I’m lost in a particular fantasy when a familiar laugh cuts through it. Same voice, but the opposite sound of what I was just imagining.
I stop short, causing someone to ram into my back. I pay them no mind as they apologize and scurry around me.
My stare has locked on to the object of all my transgressions standing before a guy I don’t recognize andlaughingwith him.
What. The. Fuck.
Something dark and ugly punches me in the chest before sinking toward my stomach and coiling around my organs. It burns and ravages my insides. I see red, then black.
Snarling, I charge toward the pair, insidious thoughts rising as Reverie laughs again, staring up at the fucker like he hung the moon.
I will sooner rip that goddamn rock from the sky and smash it into his face before letting her think he can even spell the fucking word.
Reverie catches sight of me once I’m a few feet away, and a shot of satisfaction powers through me when her face slackens then pales.
It’s an instant shot of heroin in my veins.
Noticing her reaction, the guy turns with a confused frown on his ugly-ass face. His stare clashes with mine, and he, too, pales.
“Nice to see you’ve come out of your grave,” I say, hardly recognizing my own voice. It’s deep and rough with fury, and every word is closer to a demonic growl than anything human.
In an instant, her face revives—from pale cheeks to bright red, and a fallen expression to one of fire and wrath. Those copper eyes glare at me from beneath her blonde bangs, injecting me with a second dose of heroin.
There’s my girl.
“Leave. Me. Alone, Dread,” she bites out through gritted teeth.
Never.
“I was just giving her notes and an assignment from class,” the guy explains, his gaze somewhere between wary and annoyed.
His mop of curly brown hair flops into his eyes, and his oversizedzip-up hoodie and jeans hang on his lanky body.
I could snap him like a twig. My fingers curl into my palms with the unbidden urge.
“I’m sorry, Luke. Don’t let him bully you,” she says to the guy, resting a hand briefly on his arm. I zero in on where she dares to touch him, my fury heightening. “He’s just an insecure little boy who needs attention.”
I lift my chin to the sky, searching for some lost well inside me that houses restraint. It’s incredibly disappointing when I curl my fingers into my palms anddon’tfeel her dainty little neck being crushed between them.
“You know what? It’s cool. I don’t need my ass kicked over a few pieces of paper,” Luke mutters, stepping away from the two of us.
I drop my chin with a wicked laugh. “It would be over a lot more than just paper, my guy.”
Luke shakes his head, irritation twisting his features, before he turns and walks off. I’ve only just dragged my eyes back to Reverie when she’s slamming her palms into my chest, jerking me but not moving me.
“You’re such an asshole!” she shouts, instantly attracting the attention of students passing by. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
I lean down into her face, and snarl, “Why the fuck do you find him so funny?”
She blinks and shakes her head, stunned. “Are you seriously micromanaging when I canlaugh?” A short, disbelieving chuckle releases from her throat, as if to prove a point. “You don’t control me, Dread. You don’t own me. You arenothingto me,” she spits, those copper penny eyes turning into molten lava.
Oh my God. Ijustmight strangle her in broad daylight.
My jaw works back and forth, and my search for restraint becomes desperate, my organs in upheaval while I scour through my insides for it.
I possess little control when my hand snaps out to pinch her chin between my thumb and forefinger, forcing her closer.
“I am your everything, Reverie,” I say, fire on my breath. “And I won’t allow you to exist without me. I’m in everything you touch. In everything you see. What you hear, taste, and smell. I am the very breath in your lungs. Because without me, you would have none of those privileges.”
