Twisted Ties (The Arrow Hart Academy #2)

by Hannah Haze

That man – that bastard fucking man – was going to kill her. To end her life. To take her from us. And for all my talk, for all my pretense that I don’t give a damn about the girl who’s stumbled into our lives and shaken everything upside down with both her hands, I’m lying. I do care. I care so much it makes my heart ache in my chest and I can’t stand there and look at her crumpled on the ground in pain.

Fate is a far more powerful force than any magical would ever care to admit. Pulling us together. Twisting and entwining our lives. Sooner or later, we would have collided. Sooner or later, I would have made her mine. Or perhaps she would have made me hers.

If he leaves, I’ll make my way to her room. Not to hurt her. To pet her. To stroke that soft hair of hers. To suck in her sweet scent. Would she let me? Or would she scream and fight me again? I smile. I like the way she screams. Like music.

I want to get her another gift. Not to frighten her. To remind her I’m thinking of her. To ensure she’s thinking of me. To reassure her, we’ll be together – her and me. It’s meant to be.

“I want you to give it to the girl.” “What girl?” “The one who looks like she fell out of a fairytale.” “What’s her name?” “Rhianna Blackwaters,” I say. I like her name. “I’ll give it to her,” he says, holding out his hand, eager to end this conversation and get away. “Who should I say it’s from?” I grin. “Her other half. She’ll know.”

Damn he is the first guy to accept it with arms wide open

Funny, I’m not sure I want to kill her anymore. My little rabbit, slipping from the fox’s jaw. No, I want to own her. Own her like this knife.

“What’s wrong?” I spit. “What’s wrong?” “Are you hurt? Is it your leg?” Winnie pulls away and spins around on the bed to face my mate. “No, it’s you, you lying toad.”

Love Winnie 🤣

“You have some serious making up to do.” “I know,” he says, meeting my eyes. “But,” Winnie adds, “you did save her which I am very grateful for. Just know, this girl means a lot to me – she’s awesome and beautiful and smart and brave–” “I know,” he says a second time, still staring into my eyes and making my body thrum with energy. “And if you hurt her in any way, if you so much as make her shed one tear, then I am coming for you Mr. … Mr. … Mr. Enforcer. I don’t care who you are.”

Because that pull in my gut, that tug, the one everyone says is the sign. The sign you’ve met your fated mate. It isn’t only Azlan I’ve felt it with.

“You’re going to come for me. Okay, pretty girl? I’m going to make you feel so good and you’re going to come on my tongue. Come right into my mouth.”

“Besides, I bet I made my mark on you too.” I scoff. “Any you did, I healed.” “But I did mark you?” “You’ve done more than mark me,” I growl, tugging her up against my body. “I have?” “You’ve captivated me.” She scoffs again. I take her chin in my hand and lift her face to mine. “You’re beautiful.” That doesn’t seem to satisfy her. “Brave. Smart.” She goes to argue with me but I get there first. “And you don’t know when to shut up.”

“You want it, you come and get it,” I say, flopping back on the mattress. She looks at me with a frown. “What are you waiting for?” “I … I don’t know what I’m–” “Come and sit on my cock,”

Growing up, he was my hero. He could do everything I wanted to do. He used to sneak me out to the forest, teach me magic I wasn’t supposed to know at such a young age, show me things I wasn’t supposed to see. I idolized the man, even more so when he gave our fathers the finger and refused to take the position in the authorities they wanted, opting for the role of enforcer instead.

“Her?” I spit. My cousin takes a menacing step towards me. “Yes, her.” “Have you lost your mind? She’s a nobody, a nothing.” “She’s everything,”

“I know someone attacked in the forest, Tristan. Someone who couldn’t be seen.” I match his gaze. Apart from Spencer, he’s the only one who knows. The only one I ever told. The one who advised me to keep it hidden. “The girl is mentally deranged and a liar. Whatever she told you–” “Stay away from her,”

I want to burn his flesh. I want to break every bone. I want to grind him into ash. She doesn’t belong to him.

