Page 31 of Escaping Hallow Hill Academy
Styx goes ahead of me and growls up at Rueren and gives him a single, menacing bark.
Such a good boy.
DeVoure looks down at Styx with wide eyes, a smirk playing on his mouth. “Aw, that’s cute. A sweet little omega trying to protect his alpha.” The words are spoken with enough force that Styx tucks his tail between his legs.
“Stop bullying my wolf, you dick.” I slam the door closed for emphasis.
Rueren doesn’t remove his gaze from Styx. They’re both staring at one another so intently, it’s like watching animals face off. Before either one of them gets the chance to back down, I push between them. “We don’t have time for this. Let’s go.”
The vampire pushes away from the wall, smirking as he walks in confident, sure strides at my side. Styx follows on my other side. I try to act as casual as I can with a vampire and a wolf surrounding me, like this is a perfectly normal everyday occurrence here among the dead-eyed, rare creatures.
I know we draw attention from the two students lingering outside a dorm on the right, and I hate every bit of it. We need to be inconspicuous, and this is the exact opposite of that. Rueren keeps winking at the women who walk by, causing them to fall into titters and giggles.
I glare at him.
“What?” He presses a hand to his chest in a gesture that should seem innocent, but that’s ironic, coming from a bloodsucking vampire with a silver collar around his neck. If anything, he’s dangerous. I know vampires are a dime a dozen, and I wonder why he’s here when it should be safe out in the world for someone like him, but I don’t ask that question. We all have our reasons for wanting a place in this prison of an academy. It just seems too personal to ask him his reasoning. I don’t want to get to know the vampire next to me.
I want to get the fuck out of here.
A shadowy hand draws a long line down my spine, and it sends tingles all over my skin. The movement is seductive, and I swear, I feel the heated press of lips against the side of my neck and whispered words in my mind.
Are you jealous, little Sekar?
I growl and react on instinct, whirling so I can punch my fist straight across his jaw. He doesn’t even bother to dodge it, and the resonating crack of my knuckles against his face echoes through the halls. His head snaps to the side and stays there. It’s almost eerie, the stillness that settles over him, and for the first time since I’ve been here, I understand true fear. I shouldn’t. I don’t even want to fucking admit it, but I can feel his powers slither around him like a darkness that I’m hypnotized in. He exudes it. He has power that’s immeasurable, and I can feel the slightest sliver of it as his head slowly turns to look back at me.
Red bleeds into the darkness of his eyes, and his smile is all sharp teeth and deadly promise.
“Hit me again, pretty Sekar,” he purrs, taking a step towards me that’s menacing and thrilling. He stands in front of me, so close that our chests touch, my nipples skimming against the hardness of his body and our shirts. He’s warm and cold at the same time, like a zapping of contradictions against my senses. I don’t know if I should shiver or sweat. The back of his knuckles comes up to whisper down the side of my cheek. “And you’ll find out why this collar circles around my neck, why I’m locked in this shithole.” He bends down, and I feel the press of his lips against my temple. “Hit me again, and you’ll find out just how dangerous I can truly be.”
A low, endless growl rumbles between us as a warm wolf pushes his way between our legs.
I gulp because I feel that threat roll down my nerves. I feel it down to the marrow of my bones. He’s every bit the predator I know vampires are, but something more. I’ve seen vampires before. I’ve killed them before. None of them are like him. He’s different. I don’t know how, but he is.
What is Rueren DeVoure hiding?
He pulls away slowly, and I see a flash of something in his eyes before it fades like a sunset to make way for darkness. A smile pulls at his mouth. “Gotcha.” He winks and pulls back, laughter rumbling out of him.
I swallow hard as I glare at the side of his obnoxiously handsome face.
“Learn to take a joke, Sekar.” We resume walking, and honestly, at this point, I feel like I’m following dumbly behind him, clouded in thick silence. “And stop punching supernaturals you know nothing about. Next one you hit might not be so forgiving.”
“Psh!” We turn down a darker hallway, and I feel the three of us meld into the shadows. “I assure you that if I’d wanted to knock you out, I would have.”
He doesn’t need to know that it’s a lie. That punch hurt my fucking hand. I’ll be sending him my medical bills after all this is over, of course.
He doesn’t reply, and it’s not needed. He seems to know where he’s going down these lonely corridors. Supernaturals prowling the halls become scarce, and we stick to the walls. Our breathing becomes shallower and our footsteps silent. Like if we make even the slightest of noises, hell will rain down upon us.
It’s a pleasant thought, actually.
Rueren leads me near a door that has so much security on it, you’d think we were in an insane asylum instead of a school . . . er . . . prison? Fuck if I know anymore. A scanner for a palm as well as a keypad for a code line up on the wall.
“I hope you’ve got fingerprints and a birthdate in mind to unlock that son of a bitch.”
Rueren smirks down at me, flashing a bit of fang. “I’ve been locked in this place for years. Of course I know the fucking code, little Sekar.”
“Uh huh.”
He goes over to the door and punches in the code.
