Page 11 of Devious Knight
I’m not. He’s not looking at me. Not right now.
Maybe I’m being a little paranoid but I can’t help it. Every time I see him or am anywhere near him I remember the vile, vicious words he said to me last year after I built up the courage to speak to him.
All that time in high school, we never spoke. When we started college I made a stupid bucket list and placed him at the top. All I had to do was speak to him before the end of the year.
When I did, Kade fucked with my mind.
He told me I didn’t deserve to be at Raventhorn and barely deserved the miserable life I had—as in I shouldn’t be alive. He said I should stop obsessing over him like a dog and find someone else to moon over.
I’ve never had anyone speak to me like that before. And that was at a party where we were playing a game like seven minutes in heaven. The asshole specifically picked me so he could talk to me like shit.
Sadly, that was just the beginning. The weeks that followed saw him ruining every chance I had to date anyone.
Every single guy I was interested in headed for the hills after Kade apparently threatened them. Then he did other things, like making sure the Theta president gave me the worst tasks to complete for my sorority challenges. He also ensured I had near Carrie experiences at every party I attended.
All of that was bad, but the thing that pushed me over the edge was the eerie-as-hell moment at the welcome-back party two weeks ago when I caught him watching me as I danced around the ice sculptures.
The way he looked at me was…
…Like he wanted me dead.
Within his dark gaze I could clearly see he had a very personal vendetta against me. The kind you have when someone has wronged you.
I never expected to be bullied at eighteen and definitely not while at college. Sure, I might attract the wrong kind of attention sometimes with my Lolita doll dress style and my bohemian personality, but I’ve never experienced anything like Kade.
I worry things will get worse. That he will get worse.
Raventhorn University is not an ordinary college.
The guys here from Knight families like Kade’s become Knights. Meaning that no matter what they become in life, be it a jeweler or fisherman, they’re Knights first. Men trained to kill to ensure they always have power.
The illustration of who’s who is right here in this room. Although arranged by college year, we’re all seated in the categories we’ll be placed in for the rest of our lives.
As such, Kade is sitting with his Sigma fraternity brothers, but he’s also in the Ivanov elite group—meaning he’ll be part of the Knights leadership one day.
I’m only with the Thetas because of Mom’s background. Everyone else who doesn’t have a claim to Knight heritage is in a category on their own.
A guy like Kade wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of me. I feel his eyes on me again.
This time I look right at him and find the beautiful devil staring straight at me. His gaze is so intense my insides freeze.
He keeps his eyes on me and I half expect his face to morph into the demon from The Exorcist and his head to keep on spinning around and around.
My nerves scatter and my pulse throbs in my throat, fueled with fear I wish I didn’t feel.
Summoning courage, I tear my gaze away but Kade stares at me for a long time after. Almost until the assembly is over. By then my hands are sweating buckets, my heart is drained of all its energy, and my lungs are locked tighter than an activated bear trap.
I just about hear Aleksander’s closing remarks in which he acknowledges Chancellor Potalov’s years of service. Chancellor Potalov retires in a few weeks. My transfer to Cambridge is one of the last few endorsements he’ll be working on before he leaves. I focus on that and calm myself.
Minutes later, the assembly ends, and the students file out of the hall. I leave with my friends, ignoring my shaking legs just as much as I pretend that I can’t still feel Kade’s eyes on me.
The girls and I stay in our little group as we walk into the courtyard and stop by the benches near the biggest oak tree.
The wintry air outside is cold but fresh. It helps soothe my mind.
“That meeting was way too long,” Mackenzie complains, shaking her golden-blonde hair.
“Agreed,” Sawyer and Savannah say in unison, slumping their shoulders. Watching them always fascinates me. Sometimes they’re just as identical in mannerisms as they are in looks.