop into my bag. “I don’t know.”

My internal warning system was screaming at me.

And one thing was coming through particularly loud and clear: It’s a trap!

While I needed to infiltrate the Infidels, to get closer to my targets, it had to be on my own terms, or I wouldn’t just fail, I’d fall. Painfully, I was sure, given their reputations.

“Aurora, come on. This is your chance to cement that peace. I mean, as long as you don’t pull a repeat of that thing at Fusion of slamming one of them down on a table and threatening to chop their dick into little pieces and feed it to them.”

A chuckle escaped me at the memory.

And something I didn’t care for. Something like euphoria washing over me at the memory. The violence. The power. The sheer satisfaction of taking a fuckhead like that down several pegs.

I couldn’t like it.

A whole lot of darkness lay down that road.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it had been the first time I’d felt that when going the violent route.

But that was far from the case.

And as much as I hated to admit it at the best of times, that sensation was getting stronger.

This entire situation, being in Hexwood, was antagonizing it.

She grasped my hand, urgency bleeding from her, and interrupting my worries. “If you don’t go, they’ll take it as an insult, and everything could get way worse.”

“Believe me, if I go, things will get way worse.”

Her eyes hardened for a moment. But it was gone so quickly, as though it could’ve just been a trick of the light, before she beamed out at me. “Just think about it some more before you make your decision, okay? Just promise me that at least.”

Crap. “All right.”

“Thank you.” Her eyes darted to the clock on her phone. “Shit. I need to get going. I have some emergency shopping to do now. Do you want to come?”

Not my scene. “I’m good. Enjoy yourself.”

“All right.” She gave me a quick hug, then hurried off

With a heavy sigh, I adjusted my bag on my shoulder, then headed for the door.

I made my way out and turned down the corridor, then pushed through the door that led into the stairwell. I headed down the four flights of stairs to the underground parking garage.

My boots thudded on the concrete, echoing around the quiet space. The lot was barely a quarter full. This college was full of rich kids and they tended to park in the fancier lot over on the other side of campus. The one that had its own security guards and everything. This one was pretty much reserved for the others, like me.

That was why, as I turned the corner, I was more than a little surprised to see a shiny, souped-up Harley Sportster parked beside my old Camaro tucked away in a dark corner of the lot.

That was just the start of the surprises, because as I rounded the pillar blocking my full view, I saw none other than Killian Carmichael leaning against my car.

Hmm.

His legs were crossed at the ankles, his shoulders slightly hunched, with boredom if I had to guess, while he idly spun his car keys around his fingers with an intense, brooding expression knitting his brows together.

I saw him tense for a brief moment, clearly registering my approach.

“Lost your way, Your Highness?”

---