Page 96 of Pure Vengeance

“He’s my brother, I don’t need to leave him alone.”

“He doesn’t need you to defend him, he doesn’t need you causing a scene and making things worse,” Richard says.

“If that’s how he feels, he can tell me himself,” I say, pushing past him.

Wading through bodies again, I see Declan and some brothers talking quietly in a corner. He shoots me a deathly glare. The hair on the back of my neck stands up on end. I push my way away from them, stepping carefully over people who’ve apparently decided to just randomly sit on the floor.

I go back upstairs, and I see Noah go into a bathroom and shut the door. I go to the door and knock on it. “Noah, it’s me.”

“Fuck off!”

I stand there awkwardly. “I’m not going to,” I call, hoping he can hear me over the noise. “I was just trying to protect you.”

I hear him sniff, and I know in my heart he’s snorting something. I don’t know what he’s on, but he’s on something and not thinking straight.

I stay by the door, waiting for a good half an hour before it opens. A guy walks out of the bathroom, looks at me, then heads downstairs. The door lock clicks again, and I wait some more. He’s in there, and the jealousy inside of me is raging. What was he doing with that guy? Was it just drugs? Did they do more? What the fuck was he thinking? He just almost got caught by the Alphas.

The door opens, and Noah comes out, sipping a beer. “Go home, Adrian.”

“Don’t be a fool,” I hiss. “Look at you, you’re high as a kite. You’re not thinking straight. If anyone saw that guy come outbefore you, this will be all over campus.” I keep my voice low. “Now you need to sober up. Come on, you’re coming with me.”

“Who made you the fucking boss?”

“Will you please come with me?” I ask. “I mean it, Noah, this is your reputation on the line.”

He looks at me and points at me. “You can’t mention me being high again.”

“Fine. Deal,” I snap. “Come on.”

I put an arm around him as he stumbles as he walks. I help him down the stairs and out the front door. I take the beer from him and toss it on the front lawn before I help him toward his fraternity. We take forever to get there because he keeps stopping and looking around in amazement, commenting on how beautiful everything is.

We get there eventually, though, and I dump him on his bed.

CHAPTER TEN

Noah

I’m not entirely happy about leaving the party, but a part of me knows Adrian is right and I can’t deny it, even though I’m pretty out of it at the moment. He leaves my room, and I’m wondering where he’s gone when he comes back with some coffee.

“Here, drink this.”

I take it and sip it, pulling a face. “I hate coffee.”

“Since when?” he asks.

“Since forever,” I say, but I sip the coffee again, gagging.

“I didn’t know,” he says.

I look at him. “If you’re trying to sober me up, the best thing you can give me is orange juice. It kills all buzzes.” I don’t know why I’m bothering to tell him this, but he leaves again and comes back with a bottle of orange juice. I set the coffee down and take a big gulp of orange juice.

I look at him. “It’s not a magic potion, it doesn’t work right away. You can go, I will not die.”

“I don’t want to leave,” he whispers. “I want to talk to you, but I’m not sure how much of this you’re going to remember.”

“I’ve got a pretty good memory, even when I’m partying.”

“Did you have sex with that guy in the bathroom?” he asks.

---