“We’re away from campus. No one will know.”
I try thinking clearly, despite the haze. “You’ll need to close the tab and give me your key,” I say as I give him a placating, tight-lipped smile.
I don’t wait around. Something isn’t right, so I head right for the door.
At the time, I didn’t comprehend it. I barely remember it. I didn’t ever want to go back to that night and what came next.
I wander outside, more drunk than I should be, lightheaded, hazy. The brick wall feels cool on my back as I lean against the side of the building, trying to get my bearings.
“This is a beautiful turn of events,” someone says to me, but I don’t recognize their voice. “I saw your picture when I walked by and thought, ‘Professor Crowne, I wonder how someone could be that intelligent and beautiful.’” As I try to focus on what he’s saying, this tall and lanky man, and I don’t like the way he walks closer. Too close. “You weren’t who I planned for tonight, but how do I pass up an opportunity like this?” he asks.
It isn’t fear that billows around me now, it’s a vibrating anger that travels through my veins and has my hands shaking as I focus back on this moment.
“Andi, honey, let’s go to the ladies’ room, maybe splash a little water on your face.” I need to get her away from the noise and crowd, away from him. She isn’t drunk. She’s been drugged. I know what it’s like, what it looks like. And the culprit hovers behind me.
Instead of Andi standing and moving with me, it’s Reed’s hand that wraps around my elbow, gripping it tight as his body pulls me away.
“The fuck? Let go of me!” I try shouting, just as the band ticks higher. My mind races as I try to shove him away, but the grip he has on my arm moves, twisting it in a way that if I don’t move with him, something will snap. I blink hard, trying to see through the pain, and can barely gain traction as he drags metoward the long hallway that leads to the back exit. “Ow, fuck, you’re hurting me. Reed. Let go of me!” I yell, but he doesn’t react at all.
He turns his body, his back toward the crowd, blocking anyone from seeing what he’s doing. That’s when he shifts me, and I feel a sharp object pressed at the base of my spine. I freeze, no longer trying to pull out of his grip.No. He leans in, his hot breath against my ear as his threat registers.
“Shut your fucking—” He sniffs out an exhale against my ear. Every part of me wants to recoil and shove away from him—thrash and scream, but if I move, I don’t trust he won’t hurt me. In a more collected tone, he says, “We need to clear up this misunderstanding.”
Tears I didn’t even know had swelled, fall down my cheek as I try to keep my focus locked on Andi for as long as I can. “Andi!” I try shouting. But it’s too loud in here. She starts to slump forward as I’m pulled down the long hall that runs the length of the bar and toward the back.
How didn’t I see this?Anger and terror fight and churn in my stomach.Be smart. Do not panic now.
I don’t remember much ofthatnight—the all-consuming terror that followed drowned out the origin of it. “It never should’ve been that easy,” I say to myself, even more confused. It never should’ve been so easy to take me like the monster had.
If Reed hadn’t drugged me, I might have had a fighting chance. I fell from the grasp of one monster and into another’s. I try sucking in a breath as I frantically look around.
“We both know you’re not a fighter,” he grits out.
All I can think is,Yes, I am.
“You said we’re friends, how much my friendship means to you,” he says against my ear. “Were you lying, Professor?”
My body seizes at the way he says it, my skin crawling.
“Don’t you remember how friendly we were? I didn’t even need to coax you; you were so eager for it,” he says, dragging me, jamming the tip of a sharp object into the skin at my back.
There’s no alarm when he shoves the door open.Goddamnit.
I try yelling again, but nothing comes out.No.I open my mouth again, my breathing labored, willing myself not to shut down.Stay present. A hollowed-out feeling settles in the pit of my stomach. I promised myself this would never happen to me again.Never again.
I eye the fire extinguisher on the opposite wall and lean my body in its direction. The weight shift throws him off enough that I hit the wall.You’re a fighter.But he rights me quickly, even more pissed off now.Yell, goddamnit!The grip he has on my arm shoots a blinding pain across my chest, making more tears fall.Be brave.I grit my teeth and try seeing through the pain. I won’t go quietly,never again.
Open your mouth and scream!
Chapter Thirty-Two
Julian
I peerup and over the crowd gathered toward the stage and another horde of people wrapped around the bar inside. I don’t see her. Damn, The Whispering Fool is packed tonight.Maybe that was part of their plan.
The minute Birdie said his name, I knew my gut had been right. It wasn’t just jealousy I felt toward ReedfuckingAndrews. My instinct is to protect Wyn, and that was what keyed in when he was around her. From what I’ve learned, he’s the kind of dangerous that escalates. I need to find her and figure out a way to tell her what Birdie and Lu had asked of me, and why.
The text I received on our drive home needed to be addressed right away.
