Page 29

At least until I entered my room…

I yelped as I ran into a warm, muscular body. The apology on my lips faltered when I met Aiden’s dark eyes. His tongue was absently swirling around his lip ring, and I wasn’t going to lie and say I wasn’t hypnotized.

“Where are you running off to, little one?” he asked mockingly. Only then did I rip my eyes off his lips and meet his dark, piercing gaze. The amusement diminished when he took stock of my expression. Fury replaced it almost instantly. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

He cast a quick, predatory look around as if the person who had hurt me was lurking behind a damn flowerpot waiting to jump out and say “boo.”

“Why does it fucking matter?” I asked, attempting to bypass him. His hand gripped my wrist. It wasn’t painful by any means, but I was already so riled up from seeing Dylan that I involuntarily flinched.

Aiden released me as if I was acid, eyes darkening even further.

“Who hurt you?” he demanded. And that was what it was—a demand. He would not take “no” for an answer. This was the type of man who was used to getting his way, used to people falling over their feet to please him.

Unfortunately for him, he had never come across the likes of me.

He was giving me whiplash with his hot then cold attitude, and I was getting damn tired of it.

“Fuck off,” I hissed, spinning on my heel and stomping down the hall. I had no destination in mind—hell, I didn’t even know where this particular hallway led me—but I knew I couldn’t be around Aiden a second longer without being arrested for murder. The man annoyed the ever-loving shit out of me.

“Is this how it’s going to be?” Despite me practically running, his long legs were able to keep pace with me. The condescending, asshole smirk was once again etched across his face, but a fire still burned in his eyes. A fire that promised vengeance and pain. I couldn’t decide if that pain was directed at me.

“How is it, Aiden?” I said his name as if it was something vulgar, a curse word, and I was at church. “Me walking away from you? Me telling you to fuck off and leave me the hell alone? Because I can tell you this is exactly how it’s gonna be.”

His eyes flared briefly. At first, I thought it was anger, anger toward me, before I realized…

“You kinky shit,” I mused in disbelief. “You like when I talk back to you.”

One glance at his erection tenting his pants confirmed that he was, indeed, aroused.

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t think you’re behind Josie’s disappearance.” He shared this with feigned nonchalance, but I could see a brief flicker of pain in his eyes when he spoke of his missing sister. That pain was replaced by anger, so strong that I gasped. “And I would be more than happy to kill whoever put that haunted look in your eyes.”

I gaped at him, wondering if he was serious. After a moment of silently staring, questioning his sanity, I shook my head and continued walking.

“You’re insane,” I decided. “Next you’re going to tell me the proper ways to dispose of a body.”

He smiled cruelly. “That’s more Tanner’s expertise. Apparently, a tub of acid would do the job just nicely.” He paused suddenly, grabbing my waist to spin me around. “There’s a reason they call us the Three Horsemen.”

“Because you bring destruction,” I said breathily. His proximity was messing with my brain cells. If he did this to me, I had no doubt he could completely destroy any lesser woman or man. He, and the rest of them, were dangerous. It was unsurprising they left a trail of destruction in their wake. The most beautiful type of storm but destructive, nonetheless.

“Everything but death,” he agreed. He leaned closer, and I was suddenly assaulted by his scent. Woodsy. Smoke. Outdoors. I didn’t know why it comforted me as much as it did.

“Until you find the fourth horseman,” I pointed out. I needed distance from him. Now. Hundreds of miles still wouldn’t be enough. He had his own magnetic field, and like the idiot I was, I was helpless not to be drawn into it.

Pressing my hands to his chest, I shoved. There was no way I would’ve been able to move him if he wasn’t willing, but he must’ve sensed my sudden surge of anxiety. His hands disappeared inside his pants pockets as he leaned against the wall.

“When we find our fourth horseman,” he began, words a seductive purr, “you can bet your ass that this world will burn. And when the person we love is threatened?” His lips flattened. “Everyone will die.”