Page 83 of Heartless Legacy

“Pax!” Eloise hisses. “Pax, I’m waiting!”

Smirking up at him, I taunt, “She’s waiting, Pax. You’d better go to her before she announces to everyone on campus that she’s withholding sex from you.”

His jaw clenches. My smile widens, seeing that I’ve struck a nerve. “Oops. My bad. Is she doing that already?” I pat him onthe chest. “I bet you wish you had an outlet like Finn had last year.”

“Are you offering to be that outlet?”

I know Eloise is trying to listen in to our conversation and that my proximity to Pax is pissing her off. This is exactly how things started with Finn, but I’m not going there again. Pax made a fool of me. I warned him he only had one chance to prove he was worthy of my time and affection. He wasn’t. So now, he’s just another jackass for me to wind up for my amusement.

“The next time I put my hands on your dick, it’ll be to sever it from your unconscious body.” I wiggle my left hand and brandish my onyx hilted baby with my right. “Want me to touch it?”

He takes a step back, then to the side to let me pass. I turn to face the two of them. I’m never leaving my back exposed to them again. And because Petty Patty has taken up residence in my soul, I throw my middle fingers up, and bop my shoulders, like I’m rocking out to my favorite band.

They enter the dining hall, and I when I turn back around, I bump into another immovable force. Dammit. How do they keep sneaking up on me? The anger radiating off of Holden is unmistakable. He must’ve heard what I said to Pax. The last time the air around him felt this volatile, I wound up on my knees for him. That won’t be happening today.

“What?” I snap, already spoiling for a fight because of his friend. I don’t care about the shit Eloise was saying, but a part of me is hurt that Pax didn’t step in and correct her. He knows I wasn’tjustfucking The Trium, trying to climb some rickety ass social ladder. There were feelings there. Were. Before. Not now. Not anymore.

Holden just stares at me. I suck my teeth and move to walk around him. His words are soft. A quiet whisper that belays theanger coming off of him. They’re so soft and quiet that I almost think I’ve imagined them.

“I told you I’d figure out what you were hiding, and before you try to lie to me, when I say I know. I mean, I know where you were, and it wasn’t in a Riverside County Correction Facility. At least not for as long as you want us to think you were.”

I feel an equal mixture of relief and anger at hearing those words. Relief that he kept digging for the truth instead of just accepting what I said, and anger that he didn’t believe what I said.

“I know where you were, Thea. What Idon’tknow is how you got there.”

“How long?” I ask, avoiding his gaze. There’s no point in bothering to pretend that I don’t know what he’s talking about. I’m gettingsotired of pretending.

He knows, and I need to know just how fucked I am. Because if he knows, he won’t keep it to himself. Finn and Pax will know too, if they don’t already. Then after that, how long will it take for them to turn me in to the council for lying? How close is the nearest Phoenix team that can get me out of here?

“Long enough.” A small smile curls the end of his lips. “You look beautiful, backlit by fire.”

My spine stiffens. If he knows how I look backlit by fire, that means he was following me. He literally saw me light the match. He saw just how weak I am. I infuse as much boredom into my voice as I can muster, even though I’m spiraling on the inside. “So you’re observant, and you figured it out. Good for you.”

He blocks my path when I go to step around him. “There are a few things I haven’t figured out yet. Like the names of everyone who worked there, and how you got out.”

He could be here on Malcolm’s orders, trying to set me up. I assume Lazarro snuck me away from Rockridge, but I don’treally have any proof of that. My paranoia has paranoia and anything is possible at this point.

“If I were filing a class action suit, it would be against Riverside Corrections office. I can’t name names. I was just a violent offender being moved from one place to the next.” I step to the right, and he mirrors my actions, blocking my way. “You’d better hurry and catch up with your friends. I think Pax was on his way to convince Eloise to unlock her chastity belt. He might need help holding her legs open.”

“I’m more interested in holding yours open.”

“We’ve had this talk before, Holden. Mine are permanently closed to you.”

“You’re talking about the choice you made not to get back together.”

“That’s right.”

His gaze bores into mine, in that soul searching, lie sniffing way of his. “Is this choice based on anger or fear?”

“I’m not afraid of you.” And that’s true. I’m not afraid of Holden. I’m uncomfortable right now, but that’s not from actual fear.

“But you are afraid of something.” He says, instead of assuming my answer is based on anger. Fucking observant mother fucker. He crowds my space again, gripping my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “I told you, every one of your fears belongs to me. So tell me, what has you on edge?”

I clench my teeth to keep from answering.

“Thea, you know I’ll find out what you’re hiding and what you’re afraid of.”

He studies my face, looking for a flinch. A muscle tick. A sharp intake of breath. But there’s nothing to see. No emotions to give me away. I’m dead inside and out.

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