“You have powers, Rhianna Blackwaters. Powers a girl like you shouldn’t possess.” Azlan’s gaze flicks to mine. “But who are you? Let me open those memories and–” “I’m not letting you anywhere near my mind,” she snaps, striding from the room, her little pig jumping up from her bed and trotting after her. Or any other part of me,

I’m pretty sure fated mates, bonded fated mates, aren’t meant to live apart. I doubt it’s sensible. I doubt it’s what fate wants. Fate wants me in his bed, in his arms, pressed against his heart. Like now, the hook in my belly humming with satisfaction. Going against fate. I doubt it’s sensible. But when have I ever done the sensible thing?

You think you’re better than her?” He shakes his head. “Nah, I don’t think you are either.” I smile to myself. “I think my little rabbit is fucking special. Really fucking special.” “She’s a-a-a-live?” he says, amazed. “Yeah, she is,” I say with pride. “Told you she was special.”

You see, you betrayed my little rabbit. You handed her to the butcher to be slaughtered. And that … that doesn’t sit right with me.”

“That one was for you, little rabbit,” I whisper. “All for you.” I glance down at the body. Should I send her his heart in a box? Too much? Probably. I need to find some other way to tell her.

I love his psychoness

There’s a fucking hickey on her neck, hidden under her hair, peeking out from the collar of her shirt, but I can see it. It makes me want to destroy her all the more. That or press my lips over the bruise and mark her with my own.

There’s far more beauty in the broken, in the damaged, than there ever was in the perfect, in the complete, in the whole. Is that why? Is that why she was destined for me?

And fuck, I want to smash her into a million pieces just so I can gather them up in my hands and mend her back together.

“I don’t like being apart from you. I don’t like not being by your side, protecting you from danger. I don’t like being able to sense your feelings through the bond with no idea what’s causing them. I don’t like the fact all I can think about is kissing you and making you moan my name into my mouth.”

“I wonder why you bother coming to my lessons, Miss Blackwaters, if you’re going to miss a good chunk of the start and sleep all the way through the remainder.” I look up and find Stone sitting behind his desk, his boots resting on the surface, his hands clutched behind his head, a book balanced in his lap. “And I wonder why you bother showing up to lessons seeing as you don’t actually seem to want to teach us anything.”

Ooooh 🤣🤣

Professor Stone is an asshole. “Again the obsession with my ass,” he whispers. “You can kiss mine,” I snap back. He looks up at me. “Don’t … fucking … tempt … me,” he hisses, crushing the paper in his fist. He opens his hand and the ball of paper sets alight, burning vividly in his palm.

“Don’t test me,” he growls. “Why? What exactly are you going to do, Professor? You keep threatening me but you never actually deliver.” “What are you hoping for, Miss Blackwaters? That I’ll bend you over my lap and spank your backside?”

“Nothing will happen to me,” he says gently. “It better not, pal,” I say through gritted teeth. “Because if it does, I don’t care if you’re already dead, I will wring your neck.” “You care about her,” he says, softer still. “So you keep saying.” “So you keep showing.” I scoff at him. But I can’t deny it.

“I’m not having Azlan fight my battles for me.” “Seriously? Because if I had a six-foot-five giant of a mate, I’d let him fight every single one of my battles.” “Nope, I can take care of myself. He already saved my neck once, and look what it cost him.” Winnie frowns. “Cost him an amazing, beautiful mate.”

“Stop,” I plead, feeling my magic wane. “Please stop.” It grows weaker as his grows stronger and it’s in that moment that it happens. A single drop of his magic leaves him and seeps into my veins.

It was the merest of drops. Tiny. Yet I can feel it swirling through my body like delicious poison, heating my blood, spinning that hook in my belly, causing my bond to reverberate. I hear Azlan’s voice loud in my ears. Rhi? What? Am I imagining it? I bring my hands to my ears. Am I losing my mind? His voice rings out again. My name over and over again.

