Page 5

CHAPTER 4

With his fist raised as if he was just about to knock, Callan’s shadowy figure blocks the view to the hallway. The room thickens with tension as our eyes lock and the warmth in my gaze is quickly replaced with a cold, steely glare.

“Callan! It’s so good to see you.” Brogan’s voice bubbles with enthusiasm and a wide smile parts her lips. All the while, I stand here miles away from matching her eagerness. “What are you doing here?”

It’s an appropriate question for her dear stepbrother. He never comes to our dorm, let alone the Rosewood U campus in general. I already know the answer, though. Callan is here for me. He must have cut out of practice early to hunt me down and drag me there.

“Don't act so surprised, sis.” He throws an arm over her shoulders while his icy stare pins to mine. He walks her back into the room, eyes flickering back and forth between the two of us. “I came to see you. Wanted to apologize for roughing up your man in the game last night.”

I call bullshit.

“Bullshit.” Brogan cackles, reading my mind. She slaps a hand to his chest and pushes him back teasingly. “There isn’t an ounce of remorse in that stone-cold heart of yours.”

She might seem like she's joking, and I doubt she truly means what she's saying. However, I’m convinced. Callan isn’t the brother she once knew. High school changed him—the Lords’ hockey team changed him.

I should use this as my chance to escape. Grab my things and get out of the room before he has a chance to tell her why he’s really here. The deal was, I’d go watch their stupid practice. There was never any mention of them coming here.

Snatching my purse hastily from my dresser, my eyes deliberately skim over Callan, whose presence feels like a thorn in my side. “I’m leaving,” I say with a rushed breath as I make my way to the door. The last thing I want is for Brogan to get caught in the crossfire of what’s going on.

“Actually,” I hear Callan say. “I need to talk to your roommate.”

His confession sends my heart into my throat. Pretending I didn’t hear him, I keep walking. It isn’t until I’m halfway out the door that Brogan stops me.

“Avery,” she calls out. “Callan said he came to talk to you. Though I can’t imagine why. Since when do you two talk ?”

I spin around cautiously while trying to expel any apprehension. “Sure. I’ve got somewhere to be, though. Can we make this quick?”

Callan takes three deliberate steps toward me. Unfortunately, our room is small so that’s all it takes for him to stand directly in front of me. “And where might you be running off to?”

I lift my chin, portraying a confident persona. This is Callan. Regardless of what those other guys did, or threatened to do, Callan won’t hurt me.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” I tell him with conviction in my tone.

“Sort of is,” he quips. “After all, we had plans.”

I gulp, surprised he brought it up in front of Brogan. I glower at him in warning. He better not say anything. His sister doesn’t need to be brought into this mess.

Brogan steps between us, waving her hand. “You two had plans and didn’t tell me?”

“No,” I blurt out, while Callan spits an affirmative, “Yes.”

Brogan studies us. “What’s going on with you two?”

I shrug. “Got me. I don’t have a clue what he’s talking about.” My hand presses firmly to my hip as I snarl at Callan. “Am I missing something?”

Scratching the back of his head, he chuckles dryly. “Come on now, Avery. Best friends don’t keep secrets. Tell Brogan how we bumped into each other after the game last night and you offered to help me and my teammates study for that big test we have coming up. Can’t risk our grades dipping in the middle of the season.”

“You offered to help the Lords’ hockey team?” Brogan asks, surprised.

All the blood in my body rushes to my cheeks and I’m certain they can both see it. This motherfucker. “Right,” I grit out. “I did offer to help them. Must have slipped my mind with the sudden cramps and all.” A smug grin creeps across my face. “I offered to help them in exchange for access to their archery club. They just had the winning international team revamp their fields and targets and Callan said he would get me time there.

Callan mouths the words, “You bitch,” and I just keep the smile pinned to my face. Two can play this game, asshole.

“Can’t say I’m thrilled you’re helping our rival team,” Brogan says. “I don’t think Hayes will be too keen on the idea either. I do appreciate you helping my brother, though. You’re a good friend.” She rubs my shoulder gently before stepping around me. “I have to go. I’ll let you two figure this out.”

The minute Brogan is out the door, I shove my palms to Callan’s chest, pushing him back a few steps. “What the hell was that?”

He quickly eats up the space between us, nose to nose. “Are you trying to get us both killed? Why the hell didn’t you show up today?”

“I didn’t think that guy was serious. It’s just practice. Big fucking whoop.” I take a step back, retreating from his intoxicating scent. Damn him for lacking any physical flaws. I need to find one soon so that I’m as repulsed by his appearance as I am his character.

“Well, it was a big mistake.” He snares me by the wrist and attempts to pull me to the door. “We have to go.”

