Page 196 of Vile Boys

“Hope?” she repeats.

“Hope for a better life. One where we can both live without prejudice over who we are and what we like.”

“But who would judge him?” she says. “He thinks he’s a god. No one can touch him.”

“There is someone …”

Shit. I really shouldn’t say that.

I shake my head. “Never mind. Doesn’t matter.”

She yawns. “I’m so tired. I know I should shower, but …”

“Sleep first,” I say, placing a kiss against the back of her neck when she slowly starts to doze off. “I’ll watch over you.”

Crystal

My eyes burst open,and I sit up straight in a bed that isn’t mine.

I don’t even remember falling asleep. How long was I out for? It must’ve been hours.

I check the bed, but it’s empty apart from me, while I could’ve sworn Caleb was right beside me.

Where has he gone off to?

I crawl out of bed, ignoring the fact I’m still wearing that same bloodied dress and my skin is still caked in someone else’s blood. I’m too preoccupied with finding Caleb. He wouldn’t just leave me all by myself in his room without cause.

I open the door and look out across the hallway, but all I see is other students walking about. Nothing particularly alarming is goingon. Some take a swift glance at me before walking farther, as though they don’t even want to acknowledge I exist for fear of Ares’s wrath.

I make my way across the hall to Ares’s room. The light is on, and the noise inside draws me closer.

My heart beats in my throat as I push open the door slightly and peer inside.

He’s bent over on a wooden chair, and Caleb pushes a wet sponge underneath his black shirt, revealing a small part of his skin. My breath hitches in my throat at the sight of all the blood. The bottom half of his muscular back is covered in cuts and slices. Fresh ones.

I take a step back in shock, bumping into something soft and harsh at the same time … something oddly familiar.

“I wouldn’t go farther if I were you.”

Blaine’s familiar voice makes my whole body erupt into goose bumps.

“What happened to him?” I mutter, my eyes glued on Ares’s back as Caleb dabs the sponge against his wounds. Ares hisses in pain but remains seated.

Blaine sighs. “I don’t know. Ares refuses to tell us. But for your own sake, don’t ask him.” He places a hand on my shoulder. “It’s best if you go back to Caleb’s room.”

I briefly glance at him in his red bathrobe, then nod and slowly turn away from him, walking all the way back to Caleb’s room before I shut the door to take deep breaths.

Those wounds were fresh, and they looked so damn painful … it’s hard not to feel sorry for him. But the thought of feeling not pity but actual compassion for a guy who literally locked me up in his house and uses me as a personal slut is hard to accept.

I hate him with every fiber of my being, yet …

Seeing him all wrangled up like that made it feel like someone carved my flesh too.

My heart hurts just as much as my mind.

I sink to the floor near the bed and bury my face in my hands, hoping that if I sit here long enough, I’ll forget what I saw.

Caleb

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