“I’m not in love with her, Humphrey, and she hasn’t broken me.” I was angry, so fucking angry. I didn’t let her in. I couldn’t fucking let her in.
Humphrey shook his head. “You’re so blind that you can’t even see what’s right in front of you. Dean, please, you have to stop this. I’m thinking of you, as well as her. You will make her fall, and you will only come tumbling down after her.”
I shook my head. “No, I won’t believe what you say is true. She did what she did and she had to pay.”
Humphrey sighed and got up from his chair, shaking of his head. “And now she has, Dean. Leave it the fuck alone. You seek havoc, but all you’ll end up finding is despair. Let it go.” Reaching for the handle of the front door, Humphrey left with a silent click of the door, and I was left with his parting words whirling around in my head.
You seek havoc, but all you’ll end up finding is despair.
I didn’t care for Tyler, I hadn’t let her in, and I certainly didn’t love her. I made that mistake once. I wasn’t going to let myself fall for it again. “Fool me once…” and all that shit.
But no matter what I thought, it didn’t stop that nagging voice in my head. It didn’t stop the fucking agonising pain in my gut. And it didn’t stop my black heart from finally beating for Tyler. She was bewitching me and I was letting her.
I was right when I told Tyler I was a demon, but I had to make certain she wasn’t right, too.
Chapter 37
Tyler
Buckinghamshire, 2001
“That guy over there’s looking to get his head kicked in.”
I looked over and saw a boy of about eighteen or nineteen staring over at me. “Dean, he’s only looking.”
Dean placed a very possessive arm around my shoulder and scowled at the boy. The boy’s eyes widened and, very quickly, he looked away.
“That’s better,” Dean said, huffing a little.
“What’s wrong with him looking at me?” I asked, not wanting to let this go.
Kissing me softly next to my left eye, Dean smiled. “It’s not the looking that bothers me. It was how he was looking at you. I’m a man, so I know what other men think. He was practically undressing you with his eyes.”
Nudging him gently in the ribs, I giggled. “Oh, come on, Dean. He was just looking.”
Dean faced me and leaned into my ear. He was so tall now, at least seven inches taller than me. In the ten years I have known him, he’s just shot up. “No one gets to look at my girl like that, Tyler.” The way he whispered it into my ear made me shudder, then he gently nibbled on my ear, making the fires rage inside of me. “No one.”
*****
I didn’t know what time it was when the phone started ringing. All I knew was that I had been sleeping, dreaming of Dean and I again. When the phone wouldn’t stop, I switched my light on and noticed it was a little after one in the morning.
Rubbing my eyes, I got up and wrapped my dressing gown around me before running for the phone. I really needed to get one installed in my room. I had been meaning to do it but, then again, no one normally calls me at such an ungodly hour.
“Hello?” I whispered into the phone. I couldn’t help the yawn that escaped me. I was still half-asleep.
“Tyler?” the voice said with a hint of urgency.
“Rachael?” I was fully awake now, both panicking and secretly praying Jeremy wanted to see me. “Is Jeremy okay? Does he want to talk? I can be there in less than twenty minutes.”
Suddenly, she burst into tears, and the sound of her crying had the bells ringing in my ears.
“Jeremy’s pneumonia came back, but he hoped he could beat it. He made us swear not to tell you so you didn’t worry. About an hour ago, he started convulsing and slipped into a coma. I simply had to call you and let you know.”
My heart started thumping through my chest as I frantically ran around the room, trying to gather my things. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Then I hung up.
I didn’t waste any time. I was at the hospital as soon as possible and running through the doors. “Tyler, you’re here,” Rachel whispered.
I looked at where Jeremy normally was and he wasn’t there. The panicking intensified. “Where’s Jeremy?” I asked, terror in my voice.
“We’ve had to move him to ICU. You hung up on me so fast, I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”
My eyes widened as the horror of her words sank in. “Where is the ICU, Rachael? Can you take me there?”
Rachael nodded and took my hand. “Of course. It’s down on the first floor.”