Page 13 of Alluring Darkness
Then she bursts out laughing. I blink, watching through the mirror as she makes a show of wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.
“Oh my God,” she presses out between fits of laughter. “You really do practice these threatening speeches and dramatic entrances beforehand, don’t you?” Dragging in a deep breath, she sits up straight again and raises her eyebrows. “Tell me, do they ever work?”
For a few seconds, I can’t think of a single thing to say. In the past five years, I don’t think I’ve met a single person who wasn’t afraid, or at least a bit nervous, in my presence. And to have that shattered by someone likeheris so fucking jarring that I don’t know how to react.
Turning around in my seat, I meet her gaze head on for the first time since we got into the car. Rage roars through me, because I suddenly feel embarrassed by how easily she managed to throw me off my game.
“Let’s get something straight,” I grind out between gritted teeth. “If I wanted to, I could crush you underneath my heel without even breaking a sweat. This is the only warning you get. Bow down, andstaydown, or you won’t like what happens next.”
She holds my gaze with narrowed eyes, but doesn’t say anything.
I jerk my chin towards the door. “Now, get out before I change my mind.”
Fabric rustles as she slides over the backseat and towards the door behind me. I turn so that I’m facing forwards again, and reach for the handle as well.
Cold steel presses against my throat.
“Let’s get something straight,” Raina mimics.
On instinct, I move to get the blade away.
But before I can so much as lift a hand, she pushes it harder across my throat and tuts, “Ah, ah, ah.”
Fury and incredulity flash through me, but I stop moving. Glancing down, I study the knife. And the fury is replaced by utter shock. The blade is one of Kaden’s. Did she fucking pickpocket Kaden right here in the car with all four of us around her?
“Now, let’s get something straight,” Raina repeats in a mockingly sweet voice as she leans forward.
With the knife still positioned across my throat, she moves until her lips are right next to my ear. When she speaks, her warm breath caresses my skin, making blood pulse to my cock again.
“If you ever force me into a car again, I will put you on your back and watch as you choke on your own lungs.” Meeting my gaze in the rearview mirror, she flashes me a smile laced with insanity. “Clear?”
Before I can answer, she yanks the blade away from my throat and tosses it onto the passenger seat beside me. Then she briskly opens the door and saunters away.
I’m left sitting there, staring between her and the knife.
Her long black hair swings across her back and her skirt swishes around her thighs as she strides towards the canteen building. Raking a hand through my hair, I shake my head at her retreating back.
What the fuck is wrong with this girl?
7
RAINA
Soft murmuring fills the massive building. While pretending to listen to the conversation at my table, I scan the space around me. Tall bookshelves line the walls and form several aisles across the floor too. Between them, in the open spaces, are tables where people sit and work alone or in pairs and groups.
To be honest, I didn’t expect there to even be a library at Blackwater University. I thought this career path was mostly just a physical one. But apparently, being a hitman is more than just stabbing people with the pointy end of a blade. As it turns out, you also need to know things like science and math and psychology so that you can plan advances, trajectories, escape routes, how people will react to different situations, and other stuff like that.
I sweep my gaze over the various tables again. No sign of Eli. I’ve seen his little brother Jace from time to time, since he takes some of the same classes as me. But ever since I put a blade to his neck in that car, I haven’t had any more run-ins with the infamous Eli Hunter.
Worry gnaws at my bones. I need to keep his wrath focused on me so that he will forget about Connor. Maybe I need to do something else to draw his attention?
“Raina, are you even listening?”
Giving my head a quick shake, I snap out of my musings and quickly return my attention to the people at the table. There are three of them. They’re all first-years, just like me. Though I suspect that every one of them is a year younger than me since they all most likely started at twenty when they were supposed to.
Magda, the girl who spoke, is a thin girl with hair so blond it’s almost white, and there is a no-nonsense air about her. Next to her is Gabriel, looking like a true all-American boy-next-door with his blond hair, blue eyes, and easy smile. The last one is Paulo, a dark-haired guy with sharp eyes, who I haven’t been able to get a proper read on.
“No, sorry, I spaced out a bit,” I reply, flashing Magda an apologetic smile. Before she can bring the conversation back on track, I steer it towards a topic I really need to know more about. “I heard that there’s a guy called Connor Smith in the senior class, and that he’s apparently one of the top students, but I haven’t seen him around.”