Page 28 of Queen of Hell

I take another quick look around the room.Fuck! There are way too many people starting to pay attention to what’s going on here.

“Ahh, I see what’s happening here, Poppy. I saw it in a nature documentary once,” I look up at each of the arseholes in front of me. “The big alpha arseholes are feeling threatened, so now they feel the need to assert their dominance over those they think are weaker than them,” I sigh, “It looks like humans are just as dumb as animals though if they’ve not realised that small or female does not always equal weak. Well, not when it comes to me, anyway,” I finish with a giggle.

“But the smartest of predators know to run when four bigger predators are closing in,” Elijah says. “You really should heed our warning, baby doll. It won’t end well for you if you don’t.”

I look up at the ceiling before looking down at my hands and let out a loud sigh. Fuck! I promised Xave I wouldn’t hurt him yet. I really fucking hate breaking my promises to him, but it doesn’t look like they are going to back off any time soon.If they want to play so bad, we need to teach them just how well we play with others. Sorry, Xave. It looks like I’ve got no choice. I swear I’ll try not to hurt him too badly, and I promise I’ll make it up to you.

Now to figure out how to make my point to these stupid bastardswithoutthe whole of the cafeteria seeing what I’m about to do.

“Are you really sure you want to do this here, Clay?” I ask him, looking straight at him once more as he comes to stand right in front of the table.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Kenzi?” The others surround him, blocking us off from the rest of the room.Perfect.

I rise up onto my knees and look up at Clay from under my lashes. His eyes go slightly hooded as he looks down at me and I give him a small smile, beckoning him closer. As he leans towards me I grin widely and shove at one of his shoulders. I catch him completely off guard and he loses his footing as he spins, so I grab him by the back of his shirt and yank him down onto the edge of the table. In the next second, I’m behind him with the knife from my boot at his throat, a savage grin on my face, and I’m facing the wide eyes and shocked faces of the other three dickheads in front of me.

His scent wraps around me, earthy and clean, like the woods after it has been raining, and I’m hit with a wave of desire that makes my breath hitch and almost makes me forget why we’re in this position. I’m flush against his back and can feel the tension in his muscles, coiled and ready to strike at the first opportunity. I start to wonder what it would feel like to have those muscles tensing for a very different reason, and I have to work at not visibly reacting to his closeness.Focus, you traitorous little hussy! Now is not the fucking time!I tell my raging libido.Lessons now, playtime later. No. Bad Kenzi! No playtime with these arseholes. Focus bitch!

“I made Xave a promise that I wouldn’t kill you just yet, Clay, but you are really starting to try what little patience I have left,” I feel him flinch slightly at the mention of Xave’s name.

“Oh, is that right? And who wants me dead but is too much of a coward to face me?” He sounds entirely too cocky considering I’ve got a knife at his throat, but he doesn't move a muscle. I let out a low laugh, my breath on his ear as I dig the knife just hard enough to split the skin.

“Well,thatwould be me. And let me tell you, right now, you and your fucking idiot friends are not doing yourselves any favours when it comes to me keeping any of you alive.”

“So that’s why you’re here? To finally kill me?” Clay swallows hard and I feel his throat press more firmly against my knife whilst Rafael, Wyatt and Elijah give me hard looks.

“Oh, Clay. Whilst I relish in the thoughts of cutting your heart out and crushing it on a daily basis, if I had wanted you dead that badly you never would have lived this long,” I say with a chuckle. “You see, not everything is about you. You weren’t supposed to be here, you weren’t part of the plan…” I trail off and I notice Elijah’s eyes widen slightly, realising that despite not saying much at all, I’ve revealed way too much.

“Tink,please-” he starts, but I cut him off with another press of the blade.

“Yeah, I don’t think so, Clay. I was nice the other night, even after you got those arseholes to hold me still. I warned you that I’m not the same girl you knewandthat a repeat of Monday wouldn’t go in your favour.Fuck, I even gave you a courtesy I haven’t given anyone else in the last six years,” I let out a small sigh and lift the blade away from his neck slightly. “I really hate breaking my promises to Xave, he’s been such a great friend, you know? But he’ll totally understand and forgive me if I killed you before his time was up.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Wyatt asks. He goes to take a step in our direction but I increase the pressure of the blade at Clay’s neck once again.

“Nuh-uh. I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Wyatt,” I tell him in a sing-song voice and he immediately stops. “Now in the spirit of keeping promises, which isclearlysomething you know nothing about, I’m going to give you one more chance to listen to me, Clay. If I decide you and your friends are going to be a problem, Iwilldo something about it. I don’t know what you were planning to achieve today but I’m not going anywhere, so I would appreciate it if you fucked right off with all the unwanted attention,” I look at each of the men in front of me as I release some of the pressure on Clay’s throat and smile. “I’m going to put my knife away now Clay, and then you and your friends are going to act like I wasn’t just seconds away from bathing all of us in your blood and fuck off. I’ve got places to be and demons that need sating.” I pull the knife away from Clay’s neck and slip it back into my boot. He stands from the table and nods to the others before turning to look at me.

“We still need to talk, Kenzi.”

“Not today, Clay,” I look at each of them in turn and smirk when my eyes land on Rafael’s. “You may be the kings around here, but you should probably watch your backs. You never know when someone might decide that it’s time for a new monarch to reign. I’ll be seeing you, boys.”

I slide back and slip off the table at Poppy’s side taking a quick look around to see if anyone was paying attention to us, and I see Emma and her friends glaring at me from across the room.Just great. That’s all I fucking need.I look down at Poppy and she has a worried look on her face as her fingers speed across the screen of her phone as she texts someone.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” I say to her as I place a hand on her shoulder. She looks over to the arseholes on the other side of the table anxiously before getting to her feet and turning to face me, her eyes huge and full of the fear and panic I know she’s feeling before dropping her gaze to the floor. I scowl at the bastards that are still standing at the other side of the table watching us before I turn my attention back to the woman in front of me.

“Hey, you don’t need to be afraid anymore, Angel,” I say softly as I use my finger to lift her chin so she is looking at me and I give her a small smile. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’re mine, remember?”

Her cheeks pinken with her blush as I take her hand. A small smile makes its way onto her face and,fuck, it is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. Keeping her hand in mine we turn and walk out the exit, Poppy’s phone continuously chiming in the other.

“You good, Poppy? Who’s texting you so urgently?” She jumps at my statement, looking down at her phone as it goes off once more and then back at me with a guilty look on her face.

“Well, uhm… I was scared we were going to have a bloodbath on our hands so I texted Xave, and he’s not too happy right now.”

Ahh, fuck!

CHAPTER TEN

RAFAEL

“Well, that didn’t go exactly to plan, did it? Whose dumb idea was it to push her to see what she would do anyway?” Wyatt asks as we make our way to my Benz so we can head to the fight club.

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