“What the hell do you want, Zed?”
“I’ll tell you where Josh’s body is right now if you let me have a little taste of your girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” I grit through my teeth.
“Madison isn’t gonna be happy about this. You running around with Willa is sure to piss her off. So, just give Willa to me and we can prevent Madison from tearing her to shreds.”
“You really are delusional, aren’t you?”
“What? You don’t think she’d want me? Come on, if she let you take her v-card, surely she’ll give me seconds.”
All the blood rushes to my head as my hands plant firmly against his chest and I shove him backwards. “Stay the fuck away from her.”
Regaining his balance, he steps up to me. Nose to nose. “Or what?” When I don’t respond, he pushes further. “Or what, Titan? You’ll kill me? You don’t have it in you?” My fists ball at my side and I bite down as I try to gain some self-control. “You kill the innocent, not the guilty.”
I’m not even sure when he went down. All I know is my fists continue to fly through the air, one punch after another, as blood falls freely from my white knuckles. Zed’s arms cover his face as he attempts to block me, but the punches keep landing.
“He fell. I didn’t fucking kill him.” I scream loudly, but all I can hear is the sound of my knuckles meeting his body. I’m not sure where they land, but the numbness in my hands tells me that I’m making contact. My heart beats violently in my chest as the words he said replay in my mind. You kill the innocent, not the guilty. “I didn’t kill him. He fell in the pool.” I repeat again. “He should have been more careful.” I shout so loudly that the words echo through my own ears and vibrate in my chest.
Gentle hands wrap around me and that calming voice that I always want to ruffle up rings through the deafening screams inside my head. “Stop, Lars. He’s not worth it.” She repeats herself. “He’s not worth it.” She’s so tranquil and unaffected. But this time, I welcome her calm. Getting to my feet, I turn and look at her blank expression. So unaffected by my outburst and the blood that drips from my fingers. She takes my hand in hers and leads me back to the car. I don’t even look back as Zed lies there on the cold ground—speechless, motionless.
Willa leads me over to the passenger side of my car and before I even realize what’s going on, she opens the door. I snap out of the trance I was in and look at her. “What are you doing?”
“I’ll drive. You’re too worked up right now.”
“No, I’m fine.” I push past her, but she grabs me by the forearm. My eyes skate down to where her fingers tangle around the bare skin of my arm, then back up to her eyes. They widen as they stare back at me and her grip on me releases abruptly.
“I’m...I’m sorry.” Her body twists around and she slides in the passenger seat, suddenly looking fearful and scared.
“It’s ok.” I press my palms to the door frame and my head droops forward, so I can see her face. Though she’s not looking at me. She’s watching Zed as he climbs to his feet and dusts himself off. “You really wanna drive?”
“He’s coming.” She grabs the seatbelt and fastens it. “Get in. Hurry. He’s coming.” She huffs in a panic.
Slouching down, I level with her. “Don’t be scared. I’d never let Zed hurt you.”
A surrealness washes over her and her head turns slowly. “You mean that?”
“Absolutely.” I stand back up and shut the door.
She keeps a watchful eye on Zed, who is standing about twenty feet in front of the car. He looks zombified and unnerved, but we both know this isn’t finished. I came here for a reason. Rounding the car, I make my way back over to him. “You ready to talk about what we came here for?”
“You cut my fucking head,” he says in a monotone voice.
“You’re lucky I didn’t cut your throat.”
“You like her, don’t you?” he chuckles. “Lars Titan, falling for the pastor’s daughter. I was curious how far my words would carry before you reacted, and now I know. You like her.”
“I’m not falling for her. She just needs my help. Now, enough about Willa. What do you want?”
“It’s simple really. I want my revenge.”
“It’s not your turn.”
“Then make it my turn. Unless you want cops showing up at all your houses and a body hidden in one of your basements, you’ll make it happen.”
If that’s all he wants, we can make it happen. I’m a little fearful of what he has in store and I sure as hell hope the good lord has mercy on whoever he’s after, because Zed is ruthless. No matter who or what it is, we made a deal, so all four of us have to do our part, even if Zed doesn’t deserve our help. The pact remains, four acts of revenge, we stick together from start to finish and everything in between. “Let’s say we did, who’s your target?”
Tipping his head forward, he stares straight past me. “Her.”
I turn around and look at the innocent girl sitting in my car. “What do you mean, her?”
“It all starts with her.” He pats a hand to my back and walks away. Slowly fading into the dark. I stand there frozen until I hear the roar of his engine. Once his brake lights come on and dirt kicks up behind him, I look at Willa who is watching me with wonder. A flawless girl with a realness about her. She doesn’t pretend, nor falter. I just told her I’d never let Zed hurt her. Now I have to make a choice. Her or them.
7
Lost. That’s the best word I’d use to describe Lars Titan. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth and the body of a Greek god, he’s never had to want for anything. Yet, he stands out there idly with his hands in his pockets and a gazillion thoughts running rampant in his mind. He talks in circles and never finishes a conversation. Barely smiles, and almost always has his fists balled at his side. Like he’s on the verge of fighting the world because he feels like it’s against him.
I don’t know much about Lars, but I know enough. I’ve watched him for years. I’ve caught glimpses of his blank stare enough times to know that he puts on this show of a perfect life. His life isn’t as perfect as he wants us to think it is. In fact, I’m pretty sure he lives in his own misery.
A guy who practically had me on my knees begging to be noticed. He just stepped over me and kept on walking—but not before kicking me and laughing about it with the entire town. Jokes on him. Yep, Lars was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but now he gets to feed me from it.
Lars walks quickly to the driver’s side and climbs in, shutting the door behind him and wasting no time to drive us out of here. “Sorry about that. Just had to take care of some unfinished business with Zed.”
Stretching over the seat, my fingers graze the cut on his head from his first brawl of the night with Rick. He shrieks at my touch, and I retreat quickly. “Sorry. You need to clean that up, though. It looks sorta deep.”
“It’s just a scratch. I’ll be fine.”