My entire body begins to shake as haunting memories of that night flood me all at once.
Her cheek is resting on the branch as if she just leaned forward and decided to fall asleep.
Blood trickles from her mouth, and I hear the gurgling sound again.
“Jen!”
I’m stopped by the branch pinning me to her chest.
She gasps for air.
“Jennifer!”Chapter 8Kingsley“Layla!” I point a finger to where Mason is punching the shit out of West.
“Crap, I’ll go get Falcon,” she says and then runs toward the dorms.
I jog closer to the fight, not having any idea of what to do.
“There must’ve been a lot of blood when the branch skewered your arm to her.”
The words shudder through me and fill me with shock, bringing me to a stop slightly to the right side of West.
My eyes dart to Mason, and his face is set in hard lines, his body shaking, and it’s then I realize what Mason looks like when he’s angry.
He looks like thunder.
“I’m going to kill you,” Mason growls, and I let out a shriek when his fist connects with West’s face.
Lake tries to intervene, but Mason glares at him like a raging maniac, “Stay the fuck back!”
This is bad.
I glance over my shoulder to see if Falcon is coming, and when there’s no sight of him, I tighten my hands at my sides, anxiety making me feel jittery.
“You don’t get to talk about my sister.” Mason’s breaths become harsh gasps, and he doesn’t stop punching West.
Falcon suddenly runs up to the fight, and he darts between them. He shoves West hard, and my eyes only have time to widen before West crashes into me.
I go down with a shriek as West falls over me, and something hard connects with my mouth. I freeze from the jolting pain, shutting my eyes tightly.
When a copper taste fills my mouth, I shove West off of me and dart up. I spit and almost gag. “Eww… I got his blood in my mouth.”
Layla rushes to me, and using the sleeve of her sweater, she wipes over my mouth, but it has me flinching away.
“Crap, Kingsley,” she gasps. “It’s your own blood.”
“It is?” I frown and brushing my thumb over my lip, I flinch again. “Ugh, it is.”
“Are you okay?” Lake asks as he places a hand on my shoulder, leaning a little down to see my face.
“I’m okay.” I feel blood dribble down to my chin, and quickly cover my mouth so I won’t bleed all over the place. “I’m going to clean up,” I mumble behind my hand and begin to walk toward my dorm.
Seconds later, I hear Layla say, “I’ll take care of her.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I see Mason stalking after me. He catches up and darts in front of me. Grabbing my shoulders, he snaps, “Let me see.”
“It’s nothing,” I argue not moving my hand.
I swear I hear him growl as he grabs hold of my wrist, yanking my hand away.
His eyes land sharply on the cut, and when the blood trickles all the way to the bottom of my chin, he reaches up with his other hand and wipes the blood away. He rubs it off on his jacket, which makes my eyes bulge with surprise, and without another word, he begins to drag me toward The Hope Diamond.
“I’m okay.” I pull back against his hold, but Mason just ignores me and drags me all the way to the elevator.
A drop of blood splats on the clean floor, and I quickly cover my chin and bottom lip with my free hand, so I don’t end up leaving a trail.
Mason presses the button, still not letting go of my wrist and when the doors ping open, he yanks me inside. I catch myself from stumbling into him.
Mason leans past me and presses the number for the top floor, and pulling back, his eyes land on my face. He finally lets go of my wrist and shrugs out of his jacket. Shoving my hand away, he almost freaking smothers me when he presses his jacket to my mouth.
“Can’t breathe,” I mumble, glaring at him.
“Just hold the fucking thing there,” he snaps angrily.
I take hold of it, moving it a little down.
The doors open and Mason grabs my left arm, dragging me again.
“Hey!” I snap, but the stupid jacket muffles it.
He doesn’t stop once he’s inside, but instead, stalks toward a bedroom, and right through it to the bathroom. My eyes dart curiously around the room, but the place is pristine, unlike my own.
In the bathroom, Mason lets go of my arm, then grabs my hips, and I let out a squeak when he lifts me, setting me down on the counter next to the sink.
He leans into the shower and grabs a face cloth, then wets it and washes his hands at the same time. Impatiently he shoves my legs open so he can step into the open space.