Angry God (All Saints High, #3)

by L.J. Shen

Why was I so thirsty for his blood? Why couldn’t I stop thinking about it? Despite what Arabella had said, I wasn’t a vampire. I wasn’t into blood play. At least, I didn’t think I was. Yet there was something about Vaughn Spencer I wanted to break.

I had a fierce need to peel back his flesh and see what was underneath. Unveil all his secrets.

I dropped my eyes shut, shook my head, and smeared my blood across the crown of thorns. There is so much beauty in the d...

“Haven’t you learned anything? You can change your lock, your zip code, your hair, wardrobe, your entire fucking life, and I’ll still always find you. Touch your shit. Stake my claim.” “You are so bloody full of yourself.” “Bet you’d like to be full of me, too.”

“Fuck, you’re crazy.” He laughed, his eyes lighting up as if the revelation relieved him.

I wanted him to touch me, and I didn’t care that I’d regret it tomorrow. I wasn’t doing it to make him feel good. I wanted him to make me feel good.

If it was Good Girl, who’d somehow found me, I was going to chain her to her bedpost and have her suck a gallon of my blood as punishment, watching as she squirmed in embarrassment as she did.

hes INSANE

“Be frank. You know we don’t care, and we’ll support you no matter what. There’s nothing wrong with being gay.” “There’s nothing wrong with it, all right, but I’m not gay.”

“Touch her again, and you won’t have hands to protect your ugly face with, legs to run from me, or a tongue to rat me out. We fucking clear on that, Rafferty Pope?” Vaughn’s voice pierced the air like a snake’s hiss.

“Whatever you have going with him stops now,” he announced. “You were my property at All Saints, and you’re sure as fuck my possession here.”

“You don’t need me,” I pointed out. It was the truth, and it hurt. I didn’t want the stupid assistant’s job to begin with, and now that I’d come to terms with it, it wasn’t even available. My entire existence seemed pointless. Vaughn said nothing. “I do.” His voice came out of nowhere, surprising me. “I do need you, just not for my fucking piece.” He bared his teeth, finally looking at me. “Happy?”

“Will you be kissing other girls?” I grabbed my pillow and hugged it to my midriff. Namely, Arabella. “No.” He nearly shuddered, staring at me like I was mad. “’Course not.”

His eyelids slid shut, despite his best efforts to stay in control. But not mine. I stared at him as I kissed him, with eyes wide open. There was nothing more beautiful than watching Vaughn Spencer let go.

There. I fucking did it. I kissed a girl, and I liked it. A whole fucking lot.

Although, I couldn’t be completely sure I wasn’t going to tell her, either. Who the fuck knew what was going to come out of my mouth when I met her again? Sometimes I wanted to ruin her, sometimes save her, and most times I was indifferent to her existence, save for what her stupid body made me feel.

stopped, staring at the candy. I didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I knew someone who made her dentist very happy and very rich. Someone who’d appreciate a slice of that brownie very fucking much. Someone whose pants I wanted to get into eventually. I shook my head, glanced at the entry door, and crossed the street. Don’t change for a pussy.

mmmmm

Was it a wonder I was so drawn to Vaughn Spencer? Maybe it was in my DNA to fall blindly for the ones I wasn’t worthy of.

It was kind of rad knowing she was lying on the cold, damp stone bench and I was standing, hovering over her. It was my favorite position in any encounter, no matter with whom. But it felt particularly good when it was Len, because she was the only person who didn’t cower, even when her body language said so. I’d never managed to get her on her knees for me, and fuck knows I tried.

Because it wasn’t my business. Because hurting her unnecessarily wasn’t high on my to-do list. Because I didn’t get the fucking chance to.

Her throat bobbed under my lips. Her breath still smelled like nail polish remover (damn vodka), and I still wanted to kill Pope, but she was mine now, which meant I no longer saw red.

my jeans right there and then. We could never be together outside these walls, for more than just these few weeks. Lenora would inevitably find a man who would give her the world, and I’d leave here and try to ruin said world, because that’s all I knew. She was perfect, and I was nothing but a collection of flaws.

“Do you believe in ghosts?” she asked, ignoring my question. Her head fell sideways, giving my lips better access to travel along her collarbone. I nodded into the crook of her shoulder. “Really?” “Ghosts of our past.” “Oh.” “Who drive us to be who we are. To do what we do.”

But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It felt like a power battle, and for some reason, she always had the upper hand, even if she didn’t know it. She felt out of reach, and it made me want to throttle her.

“My ghost is my mum. I lost her when I was very young, and I vowed to never love someone as much as I loved her, so I wouldn’t have to go through the pain of losing them, too. Losing her almost broke me. But because I don’t get attached to people, I wasn’t scared to get in bed with the devil himself. I finally realized I can’t fall in love with you, but that doesn’t mean I should give you the time of the day,” she paused. I

I was going to send another motherfucking basket to her room this morning, as I had every single day since Arabella sucked me off on the last day of school. At first, I’d sent chocolate, because I didn’t want it to be too obvious, but I figured she’d know where they came from on her birthday when I sent brownies. They were handmade and in different shapes, for her entertainment. Clouds, unicorns, stars, animals, letters. Anything but a heart—that was my careful instruction to the chocolatier. Each was individually wrapped in fantasy-book wrappers: Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, Harry Potter, Northern Lights.

I KNEWWWWW IT WAS HIM OMGGGG

I finished off by pissing all over said bed and laptop, in case he was bad at taking hints.

