Page 124 of Rage
The world tilts slightly. I step away from them, my bag strap digging into my shoulder. The courtyard feels too open suddenly. Too exposed. Every stone building seems to watch from above.
I start walking faster. Halfway across the courtyard, someone steps into my path.
“Shit,” I gasp. “Saint. You scared the shit out of me.”
He doesn’t appear so much as become noticeable, like he was always there and my mind only just allowed me to see him.
Dark hoodie. Black jeans. Hands in his pockets. His face unreadable. Except his eyes.
His eyes move over me once. Head to toe. Checking. Making sure I’m still whole.
“You’re coming with me,” he says.
I stop. “Excuse me?”
“Now.”
“No. Not until you tell me what you know. I heard about Monica.”
His jaw tightens. “This isn’t the time to argue.”
“That’s funny because I don’t remember giving you permission to decide where I go.”
Something flickers in his expression. It disappears quickly, but I see it. “Monica is gone,” he says.
“I just said I heard.”
“No.” His voice drops. “You heard what they think and don’t really know.”
A cold thread slips down my spine. “What does that mean?”
“It means campus security is looking for a missing student.” He leans closer, his gaze cutting briefly to the dorms before returning to mine. “I’m not taking any chances when it comes to you.”
The words hollow something out inside me. Before I can respond, another voice cuts between us. “Saint, she’s coming with me.”
Azriel.
He crosses the courtyard with controlled fury, his shoulders rigid beneath his coat, his eyes fixed on Saint.
Saint doesn’t move.
“No.”
Azriel stops a few feet away. “This is not up for debate.”
“And I said no.”
People pass around us, whispering, staring, pretending not to stare. None of them know they’re walking through a battlefield.
Azriel lowers his voice. “The Order was clear.”
Saint smiles, but there is nothing amused about it. “The Order can go fuck themselves and their rules.”
“They don’t want you near her.”
“They never wanted me breathing. I stopped caring.”
“This isn’t about you.”
