Page 65 of Heartless Legacy

Ignoring things, and riding out my time here, in silence, isn’t sustainable. Not for me. Even before my captivity, a life of turning a blind eye to the shit that goes on would have chipped away at what’s left of my soul.

Saints right. I have a choice about the type of person I am and who I want to be. I want my life back. My life, and my freedom to choose how I live it, but I’m just so tired of fighting.

He leaves me alone with my thoughts and I stare out at the street below me, well past the time the sun sets, trying to come up with answers to questions I’m too afraid to ask.

“Hello?” I answer the phone instead of letting it go to voicemail like it’s been doing all day.

“You’re back?”

“Did I go somewhere?”

“I figured so, since you’ve been sending me to voicemail all afternoon and didn’t check in with me before you left.”

“I went for a drive to clear my head. I didn’t know I needed your permission to do that.” I’m snapping at Wolfe, because my emotions are still raw after my talk with Saint. Fuck him for making me confront the decisions I made. Like the one that brought me to Canyon Falls even though Saint tried to talk me out of it, and the decision to come back to town even though Wolfe didn’t think it was a good idea. I should have listened to him, and I’m pissed that he didn’t push harder to make me listen.

“You don’t need my permission, Thea, but we have an agreement that you won’t go MIA.”

I disconnect the call as I enter his office, scowling at him. “Is there a reason you were blowing up my phone?”

He studies my face, jaw clenching at whatever he sees. “Yes, the council sent me a message this afternoon. You’re back on the roster for challenges and might get one any day now.”

“Yay, me.”

“What’s going on with you, LaReaux?”

“Do you even care?”

“About?”

“Me! How could you let me do this? I was free. I was safe, and you just drove me right back into this shit show.” I blurt out, even though I know it’s unfair to pin this on him.

Leaning his hands on his desk, he says, “We talked about this and you chose to come back, against my advice. You agreed with Alexz and thought his argument was more persuasive than mine.”

“I didn’t think he was more persuasive. I wanted to prove a point. Now, I don’t even know what it was.”

“I know what it was. I know why you initially joined the league and those reasons haven’t changed. You wanted to protect the people you care about. Those reasons still exist. You’re just having trouble tapping into that feeling.”

“The electric shock therapy zapped feelings right out of me. Serves me right, since I never should have experienced them in the first place. Growing up in Nags Creek taught me the pitfalls of caring. If I would’ve just stuck to that, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“I know you think so, but that’s not true. Inevitably, you were gonna be tied up with The League in one way or another.”

“That’s because they like toying with everyone’s lives, but I’m over playing these games with them.” I pin him with my glare. “And their little lapdogs.”

The calm on his face morphs into one of derision and spite. His voice is calm. Cold. Rational. It’s the voice he uses when he’s in Sadistic Coach mode. “I don’t give two shits about this littlepity party you’re throwing yourself, or about what you think you want or don’t want to do. You decided to come back to town, and reinsert yourself in The League. So you’re gonna show up to every goddamn challenge and do what the fuck they tell you to do.”

He must read something on my face that gives away my internal thoughts. “And don’t even think about failing so that they’ll kick you out.”

“Aaaawe. Are you afraid if I keep pissing them off, they’ll send me back to Nevada and you won’t get your dick sucked any more?”

His taunting smile sends shivers down my spine. The wrong kind of shivers. The kind that’s a warning that precedes the little voice in your ear saying,run.I’ve felt it with Holden. But it’s amped up in this tiny office with Wolfe. Maybe it’s because it takes a lot to get under his skin, and to see the detached look in his eye, focusing on me outside of class, just feels wrong.

He rises from his chair and walks towards me. “Getting tossed out wn’t change things between us, Thea. Here. Nevada, Alaska, the Sahara. You could invent a time machine and go back to before you knew anything about The League and The Trium, and it still wouldn’t matter, because my dick in your mouth was inevitable.”

“In case you need further clarification…” He yanks me against his body, his lips hovering inches away from mine. “I saw you first. I had you first. You’d still be mine.”

He releases me so quickly I don’t have time to panic about him grabbing me to begin with.

“I can’t force you to do this, Thea. It’s dangerous and if you’re not completely committed, you’ll get yourself or someone else hurt or killed. Take some time to think about it.Reallythink about the consequences of choosing to walk away, and if it’s a risk you’re willing to take, I’ll support you.”

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