Crash and Burn (1)

if anyone touches your hair, i'll kill them

♚ ♛

"I REMEMBER BEING..." Soren drawled dangerously low, "in this exact position, Lacey."

My throat was too dry to muster anything up as he stared down at me. If looks could kill, I would've been dead on those tinted tiles. I knew it was because I'd broken that unspoken vow. The fight had been over. "Do you remember?"

I tried to swallow, maintaining a neutral expression. I couldn't be afraid of Soren. I knew he wouldn't hurt me. "Let me refresh your memory, mi princesa." He ducked down to my level so quickly that I swiveled backwards and almost lost my balance. Those strong arms wrapped around my waist to catch me quickly.

And then his breath was fanning across my face, that faint trace of smoke obliterating all my senses. "I thought...you trusted me?"

It rang through me like a blaring alarm. The exact same words.

Yet, everything was different now. I did trust him. I cared about him.

"I do." I muttered, holding his dark gaze. Soren fed off fear and I wasn't afraid of him. "You weren't telling me anything and I knew that you wouldn't."

And then suddenly, he was gripping my forearm and swinging me up to my feet. Still clutching that small phone in my shaky grasp, I let out a squeak as my back hit the countertop.

Literally.

Soren and I had been in this exact position before. We were going in circles.

That small cock of his head only proved it. I remembered it. That small, taunting movement. "What did you find, princesa?"

The same goddamn words. Why was he doing this?

"Nothing," I grumbled, ripping my arm out of his grasp and trying to lean back. "Because you're the lightest sleeper on the fucking planet."

Soren chuckled lowly. It was nothing like that laugh that made my heart stop. No, it was that cold, bitter laugh that gave me chills. We'd come so far, but I still remembered it. "You know you'll always get caught, Lacey."

"Yeah?" I asked, my eyes narrowing at his statement. "I figured that even if I got caught, it would show you how serious I am about this." His gaze followed the phone as I waved it in front of him. "What the hell did we need burner phones for?"

Soren exhaled deeply, closing his eyes. Something surged forward when he ground his teeth in front of me. "Tell me, Soren."

In that second, his eyes snapped open. They were electric. This electric green that stuck out in this faint, red tomb. It almost made me gasp, but then Soren was ripping the phone from my hand. "You want to be involved? Fine. Lace, you're going to be fucking involved."

Breathe.

"Sore-"

"I want you to call him."

There was a split second of silence where I thought I'd heard him wrong. And then my heart...stopped. With those six words. Everything froze.

I silently shifted my eyes to his. There was no joke in those eyes. "What?"

"I want you to call him. That's why I got this."

All four of them?

No, this had to be one of Soren's elaborate distractions. This had nothing to do with Adrian. "Why?" I asked heavily, wary of the way he was watching me. I didn't want to give away the panic that was pulsing through my body. I did not want to call him again. That one phone call had nearly torn me to shreds. "Why?"