Page 54 of Vengeance & Sin

At some point, Amanda decides to try her luck, but I tell her to fuck off, and while she looks ready to argue with me, she huffs and stomps away instead.

I don’t know how long I’ve been standing out here, but with only three smokes left, I know we need to wrap this up. I can hardly stand this party as it is. But, if I have to do it without nicotine, heads are sure to roll.

I walk back to the kitchen only to find they aren’t there anymore. I didn’t really think they would be, but it seemed like as good of a place as any to start my search. I look around the crowd of people dancing but don't spot Zander, and I don’t even try to look for Jade. There’s no way I would see her with so many people crowded around; she’s just too small.

I turn to make my way down the hall to check upstairs, there’s another area jammed full of dancing sweating bodies, but before I reach the door, I hear Zan call out for me.

He emerges from the crowd looking pissed off and heads right to the fridge, grabbing himself a beer and tossing one to me without me having to ask.

“What crawled up your ass? I thought you were excited to get your new obsession out and show her a good time so you could get her to fuck you?” I say before I slam back half of my beer.

“Don’t fucking start with me, Spence. I’m not in the mood.” He's all but seething as he turns to me, and I can see the anger in his eyes.

It takes a lot to actually piss Zander off, he’s quick to fight and always down to fuck shit up, but that’s because he enjoys it. Judging by the look on his face, he’s ready to fuck people up because he needs to make someone bleed, not just for the hell of it.

“You don’t have to like Jade, but you will not talk about her like that when you don’t know a damn thing about her.” He says before he slams back the rest of his beer.

I hold my hands up, one still wrapped around my beer in a show of surrender, and he huffs before he goes back to the fridge and grabs another beer, which he proceeds to chug. He slams his bottle down before running his hand through his hair roughly a few times in an attempt to calm himself. Whatever is wrong has him on edge, and for someone as laid back as him, that means it’s probably a problem for all of us.

I look back at the crowd and then around the room as I realize what’s missing here.

“Where’s Jade?” I ask him. I don’t want her around, but at the end of the day, it’s our job to keep her safe and her not being with him seems like a good enough reason to have him on edge.

I assume Rick is talking to Jake, seeing as that’s the reason we needed to be here tonight before the new term started, and I would bet my ass that he didn’t take her with him for that. No matter how badass she might be and how much Kratos says she’s not a threat, I know he wouldn’t want her that deep in, not that I think he would even trust her enough in the first place.

That would mean she should be with Zander. Rick made it very clear that we were not to leave her alone until she was used to people and we knew more. I didn’t want to leave her alone because I didn’t trust her, but either way, she was meant to be with one of us, and clearly, she wasn’t right now. Not to mention the threat to her was still unknown.

He throws his thumb over his shoulder in the direction he came from a moment ago.

“With Trent.” He spits.

Ah, there it is. His whole pissy mood makes a hell of a lot more sense now.

What doesn’t make sense is my own growing irritation with that piece of information. What do I care?

I don’t.

I’m annoyed because her being around Trent means we will have to deal with him.

Shit, I don’t even believe my damn self.

“If she’s with Trent, why are you here and not with her?” I ask him, keeping my voice as neutral as possible. I might not like that she’s with him, but I’ll be damned if I let anyone else know that.

“I’ve been with her for the past hour while Trent has pulled her all over the place to introduce her to, like, every fucking person here.” He pulls himself up on the counter before he looks at me.

“If Jade wanted to meet everyone, that would be one thing, but Jake told Trent to introduce her to everyone in hopes that she’ll want to go to college with us. I don’t like Trent, but I can’t fucking stand Jake, and I don’t like that he’s showing interest in her.” His shoulders slump, and I see the anger all but leave him. He’s not angry, not really. He’s worried, and I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a very valid reason.

Trent was an annoyance at best, but Jake could easily be a problem, not that he couldn’t be dealt with, but given that we use him, it would have been smarter to keep him away from Jade completely.

“We should have kept her away from Jake completely.” I say, and Zan nods, but it’s a little too late now, so the best we can do is damage control.

“How long has Rick been gone?”

“Probably close to an hour now.” He says as he looks over at the clock hanging on the wall by the fridge, nodding when he confirms that was an accurate guess.

“Well, he shouldn’t be much longer. Let's find Jade so we can make sure Jake doesn’t get to her before we do when they’re done. Then we can get the fuck out of here before he can sink his claws into her.” I tell him as I head toward the crowd. I hear him jump down from the counter as he follows after me.

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