Page 59 of Poison Vows

Pain swells up in my chest like a high tide.

I have friends that were brutally raped and molested, robbed of their childhood and had no one to rely on or help them when they needed it most.

Last night, I was drugged, sexually assaulted, and if Emmett hadn’t tracked me down, I would’ve ended up in a worse state.

“Rape is the murder of a person’s soul.” I clench my fists tightly to stop myself from mauling this girl. “A sheltered girl like you only cares about the advantage you can win in your social circle. You don’t even care about shredding someone else’s dignity, self-worth, identity, and their soul into pieces of nothingness.”

I stare at her, getting even more livid and disappointed than I thought I would be.

I just met this girl, but I didn’t think I’d be so hurt by her betrayal to this point, but here we are.

“You want to know what I want?” I repeat her earlier words. “I want to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”

Melissa gasps.

“I want to show you what it means to be destroyed by darkness,” I say softly. “You think you can pop your little pills, snort a line here and there, have wild parties, get white-girl wasted, and then go back to your regular high echelon life as the adored Miss. Melissa Hughes, daughter of Senator and Mrs. Hughes. Untouched. Blameless. Cute and enviable. But I want to show you what you really are.”

I saunter over slowly to where she stands like a statue in a blizzard.

Plastering on the most genuine-looking smile on my face, I lean closer to look her straight in the eye.

“Sister, I’m glad we reunited, and I apologize for how rude I’ve been since we met. I promise that from now on, I’m going to do my very best to accommodate your character, lifestyle, and behavior.” I smile and reach over to tuck her curly tendril of hair behind her ear. “I also promise to be the best sister ever, so much so that even in death, you will remember me.”

And with that, I turn on my heels and leave, going in search of my next target.

CHAPTER 10

Ivy

I don't haveto go far before I bump into someone I was hoping I wouldn't meet until much later, but seeing him now, I’m not surprised at all.

Nor am I shocked by the expression on his face.

He obviously eavesdropped on the little chat I just had with Melissa.

“You’re here,” I say, looking straight at the handsome man I last saw at the charity dinner before all hell broke loose last night. “I was wondering how I was going to hunt you down.”

“I’m touched that you were thinking of me,” Vaughn says with a smile that I can’t quite return.

“You were trying to call me,” I mutter, having seen several missed calls from him. “I was going to call you back but here you are instead.”

“I’m here,” Vaughn mutters, his voice deeper and rougher than the last time I heard it.

We hold each other’s gaze without saying a word.

I see the many questions in his dark eyes, his clenched jaw, and rigid frame towering over me.

“Are you okay?”

“What?” I mutter, looking at him in shock.

Vaughn takes a step closer to me, but he still maintains a small but respectful distance, as if he instinctively knows that I don’t want to be crowded in right now, at odds with the way Emmett completely shattered all thoughts of space earlier.

Personal space? Emmett doesn’t know her.

“How are you? Are you all right?” Vaughn’s voice is soft, still raspy, but the longer I stare at him like a loon, the more I notice the blazing anger barely concealed in his eyes.

“I… I’m okay,” I murmur, not knowing what else to say.

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