My Maddie (Hades Hangmen #8) - Tillie Cole Page 0,27

I asked Saff. She handed me her schedule. “This way,” I said, and she followed me to the classroom. Stopping at the door and eyeballing the football players that checked her out, I said, “I’ll meet you in the entrance after school. Go straight there. Anyone gives you shit, you tell me. Yeah?”

Saffie gave me a flicker of a smile that fucking destroyed me, nodded, and then entered the classroom. That fucking smile imprinted itself in my brain. In fact, as the day droned on, I thought of nothing else. Gradually, the anger crept back, talon by sharp black talon until it regained its hold. Until I was shifting back and forth in my seat during final period, needing to get the fuck out. I thought back to Saffie, and how I felt being near her. Calm. Peaceful. I needed it back. I was coming out of my skin thinking of her pretty face, her legs in those jeans, her flushed cheeks… and how I could breathe around her. When the bell rang, I made my way to the entrance to find Zane and Saffie already waiting. I moved close to Saffie, not close enough to scare her or make her uncomfortable, but close enough to feel the darkness begin to fade. And it did. It really fucking did. She was the perfect drug.

“What did you do?” I asked Zane, inhaling Saffie’s vanilla scent, letting it sink into my bones to numb the constant aches.

“Told Mr. Wallace to fuck off and shove his Sharpie up his ass,” Zane replied, shrugging. I smirked at Zane and he laughed back. “He wouldn’t get off my fucking back.” He ran his hand through his dark hair. “I can’t fucking deal with pricks like him anymore,” he admitted. “Not any-fucking-more.” He met my eyes. I read the unspoken message as he did. Not after Slash. I understood. He knew I did, because the same darkness that was now in me had infected us both. Zane, my fucking brother. We were in this shit together.

Reaching forward, I put my hand on his shoulder. “Your uncle will kill you for that.”

He shrugged. “Same as every other day.” I nodded and Zane shrugged off my hand. He nudged his head in Saffie’s direction. “Wasn’t sure you’d make it through the day without getting in the shit with me.”

I cast a glance to Saffie who had a book clutched to her chest, head down. My eyes narrowed when I saw her hands shaking. It fucking tore me apart. I knew Phebe had been homeschooling her before this. She should still be doing that. Not putting herself through this fucking torturous hell. “Then again,” Zane said. “I know my uncle made sure every teacher stressed her last name—Deyes. Suppose that made it real fucking clear where she was from and whose relation she was.” I nodded, silently thanking AK, but my priority was to get Saffie home.

“Let’s go,” I said, and saw her sigh in relief. Saffie walked between us until we reached the truck. She sat by the window and stared out as the world passed by. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

“You pissed?” Zane asked as I approached the country roads that led us to the compound. “About the suspension from Prospect?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, but shrugged. Pissed was an understatement. “They just don’t fucking understand.” Zane nodded and I knew he really did understand. I felt his anger too, like it was connected to mine. A living, breathing fucking demon that was taking us over, possessing our soul’s day by day.

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled into the cluster of cabins where we all lived. I parked the truck. AK and Flame were sitting outside AK’s house. Viking was there too. For once he wasn’t smirking or talking about his cock. AK was serious as he spoke to Flame. My gut twisted. Something was happening. Something bad.

“What’s going on?” Zane asked, frowning at everyone’s concerned faces.

“Fuck knows,” I replied. We got out of the car. Before I’d even blinked, Saffie was rushing inside the house, Phebe opening the door and hugging her tightly before the door closed. I fucking stopped my feet from breaking into a run and rushing after her.

AK lifted his head. “How’d it go?”

“She was scared shitless,” I replied and approached them. “She shouldn’t be there. I get it’s not up to me, but she’s far from fucking ready to be in that school.” Before AK could reply, I looked to my brother and