INSANITY

It was truly over, as it should be. It had been a god-awful idea to begin with. Don’t roll in bed with a tiger and be surprised when you wake up with claw-shaped wounds. Lesson learned.

school, and I very much doubt he can here. Difference is, you’re not dangled in his face, forbidden fruit, a taunting reminder of everything he wants. Be that fruit,” Rafferty said, clapping his teeth together in a teasing bite. “Remind him he wants to eat you.”

Because Vaughn was definitely coming back. This week, the next, or in a few years. Whether it was in a bloody bath or hovering over me one night, for some reason, his need to be next to me was stronger than he was.

If he truly wanted me, he’d come here again. And I’d be waiting. Fully loaded and ready to fire back.

He came to her room every night. Not that I was keeping tabs or anything. I was just in the neighborhood when it happened. And by in “the neighborhood,” I mean in her hallway, lurking.

Sure, I had my reasons. She was the first thing that had resembled a crush for me, no matter how cringe-worthy I found the word (or the girl). It made sense that I would feel somewhat possessive of her, now that she’d opened her legs to Rafferty Pope, who, according to whispers at Carlisle Prep, was working on one hell of a painting. The pathetic part was that I wanted to visit her.

But as it happened, I didn’t feel like keeping away from Lenora for that long, so Friday—today—would have to do.

When the clock hit seven p.m., I went back to my room, took a shower, and headed straight to Good Girl, skipping dinner. I felt on edge. Each day we hadn’t spoken had left a gap. If all it took to pacify her ass was telling her happy birthday, I guessed I was willing to bite the bullet.

Standing like that, she looked like Aphrodite, rising from the sea, fully formed and made to godly perfection. Confident. Gorgeous. Pleasurable and lustful.

She crossed her legs at the ankle, looking at me funny. “You may pick up your jaw at any time, Spencer.”

Vaughn needed a reminder that he didn’t rule the world—a nice, generous dose of reality check. Most of all, he needed to learn a thing or two about intimacy.

Yet for some insane, screwed-up reason, I wanted him to be my first. I knew Vaughn was incapable of falling in love, but I wanted to steal pieces of him. His time. His talent. His words. His smiles. And yes, his virginity, too. I was a thief of everything Vaughn Spencer. He was stunningly untouchable. A demi-god. Unreal.

By the time I was done, you no longer needed the black hair and Goth bullshit. Everyone feared and respected you. I took away from my power and gave it to you, because every time you disrespected me, challenged me, it weakened me. I worked hard so you’d stand up for yourself. I saved you, Astalis, and not for the first time.” There was a beat of silence.

“Don’t you dare fucking take this where I think you’re about to, Good Girl. I will kill your little prodigy friend and won’t even bother to leave ashes for his family to scatter around his hometown of Cuntville.”

It broke my heart that until this day, Vaughn hadn’t experienced true, raw jealousy. He thought he hated me, but he couldn’t let me go. He always sought me out. It drove him crazy when I was away, and annoyed the hell out of him when I was too close. His feelings toward me had a word, and I was going to teach him. Even if it was the last thing I did. Even if I could never love him back.

“I’m going to smoke this bitch to the goddamn ground. You know I will,” Vaughn hissed, his eyes two slits of ice. “Take a step back right now, and I’ll end this with two shiners and a warning. Let me save you from yourself, Pope, because right now? You’re fucking yourself more than you’re about to do her.”

Plus, there was a slightly deranged theory I’d been nursing privately since I was a kid—one that believed we’d had a special bond, a carnal connection, since that moment behind the fountain, sharing a stupid, half-melted chocolate bar under the pounding sun.

He’d betrayed me every time he’d let someone else touch him after the day he’d threatened to kiss me, after showing me the first traces of his humanity, after we looked at each other and knew—knew—anyone else was a terrible mistake. We weren’t coincidence. We were fate. And our bodies—though not our souls—belonged to each other. But he’d broken the pact. Numerous times. Vaughn wasn’t the only one allowed to make mistakes.

If we were going to need each other’s forgiveness, I had to sin, too. He’d wronged me many times. I’d wronged him never. Perhaps until now. He needed to forgive, too.

I shook my head slowly, going in for the kill. He couldn’t give me his internship, I knew that, but everything else I’d asked for was already given. That’s why he kept coming back. He couldn’t deny me.

“Oh, God,” I muttered. “An angry one,” Vaughn’s metallic voice hissed from afar. “Just remember, it’s me who’s doing this to you, not him. We both know that. That’s who you’re imagining underneath you, Len. Me. Past. Present. Future. It will always be me.”

Pope was beautiful like a poem. You could read his face every day and still find something new to admire. One day, someone was going to snatch this talented, gorgeous man, and she was going to be so lucky. Luckier than I would ever be, because I was undeniably fixated on Vaughn, the most complicated guy in history.

“This was a mistake.” “Remedy that, then. Leave.” He turned toward the door, putting knots in my chest. Don’t listen to me. Don’t leave. He walked, stopped, then spun back on his heel. “I can’t,” he growled, standing perfectly still, like the statues he made. “God fucking dammit, I can’t leave!”

“I feel like one.” He let out a long-suffering sigh. “This thing between us…” He motioned with his hand. “It’s like a failed organ transplant. My body is rejecting whatever it is I’m feeling. It’s foreign and strange in every one of my cells. But it’s there. It’s like cancer, and it’s spreading. I want to purge it out. I want to purge you out, Lenora. You’re a distraction I don’t need.”