Page 100 of Malice and Surrender
I wiped away a tear and rubbed it into my jeans like that could scrub away the memories. Raine let out a soft sob, and my eyes flicked over to see her covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face.
“I told you. Look, the point is, I don’t trust people often, and the only reason Lyle wasn’t behind bars was that my mom dropped the charges. She felt bad. Why? I have no idea, but they should still be alive. Raine, I don’t want to see you make the same mistake, and I definitely don’t want Avro dragged into whatever you have going on.”
She wiped at her eyes and shook her head. “It’s not like that. I’m sorry for your loss, but this is completely different.”
“Yeah, sure it is. Just another guy from prison assaulting his…what exactly were you before he went to jail? Friend, crush? Doesn’t matter, he’s a dick, and I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you.”
“Is this why you brought me out here, to see if you could convince me to turn my friend in? Unbelievable. I thought you wanted to connect. All you wanted to do was change my mind.”
Raine jumped down from the crypt and began marching away. Fuck, that didn’t go the way I hoped.
Raine
I should’ve known better. Jace didn’t have any interest in understanding me or supporting my decision. He wanted what he wanted and decided to pull on my heartstrings to get it.
“Peaches, hold up. That’s not what I was doing,” he said. I could hear the gravel crunching under his feet as he gained on me. Grabbing my arm, he pulled me to a halt.
“Let go, Jace. I don’t want to hear it.”
“Oh, you’ll hear out the asshole who, ‘did the crime he was charge for’, but not me?” he growled.
“Stop saying that.” I knew it was what happened, but I hated hearing the word repeatedly. It was like a lance to my heart each time.
“What? Rape? Don’t like that word? It’s what happened, you know.”
“I know that, and I explained why,” I fumed and tugged on my arm. Here I was once more with the dilemma of kicking him in the crotch or not.
“So, as long as the guy has a good reason, it’s okay?” Jace’s eyes flashed with anger, and my old fears slowly began to creep in as I realized just how isolated we were. Would anyone hear me scream? Where the hell did I go once I got out of here?
“I said let go of me,” I yanked on my arm again, but it had the same effect as one of those little finger traps that the more you pulled, the tighter it became.
Jace gripped both my arms as he glared down at me. “Why? This is what you like. You like it when a guy gets rough with you and terrifies you.” His hands didn’t hurt, but his words did.
“Jace, I’m warning you to back the hell off,” I said, and pulled back hard. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I was on the verge of a panic attack and needed him to let go of me.
“I said let go,” I yelled and lashed out, catching him in the shin with my foot.
“Fuck,” Jace said, and sucked in a deep breath.
I yanked away and stared at him, doubled over, rubbing his leg. His eyes flicked up to mine, and they were full of anger. Oh shit. With a burst of adrenaline, I turned and sprinted along the path to…I didn’t know where. How the hell had I gotten so turned around?
“Not smart, Peaches,” Jace called out. “Not smart at all.”
Oh god, I could hear him coming. I looked over my shoulder, and even in the dark, the moonlight lit enough of the trail to see him chasing me down and gaining. A flutter of excitement had my stomach in knots, but I pushed it away. I hated that my body had that reaction at all.
Veering off the path, I weaved through the stones as I raced for the taller crypts, hoping to hide. I looked over my shoulder, but Jace was gone. Not seeing him was worse than knowing where he was.
“Ah,” I cried out as my left knee clipped a tall tombstone. I sucked in a sharp breath as the pain lanced through my leg and hobbled my stride. A flicker of movement caught my eye, and I looked to my left, staring at the long shadows cast by the moon and the tall crypts.
“Oh fuck,” I whispered as I spotted Jace’s shadow and quickly looked up.
“Where do you think you’re going, Peaches?” he asked, and even though I couldn’t see his face, I could feel the smirk. A shiver shot down my spine while the rest of my body heated with words that weren’t a threat but sounded like one.
“Leave me alone, Jace,” I panted out and darted away from the shadow of the crypts.
I didn’t make it three strides before I was hoisted off the ground like I weighed nothing. My back pressed into his hard chest, and my brain and body fought for control, each wanting very different things.
“Is that what you really want?” he growled in my ear as he hauled back into the dark shadows.
