I nod. Kiervan and Kohen may hate each other’s guts, but there is no denying their similarities in the rage boiling beneath their skin. The fundamental difference I am woefully unprepared for is how each brother strikes.
Kohen’s attacks can be seen a mile away. It always ends up with him inches from my face and his hand around my throat. The extent of the damage will only be on the surface, while my sanity will remain within arm’s reach.
Kiervan is the type who will strike at night when his opponents are most oblivious. He’ll swoon and charm, then rip their heart out the second their defenses drop. He’s a mastermind in it for the long game.
What am I? Fuck around and find out doesn’t mean much if my strongest attack involves my knees.
“What precisely does Kohen think he will achieve by sending hisgirlfriend to yap in my face?”
“It doesn’t matter what he thinks. What does matter is that you need to leave him the fuck alone. He isn’t your bitch. And I’m not his girlfriend.”
He cocks a brow. “Or what?”
I open my mouth but nothing comes out.Or what?Or nothing. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. “I’ll tell your college you’re getting someone else to do your work for you. You’ll be done for cheating, then you’ll never get your degree.”
Kiervan chuckles as if I’m a child. “You know what I think?” He curls a loose strand of my copper hair around his finger. “The only reason he’s taken any interest in someone like you is pity. He gets a sense of comradery in knowing that you’re just as pathetic as he is. You'll be abandoned as soon as he finds someone else to coddle, to make him feel like he’s important. Left alone to rot in your house—oh wait. My bad. You don’t have one.” He smiles casually.
A lump forms in my throat as his words become parasites that wiggle into my brain. He’s probably right, and I’ve made a fool of myself by trying to play the hero. I just… Kohen did all those things for nothing. I don’t want him to keep doing things for me in vain when I’m going to disappear the second the gates open. He can’t follow me down or try to save me as we both fall.
After everything he’s done for me, I’m returning the favor.
“You’re going to die alone, hated by every person you’ve ever encountered.” It’s a weak response. Only I don’t know who I’m directing the words to, me or the monster in front of me.
“Wow. Being stupid with a poor memory is an unfortunate combination. Have you forgotten already, love? Nothing you can say or do will hurt me. I’m untouchable, and you’re…” He scoffs, slowlyclosing in on my personal space until there’s barely an inch between us. “You, on the other hand?” Kiervan trails a finger down my cheek, and I stop myself from cringing away. “There are so many ways I could make you scream.”
“Doesn’t change the fact you’re too stupid to do any of your bidding yourself. I guess your mom gave your brother the only functioning brain.”
He grabs me by my throat, except it isn’t tactful like the way Kohen does it, where I can still breathe. Kiervan’s only intent is to harm. Pain ruptures across my throat, cutting off my oxygen in an instant. Clawing at his arms, I bring my knee up, only for him to step forward to block my attack. White spots splatter over my vision as my hands flick out toward his face. I sink my thumbs into his eye sockets without a second thought.
A vicious growl breaks through the air a split second before I soar into the ground, crutches and all.
“Fucking bitch!”
I splutter for breath as he pulls me up on my feet, taking away any chance I have of an upper hand. Crying out, I reach for my hair, feeling strands snap away from the roots. It still doesn’t stop me from curling my first and aiming for the general vicinity of his dick, missing it narrowly. “Get the fuck off me.”
He buckles forward, clutching his stomach while unrelenting with his grip. Murderous eyes crash to mine, and he says with flaring nostrils, “You’re going to regret—”
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
We both snap our attention toward the voice, my stomach sinking to the deepest depths of hell. I had hoped to have at least a couple hours to regroup before Kohen found out about this.
Kiervan straightens, beaming from ear to ear. “Oh, what’s up, baby bro? Me? Blaze invited me over. We gowayback.” Letting go of my hair, he grabs a handful of my ass. I jolt out of his hold, and my fist goes flying, knocking him square in the jaw. Pain blasts through my fist, radiating up my arm to my shoulder.
His head whips to the side, and his body follows. There’s no chance to bask in my victory because he recovers almost instantly, lunging for me. This time, I’m ready. There’s space to move and no second thoughts. I pivot on my bruised foot, grab the collars of his blazer, and drive my knee forward.
The howl that follows is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. The cry that comes out of me is less so. My bad foot gives out, crumbling my balance. But a pair of arms catches me before I can finish my descent.
Kohen protectively tugs me to his side. His breaths come out short and sharp while his wild eyes remain on his brother. “You may be a psychopath, but touch her again and I’ll make sure you feel me break every single bone in your hand.”
A smug grin blooms across my face as a crimson bead drips down Kiervan’s chin from the corner of his lips. Any sliver of self-satisfaction vanishes when his mouth pulls as if he’s just concocted a plan that will make a drop of blood look like child’s play.
“You should really learn how to leash your pet.” The maniacal lilt to his voice has me edging closer to Kohen. His brother slowly backs away toward the steps down to the car park, cutting his lethal eyes to me when he says, “Dogs who act out get put down.”
Not for the first time today, I realize I’ve bitten off substantially more than I can chew. I’m not sure what exactly went through my brain when I typed up the message to Kiervan—or better yet,why Ikept fucking responding.But something tells me I’m about to lay in the bed I just made. And boy, is it a shit bed.
If the crow that’s eying me from one of the trees isn’t an omen, then the fact that I can hear each one of Kohen’s heavy breaths definitely is. Neither of us moves a muscle or speaks as we watch Kiervan stroll back to his car, whistling as he spins his keys around his finger. It isn’t until his Mercedes revs off down the long driveway that Kohen slices through the tension.
Any semblance of gentleness or patience has abandoned our fraught relationship. The grip he has on my shirt makes him look just like his brother with his hair-trigger temper and savage ferocity. He pushes me up against the cold brick wall, disregarding my whimper of pain.
