Crown of Thorns by E.M. Snow
18
“Why won’tyou leave me alone?” I ask Phoenix several days later when the scent of his cologne hits me in the hallway.
He steps beside me, glances down, and cocks a thick dark eyebrow. “We’ve established this. You are mine, and I’ll do whatever the fuck I please with you until your brother comes through. Speaking of the low-life fuck, have you heard from him?”
I jab my tongue in my cheek because Phoenix knows I haven’t. I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but Jasper hasn’t had the decency to acknowledge me since he sent that one text. I’ve always thought the whole “rolling over in her grave” thing is cliché, but that’s likely what my mom is doing right now.
“My brother’s arrangement is with your father, so shouldn’t your dad be the one threatening my existence every five seconds?”
His dad who has extended his business trip again and still has no interest in speaking to me directly. It’s past the point of weird now and bordering on just plain disturbing.
Sure enough, something dark passes over Phoenix’s features, but he manages to shove it away lightning fast. “I’m far more interesting than my father,” he points out with a lazy grin, tipping his head closer to mine. “I’d be happy to show you what I mean. Regardless, even when he comes home, you’ll still be mine.”
My stomach flutters at the way he says mine, but I manage to roll my eyes at him. We’re walking to our shared class together—or rather, I was walking, and he joined me uninvited—and I’m about to lose my goddamn mind.
Ever since the day Margaret told me what she really thinks of me two weeks ago, he’s somehow managed to show up almost everywhere I’ve been. He’s not treating me any differently than usual. He’s a condescending asshole who enjoys tormenting me in new and exciting ways. Still, it’s definitely strange how he seems to be trailing me these days with no regard for my privacy or personal space.
The only good thing that’s come from him sticking to me like glue is that Harmony has given up on harassing me. She hasn’t said a word to me since he called her out in class after she tripped me. Instead, she focuses all her energy on winning him back.
To my disgust, he finds her efforts amusing.
“Yeah, yeah,” I finally huff in response to his statement declaring his ownership over me yet again. “You know, you keep saying the same thing, and it’s getting pretty damn old.”
“If you actually understood the words that are coming out of my mouth, I wouldn’t have to remind you so often. I’m not confident you’ll ever understand, though.”
“You? Lacking confidence? What world are we living in?” We reach our classroom, and I sigh before adding, “Just leave me alone. Please.”
Leaning down, he murmurs at my ear, “Not a fucking chance.”
I shiver at the timbre of his voice, hating myself for reacting to him at all. Forcing my chin up, I keep my expression neutral as I shoot him a dark look before jerking away from him and walking into the classroom. As I cross to my desk, I do my best to ignore the cold and judgmental looks I get along the way. I’m almost used to them by now, which is pretty sad.
At least none of them will say or do anything to me with Phoenix hovering over me like a helicopter stalker.
Guess there truly is a bright side to everything.
Just before I reach my desk, I let my eyes wander toward the back of the room. When I find who I’m looking for, my gaze lingers. Easton gives me a half-smile and a wink. He’s been doing that a lot lately, especially since it seems to piss off Phoenix. In fact, I hear him growl at my back, and I grin, feeling a dark thrill at the knowledge that I’ve done something to crack his hard-as-stone exterior.
“Watch yourself, Luna.”
I slip into my seat with a chuckle and peer up at him from beneath my lashes. “Why do you care?”
He doesn’t respond as he sits in his usual seat behind me, but his silence speaks volumes, and somehow, it feels like a victory.
* * *
“I’m curious about something, Josslyn,”Kallista calls out the next morning just after the warning bell rings and Phoenix slithers off to his first block class, gym in the rec center with Sydney and Margaret.
I pause in the middle of the hallway, close my eyes, and let out a noisy exhale. She doesn’t quit, does she? Whirling around, I narrow my brown eyes into tight slits as her and her group prowl toward me, brutal smirks teasing their lips.
Thankfully, there are no coffee cups in sight.
“Yes?”
She lays a hand on her hip and cocks her head. “Just answer this, whose dick is bigger: Phoenix’s? Or his dad’s?”
Heat eats away at my face and neck. “How would I know?”
“Well, you’re obviously fucking one of them. Probably both, so spill? Who’s bigger?” She holds her hands eight or nine inches apart. “Or is one longer and the other thicker? I seriously lose sleep thinking about this.”
