Page 82 of His To Claim

“It’s the only way, Scar, to beat Agent Servite at his own game. By turning his most loyal soldier against him,” Jade tells me, taking my hand in hers.

“A whole new meaning to sleeping with the enemy,” I whisper softly, unsure of what I’m about to agree to.

The next morning,as I am eagerly walking toward Westerly Hall, the thing I’ve dreaded most occurs. I run into Drake. I had purposefully left twenty minutes early in case he was outside the girls’ house waiting for me. He hadn’t texted me since the party, but Jade mentioned he had been eager to get in contact with me. She was able to convince him to give me some space when they had arrived back at the academy the night of the masquerade ball. I’m not sure what excuse she had given him, but I was thankfuleither way. I couldn’t face him right now. Not after what I’d done. Not after what Jade asked me to do.

You need to end things for good. It’s the only way to make sure he doesn’t find out. Break up with Drake, tell him it’s over, and then you need to date Ace.

I knew she was right, but that doesn't mean it would be easy.

Drake was a curious soul. He needed to know things, and I was terrible at hiding them from him. The only way to keep him safe, and away from all this trouble with Agent Servite and my mom was to make him believe we were over, and I’d moved on. I hated I was going to hurt him, break his trust, and ruin what was possibly the truest relationship I have ever had. But it had to be done. I owed it to him. I needed to end things before I betrayed him further. I owed it to Jade to help find her brother. I needed to stop being so selfish.

I see him walking toward me in his uniform minus the blazer, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up just below his elbows. Dark, wavy hair tousled atop his head and I can emerald eyes darkening the closer he gets to me. They are looking right through me.

What was I thinking?I can’t just break up with him and walk away. No, this is going to be harder than I thought. Drake is my guardian, my closest confidant. He’s going to see right through this fake façade.

“Scar, we need to talk,” he says as he stands in front of me, blocking my way.

“There is nothing that can’t wait till later. I need to get to class, Dragon. Macallan hates it when I’m late,” I say as I try walking around him.

He reaches out for me, gripping my wrist tightly. “Bullshit. You’re avoiding me and I want to know why.”

I turn back toward him looking directly between his hand and its tight grip around my wrist. “Let go of me, Drake,” I say, but he doesn’t loosen his hold on me.

“Not until you agree to talk.”

“I don’t answer well to threats, Dragon. You, better than anyone, should know this. A threat makes you the enemy and we both know that’s not what you want.”

He gazes into my eyes for a moment before letting go of my wrist and steps back slightly, running a hand through his raven locks.

“What I want is for you to stop bullshitting me and tell me what the fuck is going on,” he says, stepping closer to me.

“No can-do, Dragon. I’ve got to get to class.” I try once again to step around him and almost make it to the front doors of Westerly Hall before he grabs me again.

This time he hooks a hand around my waist turning me flush against him. “Scarlett, for the love of…”

“What god?” I say laughing. It is now or never. Drake will not stop digging unless I make it clear that I am done. Done with us, done with him, done with everything; not until I convince him that this place has changed me for the worse. He won’t stop trying to figure me out until I give him a reason to want to stay as far away from me as possible. It is time to break up with my boyfriend if I can even still call him that. He’ll surely hate me after this, but it is the only way to keep him safe. Like I said, Drake needs to know things. But the things here are too dangerous for him to know.

“There is no god, Dragon. Least of all here. All the devils are here and we’re all walking amongst them, and I’ve never felt more at home.” He loosens his hold on my waist slightly and I step back from him. “This,” I say, motioning between us, “This is over. I’m tired of your incessant questioning for any and every little thing I do. I told you I don’t answer to anybody, least of all to you. And you need to understand that. I was right before. This was a mistake. I should have never started a relationship with you, but I did. And you were right. I did it out of spite. Because Ace Servite was getting under my skin and I needed to prove that he couldn’t control me. That I can kiss whoever I want, and fuck whoever Iwant, and he isn’t going to tell me otherwise.” Bile threatens to make its way up my esophagus at my words.

My dragon, he looks torn up, broken, and confused. He runs his fingers through his hair once more.

“You’re a horrible liar, Scarlett. But fine, you don’t want to tell me what’s really going on. Fuck it, I can’t make you. You need to bullshit yourself with this lie for some reason, so be it. I’ll just have to figure it out on my own,” he says before turning and walking away.

I almost stop him. Almost. I need to let him walk away. Maybe Jade will be able to stop him from digging. Or Ruby. I’m sure she’ll hate me and want to keep her brother as far away from me as possible. Yes, I need to convince her to stop him.

I turn toward the doors, but before I can open them, I hear a loud clapping coming from behind me. And to no surprise of course, Ace stands at the edge of the building, a cigarette in his mouth, a smug grin plastered on his stupidly perfect face. Clearly, he witnessed my breakup with Drake and the smug bastard that he is, I’m sure he believes it’s his doing. Not wanting to listen to whatever childish remark he’s going to make, I ignore him and walk into the building heading into my homeroom class.

Inside, Macallan is seated at the front of his desk, and he eyes me warily as I make my way to my seat, throwing my bag on my desk and falling back into my chair with a loud thud. As I take a seat, I turn back to the front of the class and notice Ace has walked in with the lit cigarette still between his lips. I lock eyes with him as he walks toward me.

“Hem,” says Macallan, clearing his throat, as he holds out the trash bin beside his desk toward Ace. Ace turns to him reluctantly tossing the cigarette into the bin, then slowly making his way to the desk beside me falling into his chair with a thud. He turns to me, those ocean eyes locked on mine and a shrewd smirk taking over.

“I must admit I didn’t think you had it in you, Red. That spitfire.”

I ignore him and instead pull out my MacBook and keep my gaze on Macallan at the front of the class. I remember Jade’s words telling me I need to keep Ace on a short leash and use him to gain access to information about my mother and Chaz. I need to make him believe I broke up with Drake because of him. That I chose him. There is nothing more alluring to a condescending asshole than making him believe he’s won. That he’s gotten something Drake had. Me.

“It was past due,” I say, batting my eyelashes and turning toward him. “Drake and I, we just weren’t clicking anymore. The sex just wasn’t enough. Nothing compared to you and me.”

He sits up straight, a smug look plastered on his face.

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