Page 31 of Rejected Darkness

“Arabella,” I whisper as I move up behind her. I don’t want to startle her too much knowing that she’s in a vulnerable place right now, but I also can’t just ignore her either. “What happened?”

“Phoenix?” she murmurs through the tears as she looks up at me.

Hating standing above her, I drop to my knees and pull her into my arms to provide her with as much comfort as I can. “You’re okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

“No, it won’t” she shouts, trying to pull out of my hold. I tighten my arms around her so she can’t escape. “You don’t understand.”

“Then help me understand,” I plead. The only thing keeping me calm right now is her being in my arms. I want to rage and destroy whoever did this to her suite. They need to pay and I’ll make sure they do, right after I get Arabella calmed down and somewhere safe.

“This happened before. Last time, it was just my room that was destroyed,” she begins, but I cut her off before she can continue.

“What the fuck do you mean last time?” I snarl. “This has happened before?”

“Yeah, last week someone broke into my room and destroyed it. I have no idea what they were looking for but nothing seemed missing. I haven’t gone inside to check if anything is missing this time. But whoever did this got the whole suite. Even Harper and Isis’s doors are wide open and their rooms a mess,” she explains over choked sobs. Thankfully, the more she’s talking, the more her crying has calmed down, but the more my temper has risen. She can’t stay here.

“Go inside and gather what you need for the night. You aren’t staying here tonight,” I demand, releasing her from my arms and helping her stand. It’s taking everything in me to control myrage. I’ve never been this angry in my life. Usually, I’m the calm one, and Rhys is the one who flies off the handle. I will find out who did this.

“But…,” she tries to argue.

“No buts”, I growl. Taking a breath I try to calm my temper to a manageable level. I don’t want her to run away from me. I’m not sure what I would do if she did, but it wouldn’t be good. “Go get whatever you need for the night you are staying with me where I know you will be safe.”

“I can’t stay with you!” she screeches, putting her hands on her waist as she stares me down. “I am not staying in the same dorm room as Rhys, and what about the girls? They need somewhere to stay too.”

“I’m not giving you a choice, Arabella,” I bite out. “I’m barely holding it together right now. I need to have you somewhere safe while I deal with this and the only place I trust you to be safe is my dorm. No one fucks with my brother, which means you will be safe there. As for the girls, I’ll talk to the dorm staff and we will find them other rooms to stay in while this is investigated. Now,” I pause. “Get. Your. Things.”

She looks like she’s about to argue with me but thinks better of it and turns around to head into her suite to do exactly what I asked. I can tell she isn’t happy about it one bit but she leaves it alone and walks inside the suite.

“And don’t think we won’t be talking about why you have a bruise on your face either,” I growl as she walks away from me. I saw the bruising the second she was in my arms but I knew that moment wasn’t the time to bring it up.One problem at a time, Phoenix, that’s all we can handle. My eyes don’t move from her as she carefully steps around tossed furniture and clothes. When she steps into her room, I move into the suite to keep her in my eyesight. If I thought the main living space was bad, her room is even worse. Half her clothes are shredded, not just tossedaround her room.Fuck.Whoever is targeting her really isn’t messing around. I didn’t think she had any enemies here except my brother. I guess I was wrong. I have a feeling I’m going to need to pull Rhys in on this. He’s already going to be pissed that I’m bringing her into our suite, but even I know he doesn’t put up with threats like this.

“Okay, I think I have everything that I need for now. I’ll have to come back before class tomorrow to go through things and see what can and can’t be salvaged.” She shakes her head as she pulls the strap of her duffle bag up her shoulder. “I just got a lot of those clothes and haven’t had a chance to wear half of them yet.”

“I’ll replace them,” I answer, reaching to grab her bag from her shoulder with one hand and grasping her hand with my other. I’m not taking any chances of her changing her mind. She is coming to my room, end of story. I drag her out of the room, not bothering to try to shut the door behind us, and head down the hallway. My room with Rhys is one floor up. We have one of the bigger suites in the dorm. How we got that I have no idea but I’m not going to complain about it.

“Phoenix, slow down,” Arabella pleads from my side as she stumbles and tries to keep up with my pace up the stairs.

“Sorry,” I mutter, trying to calm myself down and slow my pace. “Fair warning, Rhys is in our suite. I’m going to take you to my room and then I’ll talk to him while you get settled. Just ignore whatever comments he makes. I’ll handle him.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean your brother hates my guts and the feeling is mutual. We really shouldn’t be in the same suite. I can find somewhere to stay with the girls. It’s fine.” She argues as we come to a stop outside my suite door. It’s cute that she thinks reasoning with me is going to work. We’re far past that.

“Not happening,” I bite out, scanning my keycard and pushing the door. “You’re staying here. End of story.”

“WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING HERE?” Rhys snarls the second Arabella comes into his sight.

“She’s staying here with us for the time being. She’s taking my room, and I’ll sleep on the couch,” I answer, leaving no room for argument. Never once have I stood up to Rhys, but there’s a first time for everything.

“The fuck she is!” he shouts, stomping his way over to where we stand. He stands toe to toe with Arabella staring her down. I expected her to flinch or at least step back behind me, but she does neither. She holds her ground, staring him down. Good Girl.

“This is my dorm too. I say she stays, and you can get the fuck over it,” I step between them so he’s forced to look at me. “Someone broke into her dorm and trashed the place. Twice.” I add that little detail for good measure. “She isn’t safe there and I won’t have any harm coming to her. She stays here. I’m going to take her to my room and then go speak for dorm staff and get this taken care of.”

“What happened to your face?” He questions Arabella as he leans around me. He doesn’t bother to acknowledge anything I say out loud. He may have ignored my words, but he heard it when his eyes flared with more anger.

“None of your business,” Arabella states.

“We are getting to that. One problem at a time,” I growl simultaneously with her.

“Don’t you dare move a fucking muscle, Princess,” Rhys demands before he storms past us and out the door. Neither of us move until we hear the door click shut.

“So that went well,” she jokes. “What do you think he’s going to do?”

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