Fantasy

XAVIER
Malachi pulls on his T-shirt, and the wet material sticks to every inch of damp, muddy skin. The silver in his tattoos shimmers in the moonlight, and I drink in the sight. By the time we were finished dealing with Ophelia and Ronan, Malachi was already shirtless and fighting a junior from Onyx. Every single fucking year, some hotheaded asshole challenges my boy at Fight Fest, and every single year, they have their asses handed to them. Malachi is undefeated. Strong as a demon five times his size and smarter than every other person on this campus, with the exception of Alexandros.
However, as much as I love watching him fight, what happened with Ophelia and that prick, Ronan, still has me all kinds of tense. Fucking Kai’s ass might be the only thing to relieve that pressure. I stretch out my neck until it cracks.
“Ophelia was out here? In the woods with Ronan?” he asks, his eyebrow

AXL
“You saw the way he looked at me, right? Like I’m a constant fucking disappointment to him?” Xavier grumbles.
I roll my eyes. Not this again. “It’s all in your fucking head, Xavier. He looks at us all exactly the same.”
We stop in the front yard of Onyx Dragon house. Ronan and his sidekick, Simeon, will be skulking around here somewhere, licking their wounds after we annihilated them in the fight. I have no idea how they seem surprised to lose to us every single year when it’s such a regular occurrence.
“You’re imagining it,” Malachi adds. “He was disappointed in all of us.”
“But I was the one who fucked up, as usual. I was the one who should have stopped Ophelia from going to look for fight night. I should’ve⁠—”
“Yeah, this time it was you, fuck-knuckle.” I punch him in the arm. “But you have such a fucking chip on your shoulder.”
He cracks his neck and grumbles something unintelligible. From the moment I met Xavier Adams on the streets of New York, I was fascinated by him. His blue eyes and sharp cheekbones—not to mention the dimples when he cracks a smile—are fucking mesmerizing. He has an easy confidence about him that draws people to him like a magnet. Yet inside, he harbors deep insecurities that color his every interaction with the world.
The moment I saw him, I knew I wanted him. What I didn’t realize was what a giant pain in my ass he’d become. It makes sense that never feeling good enough for his biological father, who threw him out of the house at eighteen and turned his back on him, left an indelible mark on his soul. But I wish to fuck he’d get over it.
“There they are,” Malachi tips his chin in the direction of the bushes planted along the side of the house. Sure enough, Ronan and his fellow commander, Simeon, stroll toward the front porch, the latter fishing a stray twig out of his long hair.
I flash Xavier and Malachi a grin. “Let’s go have a chat, shall we?”
We’re on them before they make it to the porch. I wrap a hand around Ronan’s throat, and Xavier takes Simeon in a headlock, twisting his arm behind his back. They both snarl, and Ronan tries to wrench from my grip, but I hold him fast. “What the fuck do you want with the pink-haired girl?”
He struggles, and I squeeze tighter, my clipped fingernails digging into his flesh. “I’d rather not rip out your throat, fuck-knuckle, but I will if you don’t answer me. And I will make it fucking hurt.”
Simeon grunts a loud protest beside me, and Xavier twists his arm higher, warning him to quit his whining.
Ronan’s lip curls and his body shakes with impotent rage. “She was alone. She smelled good, and I wanted to fucking taste her. Since when was that a crime?”
“Since she fucking belongs to us, you stupid fuck!” Malachi barks.
Ronan’s eyes narrow. “How the fuck was I supposed to know that? She doesn’t have your scent on her.”
We would love nothing more than to mark Ophelia Hart with our scent and warn her off any other vampire within a thousand-mile radius, but that isn’t an option. Ronan doesn’t need to know that though. “She might not have our scent. Yet. But make no mistake, she is ours. Sometimes we like to play with our food before we eat.” I lick my lips. “Makes them taste all the sweeter.”
Ronan scowls, and I’m not entirely sure he believes me, but he wouldn’t dare voice that aloud. We might hold the same rank, but that in no way makes us equal. I’m older, faster, stronger, and smarter. “Why are you all so interested in her anyway?” he asks instead.
“Because she smells like fucking cupcakes,” Xavier growls.
“And she’s different from the usual giggling idiots who throw themselves at us every single semester.” Not that Ronan would understand our dilemma. He was blessed with neither good looks nor charisma, and all he knows is the chase. “We like the chase. Don’t we, boys?”
Malachi and Xavier voice their agreement, but I keep my eyes fixed on Ronan. “So what were you doing with that new girl? Penelope?”
His frown deepens. “What?”
I shake him and bare my teeth. “You heard what I fucking said.”
He tries to shrug, but my grip on his neck makes him look like he’s having a muscle spasm. “She told me she hated the chick. Offered to suck my dick if I scared the shit out of her.”
I search his face for a hint that he’s lying. He’s not the smartest. However, like most vampires, he’s good at masking his feelings, and I have no desire to bite Ronan King and discover any of his secrets that way. “Just scare her? Or more?”
“I got the impression she would have been happy with more, but she didn’t explicitly say that.”
So Penelope wants the little pyro dead? But why? This has to be more than some petty high school bullying. The memory of the taste of her blood makes me gag, and I dip my head to mask my reaction from Ronan. Xavier was right, she did have a hint of troll about her, but she was fully human. Human and rotten to the core. There was something definitely not right. I clear my throat and focus my glare on Ronan once more. “Did she know what you were?”
“I dunno. She just said she’d heard I was the kind of guy who liked to fuck people up and said the chick with the pink hair would be sneaking around the woods during Fight Fest. That she’d be on her own and nobody would miss her if she didn’t make it back to her dorm after.”
I release my grip on his throat, having no reason to suspect he’s lying to me. “Did Penelope say why she wanted you to target that girl in particular?”
Ronan stretches his neck and rubs at the reddened skin on his throat. “Just said she was a freak and she hated her. I thought if I saw her and she was easy prey, then it wouldn’t be a big deal for me to bite her.” He shrugs. “Then when I found her, she smelled so fucking good …” His tongue darts out to the corner his top lip, but he snaps it back into his mouth at the furious sound that rumbles from my throat.
Yes, I know how she smells, you sack of shit. Even the memory of her scent has my mouth watering, chasing away the foulness of Penelope Nugent. Jealous rage snakes its way through my veins. “Yeah, well, I don’t care how fucking good she smells. You stay the fuck away from her from now on. Anyone goes anywhere near her and I’ll tear out their hearts and fucking eat them while they’re still beating. Do I make myself clear?”
He scowls but nods his agreement, and I turn my attention to Simeon, who’s still being restrained by Xavier. “And you?”
He glowers at me but seems to think better of arguing and mutters, “Crystal.”

