Page 54 of The Venom We Bleed

A tense, silent moment passes. Lex’s grasp on me loosens enough for me to pull free and shake my hand out. I put my palm to my chest, rubbing it absently, feeling the heat of his skin elevate. The splinter is gone, but the ache remains. “Are we done here?”

Silence and then a hand rises up. I stiffen, but all he does is hover it near my face for a brief moment. The heat of him is right there, so fucking close, and yet he doesn’t touch me. It’s almost as if he’s waiting for me to come to him, for me to ask for it. Fat chance of that happening.

Instead, I take a healthy step back, away from Lex's big shadowed body, and glance at Gio. Between the two of them, G seems to be the safer bet.

“Thanks for your help,” I say again, sounding far less grateful than my words would lead someone to believe. I can’t help it. The two of them make me feel vulnerable in a way I won’t allow myself to be ever again. Not to anyone. “I gotta head back to the party.”

“I will take you back.” Lex drops his hand as he makes the offer.

I wave a hand through the air. “No, thanks. I got it.”

“I wasn’t asking,” he says, reaching down and finding my arm with his fingers. Lex steps up to me and I nearly jerk backanother foot, only stopping the automatic action by sheer force of will.

“Lex.” Gio’s voice is hard, but there’s a wealth of meaning behind the single syllable.

A bolt of electricity races through my nerve endings at the feather-light touch of his hand on my arm, and I’m grateful when Lex releases me quickly.

“I don’t need your help.”

Lex’s eyes aren’t on me now though. They’re on Gio’s face. “She needs?—”

“We have our orders,” Gio says, cutting off Lex’s argument.

I pass a look between them even as I shuffle back towards the path that I came through before. “I can find my way back.” Though I mean for the words to sound reassuring, they come out a bit thready.

Two pairs of equally dark eyes meet mine, and though I know they’re two different colors, in the shadow of the woods, they look the same. Like two wild creatures watching me as I back away from them.

“Be careful on your way back, Prep Girl,” Gio murmurs. “Don’t stop to rescue any other idiots.”

I nod, and the second I feel I’ve been dismissed, I turn and make my way out of the clearing. When the trees part to reveal the shitty cars lined up along the forest’s edge, I glance back one last time. Nothing. Not even the hint of their shadows. More shivers move up and down my spine. Closing my arms around myself, I turn and trudge toward the party-goers. If I have any luck at all, I’ll find Madison and Roquel fairly quickly. I don’t care if it makes me a shitty friend, either, but the second I do, I’m getting the hell out of this party and away from the likes of the Scorpion Kings.

22

JULIET

When we get back to my studio, Roquel pulls up with a scowl and narrowed eyes glaring at the brick building lit by the dull illumination of her headlights. I don’t bother to apologize for ruining her night. It took far longer than I would have cared for to find her. When I had, she’d been bent over one of the threadbare beds in the farmhouse with that jock, Hudson, railing her from behind. Mads and I had waited until the shrill cry of her orgasm faded and all we could hear were their panting breaths before we’d banged on the doorframe and hurried her along. She’d been annoyed and had refused to leave at first.

I’d been so keyed up that I hadn’t cared and was ready to drive off with her ride with or without her. Mads must be Mother Teresa reborn, though, because she’d taken Roquel off to the side, said something in low whispered words, and came back with an agreement that would get me back to my apartment sooner rather than later.

Roquel’s quiet fury is still festering when she parks the car. I can’t find the energy to care as I hop out of the front seat and mouth a quiet ‘thank you’ to Mads as she gets out of the backseat and switches to the front. Roquel doesn’t even glancemy way as Mads closes the passenger side door, and soon the Camry is backing out and gunning for the exit.

What-the-fuck-ever.

I jog up the steps to my second-floor studio, my ankle twinging slightly, forcing me to slow my pace. The second the door is locked behind me, I strip off my clothes, toss on my pajamas, and pull out the futon. I draw the shades along the side of the sliding glass doors before slipping beneath the sheets and blankets and closing my eyes to shut out everything around me. I start counting seconds into minutes.

Do you want to be my friend, Juliet?

I flop onto my side and punch my pillow. Questions and curiosities circle my head like vultures ready to devour a carcass, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut and pray for sleep. I don’t even mind if it comes with my latest round of nightmares as long as I can escape reality. My whole life, I’d taken advantage of my parents’ wealth. Money is a protection—or at least, it was for a time. If you have money, then you have power and most people will think twice about hurting you. Most people…

Now, there is no more money. No medications. No therapists. No more protection. Now, here I am, raw dogging my fucked-up-ness like everyone else and it sucks just as much ass as I expected.

The memory of Lex beating Josh and Rich to unconsciousness plays on repeat in the back of my head. There’s no guilt, no fear, no sense of wrongness. They deserved what Lex gave them. They earned that pain and whatever else the Scorpion Kings plan to give them.

My eyes open and I flop onto my back once more, staring up at the stains on my ceiling without truly seeing them.Have I always thought like that or is there something seriously fucked up with me now?Maybe it’s both. Maybe I’ve always had adarker side but pushed it down because there was never any need for it.

Phantom warmth trails down my arm and invades my palm. Unclenching it from where it rests over my stomach, I lift my hand into the air and flip it over. There’s a thin red line where a piece of bark had pierced my flesh. Though it’s gone now, the mark lingers. My stomach clenches at the faint recollection of blunt teeth scraping my vulnerable skin and then the pain receding as Gio held me in place for Lex to remove the splinter. Gritting my teeth, I let my hand drop back down. Thereisa need for my darker side now, I remind myself. I’m in survival mode and if I want to get the hell out of Silverwood at the end of this year, then I need to tread very carefully. The Scorpion Kings could ruin everything for me.

My dreams, when they do come, are not the usual collection of nightmares. There’s no black abyss, no angry mobs, no zombies chasing me down. Instead, my twisted mind supplies me with a different kind of hunt. Dropping me back into those same woods I escaped mere hours ago, releasing me into the wild where I’m all alone.

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