“Move and I blow her brains all over you,” he warned too smoothly. There was such an eerie calm about his demeanor.
“Whoa, man. You’ve seriously lost your shit,” Micah said; his normally playful eyes were shrewd chips of ice.
It took every bit of my self-control to not run across the room. No one moved a muscle. Hell, I barely breathed. “Don’t do this, Carter. Don’t hurt her. It’s me you want. Right?”
Brock’s body flinched against mine. “Shut up, Firefly. So help me god, I will remove you myself.” To prove his point, his grip around my waist tightened.
I ignored him, knowing that Brock might very well pick me up and forcefully haul my ass out of the Academy, but I had to do something to stop Kenna’s fear. I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Let me take her place.” The words rushed out of my mouth.
“NO!” Brock roared, moving his body in front of me. “That’s not going to happen. I will shoot you before I let her get within ten feet of you.” There was no questioning the certainty of his threat, nor the gun Brock held steady at Carter’s head.
But Carter spoke to me as if he hadn’t heard Brock at all. Idiot. “You would trade her life for yours?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “Admirable. But stupid, seeing as Kenna is the most selfish creature on the planet. Aren’t you?” he said, poking Kenna’s head with the gun’s barrel.
Fresh tears sprang into her eyes as she sobbed behind the gag.
“She’s family. We used to be family,” I said, hoping he had a shred of humanity inside him. I never really thought of Carter as family, but in this situation, I’d let him think we were goddamn as thick as thieves. “Put the gun down, Carter.”
“Nice try. I almost believe you care. But then I remember what you did to me.”
“Those were some epic pics.” Micah was gloating at him while Fynn and Brock kept their guns trained on Carter. If Carter hadn’t had his 9mm butted against Kenna’s head, he would already have a bullet in him.
A muscle ticked in Fynn’s jaw, and I could see how much he wanted to get his hands on Carter, beat the living shit out of him, kill him even. It seemed to be a unanimous feeling within the Elite. The moment Carter lowered that gun from Kenna’s head, even just a little bit, they would bum-rush him.
I couldn’t handle seeing Kenna like this. “Just fucking admit what you did. Then this will all be over. Isn’t that what you want? For this to stop?”
“What I want I can never have.”
I swallowed hard.Fucking hell. Please, God, don’t let him say it.
Carter’s deranged eyes landed on me. “You.”
Christ. Revulsion tumbled in my gut, rising in my throat like burning acid.
“Why me?” I didn’t understand this obsession. Was it that he just wanted whatever the Elite had? No. Not the Elite. Brock. First, it had been Kenna, but that hadn’t been real. Carter hadn’t known that Brock’s affections for Kenna had been an act.
“Because you will hurt them the most. They’ve taken everything from me.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to educate him that it was his stupid-ass choices that got him here. I needed to keep him talking, give the Elite a chance to overtake him without hurting Kenna, but of course, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was getting hurt tonight. I just prayed it was Carter and no one I loved.
Keeping my attention centered on Carter, I tried again. “I don’t understand. What is the point in all of this? The thumb drive you wanted so badly? Harassing me? Raping Kenna? I don’t get it. Why would you do all of that?” It had to be more than hurting the Elite. I was just a pawn. He didn’t reallywantme. He wanted to use me.
Carter’s gaze flicked to Brock for just a fraction of a second, but it finally occurred to me.
Carter’s real obsession wasn’t me.
It was Brock.
Or wanting what Brock had. His influence. His popularity. His power.
He wanted Brock’s fucking life. Friends. Girlfriend. Status. Respect. Why hadn’t I seen it before? Did Brock see Carter’s true fixation?
I flinched at the realization. “Oh, my God. You’re obsessed with my boyfriend. That’s what this is. It’s not me. It’s not Kenna. It’s Brock.”
The Elite didn’t have much of a reaction, and I assumed it was because they had already had a hunch about Carter’s infatuation.
But Carter… he exploded. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t know what you’re talking about. I hate him.”
His sudden burst of anger only reinforced my theory. Carter’s immediate reaction was to deny the truth. He had done so too quickly and with too much emotion.