Page 42 of Written In Flesh

There’s a deep, almost growl like noise that comes from deep in Madden’s chest that vibrates through me. “I know I gave you an order and I expect you to follow it. This isn’t like last time.”

Killian scoffs and shakes his head at his ex-best friend. “If you understood, you wouldn’t ask that of me. I can’t leave her alone.”

His last words are harsh, quietly yelled, and they cause shivers to run down my spine. My gaze moves between them, watching their eyes harden. Madden’s jaw clenches, and I reach out to touch him. His body tenses, expecting the impact, enough for me to come to my senses. My hand drops to my side.

“I think you both need to back off and leave. This is the library for fuck’s sake. Everyone is watching,” I remind them. This college may be mostly filled with paranormals, but there is a large enough human population as well. The last thing they need to see is Madden’s eyes flip to black.

Killian takes a step back, the harsh lines and scowl melting off his face. He laughs, but it’s filled with mirth when he glances again at Madden. “It might not be the same but we both know some things will always be the same. Where is your little shadow?”

Madden’s frame tightens even more and I glance between both of them before following Killian’s line of sight. Glancing behind me, my eyes connect first with Aero and then Lily. I hadn’t even been aware of them until now. With my attention on her, Lily gasps and moves her body slightly behind Aero’s. He frowns looking down at her and then to Killian and me.

My head rises and with one last wink in my direction, Killian turns and walks away, a low whistle on his lips. The silence around us is now deafening, and more and more sets of eyes are starting to notice us. “So weird,” I murmur to myself, trying to shrug it off. Only Madden hears. And once again I have his attention as he stalks toward me. My mouth opens to argue, but he’s already grabbing my arm and hauling me toward the stack of books.

“Get off me,” I hiss at him, trying to yank my arm from his grasp. “Madden.”

He spins me, so my back hits the row of books, both of his hands coming up and caging me in. “What did he want?”

“I don’t know. He asked if my memory loss was real, made fun of me about it,” I manage to get out around the new tightness in my throat. I feel like I can’t move, can’t breathe, and it takes me a minute to figure out exactly what is going on and why this feels so familiar. Rage clouds my vision.

“Are you using your magic on me?”

Madden shifts, a slow, easy smirk playing on his lips. Not the sexy kind either, the dark, dangerous kind. The type of a predator. “I can do whatever I want to you, Skully. You make a lot of stupid decisions and you don’t listen. You think Killian wants you other than to mess with me? No, sweetheart, he sees you as a pawn, someone to manipulate. Someone easy enough to get on her back. Only this time, I don’t care what happens to you.”

My hands clench at my sides, and I grit my teeth together. Every instinct I have is to deny what he’s saying and make him confront the lies. My vision blurs, and my chest suddenly aches, a deep, dull pain that rushes through me, wanting to pull me into the past with it. My breath catches, hoping for some piece of my memory to return, but I’m shut out of my own mind once again.

Angrily, my hands land on his chest, shoving him back, my magic zapping around my palms. He staggers back, a flash of surprise on his face. “It’s a relief that you don’t want me, Madden. I can promise you that I’m not sitting at home writing your name all over my journal. In fact I never think about you at all. Who I want to see, who I decide to fuck, is none of your concern, big man.”

His eyes rake over me with pure disdain and frustration that grows more evident with each passing second. His brows furrow, and his nostrils flare as he dips down, bringing his eyes level with mine. Anger makes the usual silver color turn dark metallic.

“Everything about you is my concern.”

My eyes widen before I can keep my face passive. Madden licks his lips, his frown present and deepening as if the words are a costly admission instead of the warning they are meant to be.

“Madden,” Lily calls to him, shattering the tension around us. I blink, taking my focus off of the unnerving man in front of me. I can hear as Aero shuffles her away. I had completely forgotten we weren’t alone, that he hadn’t arrived by himself when Killian was around.

“Better go check on her. It sounds like some things really don’t change.” I hold his gaze when I push past him, my shoulder knocking into his as I rush to get away. He doesn’t stop me, not that I expected him to.

“Forget about the job tomorrow. You’ll never be one of us.” His voice carries the short distance, without him actually yelling.

I force my feet to keep moving. My only focus right now is getting out of the library, keeping my eyes on everything around me except for the two people waiting near the exit. I can feel the searing heat of Lily’s stare on me when I dash by. My stomach twists and I have to fight against another wave of nausea. This whole scene is familiar in some way. The anger and resentment I’m feeling rises inside my body, threatening to explode out of me and shatter.

Knowing that it’s familiar makes me more upset with myself and with Madden. He should know better though. Without my memories, I’m blindly walking around and being put into situations that cause him and me to clash. Killian manipulated what happened back there, I know it, and once again, he baited Madden perfectly. And once again, I was the only one hurt in the fall out. What makes me even more upset is that Lily and Aero witnessed it. I don’t expect Aero to step in, but if we really were friends, shouldn’t he know me better? Having Lily there, seeing her seek out Madden and him wanting to protect her creates an ache I can’t explain. I can feel that he’s bad for me, even though my magic hums in my veins when he’s around. I don’t want his attention; yet, my heart squeezes painfully when he’s with her.

The walk back to the apartment goes by quickly. Despite the chill my skin is heated. I keep my arms wrapped around myself, refusing to break out here in the open. This isn’t the first time Madden has said something mean to me or stared at me with such disgust. This is the first time though where the combination of his words, the atmosphere, the darkening of his eyes and sneer on his lips woke the weak girl inside of me again. After leaving here the first time, I promised myself I’d never let him make me feel that way, but today, he did. I was helpless, confused, and looking to him for a shred of the truce I thought we were forming after meeting at the Gate.

My pocket vibrates lightly. I pull my phone out and with frozen fingers swipe on my screen. My heart lurches, and I stop breathing.

UNKNOWN: You’ll never be her.

Tears burn my eyes, and my magic swirls around me. Fuck him. My fingers move swiftly over the screen, blocking his number again before pocketing my phone. Did he get a new number? I don’t understand how he is able to contact me after I already blocked him. Brushing the stray tears off my cheeks, I take a few deep breaths until the anger and hurt are pushed back down, and my magic settles once more. I don’t need Madden. I just have to survive here long enough for my dad to hold up his end of the deal.