OPHELIA
I pull up the hood of my sweater and step behind a tree, my eyes fixed on Penelope and Madison and a third girl I don’t recognize. They giggle and each take a swig from a bottle of clear liquid, which I assume is some kind of alcohol. After a few minutes, they head in the direction of the woods at the edge of campus, and I wait until they’re a safe distance ahead before I follow after them.
After we’ve been walking for about ten minutes, the sound of cheering and shouting drifts through the trees. Penelope and her friends squeal delightedly and pick up their pace, and I hasten my own steps to keep up with them. As we draw closer to the noise, the sense of excitement and anticipation grows thicker in the air. What are these Trials, and why the hell was Xavier so secretive about them? Like he has any right to tell me what I can and cannot do. Jerkwad!
The sound of the crowd gets closer until we reach a clearing in the woods lit by floodlights and surrounded by a ring of people. I move around the periphery of the crowd. Everyone’s too focused on whatever is happening in the center to pay any attention to me. Finally there’s enough of a gap between bodies for me to see the two guys they’re all cheering for. Both shirtless, they grapple and throw punches, one wearing black shorts and the other wearing red. Is this one of the Trials? A fight?
I crane my neck to see more, then duck when I spot Malachi. He’s also shirtless, his tattooed abs glistening beneath the harsh LED lighting. Objectively, I have to admit he is incredibly hot.
A loud cheer pulls my attention back to the two guys fighting, and I wince as the guy in red slams the other guy to the ground and continues raining blows on him even after he’s stopped moving. Quick as a flash, Malachi steps into the clearing and pulls Red from Black with ease, dragging him to his feet and lifting his hand in the air, declaring him the victor.
Another chorus of cheers celebrates Red’s victory, and someone rushes to Black’s side before lifting his limp body and carrying him away. I stand on my tiptoes, trying to see where he’s being taken. Is he dead?
“What’s a pretty little thing like you doing out here all alone?” Hot breath dusts over the back of my neck, and my skin crawls like it’s been overtaken by a million scurrying ants.
Before I can spin around and see who the creepy voice belongs to, a meaty hand is wrapped around my throat, pulling me back against a sweaty chest. I can tell from his solid form that he’s a lot bigger than me, and I open my mouth to scream, but he squeezes my windpipe, cutting off the sound.
He presses his wet lips to my ear, and although his hold is too strong to escape, I try to twist away from him. “Shush now, sugar. Nobody will come to your rescue here.” He runs his nose up the side of my throat and inhales. “You smell real pretty too.”
Oh god. Not another vampire? “Let me go,” I croak.
His maniacal laugh rings in my ears, and he slips his free hand beneath my skirt and sinks his fingertips roughly into the soft flesh of my inner thigh. Tears leak from the corners of my eyes. “I don’t think so, pretty thing. You see, you’re trespassing in these woods tonight. Only those invited are entitled to be here, and anyone else, well, they’re …” He licks a path along my jawline, and I shudder, disgusted. “Fair game.”
“I do have an invite. I’m here with Malachi.”
His low growl vibrates against my back. “Malachi Young?”
I close my eyes and hope this isn’t going to bite me in the ass. “Y-yes.”
“That makes what I’m about to do to you all the sweeter, pretty thing.” His fingers dig harder into my thigh, traveling higher. I elbow him in the ribs as hard as I can. He doesn’t even seem to register it, but at least he releases my throat and uses that hand to pin my wrists behind my back.
“Try to scream and I will rip out your throat before you can make a sound.”
Having witnessed how quickly vampires can move, I don’t dare scream. Still, I wriggle in his grip, but he’s too strong for me. I try to squeeze my thighs together, but he pushes them wider, using his knee to drive them apart.
“Get your hands off me,” I yell, but for the first time in my life, I feel afraid. Because now I have something to lose. My life only just got interesting, and now I’m going to die in these woods and nobody will even notice that I’m gone.
He grunts, dragging his fingers over my panties. “Oh, you even beg pretty.”
