Page 190 of Heartless Legacy

He sets his laptop on the end table and says, “Give me thirty minutes in the woods to test that theory.”

Thea turns to me and asks, “Have you heard anything from the other mentors about the prospects forming a super team?”

“The last update I got was that a few groups completed their challenges. But nobody’s given any hints about how they did it or mentioned the group challenges being interconnected.”

She gnaws on her bottom lip, her foot tapping the way it sometimes does when she’s plotting something. “Whatever the challenge item is has to be something valuable to The League. There’s gotta be more clues out there. But how do we find out which team has the ones that go with ours?”

I see the smile on Finn’s face when Thea says ours. Despite what she said about working alone, and being annoyed with them, she hasn’t exactly put in any effort into putting them out. I head to the kitchen to start dinner while they talk about possible leads. This may take a while.

Pax

“You’re sure about this?” The tattoo artists asks, hands hovering over the spot I pointed to on my body.

“Yup.” I sit back and try to relax, drowning out the sound of the needle as he gets to work drawing a new design on my skin. Thea’s scratches will fade, but the inked replicas will be on my cheek bone forever, just like the gold star he’ll etch on my hand where she drew it. The pain is worth knowing that I’ll carry a permanent reminder of her with me wherever I go. No matter what I do, or how things end up, every time someone looks at me, they’ll see that I’m hers.

I resist the urge to flinch at the buzzing so close to my eye. I zone out, letting my mind drift to that day in the gym. We were so close.Iwas so close to giving us both what we wanted so badly. I was prepared to let her cum all over my face, then I was going to fuck her into oblivion right there on the mats, with nothing to get between us. Something spooked her. I know she wanted control. She had it. But was I too rough? Not compliant enough?

The needle stops and the artist dabs at the area with an alcohol wipe, then resumes his work. It’s not an intricate design, but it’s a lot of tiny little ink pricks to make it look as fine as a scratch mark. I can’t see what he’s doing, but I’ve been coming to Inkscape for years and I trust his work.

He starts again right above the last markings. The vibration of the needle reaches to my jaw bone and eye socket. It’s more irritating than painful. Or maybe I’ve just built up a higher tolerance for the pain over the years. I’d sit here even if it felt like hot needles under my skin, because the result is worth it. The designs express my thoughts and feelings. As a bonus, it pisses my father off.

Every little win counts, but I need a big win. Something that will foil his plans once and for all, and let me get my life back. Unfortunately, that thing doesn’t exist. He’s not careless enough to make a mistake, and I’ve never seen even a hint of a weakness I could exploit.

The buzzing stops again. “Need a break?”

“I’m good.”

“Just a few more strokes and then we’ll be done with this one.”

“I’m in no hurry.” He tilts my head to the left, and gets back to work, while I go back to daydreaming about a life unencumbered.

“Paxton!” I turn at the sound of my name, waiting for her to come to me. I’m sure we look ridiculous standing twenty feet apart, but I’m not moving. Eloise has gotten entirely too comfortable lately. When she doesn’t move, I continue on my way. There’s probably at least one person out here that’ll run off and start a rumor about our “public blow up.” Good. I want Thea to see that I am not now, nor have I ever been Team Eloise.

More thoughts of Thea have me rerouting my steps towards the library. I find Holden on the second floor mezzanine near the back, at Thea’s favorite table. I greet him as I lower myself into a chair. “W’sup, man.”

“Hey.” He stares at my face, the tattoo under the Saniderm bandage more visible at this short distance, and because he misses nothing, he spots the one on my hand as well. “Nice ink.”

“Look here, asshole. This table’s occupied.” Thea says from behind me. I have my hood up, so my neck tattoos are covered. “Just because Holden appeared to be sitting here alone doesn’t mean you can just help yourself to a seat.” I lower my hood as she comes around the table to face me. The books she’s holding hit the table with a loud thunk. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Yes. Me. You want me to leave?”

“That’s on Holden. You’re his friend and, unlike some people, I don’t make demands of who he can and can’t be friends with. But if you’re gonna sit here, we need silence. This is a work table. The fuck off table is two floors down.”

I didn’t bring anything with me to work on. Noticing that, Thea huffs in annoyance and pulls out a legal pad and a textbook for our class. “Do the homework.”

“You want me to do your homework?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll check your answers before submitting them.” Pulling the book and legal pad closer, I get to work. I’d rather be here doing an assignment I’ve already completed than to be alone at Vale Tower right now.

“Don’t try to be funny, either, I need to be able to read your-”

“My what?” She’s staring at my hand. Does she know what it is?

“Your handwriting.” She flicks her fingers at my tattoo. “Don’t be bitching about your hand hurting, either. You’re the one who inked up your dominant hand.”

“I didn’t know I’d be writing this evening.”

“There’s a lesson here for future leader you. Prepare for all possible contingencies.”

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