“Over my dead body.” I jerk away, freeing myself. “I’m not going anywhere with you after what I heard last night. For all I know, you’re a murderer.”

He studies me. “So you did hear something"?

“I heard enough to know I don’t want anything to do with you. You’re lucky I’m not telling Brogan. It would break her heart if she knew you and your stupid teammates hurt Evan.”

Callan throws his arms in the air as if I’m the unreasonable one here. “It’ll break her heart even more if her best friend goes missing because she doesn’t know how to follow the goddamn rules.”

“Rules?” I laugh, trying to brush off my nerves because no one tells me what to do. “I’m twenty-one years old, Callan. I make my own rules.”

He steps forward, a menacing scowl on his face. “Not anymore, you don’t. And if that’s all you gathered from what I just said, you’re in for a rude awakening.”

I cross my arms, refusing to let him intimidate me. We’re on my turf. “Oh, I heard you. But I’m not biting. You see, I wrote down everything I heard last night, word for word, and made plenty of copies. If I go down, you all go down, too.”

It’s a lie. I didn’t write anything down, but now that I’ve thought about it, I need to. I have to protect myself and make sure that if something happens to me, the world knows there are monsters playing on the Lords’ hockey team.

I hear the grinding of his molars as his fist tightens. “You better pray you’re lying, Avery. Because if you screw this up for me, I swear to fucking God, I’ll?—”

“You’ll what, Callan?” I step into him. Despite the lingering fear from what I heard last night, I’m not afraid of Callan. Do I despise him? Yes. But fear him? Absolutely not.

“I’ll fucking break you, Avery.” His voice is low and venomous. “Limb by limb. I will destroy you.”

I tilt my head, a smirk playing on my lips. “I’m not a tree you can just snap. So go ahead and give it your best shot.”

“I beg to differ. You see…” His voice drops as he glides a strand of hair behind my ear. “You might think you know what me and my boys are capable of,” he murmurs, his breath warm against my cheek. “But you have no idea.”

That pulls a laugh from me. “Callan, I once watched your stepmom fill a sandwich baggie with ice because you tripped over your own shoelaces in the kitchen and bumped your knee. Forgive me if I’m not shaking in my boots.”

His jaw tightens, but his expression stays composed. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Cold, deliberate fingers trail along my cheek. To anyone else, it might look like a tender touch, but I know better. With Callan, it’s not affection, it’s dominance—a reminder of who holds all the power.

“You might wanna watch your back, Avery.” His voice drops to a quiet threat. “You never know when a Lord might be lurking.”

His thumb presses against my lips, prying them open. Then, without hesitation, he slides it into my mouth.

Defiance ignites in my chest. You wanna play?

I bite down, hard. The roughness of his skin scrapes against my teeth, and I don’t let up. Let’s see how tough this asshole really is.

“You bitch,” he seethes, yanking back. But my teeth follow, sinking in deeper and refusing to let go.

Something almost inhumane awakens inside me. The look of desperation in his eyes only fuels my desire to bring him pain. At this moment, I have the power.

His free hand clamps around my throat, fingers pressing into my skin as I hold his thumb hostage. The harder he squeezes, the harder I bite. Can’t play hockey with a missing thumb.

“Don’t test me, Avery. I’ll leave you lifeless on this floor if you don’t let go of me, right fucking now!” He shoves me back and my mouth opens on instinct.

Before I can react, we hit the floor, the impact jolting through me as he grabs my wrists and pins my arms above my head. His weight presses down, caging me beneath him. “That was a bad move, Little Devil.”

“Oh, for the love of God,” I spit out as I thrash against his iron grip. “Not you, too. Enough with this Little Devil shit. I don’t call you Little Lord.”

“Ya know…” He pinches my chin with his fingers and I lift it with all of the spite I feel for him shining in my gaze. “I was gonna cut you some slack. Maybe tell the guys to take it easy on you. But now, I think I’ll let them eat you alive.”

I relax, knowing his muscle is too much for me to take on, but I’m not without power even as I lie here on my back at his mercy. My words are my weapon. "I’m not scared of you, Callan. In case you’ve forgotten, I broke you first."

His grip loosens slightly, confusion flickering across his face. "Broke me?"

"You heard me." I tilt my chin up, meeting his gaze head-on. "You wanted more from me after we had sex. But for me? It was just sex. Not even good sex, I might add." That's a total lie, but I’ll never tell him that the one night I had with him is what I imagine when I touch myself.

Silence stretches between us, his cheeks darkening with rage. Raising both of my wrists, he slams them back down on the hard floor. A sharp jolt of pain ripples through me. I wince, but I don’t look away.

