Page 86 of Defiant Beta

He hands me the tube of ointment and crosses over to an open door. Water briefly runs, then he walks past me and over to the bench rack, lying back down on it.

He wraps his fingers around the metal bar, takes in a deep breath, releases it, and pushes up.

And as the ointment soothes the angry wounds on my back, I watch him lifting weights that probably weigh ten or twenty of me, wishing I had his strength a few days ago.

Chapter 28

Della

“We’re hunting a killer,”Vincent says as I’m about to take a bite out of the toast and jam he placed in front of me moments before.

He stands on the other side of the kitchen island while Levi sips from a mug of coffee beside him. Levi pulled on a hoodie and sweatpants after I finish letting the ointment sink into my skin for ten minutes, approximately seven minutes longer than I thought I would stay in his room.

With all these secrets and fake names, I turn to Levi, who meets my gaze over the rim of his mug. “I take it you’re not a fencing instructor?”

“No.”

“The teachers called you Mr. Tomaz.”

“Old me. Haven’t been that in years. Now it’s Levi Madden. We’re Pack Madden.”

“Oh.” I should have figured that out back in school when they all ganged up on me and tried to bully me out. Except for Xavier, who tried to seduce me.

Xavier must still be pretending to be a gardener at Haven Academy.

“Is that why you were trying to get rid of me?” I ask.

Levi nods, looking guilty. “We were trying to stay under the radar. Hard to do when?—”

“I kept trying to blow up the school?” I finish.

He nods.

“I can see how that would be distracting.”

His lip quirks in a half-smile. “Sorry about that.”

I shrug. “If I hadn’t been there, Mercy would have been alone.”

“Hold her.”

I struggle, but it’s already too late.

Hands grip my wrists and pin them to the floor. Someone grabs my ankles, keeping me immobile. I can’t even kick out.

A crack in the air and fire blooms across my back.

A scream tears from my throat.

“Della?” Levi looks concerned.

With a faint smile, I brush aside the dark memories that haunt me. “So, you were hunting a killer?” My voice trembles slightly, betraying the turmoil within me.

“Yes.” Vincent's piercing gray gaze holds me captive, and a troubling thought lingers in my mind: how much of my pain does he see?

Why do I feel like it’s more than I want anyone to see? This vulnerable side of me isn’t just new; it’s terrifying, tearing me apart from the inside out, making me feel so exposed.

Dragging my gaze from his, I turn to Levi, who says, “A killer.”

---