Page 7 of Kings
He stared down at her, then at the mark on her neck, and felt something else edging into the rage. Something he didn’t want to acknowledge.
“You let him fucking mark you,” he snarled.
The crowd around them had already backed up, leaving a huge space cleared in the hall, but they were still watching intently. Axel barely even noticed them, or Bishop, for that matter. There was only him, her, and the raging beast trying to claw its way out of his chest.
“He was here when I needed him,” she seethed, releasing his arm. When her eyes were aglow with fury like that, she was simultaneously the most beautiful and infuriating thing he’d ever seen. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss her or kill her more, but the two urges didn’t seem entirely separate in his fucked up head.
“Youleft me,” she continued, her teeth gritted as she spoke. “Again.”
At first, her words didn’t make any sense, until he remembered the promise he’d made back at the cabin that he wouldn’t disappear again. And he hadn’t. Not for the same reason as before, but he knew she wouldn’t see it that way.
At least the typical anger that stirred whenever he had a conversation with her was dulling the more homicidal impulses he felt toward the male who had the gall to step up to her side.
“She’s right,” Bishop said, glowering at him. “You’ve made your priorities clear.”
“You shut your fucking mouth,” Axel snarled, giving him another shove.
“That’s enough!” Ella cried, planting herself between them. Her hands on Axel’s heaving chest seemed to burn even through his shirt, but it was enough to redirect his attention onto her and keep himself from giving his consciousness over to the animal entirely. “I’m tired of your bullshit. Of you pretending like you care one minute, and acting like I don’t exist the next.”
“I don’t care and you thinkhedoes?” Axel scoffed, gesturing toward Bishop. “You have no idea who, or what, he really is. And you know what? Neither does he. Because there’s nothing fucking there.”
Bishop’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but before he could respond, Ella did.
“You have no right to talk about him, or anyone else,” she hissed. “You don’t give a shit about anyone but yourself, and you never have. Especially not me. The only reason you want anything to do with me now is because you found a use for me.”
“That’s not true,” he growled. It was the first time he realized it. Months ago, it would have been the truth, but now…
Now, he didn’t know what truth even meant. All he knew was that at some point, his desire to possess and break her had turned into something he neither understood nor knew how to stop.
“Prove it,” she challenged. “Give me one reason to think you’re anything other than the selfish bastard you’ve always been.”
He tried to strangle the words rising in his throat. Even through the hurt and anger, he knew he’d regret them, but he couldn’t. He’d been holding back for so long, and it seemed the one time it mattered more than ever, he couldn’t keep it up.
“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have paid someone to look out for you,” he blurted out, hating himself even as he said the words. As he saw the confusion in her gaze turn to pain, the regret was already setting in.
“You what?” she choked.
Even Bishop didn’t seem to know what to say. Ella turned back and found Avery in the crowd. The girl looked like she wanted to disappear as Ella stalked over to her and the others around her slipped back.
“Is that true?” she demanded, not even looking back at Axel. He wanted to stop it, to tell her he was lying, but it was too late. It was already done. “Were you only friends with me because he paid you?”
At first, Avery didn’t seem to know what to say. Her mouth hung open as she looked between them, as if waiting for guidance from Axel. She finally sputtered, “I did it at first because he asked me, but that’s not how it stayed. I really started to like you. I wanted to be your friend.”
Ella stared at her for a few long seconds before shaking her head and turning away in disgust. She walked in the opposite direction, but not before casting Axel a look he knew the meaning of all too well.
She hated him, but it was worse than that. She’d always hated him, and he thrived on it, but this time, there was no love to soften it. He only realized the existence of that intangible thing he’d come to need from her as much as he needed air when it was gone, and he was left to suffocate.
And he knew it was all his fault. He’d been a fuckup all his life, but never this bad. Never anything that couldn’t be undone, and it was the first time he actually felt ashamed. Not because of the others gawking and whispering about him, or even the man who was already going after Ella to comfort her in his stead.
He was ashamed because he knew he’d had something precious, and only realized it once he’d thrown it away.
Chapter 5
Ella
Ella forced her tears back the entire time she was on her way to her dorm room, but the moment she was alone, they overflowed. She wasn’t sure if they were from anger, hurt or some blinding combination that was so much more overwhelming than either on its own.
Of all the things Axel had done to hurt her, this one felt like the most sinister. The most cutting. She leaned back against the door, unable to breathe properly. It felt like someone was gripping her chest, making it impossible to get a full breath in.
