Chapter 7

• Kane
• “GIve me some,” Wilder says to Declan who has just taken a hit from a blunt he spent twenty minutes meticulously rolling.
• Kane Declan to hand it to Wilder, but instead Kane leans in and exhales the smoke into Wilder's mouth. Their lips nearly touch, but not quite, and Kane must look as confused as he feels because Wilder offers him a toothy grin and says, "want some?"
• "No thank you," Kane snaps, which causes Declan to smirk and Wilder to laugh. Kane isn't in the mood for their games. He shoves Wilder off the couch when he blows smoke in his general direction, and Wilder lands on his drunk ass. He gets to his feet, only to stand behind the couch. He's talking to Nathaniel, but the music is so loud that Kane can only hear a few words they're saying.
• They're talking about the note that was on Kane's door this morning, a knife holding it to the wood. In short, it said that if Kane didn't stop trying to uncover what happened to his brother, his pretty little girlfriend would meet the same fate. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know they're talking about Celeste. Kane's first thought was obviously Talon, but Declan couldn't sleep last night and stayed in the common room until sunrise playing chess against himself. He said Talon didn't leave his room until noon, and there's no other way out.
• Kane takes a sip of his beer and tries his best to relax. It's bad enough that he's here in the first place. It's not like he can get out of a Kappa Alpha party, and he knows someone here is responsible for that note. And when he finds them, they're going to regret having Celeste Monroe's name in their mouth. She's his to torment, and everyone knows that.
• He pats the front pocket of his jeans where he's kept Blaine's necklace since he ripped it off of Celeste's neck.
• He gave Declan the key to return to Delaney, mostly because he wanted to be spared the lecture he knew she'd give him, and she scares the hell out of him with those pointy heels and the rage of a mountain lion. He lets the chain slide through his fingers, and his mind races with memories of ripping it off her delicate neck. The look in her eyes when he did that was bittersweet. He loves having control over someone as headstrong as Celeste, but he wanted nothing more than to bury himself deep inside her. She's his. Every part of her.
• The way she responded to him last night, it took every ounce of willpower not to take her right there in the library. She would have given herself to him, and that was equal parts thrilling and anger-inducing. How many men has she given herself to that way? Did her body melt when Blaine touched her the way she fell apart in Kane's arms? He's angry at her, but the magnetic pull between him and Celeste just won't break. He has to fight it every day, and he knows deep down that it'll never dissipate.
• "Who invited her?" Nathaniel laughs, leaning over the back of the couch. No one's taken Wilder's spot next to Kane. He's in a fighting mood, and they know not to get in his way when he's like this.
• He looks up and sees Ella, Talon's acquaintance, perched on the handcrafted bar. She's slept her way through the fraternity, including some of the Wolves, which isn't why Kane doesn't like her. She's always in everyone's business, and she's a snake, always talking out of both sides of her mouth. She's shoving her chest out while she stares at Declan, who is in a deep conversation with Wilder.
• "The thought of closing my eyes around that woman is terrifying," Cruz chimes in, walking up and handing Nathaniel a beer.
• "She looks like she's about to pull out my voodoo doll," Wilder yells loudly, jumping over the couch and flopping next to Kane. He's clearly starting to feel the effects of the weed because Kane is glaring at him, and he's not fazed. "We slept with her the other night," he gestures toward Declan, who looks bored, but Kane knows him well enough to know he's uncomfortable with Wilder putting their business out in the open.
• "I would rather take a hammer to my you-know-what than put it anywhere near that woman," Kane says, and Wilder winces.
• "We don't all have hot stepsisters to mess around with," Nathaniel snickers, and Kane glares, turning around to look him in the eye. "It was a joke, calm down." He backs up because he values his life, and Kane relaxes his spine only a fraction.
• "Don't talk about her."
• "Look, man," Nathaniel leans back in. "I know you blame HER for what happened to Blaine. I can't even imagine going through that." He backtracks again when he sees Kane's jaw clench. "I just think maybe you're taking stuff out on her for other reasons. She was really close to Blaine, I don't think she would have put him in danger."
• "Shut. Up. And don't say her name." Kane can feel his entire body tensing. Before Celeste, he'd never had any use for girls except when he was horny. Nathaniel is bothering him with the way he's talking about her because Kane realizes how transparent he really is.
• "I'm just saying C-" Nathaniel catches himself and doesn't say her name but continues his thought. "She loved Blaine." He must see the anger etching into Kane's face because he backtracks on his words. "She loved him like a brother. Declan and I were talking about it the other day. Things don't add up. She wouldn't lure Blaine down to the cliffs knowing he was in danger."
• Kane is quiet. The rage funneling through his chest is only dampened by the truth in Nathaniel's words. She did love Blaine more than anything, and he loved her. He swore that it was only platonic, but Kane doesn't believe that. What has bothered him is that Celeste clearly knows something, but she refuses to tell him anything.