“Maybe they alternate nights,” Daphne suggests.
Kallista chuckles. “Or share the nasty bitch.”
“Or maybe, you can just ask your sister, since she’s already fucked at least one of them. Possibly both,” I spit out, and Kallista hollows her cheeks. Her stance changes, like she’s ready to lay me out if I so much as breathe another word. “I’m not sleeping with either Phoenix or his father, so can you stop already?”
“You might as well give up the innocent act, Josslyn. Everyone heard about you sneaking off with Aric the night of Gideon’s party. The Townsends weren’t enough for you, you had to fuck him, too? Do you also get it in with Reina? I heard she’s not above a little muff diving, even if it is with a goddamn butter-body.”
Butter-body. That’s a brand new one. The sad part is that it doesn’t even bother me anymore. I just want to get this over with so I can get to class.
Still, of all the times for Phoenix to not be my shadow, it has to be now. I almost miss the bastard because his presence alone is enough to keep Kallista’s lips snapped shut. She’s that afraid of offending him. Telling myself that it doesn’t matter—that I don’t need him to fight my battles—I open my mouth to shoot her a retort, but a sharp voice lashes through the air before I can get a word out.
“You know, Kallista, just because no one’s interested in lubing up and climbing your lifeless corpse doesn’t mean you get to take it out on every other girl Phoenix looks at.”
Shocked, I glance over my shoulder and almost pass out when I spot Alaric, of all the damn people, lurking toward us, his hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his uniform khakis. He’s wearing his usual expression, the one that’s borderline uninterested, but his hazel eyes flash with fury. I look back to Kallista and all the color has drained from her face.
“Aric? I thought—” she begins, but Alaric comes to a stop next to me and draws a hand from his pocket, smooshing his finger against Kallista’s lips and smudging her pink gloss.
“You talk too fucking much, and I can smell the purge vomit from where I’m standing,” he says, his tone terrifyingly pleasant. Kallista just gulps, her face turning beet red. “I already know what you thought. That I’d keep walking like I didn’t hear you making a fool of yourself again. That I wouldn’t give a fuck you’ve been shit-talking my family—my sister—for weeks. I do, you stupid bitchy, so I’m warning you now. Let it go."
Did that just happen? Alaric Hartley breaking his vow to avoid me in the biggest way possible—coming to my defense? He drops his hand from her mouth, and Kallista instantly goes crazy.
“Who the fuck do you think—”
“You already know,” he interrupts coldly. “I’d be more than happy to remind you—that is, when you’re not sucking off Hux Michaelson in the janitor’s closet.”
Even my head jerks back at that, which is a vindictive move that would make both Phoenix and Reina proud. Hux Michaelson is a popular senior and football player. He’s also Daphne’s boyfriend.
Kallista stares at Alaric with wide eyes, her mouth opening and closing as she struggles to come up with a response. It’s so damn satisfying, especially when Daphne stalks off, leaving her best friend looking like a fish flopping on a dock.
At last, Kallista clamps her lips together, a flash of defeat crossing her features quickly followed by embarrassed fury. “Too bad you and your bitch sister weren’t in that fucking car with your devil-worshipping parents,” she snarls. Turning, she flips her brown hair over her shoulder and storms off, her posse of airheads hurrying after her.
A bark of laughter breaks from his lips as he turns to me with a grin, but it’s strained. I mean, why wouldn’t it be after Kallista’s callous dismissal of his parents’ death? “She’s so easy to break if you know just the right places to press.” Eyeing me up and down, he then asks, “You okay, Hendrix?”
Honestly, I’m not even concerned about myself at this point. Not after what she said to him. When my lips part to say something, though, he gives a slight jerk of his head. So, instead, I flick my tongue over my lips and nod.
“I’m ... fine,” I say, then continue, “It’s not the first time she’s come after me, and I doubt it’s the last.”
“Fuck her.” He shrugs, a seemingly nonchalant move, but his shoulders are tight.
“Alaric, what she said about you and Reina and your parents—”
“Kallista is all talk, just like Kristyn before her,” he interrupts, his eyes flashing another warning, this one telling me that if I go there, we’re done for good. “But as soon as anyone connected with Phoenix shows up, all her shit hits the fan. Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t. And … thank you, Alaric. For helping me.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” he says in a hoarse voice.
