Page 2 of Scorching Lies

“Take her first son.”

His words are garbled but they ring in my ears, each word louder than the one before, he wants me to save her first. Shuddering breaths wrack his body, the rattling in his chest shattering the organ in mine. Shaking my head back and forth I’m forced to pull my mask down, blocking out all emotions until ice seeps into my veins. Ryker fucking Stone.

Licking my dry cracked lips, with a grunt I shove off the floor coming to a stand, the fear of being burned cast out of my thoughts. Reaching down, my hands wrap around Kenna’s blistering skin pulling a piercing scream from her lungs.

“Shhh baby girl, I’ve got you.”

Her weight slams into me, tossing her over my shoulder, I call back behind me to the man who made me who I am.

“I’m coming back for you. I fucking promise.”

It’s that promise that haunts my nightmares. The same nightmares that house a scarred blonde princess, dragging me out of the fire by her teeth, snarling like the wolf she is.

She may have escaped with a few scars but when I’m finished with her, she’ll wish the scorching flames engulfed her. I won’t stop until she answers our questions starting with where the hell her dad went.

That night changed everything. The phoenix rose from the ashes more sinister than before and now I have the pleasure of plucking her wings, making sure she never flies again.

Saving Kenna killed my dad but that’s not why she’s going to suffer. No, the princess must pay for her fathers’ sins and my dick twitches at the prospect of making her bleed.

CHAPTER ONE

KENNA

Reality. It was never as simple as being normal. For instance, college wasn't just college here in Del Mar. It didn’t serve as a place to further education like the ads and letters in the mail explained. Instead, it was an egotistical place for frat boys and sorority girls to fuck and get drunk on any given day of the week.It’s where money bought you a place on the social status train. Where elitist families fork out money to secure their little shits place here. It’s also the place that bred my family, where my mom met my dad, where we built our name. It belongs to me.

Only, it doesn’t belong to only me. Acid fills my mouth at the name sitting on the edge of my tongue. The Stone family and mine mixed in a liquid fire mess of status quo and power. This town wasn’t home to me for the past few years. Yet, here I was going to school and contemplating my life choices. Was I throwing myself a pity party because things didn’t go my way?Fuck no.That certainly didn’t mean I wasn’t void of emotions. I heard the whispers behind my back when people thought I couldn’t. I saw the look of disgust from the people who weresupposed to be my friends. This was all because of what went down that night, a night I would doanythingto forget about.

Small fingers snapped in front of my face. “Kenna, are you listening?”

I blink, doing my best to revert back to the version of myself everyone wanted to see. The girl who was flawless and had no scars running down the side of her body hideous enough for people to run away screaming. The girl who wasn’t hated by the three people she needed most. Nah, I was suppose to remain the rich girl who had everything handed to her. I was suppose to be the one who turned the Stone brothers lives upside down. That was my identity here at Hawthorne but I knew the truth and I plan on making sure everyone else does as well. I plaster a fake grin on my face.

“I’m listening.”

Ally raises an eyebrow. “Oh really? And what did I say? Hmm?”

I scramble my brain to remember what she was talking about before I zoned out. I open my mouth to say something, but decide against it. All I’d come up with was a smartass retort she probably didn’t want to hear. All I knew was it involved a guy, one I’d rather not think about, not yet at least. How had I ended up gaining a roommate that not only knew who the Stone brothers were, but happened to have fuck buddy status with West Stone himself.

She rolls her eyes. “As I was saying, a certain someone really knows how to rock my world if you know what I mean.”

I scrunch my face and throw a fry at her. “Gross.”

She wiggles her eyebrows, “You’re just mad you didn’t get any last night.”

Hardly.I also wasn’t in the mood to hear about how great she thought West was in bed. As far as I was concerned, he was dead to me. Thethreeof them were dead to me. Of course, the three assholes were always around. It’s been impossible to avoid them with the whole school kissing their asses. The people on campusbowedto them as if they were royalty anytime they came near.It was bullshit.They walk around campus like their shit doesn’t stink and expect everyone to do their bidding. People fear them. God knows I should, but somewhere deep in my bones that little girl with cotton colored hair remembers how special and safe they made her feel.

“What are you thinking about?” Ally was always the inquisitive one, bringing me back to the tainted world around me.

On nights when the memories flood my dreams, a small part of me wishes it was me that died in the fire. Then the pain would fade away, thetorturewould be non-existent, and my scars would be gone. I’d managed to escape death twice and I wasn’t sure how many more times I could escape it before meeting a fatal end. Hell, if Ryker had it his way, Iwouldbe dead.

I place my hand over my face in an attempt to wipe away the negativity I had running through my brain. “Everything, I’m having a hard time getting my head to shut up.”

Understanding crosses her features and for a moment it seemed like concern shines bright in her hazel eyes, but it vanishes quickly after. “Have you run into them since they arrived?”

Rolling my eyes I laugh, “Like they would let me walk around campus without the constant reminder that they’re here for me.West could have gone to a D1 school yet here he is, at a college built to breed businessmen and compliant women.”

I mentally scoff. There was a lot I could’ve done. I could’ve done more to save my best friend. The boys’ father would be alive, Ryker would still be my dirty little secret, and my dad would be here instead of where he is. Most importantly, Paige would be alive, here with me like we always planned. Nothing could ever be that simple though. I was destined to live life suffering through this loop of degrading torture.

Yeah, life was a fucked up world of what ifs. All because of that one night, my previous best friends, and family hated my guts. They want nothing more than to torture me until I burn in hell. I knew for a fact that Ryker, the oldest, was the one who wanted to see me perish. He blamed me.Theyblamed me for everything. I just wish I could remember the details of that night. I had to know if I truly was to blame. If my father really was the cause of everything that’s happened since that day.

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