Page 100 of Wicked Lord

I tore across the parking lot, Lorelei following my steps.

My heart crashed against my ribs in an angry drumbeat, and a line of cold sweat dripped down my nape. What the hell was Cordelia doing? And why hadn’t that black car stopped yet? The driver should have seen her or at least heard the other horns by now.

The car barreled toward her, grille flashing beneath the sunlight, close enough to steal the air from my lungs. I lunged, caught Cordi around the waist, and ripped her off her feet a second before the front end tore through the space where she’d been standing.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Her squeal of surprise echoed, and when laughter followed, I knew exactly what was wrong with her. She was wasted.

As Lorelei ran toward us, I set Cordi on her feet and whipped her around, her head bobbing on her neck as more giggles tumbled out. Her bloodshot green eyes were barely open enough to recognize me.

“Axel!” The inebriated girl threw herself into my arms, burying her face in my chest. “I missed you! Come to have some fun with me? I have a little stash of the Hug Drug. We can go to my room and?—”

“Oh my god. Is she okay?”

At the sound of Lorelei’s voice, Cordelia tore away from me and groaned.

“I should have known you’d be here. You two are worse than Kill and Lexi. She ditched me early just to go see her boyfriend.” She carelessly dropped her purse and propped her hands on her hips, wrinkling her lilac sundress. “Why are you always with him?”

Lorelei fanned her flushed face and smoothed her blond strands that I’d messed up in the Jeep. “I’m his girlfriend, remember?”

“Why did you have to take him away?” Cordi pouted, shutting one eye as if having trouble focusing on the other girl. “He was my friend, and now I never see him because of you.”

A pang struck my chest at the sadness in her voice, but she’d still called me herfriend.

The black sedan, a nondescript Mercedes, caught my attention as it idled in the middle of the road. I expected the driver to make sure the girl he almost ran over was okay. Dark tint covered the windows, obscuring the interior.

When no one emerged, prickles crawled over my scalp. Something wasn’t right.

“What’s wrong, Ax?” Lorelei asked.

“Watch her.” I shoved Cordelia into Lorelei’s arms and marched toward the Mercedes, my fists clenching. “Open up.”

When the driver didn’t respond, I rapped my knuckles on the window, barely able to make out the faint outline of a man behind the wheel.

Hot anger bubbled through my veins, and instead of knocking on the window again, I gripped the handle and tried to open the door.

It was locked, of course.

So I resorted to brute force and slammed my fist into the window.

Pain burst across my knuckles as the glass cracked, deep lines spiderwebbing out. The engine suddenly revved, and the car peeled away, filling the air with the acrid scent of burnt rubber.

Before the Mercedes vanished around the corner, I yanked my phone out to capture a picture of the license plate. Something about this whole situation had my hackles raised.

Maybe I was just paranoid after Brock threatened to expose my secrets. Could he really know about Peter Dupont? That secret was locked and sealed with the brotherhood.

Unless, of course, Vaughn ran his mouth to Haversham.

A groan echoed, and I spun back to the parking lot as Cordi clung to Lorelei. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

Lorelei’s brown eyes widened. “Axel, get over here!”

I bolted toward them and caught Cordi just as she lost consciousness. Her head lolled to the side, purple locks falling into her face.

“I need to get her to the dorms, but I hate to leave her alone like this. I’ll have to call Lexi.” I lifted the unconscious girl, cradling her to my chest.

Lorelei scoffed and grabbed Cordi’s small sparkly purse from the ground. “The chances of Lexi leaving Kill’s side are slim to none.”