A thousand times more powerful? No he wasn’t. He was stronger, but not for long. Not for long.

“You taste so very good, little pet. Could lick you everywhere.” The tongue slides higher over my chin and up my cheek. “Would you like that?”

No one. Nothing. Only darkness. The wolf beast snarls, then launches itself forward, meeting something solid in the thin air. It snaps its jaw and magic flares in the air. I hear a man groan, breath panting. More magic sparks and I lift my hands to fire my own. But where? At what? “I know you’re there,” the beast snarls, whimpering as magic singes the fur on its back, then running and locking its jaws around something I can’t see. Another groan. More magic.

Tristan?

“Did you not hear me say the principal will be doubling security? York won’t let you stay, Azlan.” “She doesn’t have to know about it.” “You don’t exactly fade into the background, man.” Rhi giggles and goddamn it, if that cold-hearted bastard doesn’t smile right back at her. I might actually vomit.

“You’re my best friend, Winnie.” I chuckle. “Well, actually you’re my only friend–” Pip snorts loudly. “My only human friend.” “You’re my best friend too, Rhi.”

“Hello, little rabbit,” a voice calls out from the kitchen, low and sinister. A voice that has me freezing on the spot. “I’ve been hoping we’d meet again.”

“Maybe he’s not the man for you. Maybe you need someone more,” he walks closer, “dangerous.” He flicks his tongue over each syllable in that word and despite myself, I shiver. His face lights up in delight. “You like that idea, little rabbit?” he whispers eagerly.

“I like watching you.” He takes another step nearer. He’s close now. I can smell the masculine scent of him. The sensation in my belly hums. “You’re such a strange little thing. And you sound so delicious when you scream. You know, I bet I could make you scream twice as loud as he can.”

She’s mine and perhaps this separation, perhaps this creeping around and keeping it secret, is a foolish idea. She should be by my side, in my arms. In my bed.

“She’s not a bitch.” A brat maybe, but not a bitch. A brat who has spilled some color into a world that was looking desolate and gray. “She’s special.”

That is funny. Fucking comedy genius. A displacement spell? My little rabbit and her little friend are hilarious. I love it.

I fucking love this man 🤣

But that little rabbit has burrowed her way under my skin and the killing isn’t the only thing I’m hot for now. Maybe I should do what they were always telling me to do as a kid, start paying attention.

I switch off. Let my mind wander back to my little rabbit. What would she feel like to touch? Would she be soft? Tender? Would she purr if I petted her? Would she moan if I fucked her? I’d like to find out.

Like I said, no one here talks to me. Not after that incident with the dude and his tongue. People are so fucking touchy. Especially about their body parts.

Where are you, Pig Girl? That’s all it says. Tristan? But I have his number in my phone already. In that case it could be any of the jerks from school. Although why anyone of them care to know where I am is beyond me.

Spencer?

“And who is this handsome gentleman?” Winnie’s grandma asks, peering down at Pip who’s hiding behind my legs. At the compliment, he strolls out, little chest puffed up. “This is Pip.” The woman ducks down, her back creaking, and ruffles Pip’s ears. “He’ll love you forever now you’ve called him handsome, Mrs. Wence.”

“It’s not your duty to protect me. I can protect myself. I’ve been doing it a very long time.” “That’s where you are wrong. It is my duty. I can’t lose you.” “Because I’m your stupid fated mate,” I spit back at him. “No,” he says, glaring at me. “Because I care about you.”

“What did your aunt tell you about your mother?” “That she was beautiful. Clever. Kind. That I looked just like her.” He nods. “That she loved me. That she’d been so desperate to have me. That I was the …” my lip trembles and a tear rolls down my cheek, “that I was the light in her life.” The man in black steps forward and cupping my jaw, lifts my face to his and wipes away the tear from my cheek. “I think you may be the light in mine too, Rhianna,”