Page 68 of Merciless Angel

As expected, Blaze sped up behind me, blocking my car in place. I hurried to fumble my keys out of my bag. I also made sure to grab the pepper spray that Raina had insisted I carry everywhere. She’d also tried to give me a knife. I’d turned it down, unable to bring myself to stab anyone.

With the pepper spray in one hand and my keys in the other, I used the fob to unlock the door. I jerked the door open. I was about to leap inside when the sight of Daire sitting in my passenger seat ripped a scream from me.

“What’s wrong, Clover? Didn’t expect to see me so soon?” Daire patted the driver’s seat. “Get in. Let’s take a little drive.”

Instinct took over. I raised the pepper spray and fired it right at him. He raised an arm in time to block the worst of it, shoving his door open as he threw himself out of the car. Behind me Blaze had gotten out of his Camaro. Shit.

My only hope now was getting to the dorm residence on the other side of the lot. I took off running, keeping the pepper spray clutched in my hand. Both Daire and Blaze gave chase.

They were much faster than me. In no time, they caught up. Daire reached me first.

He tackled me to the ground. I hit hard beneath him, the breath crushed from my lungs. All I cared about was spraying him right in the face. He wrestled me for the pepper spray, doing his best to tear it from my hand. I got off a shot before he could take it. Luckily, I managed to avoid taking any spray myself.

“Motherfucker,” he shouted, rolling off me as he grabbed at his face. “Big fucking mistake, Clover. I am going to punish the shit out of you.”

Scrambling to my feet, I aimed the pepper spray at Blaze who raised both hands as if I held a gun instead. “Stay back. Both of you stay the hell away from me.”

Blaze never took a step as I began to back away. He merely watched me go, something wistful and almost sad in his eyes.

“Why did you do it, Clover?” he asked. “Why did you sell us out? I thought we had something. I cared about you.”

“This is why.” I waved a hand at the two of them. “This is not normal. It’s not okay. I don’t want to be your obsession or your toy.”

Daire got to his feet, both hands pressed to his burning eyes. “Then we’ll have to kill you.”

I kept walking backwards with the pepper spray held before me. There was nothing I could say or do to convince them to leave me alone. They’d made up their minds. Once I was far enough away, I turned and ran as fast as possible until I reached the dorm residence.

Once safely inside, I looked back to find them gone. I collapsed to the floor, my chest heaving as I fought to catch my breath.

A few silent tears slid down my cheeks as I fished my phone out of my bag. Calling Raina for help felt like admitting defeat.

How would I escape the Angels when I couldn’t even go to class without them chasing me through the school and the parking lot? I’d really screwed up. All I’d done is make them want me more.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

DAIRE

My goddamn eyes burned like a son of a bitch. Tears streamed down my face as my eyes sought to release the pepper spray scorching them. I couldn’t see a damn thing.

“Hurry the hell up,” I barked at Blaze. “I need to rinse my eyes.”

“I’m going as fast as I can. Do you want me to get pulled over?” Blaze’s voice rose with tension.

Cash sat in the backseat, keeping his thoughts to himself. We’d come to put the fear in Clover. I hadn’t expected her to fire pepper spray in my face. Since she’d been staying with Raina, I probably should have.

“Jesus Christ, this fucking hurts.” I punched the dashboard, ignoring Blaze’s sound of protest. “I can’t believe she did that. Doesn’t she know that all she’s done is make me want to tame her even more? She belongs to us. She agreed to it. Nobody breaks a fucking deal like that and lives.”

“Shut the fuck up, Daire.” Blaze took a corner hard enough to throw me against the door. “You’re not going to kill Clover. We’re not doing that.”

“She’ll wish she was dead when I get through with her,” I muttered.

When we finally reached the house, I stumbled from the car, blindly finding my way to the front door. I went right to the kitchen sink and grabbed the spray head on the side. Turning the water on cold, I sprayed down my face, taking care to flush my eyes really well.

They were raw and hot, like they’d been set on fire. Goddamn it hurt.

I rinsed my eyes for what felt like hours. Finally, it got to the point where it was as good as it was going to get. I blinked bleary eyes as I went to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Holy shit.

My eyes were extremely red and bloodshot. The skin was puffy and slightly swollen. It felt like someone had poured acid in my eyeballs.