Chapter 31 WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?
LUCIEN'S POINT OF VIEW.
The second I drove into the school's parking lot, I knew something was wrong. Hell, the moment my eyes flew open this morning from a disturbed sleep, I knew today would be shitty. I looked around the parking lot, waiting and hoping to see her as my heart did that stupid flip it does whenever it expects to see her.
Usually, I would have picked her up from her house, but Eldric needed his heir for work. My eyes brushed over the parking lot, searching for her, but all I could see were students walking about.
Sloane had a routine.
It was her dragging her feet across the ground as she clutched her books to her chest. The world was blocked from focus as she blasted some Taylor Swift on her AirPods, but today, I couldn't see her.
She was always here by this time....always. Pulling my car into park, I quickly shot the guys a text in our group chat.
"Has anyone seen Sloane today?"
In no time, air bubbles appeared on my screen as they began typing.
"I wouldn't know, I'm currently between the lips of a goddess." Theo typed; the fucker was getting a head job from one of our teachers.
"I've been here for about thirty minutes, and no, I haven't seen scholarship girl."Killian texted, earning a frown as my brain worked through different scenarios in my mind.
She never skips school, and my horsemen always had sights on her, even when she thought she was invisible. I always watched.
But today, she isn't in school.
"I wouldn't know. I'm busy." Cassian texted. My jaw tightened as I stared at my phone with tight fingers.
What if the addict from last night got to her?
What if she's somewhere all alone and scared?
The image of Sloane face down, with her mouth foaming, flashes in my mind, sending a wave of fear and panic coursing through me.
I quickly pull up her chat box on my phone, sending her a text in hopes that she'd respond.
"Where are you?" The message ticks twice.
It delivered. But she doesn't respond, even as her icon shows she's online at the moment.
My chest heaves as I shoot her a call, hoping she'd pick up the fucking phone and answer me.
The line rings for a few minutes, until it goes dead.
No response....she's not fucking responding.
I call her again, hoping the last time was a mistake. If she doesn't get her damn phone, I swear to fuck!
It rings for a moment before it hangs; the monotone voice that blasts in my ear speaks.
"It's Sloane, leave a message cause I'm probably reading one of my mangas....lol."
It went straight to voicemail. My fingers tighten on my phone in anger and frustration, cracking the screen immediately.
Could this be about last night?
She thought she could disappear on me?
That's cute, I'll give her one more call before I tear this shit up.
"Pick your damn phone, Sloane," I muttered, trying to call her with my cracked screen. The call doesn't go to voicemail this time....it reads switched off.
She fucking shut her phone on me.
With a tight jaw and a furious smirk, I pull my car out of the parking lot and speed off the road. Two students were almost hit by my car, but I couldn't care less.
Sloane's face blurs my vision as I arrive at her house in less than ten minutes.
I don't bother knocking; we were past that. If she could ignore my texts, calls, and fucking switch off her phone on me, I don't think I have to fucking knock.
I walk in quietly, masking my footsteps so nobody would know I'd just walked in. I searched around her small kitchen and living room before heading up after not having seen her.
Her bedroom door hangs open, as a dim light fills the slightly dark hallway. I push the door open slightly, and the sight that greets me sends a pang of fury and anger through me.
Sloane sits in bed with he head in her hands, as she sobs quietly. Her sobs rack through her body almost violently, as her hair covers her face, hiding it from me.
The sound of my footsteps jolts her, as her head rises abruptly to see who it is. The second her eyes connect with mine, I see her tear-stained cheeks, as her blue eyes fill with sadness and despair.
"Who do I need to ruin?" I asked, my hands clenched into fists as I hid them in my pockets. She's fucking crying, so whoever made my girl like this would have to suffer something catastrophic.
"Leave." She whispers, hugging her arms around her side.
That move she makes whenever she's trying to protect herself hits me in the chest, as my body screams at me to walk to her, to hold her, to hurt whoever did this to her.
I always had a fetish with my things....anything that belonged to me needed my touch alone, and whoever tampered with my possession would, unfortunately, screw himself over.
"Please just go." She whimpers as she rises to her feet, her hands shaking at her sides, but the swiftness of her standing must have made her dizzy, because she falls back slightly.
Before I can stop myself, my hands dart out to steady her, as I hold her waist and pull her to me.
"Pushing me away isn't the solution, so the question remains, who the fuck did this to you?" I asked, for the last time, before I really start fucking shit up.
"I don't wanna talk about it." She says, hiding her face from me as she sobs into my chest. The sounds of despair she makes send a wave of hurt through me, as well as a primal need.
"Sloane," I whisper, as my fingers lift her chin to meet eye contact with me. "I need names."
She looks away from me at her phone on the bed. My eyes turn molten as I pick up the device with a tight jaw.
"Wait...please, I think it's better if we stop this thing between us." She says, her tear-stained cheeks and hesitant eyes staring up at me as she fists my jacket.
"No. You're mine, Sloane. That's the end of it." Those were the only words out of my mouth....because I knew that if I said anything else, it wouldn't be anything good.
Her eyes flash with frustration as she says, "But this wasn't real in the first place. We'll just stop acting... that's all. It shouldn't be so hard. Stop acting like I'm yours when all this was just some stupid bet."
She thought this was fake, that it wouldn't be hard to let her go?
Fuck it.
Fuck the stupid bet.
Fuck everything else.
I'm not waiting a moment longer.
She's mine, and it's time everyone in the fucking world knew that, including her.
I bend my head to meet her height, connecting my forehead with hers as a whisper escapes my lips;
"You don't get it yet, do you?" She looks up at me with uncertain eyes. "You were mine the moment you sat in my seat that day in the cafeteria."