Page 53 of Promise of Destruction
The blonde gasps and shoots up, making her way over to us. Her eyes are on Soren as she covers her mouth with her hand like that will shield me from seeing how her lips move. It may have if she didn’t cover the wrong side of her mouth.
The music has been substantially lowered since their plate-smashing episode, but she still speaks like she’s trying to be heard over it. “He’s your boss now?”
“Yes.” Soren shrugs, and I tighten my arm around her to stabilize her.
“But… I thought… don’t we hate him?”
“Wehatehim.” Soren confirms, laying her head on my chest. The simple motion unleashes a thunderous drumming inside it.
“Oh,” The blonde nods like that’s a completely understandable response despite her leaning on me. And then she clutches her stomach. “Oh.”
“What?” Khan demands, looking between his friends in utter confusion.
“I think I’m going to be sick. Can you drive me home?”
I know they came together, so the request isn’t unreasonable. But Khan hesitates, looking at Soren and then me.
“It’sfine.” Soren says, waving him away with a broad flourish. She’s absolutely sloshed, and if I wasn’t so annoyed by it, I may actually enjoy how easy it would be to manipulate her right now. “I’mhis bitchnow.”
Her words seem to slap her friend across the face. His eyes widen, confusion and horror mingling together as he tries to figure out what the hell he has missed since I ran into her at the bar.
“I’ll take care of Soren.” I tell him. “You take care of her.”
“Marissa.” The blonde says to me. “Come on.” She throws an arm around Khan. “He’s fine.”
I immediately like Marissa—she proved herself to be pushy when she has to but softened once she got Soren’s walls to fall. I don’t love that she drugged them, but I get the feeling that the laughter they erupted into tonight is the most this house has heard in a long time—maybe ever. On the other hand, I also dislike her willingness to leave Soren with someone who is, as far as they’re concerned, a stranger.
They have to know what Soren thinks of me, so they either disagree or they’re willing to leave their friend in the hands of a monster.
Khan stares at me, swallows. He lifts his phone out of his pocket and presses something. The shutter sound clicks, and he turns the phone toward me, revealing a candid shot of me. Soren is still resting against me, clinging to me like a life raft in the ocean. It’s evident how far gone she is because she seems to trust me completely in this moment.
Foolish little bird.
“If anything happens to her,” Khan taps his screen, “I have proof that I left you with her. And I won’t let you get away with it.”
I laugh at the conviction in his voice and the fact that he wouldn’t stand a chance. “I understand. Trust me, I’m not the one you should be worried about.”
He narrows his eyes, trying to figure out what I mean, and then turns to go. “Are you sure you can handle this? What about the mess?”
“Goodnight,” I tell him, letting the single word speak for itself.
“Iloveyou!” Soren calls after her friends.
Marissa turns back to blow her a sloppy kiss. “I love you too! Have fun!”
I lock the door behind them and before she can protest, I scoop Soren into my arms, cradling her like a blushing bride I’m going to whisk across the threshold. Hers wrap automatically around my neck, her body submitting to me despite her words.
“Putmedown!”
“You have no shoes on.” I tell her as I stride over the glass easily. This is hardly the first time I’ve walked on broken glass. The difference is, this time I’m insulated.
The scene had looked wild on camera, but in person, the reality of what they did is even more insane.
“You’re a secret psychopath.” I tip my head toward the wreckage on the floor, and a little laugh bubbles out of her chest.
“You already knewthat, Deck -lan.” She enunciates each half of my name, the two syllables sounding harsh on her lips. “You told me so, remember?”
The soles of my shoes take their punishment in stride until I reach the edge of the hall, where I kick them off. I don’t want to track the disaster through her house and have her wake up in the morning with a hangover just to step on broken glass. As it is, the way she’s leaning into me instead of away from me, tells meshe’s too far gone. I highly doubt she’ll be making it to work in the morning.
