Page 40 of Tyrant

Tyrant turns and looks like he’s gotten somehow bigger. He closes in on me.

“Are you fucking telling me what I can or can’t do,claimed one?”

His massive right hand lifts and touches my throat. His hand slides to the back of my neck. His thumb pressing at the middle of my throat, teasing to cut off my air.

“Maybe you’re just jealous I pulled Naya’s hair and not yours,” he says.

My teeth chatter. A question hits me.

How do I know it’s not Tyrant doing this to me…?

Maybe he drugged me last night. Maybe he left the headless, eyeless teddy bear in my bed.

Tyrant lowers his mouth down toward mine but he does not kiss me.

“Whoever is doing this… I’m going to fucking kill them.”

He pulls at my hair, sending me stumbling back against my bedroom door. He goes back to my bed and looks at the stuffed animal carnage. He picks up the black plastic eyes and squeezes them tight in his right hand.

“Pack up your shit, Sera,” Tyrant says with confidence. “You’re coming to live with me from now on.”

“What?”

“That wasn’t a fucking question. That was an order.”

He drops the teddy bear’s eyes to the floor and motions for the bedroom door. I shake my head. He walks up to the door and opens it anyway, tossing me forward with such force that I fall to the floor.

“What the fuck is this?” I ask.

“Not sure. But someone wants you hurt. Wants you dead. And since you’re mine, it’s my job to protect you. And I meant what I said,my chosen one.Whoever is doing this to you, they are going to die.”

Tyrant leaves the bedroom and I look at the teddy bear eyes on the floor. My heart sinks and I feel like I’m going to throw up again.

I guess this means I will be living with Tyrant.

Chapter Seventeen

TYRANT

Everyone else livesin a dorm style room or a shared apartment. When you’re part of abroodyou get your own place. No roommates needed, or allowed.

Serafina has been here before. She doesn’t remember coming but she does remember leaving. I carried her with my bare hands into my place and carried her to the bedroom. That’s where she slept. Safe. Sound. And now it feels completely different.

I know Des drugged her. There’s nothing I can do about it right now. Nothing I can prove. No punishment to be dealt. And I will not stand there and act like a fucking toddler and do the blame game.

But the teddy bear…

Ironic enough that seems so much more harmless than slippingGHBinto someone’s drink.

The head ripped off. The eyes plucked off.

“So at what point do I get to ask questions?”

My claimed one’s voice is shaky. She’s scared to talk to me, which is a good thing. She should be scared of me. I’m not here for her comfort. Protection is one thing, comfort and hope is a whole other situation that I want no part of.

I make sure my door is locked. I have an advanced security system wired throughout the entire place. A fucking fly can’t wiggle a wing without a camera picking it up, recording it, and storing it. And even from there, all footage is automatically filed by name, date, movement pattern, duration, and several other factors. There’s also facial recognition software built in. Just in case I need proof of someone being here.

I don’t fuck around. None of us do. We’re the chosen and trained to handletargets. We wear murder on our hands the way someone skiing wears gloves.

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