I close my eyes, bracing myself for what he’s about to do. I’m about to be raped and bitten and probably killed, and maybe if I think hard enough, I can⁠—
A vicious roar pierces the air around us, and I’m hauled backward. I stumble to the dirt, and his hands are gone. Blinking, I look up and gasp.
Xavier shakes my attacker like a ragdoll with one hand wrapped around his throat. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? No one gave you permission to touch her.”
The guy snarls, but he doesn’t try to fight back. “I don’t need your permission.”
“Oh yes you fucking do.” Xavier snarls back. “You ever touch her again and I will take your head. You understand me?”
What’s happening? Why is Xavier defending me? This is too confusing.
“Yes,” comes the reluctant reply.
With a guttural growl, Xavier throws the guy across the clearing and turns his fiery glare on me. “I told you not to come here.”
I swallow hard. “I know, but I⁠—”
“But you wanted to get yourself killed? Because that’s what was about to happen.”
I shake my head. “No. Of course I didn’t.”
“I should have let him do whatever the fuck he wanted with you.”
“So why didn’t you?” I demand, needing the answer to that question more than my next breath.
His nostrils flare as he advances on me with eyes so dark and dangerous that they make me shiver, and I vaguely register that my fear has been replaced with excitement. I should want to run, but all I want is for him to touch me. His hands on my body, mouth on my skin. He edges ever closer until he’s towering over me, the toes of his shoes touching mine. He breathes hard. My knees tremble, and I’m thankful I’m still on the ground.
“Oh my god, Opeelia, is that you?” Her sarcastic bitch laugh rings through the air like a damn fire alarm. My heart sinks.
Penelope stumbles through the clearing. Madison follows, accompanied by the loser of the fight I witnessed, his arm draped around her shoulders. And if their presence wasn’t awful enough, Axl comes into view. Of course, Penelope is with him. Because my life is just one crushing disappointment after another.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” Axl barks.
What is it about me that offends people so much? All I ever did was get a part in a damn play. Had I known getting the part over Penelope would have caused me so much heartache, I never would have auditioned. But I did, and here we are.
Again.
Penelope and her friend stare at me with disgusted expressions on their faces while Axl and Xavier simply exude raw, unrestrained anger. At least the guy from the fight seems too dazed to do anything other than look at me blankly. I stand and brush the mud and dirt from my legs. In my mind, I’m back on that stage on opening night, an entire auditorium full of people laughing and pointing at me. The memory is forever burned into my brain like the negative of a photograph.
Xavier bares his teeth. “I dunno why the fuck she’s here, but she’s not welcome. Get lost, reject.”
Reject? But he just … I’m thankful for the sudden downpour because at least the rain hides the tears running down my face.
“Yeah, bye, reject.” Penelope flicks her wrist, shooing me like I’m a stray cat begging for scraps.
Rolling my shoulders back, I force my trembling legs to carry me out of these godforsaken woods. It was stupid to come here. Stupid to think that things would be any different at Montridge and that I might find my place here.

XAVIER
Malachi pulls on his T-shirt, and the wet material sticks to every inch of damp, muddy skin. The silver in his tattoos shimmers in the moonlight, and I drink in the sight. By the time we were finished dealing with Ophelia and Ronan, Malachi was already shirtless and fighting a junior from Onyx. Every single fucking year, some hotheaded asshole challenges my boy at Fight Fest, and every single year, they have their asses handed to them. Malachi is undefeated. Strong as a demon five times his size and smarter than every other person on this campus, with the exception of Alexandros.
However, as much as I love watching him fight, what happened with Ophelia and that prick, Ronan, still has me all kinds of tense. Fucking Kai’s ass might be the only thing to relieve that pressure. I stretch out my neck until it cracks.
“Ophelia was out here? In the woods with Ronan?” he asks, his eyebrows pinched together.
“Not with Ronan by choice,” I say, and the possessive growl that follows takes m

Chapter 20