• She never denied anything, never explained where she was or why Blaine told him he'd be with her that night. Blaine told Kane they wouldn't be coming to the Graveyard fight that night because he and Celeste were working on a project for one of her classes. Kane was pissed that night because he hated the idea of them spending time alone in her room. He'd never admit that, not even to Blaine, and especially not to Celeste.
• Celeste never had to say where she was that night because everything was swept under the rug, and she was never questioned by the school or the police. Jesse was the one who found him and immediately called for help, but it was too late. Surviving a fall from the jagged cliffs surrounding Westbrook would have been a miracle. When Kane found Celeste, her story didn't add up. She was shaking, sobs racking her body as she clung to him. He was cruel, demanding answers that she couldn't give him. She wouldn't tell him why she wasn't with Blaine; she couldn't tell him why he was at the cliffs alone. He asked her point blank who she was with that night, and she wouldn
• “Celeste is a lying bitch," he says, the words tasting bitter in his mouth. All of the things Celeste has done since Blaine died don't add up to what he knows is true. The way she sobbed at Blaine's funeral and consoled his grandmother. After everything he's done and said to her, she still drops everything the moment Declan tells her he's having a panic attack. She comes to see him, to comfort him, knowing he's going to lash out at her.
• He can't think about that because he's got to focus on finding out what happened to Blaine, and all Celeste does is scramble his emotions. Talon might not have left him that note, but he'd be willing to bet he was behind it. The thought of him approaching her even publicly makes jealousy rage through him. He feels psychotic, like he's one step away from actually killing someone for touching what's his. He's going off the rails, he can feel it, and he needs to focus his energy on something other than some girl who can never be his.
• Nathaniel claps a hand on his shoulder. "Just don't do anything you can't take back."
• "You know what I miss?" Wilder blurts out, grinning. "When CELESTE would make us breakfast to help us sober up." Wilder holds a wine glass up filled with beer to Nathaniel for a toast. Nathaniel is sober enough to see that he's about to lose his cool and swipes his hand across his own neck, trying to convey to Wilder to knock it off.
• "Enough." He goes to stand up, but he's pushed back into the couch by a feminine hand.
• "I was just coming over to talk to you," Ella giggles obnoxiously and climbs up on his lap.
• "Get off of me," he snaps. She tries to grind her ass against him, but he's not in the mood. She cups her hand against the side of his face, her long fake fingernails scratching at his jawline in the most irritating way.
• "Aww, come on. Aren't you tired of following that whore around like a little lost puppy? Isn't that what got your brother killed?" She pouts as she giggles as he tries to move her off his lap without touching her exposed skin. She's gross.
• "Bro," Nathaniel taps him on the shoulder, he looks up at him, and he follows his eyes. He immediately stops fighting Ella, and rage fills his chest. He's going to kill someone.
• Celeste's looking right through him, and the disappointment is palpable in her green eyes. Celeste is standing at the bar, wearing his coat. She raises an eyebrow as if in a challenge and opens the coat, showing him and anyone who's looking at her that she's wearing nothing under it except for a black lacy bra and matching panties.
• This is how she's paying him back for getting her worked up and then leaving her to stew in the library overnight with nothing to wear except his coat. The urge to stab every motherfucker in this room who's looking at her, including his best friends, is way too intense.
• "Oww, you asshole!" He tosses Ella off his lap, and she lands on her ass. He sees Talon approach Celeste and stand next to her at the bar. He's offering her a drink, and he could snap his neck in that moment.
• Did she come here for him?
• Before any of the Wolves can talk him out of it, he's stomping through the crowd of people he can't stand with one thing in mind. He doesn't grab Talon, because at this point, if he so much as makes eye contact with him, he's going to murder him in front of all these witnesses, and he couldn't give a fuck if he tried.
• He wants to get a rise out of him, and despite how hard he's tried, he can't hide the desire he has for his own stepsister, so he knows she's the way to do it. He turns sideways and rudely forces his way between them, facing her, his back to Talon. His coat is closed over her lingerie now, and part of him is thankful for that, and the other part of him wants to put her up on this bar and pleasure her until she's out of her mind with pleasure.
• She lifts her shot glass in mock salute before she downs the third one he's seen in her hand tonight. She's not a big drinker, and if she keeps going, she's going to be throwing up all night. Kane's got other plans for her, so he snatches the glass out of her hand and levels his fraternity brother who is playing bartender with a look before saying, "If you give her anything else to drink, I'll break that fucking bottle in your hand and slit your throat with it."
• He holds a hand up in surrender and moves along to the other side of the bar to serve someone else.
• Kane turns back to Celeste and looms over her. She's about average height for a girl, but he dwarfs her significantly with his 6'4" frame, but she looks unaffected, unafraid. And he hates that.
• "I told you not to come here," Kane practically barks the words out, and her stare is hard and full of hurt for only a moment before her eyes glaze over, hiding her feelings. "You're coming with me. We're going to figure this out one way or another."