Page 40 of Vengeful

"I'm always happy to see you." Parker rubbed his wrists. "But I'm even more happy to see you right now than usual. I'm also really tired of being tied up and held at gunpoint. It's not fun anymore."

"When was it fun?" I asked.

"Exactly never," Hunter growled. "Caleb is definitely my least favourite brother right now. He's a massive prick."

"How did they catch you?" Lila asked.

Parker looked embarrassed. "They followed us and pinned us both down separately. Also at gunpoint. They had the audacity to make me unlock my phone before they took it."

"Poor baby." Lila patted his cheek, then kissed his mouth.

"I can't decide if I want to kill Caleb quickly or slowly." Hunter pulled himself to his feet and shook out his wrists. "Maybe one, then the other."

"If I didn't know better, I'd think he and Reuben are working with Samuel Bell," Parker said slowly. "But I do know better and this is just an asshole thing Caleb did. He wanted to fuck with us after what we did to his human trafficking shit. I thought we were supposed to owe him a big favour. What's with coming after us?"

Hunter shrugged. "Who knows with Caleb? He'll probably ask us for a favour after doing this to us. This was all probably to remind us that he's a big, bad asshole and we shouldn't fuck with him."

"I don't want to fuck with him," I said. "If anything, I'd like to thank him and maybe shake his hand."

"Shake his hand?" Parker stared at me in disbelief. "I want to high-five him. In the face. With a brick. Maybe a baseball bat." He mimed swinging a bat at his brother's head as hard as he could.

I smiled. "Think of this as another test. A part of the trials. One, I might add, that we passed with flying colours. All of us are still alive."

"I hate tests," Lila spat. "I'm getting really sick of them. I'd like to get on with the real trials and not ever think about them ever again. I'm starting to think I should have gone to a regular university and made a life for myself doing something else."

"If that's what you want to do, we'll support you," I said. "But after everything, is that what you really want?"

She looked uncertain. Shook her head. "I have no idea. I know one thing though. I'd like a nice, hot bath and a stiff drink. And then three nice, hot guys and some stiff cocks."

CHAPTER 15

LILA

"I told you I was okay." I batted away Slade's hand when he went to touch my forehead. "I didn't even need stitches or anything."

A couple of pills for the pain and a sleep in the SUV on the way back to the Academy, and I was almost myself again.

"You'd say that even if you were missing a couple of limbs," he pointed out.

"I think you might be exaggerating a little bit." I held up my hand with my fingers spread as far apart as they’d go.

He grabbed my wrist and brushed his lips over my knuckles. "Only slightly. We all know you're a badass, strong, independent woman. You don't need to keep proving it to me."

"I might need to prove it to myself," I suggested, more curt than I intended.

After everything that happened, I wasn't sure if the expression ‘whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger,’ was accurate. I suspected it made me more brittle. More inclined to shatter or wither, rather than growing tougher.

Ihatedthat. Fragility was a weakness I couldn’t afford.

He kept hold of my hand and led me out of the Academy's hospital.

"If you do, I'm here for it. Whatever you need.” He glanced over at me, worry clearly etched on his features. Concern both for me, and that maybe he'd say the wrong thing. “Have you given more thought to what might be?"

I managed to contain a wince at the pain in my head from sighing deeply. "No. All I can think about right now is why Caleb sent people after me.”

I was pissed off, but it went deeper than that. “Is there's even achanceof making peace between his family and mine? Trying to kill me kinda suggests he doesn't think there is. Or— He doesn't want that."

According to Slade and the twins, Caleb didn't want me dead. If that was the case, whatdidhe want? Why not kill us all and get it over with? I asked myself the same question several times in the last few hours. Would it be easier to wipe out most of the Brantley family and move on?

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