Something twists in my stomach, and I lower my gaze to the floor, counting a few tiles before I manage, “Still…”
The tardy bell rings, and Alaric releases a low groan, mumbling under his breath about detention and football practice. To me, he mutters, “Try not to die today, Hendrix.”
I start to tell him that if they haven’t killed me yet, it’s probably not going to happen anytime soon—at least not until Phoenix gets exactly what he wants from my brother—but Alaric is already halfway down the hall when I glance back up.
* * *
“So,you’re actually a huge nerd, aren’t you? Reading Prince biographies in the library one day, trying out for High School Musical the next. Not sure what to do with you, Josslyn.”
Grinning, I glance toward Reina. “Just because I want to work on the school musical—which, by the way, is not High School Musical—does not make me a nerd.”
I’d honestly considered trying out, but I don’t admit that to Reina.
She nods, lowering her Chanel sunglasses so she can gaze at me over the top of the lenses. “Absolutely it does, but in a cute way.”
We’re spread out in lounge chairs next to the pool behind the main house, enjoying what we can of the sunshine so late in the day. For the past hour, we’ve discussed normal things. There’s been no mention of Phoenix or Alaric or Kallista. It’s as if we’re just two regular girls chatting about regular, mundane life. Since she’d stumbled on me reading a Prince biography in the estate’s massive library last night, she’d poked at my love of music a bit to get me to spill more, so I told her that Miss Olsen had announced the winter production today during choir.
My teacher’s gaze had landed squarely on me as she added that it would be a great opportunity for any students interested in pursuing vocal performance in college. While that’s not my plan, I want to be involved in the show.
Music still feels like the only constant in my life. Since Mr. Parker hasn’t scheduled me to work at the store since Phoenix happened, this will at least make everything feel a little normal.
“They’ll probably put me on lights or costumes,” I tell Reina with a shrug. “It won’t be that big of a deal.”
“You should try out,” she scolds. “Go full nerd, all that razzle dazzle stuff. I mean, I’ve heard you singing in the shower, bitch. You can get whatever role you want. You just have to believe.”
I snort. “The fact you just auto-tuned your own voice is both impressive and disturbing.”
“You’ve been spending far too much time with me because that sounds exactly like something I would say.” Waggling her eyebrows, she reaches for her margarita and takes a long sip.
Laying back against my chair, I sigh. “Who knows if I’ll even follow through with it at all. I have a hard enough time visiting my grandmother as it is. Adding another obligation when I don’t have a car is only going to make things more difficult.”
Last week, Gideon had driven me to visit Nina three times, but even he has commitments now because wrestling conditioning has started. Apparently, little Townsend wants to follow in Satan’s footsteps.
“What do you mean? There’s a whole fucking fleet of cars in that stupid auto gallery. How pretentious is that? A goddamn temperature-controlled auto gallery.”
“Phoenix won’t let me use any of them,” I admit. “He had the last one I drove towed a few weeks ago.”
“Oh my God, what a dick.” She shakes her head, disgust clawing at the corners of her mouth. “Why are you putting up with him? Why don’t you just tell him to go fuck himself? Please, Josslyn, tell me what’s going on so I can help you.”
For someone who seems to know everything about everyone, this has to be killing Reina.
And the thing is, I’m so tempted to tell her. To reveal everything because I know for a fact how good it will feel to purge myself of all this stress. But I don’t know what Phoenix will do to Jasper if I step out of line so severely. More than that, I don’t know what he will do to me. “It’s … complicated,” I whisper.
She pulls her sunglasses down again and studies me intently for several beats before pursing her lips. “Whatever. It’s your business, I guess. If you want, though, I can take you to visit your grandma.”
I gasp and stare at her in disbelief. “What? Really? You’d do that?”
“Why not? It’s not like I’ve got a lot of other stuff going on right now since...” She trails off, and curiosity spirals through me. Since what? I want to ask, but I know she’ll shut down my question almost immediately. She always does, and it’s not like I can complain. I’m not exactly forthcoming with my secrets either.
Which is probably why Reina and I work.
“So, you’re serious?”
Hunching her thin shoulders, she makes a face. “Don’t make a big deal about it.”
But it is a big deal. A huge deal. Reina may not want an official friend, but whether she likes it or not, she has one.