"The only thing I ever wanted from you were your tears," he growls. "I think I made that abundantly clear when I dug up every secret I could use to break you."

“Yet, you’ve never told a soul. Why is that, Callan?”

His jaw tics. “Your secrets are my ammunition. If I share it, it’s no longer mine.”

I let out a quiet laugh, shaking my head. "Then I guess I’ve got nothing to worry about. You need them to hold over me. Without them, you have nothing at all."

He chuckles, and it reverberates right into my chest. “That’s what you think. I have more than you could ever imagine. Your future is in my hands now— our hands. One phone call and your whole world will crash down.”

“Enough with the empty threats.” I sigh, bored with this conversation. “Now, get off me. I have better things to do than lie here and listen to you try and play God over me.”

“Not God. A Lord. Your Lord . And you’re nothing but a sinful little devil. Whether you realize it or not, you will serve us, Avery, or you will pay for the secrets you eavesdropped on.”

When he talks like this, it only solidifies my suspicion that he’s in some sort of cult. He wouldn’t come all the way to my dorm and seek me out like this if there wasn’t a damn good reason. They’re all scared. Shaking in their skates because I know their secret.

Maybe Callan does have leverage on me, but I have something bigger on him.

A smirk stretches across my lips. “An eye for an eye, old friend. You take me down, you’re all going with me.”

His jaw clenches. “Where’s the damn letter, Avery?”

I shrug, feeling my shoulder blades grate against the hardwood. “Somewhere safe.”

Suddenly, Callan jerks me upright, lifting me to my feet. I look at my wrist, noticing a smear of blood, but it’s not mine. The skin on his thumb is peeled back, proof of just how hard I bit him. He doesn’t seem fazed in the slightest. Meanwhile, my stomach churns at the realization that his blood was in my mouth.

Without hesitation, he hauls me toward the door, fingers tightening around my arm as he reaches for the handle.

“What the hell are you doing?” I huff, twisting against his grip.

“What I came here to do. Taking you to my leader.”

“Like hell you are. I’m not going anywhere with you.” I firmly plant my feet on the ground, yet Callan effortlessly drags me along. My protests fall on deaf ears as he shoves me out of my dorm and slams the door behind us.

“I’m serious, Callan. I have to be at the field in an hour. I don’t have time for this.”

“Your little bow and arrow hobby can wait,” he says, steering me forward without a second glance. “We have more important things to do right now.”

“Hobby?” I spit. “It’s much more than a hobby. A hobby is lacing up skates and slapping a puck around. This…” I jab a finger at his shoulder. “This is a life skill. And if you don’t quit shoving me down this damn hall, I’ll show you just how useful it can be.”

After I’m shoved into the elevator, we go down to the first floor. As I’m stepping out, I stumble over my feet, barely catching myself before I crash to the floor. My pulse spikes with irritation. “Quit that,” I snap, yanking my arm. “I’m not a damn toy you can push around.”

Callan smirks, unbothered. “Sure you are. Now get your stubborn ass out the door.”

I stop in front of the main doors to the parking lot and cross my arms over my chest. “Not happening. I told you I have somewhere to be.”

He exhales an exasperated breath. “I’ll tell you what. You come with me and talk to the guys, and maybe I’ll give you a ride.”

A dry chuckle escapes me. “I’d rather hitchhike with an unhinged serial killer than be trapped in a car with you.”

He shoves the door open and drags me forward. "Be careful what you wish for."

A black SUV parked in front of the dorm catches my eye. The windows are so dark I can’t see who might be inside. A shiver runs down my spine. Something feels off.

“Whose ride is that? I know it’s not yours. Is there someone else in there?”

My nerves spike. I may have put on a brave face for the last twenty minutes, but I’m beginning to crack. Callan doesn’t scare me, but Aidric does. He might be the unhinged serial killer I never actually wished for.

As I’m being steered to the SUV, I dig my heels into the pavement, turning to face Callan as I walk backward. In a last-ditch effort, I plead with him. “Callan, please.” I clutch at his waist, trying to stop him from moving any farther. “We’ve known each other since I transferred to Willow Creek in eighth grade. Please don’t do this. You can trust me. I won’t tell anyone what I heard.”

It’s true. If they’ll just let this all go, I’d take what I know to the grave.

Callan’s gaze darkens. “You should’ve never hidden in that locker. Now you have to earn our trust.”

Reaching around me, he pulls open the back door and I’m shoved inside like a useless piece of trash. I barely catch myself before colliding with the leather seats. The second I regain my bearings, my stomach drops. One of the guys from last night sits beside me, his expression unreadable. Worst of all is the driver in the front seat.

Aidric.