Page 1 of One Spicy Summer

Prologue

“You know what happens to thieves in third world countries that touch what doesn’t belong to them, Keifer?” I ask, voice low, almost gentle. I’m already trembling, rage bottling up under my skin, ready to blow. “They get their hands cut off for touching what doesn’t belong to them.”

He meets my eyes and spits blood onto the floor like he thought he was some kind of fucking man. “I don’t give a fuck what happens to some gutter rats halfway across the world,” he sneers.

Brave. Stupid. Dead man walking.

I smile. It isn’t friendly. It’s death carved into a mouth.

He still has his filthy hands around her throat. Still thinks he’s in control.

Big mistake.

Presley whimpers, her voice a shattered whisper. “Ry... just go. Please. I didn’t ask you to come... don’t ruin this... again.”

Her words slice deep, but I don’t flinch. Can’t.

“You never had to ask, Princess,” I growl. "It's not a choice. It's my fuckingblood oath."

Then the others slither out of the shadows, rats from the walls, closing in around her.

"Our little kitten doesn’t want to share her milk, Rygaard," one of them snickers. My fists clench so tight my knuckles crack. Don’t say my name. Not like that. Not here. Not now.

I can smell the fear dripping off them, even if they didn’t know it yet.

I step closer, voice cutting like a knife.

"Look me in the eyes, Presley. Tell me you want this life. Tell me you wantthemoverme."

She keeps her gaze locked on the floor. Shaking her head. Silent.

Cowardice. Shame. Pain.

All of it.

"I don’t want you, Ry!" she screams, voice breaking. "I don’t want your fucking help!" It hit me harder than any punch could, but it doesn’t matter.

I can see the chains around her wrists, invisible but real, dragging her down. Chains he’s put there.

I turn my dead eyes on Keifer. "You're already dead," I say calmly. The predator slipping its skin back on.

Then I disappear into the darkness.

Panic breaks across the room.

"Where the fuck did he go, Keif?!"

Keifer’s voice cracks when he answers, his bravado bleeding out. "I don't know. Grab her. Now. He’ll never get her back.She’s mine."

Not for long.

Chapter One

Rygaard

Junior Year

“Hey look, fellas… fresh meat!” Paul, one of the guys on the football team, calls out as a group of freshmen shuffle past.

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