Page 11 of Toxic

Feeling super low on energy, I left the dorm in a light drizzle and headed for the college buildings. I showed up twenty minutes before class, and to my surprise, Soren was already there, standing in front of the building, smoking, surrounded by a cloud of smoke. When he saw me, his eyes narrowed in hostility.

It was time—now or never.

Forcing some courage out of me, I walked up to Soren, stopped in front of him, and said, "Password: Kingdom of Promises."

Only then did I see a change in his face—his pupils dilated slightly—but he just blew smoke in my direction and tilted his head.

"So?"

"I'd like to use your services," I said, trying to maintain a calm tone. "For three times the usual amount."

He scoffed and took a drag of his cigarette. "I'm not interested. Get lost."

I'll admit, it wasn’t what I expected. After all, he needed money, had financial troubles, and now he was just giving up the chance to earn three times his normal rate? The naive hope that it would tempt him just died.

Yeah, Alvin had said nothing tied anyone here—that everyone could set their own rules and serve whoever they wanted, but… still, I’d been cautiously optimistic, hoping that the money would do the trick. Silly me.

So, this was my last chance, and now it was gone, too.

"Why? If I may ask, what is it about me that repels you so much?"

His lips twisted into an even more scornful grimace. His heart, like always when I was around, was racing like crazy. "I don't have to explain anything to you. Get lost!"

I was silent for a moment. "I don't get it. What have I done to you? What's worse about me than that blond guy?"

Soren clenched his lips tightly and then stubbed out his cigarette on the building wall. "I'm tired of talking to you," he growled before turning around and walking away.

And that was it. A failure. Yep.

With my mind kind of blanked out, I went back to my room and took out my violin, hoping to take a break from thinking about this whole shitty situation. I began to play, taking advantage of the time alone. Archer was still out jogging or at the gym with Gabe, and Alvin was off who knows where.

The music soothed my nerves in one way, but in another, it added to them. I still had a certain stiffness in my left fingers, and sometimes they’d slip clumsily off the strings. Since my fight with my brother Storm, when he broke two of my fingers, they had never been a hundred percent like before.

Clutching the fingerboard nervously, I tried to play, my eyebrows furrowed and my jaw clenched. But my irritation only grew until I had to stop and put the violin back in its case, cursing under my breath, battling anger and disappointment… on every level of my life.

Soren’s rejection had transformed within me, becoming a persistent, nagging hum at the back of my mind, pushed to the edges, seemingly unimportant yet impossible to fully silence.

When Archer and Alvin came back into the room one hour later, I pondered whether I should even say anything. Maybe just to vent? I impulsively sat down on the bed beside Alvin and said, "I tried the password on Soren today."

Alvin jerked his head up and stared at me.

"On Soren? But why? Do you have a death wish? You picked the highest bar, Skye. I told you your chances were slim, you’re an alpha."

I sighed in irritation. "I thought he'd agree because I offered him triple the money, but he seems to… hate me."

"Don’t take it personally. Soren is a walking-talking venom. I told you, better pick someone else, less of a headache."

Archer, who was on his laptop, raised his crystal blue eyes to me, but his face remained unfazed.

"But I don't get it. What’s the problem? You used his services, so he must’ve agreed, right?"

"Only a hj, once, at the beginning. And even then, he was super stiff and hostile. He doesn’t do alphas; I’ve told you like five times. He only serves these two guys, beta and omega: May and Ed."

"What about this Don guy? He seems to make an exception."

"Pfff, Don is his paypig! He gives Soren money, like, a lot, for no reason—not for sex. That’s why Soren tolerates Don being around."

"So, if he only has May and Ed as patrons, and Don is just a friend, why’s he even on the list you showed me? Why include him at all?"

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