Page 17 of The Pretty Psycho

That miserable man could rot in hell for all I cared, but I still didn't understand what Arseniy wanted from me.

"Look." I took a deep breath, looking straight at Arseniy. "I understand, I really do, and I'm sorry you had to go through something like that. I just… I just don't understand what it is you want from me. If you're not here to kill me, why would you spend so much time looking for me? There's nothing I can offer you, Arseniy. I live in the shadows and every single moment of my life is filled with tragedy, so," I shrugged, "I just don't understand."

"Isn't it obvious?" Dimitri asked as Arseniy got up and sat on the bed right next to me, taking a hold of my hand and clutching it in his. "Walking through the darkness isn't an easy thing to do, don't you agree?" Dimitri walked to the other side of my bed. "But living in silence," he looked at his friend, "that takes a different toll on your soul. Look, I am his voice when he can't speak, and I've spent enough years by his side to know what he would want to say even without him typing it to me. But this conversation… You guys have to have it between yourselves."

Dimitri moved toward the door slowly as I sat there, stupefied, looking at my hand in Arseniy’s. The only indicator that Dimitri had left the room was Arseniy looking toward the door and then back at me, killing me with those looks filled with a longing so profound I could feel it in my own soul.

"I want a family," he whispered, slowly, almost carefully, each word gripping my soul in its tight fist, because I knew whatit felt like being completely alone. "I want to know my sister, Vega. I-I—" He started coughing.

"No, don't talk," I intercepted before he could even open his mouth again. "I get it. I understand. Just don't," I stammered. "Don't hurt yourself for me."

A smile slowly spread over his lips, practically blinding me, because for the first time since he entered, I could see something else other than that fear, sorrow, and anger in his eyes. He pulled out his phone, typing something, before turning it to me.

I started reading out loud, smiling at the words in front of me. "You don't want me to run?" I asked, earning a slow shake of his head. "Okay, but you should probably know that I'm probably the most wanted person at the Academy." He swiveled toward his phone, turning it back to me just a few seconds later, making me frown momentarily. "We have to go back to the Academy? Why?" His eyes darkened, that same displeased look taking over his face I could so often see on my own, and as he showed the latest message, his mouth opened, making my heart beat so much faster.

"There's a war coming," he whispered. "And we're in the middle of it."

"The Schatten?" I asked.

"Adrian's father," he answered, "and The Schatten."

Fuck. "That isn't good."

"No," a new voice came from the direction of the door, making me pivot in my seat.

A voice I knew too well, belonging to the man whose mere presence had me both wanting to stay and run as far away as possible.

"That isn't good at all, Bambi." Fuck. Him.

Fuck him and that stupid nickname.

Arseniy stiffened next to me, probably sensing my discomfort, but I had to remember that he and Adrian were friends far longer than he even knew I existed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice dripping with venom specially reserved for him. "I don't want to see you here."

"That's not how you acted this morning."

"I wasn't myself this morning."

Arseniy stood up, slowly walking toward Adrian and shaking his head. "Don't look at me like that, brother," Adrian said, his eyes firmly plastered to mine. "I am not leaving this room until we talk, Vega."

He wasn't? Then it was a good thing that I didn't have to stay here. If he wanted to stand there for all eternity and look as stupidly handsome as he did now, even with those dark fucking circles around his eyes, then so be it, but I wasn't staying here for another second.

My hand wrapped around the IV drip connected to me, pulling it out within seconds, letting the droplets of blood drip down. "What the fuck, Vega!" Adrian yelled out, rushing toward me, which only made me quicken my movements.

I pulled myself up, hating the dizzy spell coming over me as soon as my legs touched the floor, but I could do this. I could fucking do this.

"Vega," he mumbled, standing right next to me. "Please. Just… Just let me explain. Let me tell you everything."

I looked up at him. At those dark, dark eyes I thought I loved, at that disheveled hair and the tired look on his face, and as much as it hurt me seeing him like this, his betrayal hurt even more.

"No." I pushed past him, heading toward Arseniy who simply stood at the bottom of the bed, looking at me with worried eyes. "You had your chance and you fucking blew it."

"Bambi—"

"Stop fucking calling me that!" I bellowed, turning toward him as heavy breaths escaped through my lips. "I don't want to see you, Adrian. I don't even want to hear your fucking voice! You." I pointed at him. "You could've had every single part of my dark, fucked-up heart, and you lost it. You lost it." I hated the emotion in my voice. I hated that I still cared too much. I hated how much I wanted to feel his arms around me, even now, when I wanted to hate him more than need him. "My heart is a graveyard of shattered dreams, and you became just another grave."

He flinched, as if I'd physically attacked him, making me hate myself just a little bit more. His eyes filled with an emotion I knew too well, but before I could say anything else, he masked it behind a veil of indifference, slowly coming to me, like a panther coming for its prey.

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