Heart of Stone ~ Book 1 Page 7

  I think I’m starting to care a little too much about the hellhound.

  ∞∞∞

  It’s Saturday and I’ve been in creeper mode all day. I haven’t seen anything suspicious and although I have no idea what her dad looks like I imagine it won’t be hard to miss him if he does show up.

  Dahlia’s supposed to be meeting Beth after she finishes her date with Aaron and I’ve arranged to meet up with the rest of the group around the same time so it doesn’t look suspicious if someone sees me.

  I’m sat a few cars down on her street when she leaves her house around thirty minutes before she has to meet Beth and it only takes ten minutes to get to the Plaza so I’m glad I decided to follow her. I don’t like the idea of her standing around for twenty minutes on her own.

  She looks nervous. She’s looking around a lot as she chews on her thumb and she’s checked her phone a dozen times in the last minute. I’m sat in a café across from where she’s standing but she doesn’t see me. If she does, I can feign ignorance and tell her I’m just there to meet everyone else.

  I am officially a fucking creeper!

  I groan inwardly.

  What the hell is wrong with me? She wanted my help, not to hire me as her stalker bodyguard.

  Jeez stone, get a grip!

  Chapter Nineteen — Dahlia

  My heart’s beating so fast I feel like it might burst right out of my chest. I’m frozen to the spot and I watch unmoving as he approaches me. I want to run but my legs refuse to work as tears sting my eyes.

  “Hello D.”

  I swallow down the lump in my throat. “I don’t want to talk to you” I choke out. My heart is racing frantically. My hands are shaking and I burry them in my pockets hoping he doesn’t notice.

  He moves closer and I can’t help but flinch and he smirks. He thinks it’s funny that I’m scared of him. “W-what do you want” I stutter.

  “Is this guy bothering you Dahlia?” a familiar voice asks from behind me and suddenly I feel my body relax and tears of relief spring to my eyes.

  “Who the hell is this guy?” His voice sends chills down my spine and I can’t find the words to respond.

  “I’m her boyfriend” Stone says putting his arm around my shoulder and I instantly scoot closer to him so I’m pressed flush to his side. I wrap my arms tightly around his waist and I feel safe. “Devlin stone” he says. He’s looking at my dad like he’s ready to eat him alive and for the first time ever I see my dad falter.

  “Whatever” my dad stutters and he walks away. I’m in shock. He didn’t even argue, didn’t even try to intimidate me after Stone showed up.

  Once my dad is out of sight Stone’s arm drops to his side, but I’m still rooted to the spot, my arms still around his waist, my face buried in his chest.

  “Are you okay?” he asks, turning so we’re face to face.

  “What just happened?” I ask confused.

  “I chased away the bad guy” he whispers playfully.

  “But he…he just…he was…why?”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you lost for words” he says with an amused look on his face.

  “Yeah it’s a first for me too” I admit.

  “Seriously though Dahlia are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I just don’t understand what just happened. He’s never just walked away like that.”

  “I guess my reputation precedes me.”

  “I get you’re an ass and everything, but why are people so scared of you?”

  “I could tell you but…”

  “You’d have to kill me?” He nods in response. “How very original Stone.” I give him a gentle laugh he pulls me into a quick hug. “I’m supposed to be meeting Beth but I’m not really feeling up to it now.”

  “Come on, I’ll take you home” he says placing his hand on my back and leading me to the exit.

  “I know my way home; I don’t need your assistance.”

  “Who said I’m doing it for you?” he says giving me a knowing smile.

  “Ah. I forgot I am your daily muse.” He laughs and then his face turns serious.

  “So was that him?” he asks looking back the way my dad went.

  “Yeah. What are you doing here anyway?” I ask as it suddenly dawns on me that he appeared right when my dad showed up.

  “I told you Dahlia, I’ve got you.” He shrugs like it’s a normal thing for him to be hovering around waiting to rescue me.

  “So you’re stalking me?”

  “No. I’m protecting you. Like a bodyguard” he says proudly. “Devlin Stone at your service ma’am” he smiles playfully, and I can’t help but chuckle.

  “Don’t call me ma’am” I say with a mock shudder. “Have you ever noticed how much your name sounds like devil in stone? I’ve never known a name to suit a person so much.”

  “Ah, so insults are the thanks I get for saving you huh?” he says nudging me with his shoulder and I know he’s not really offended.

  “Thank you, Stone. Really. I’m so glad you were here.”

  I was. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t been.

  I pull out my phone and let Beth know that I won’t be meeting her after all. I can’t tell her the real reason why, so I just tell her I have a migraine and that I’ll see her at school tomorrow. I feel a little guilty lying to her, but I’ll tell her the truth when I’m strong enough.

  Chapter Twenty — Devlin

  So much for me telling her I was meeting everyone for coffee. I outright admitted to following her. Luckily, she was glad I did because it could’ve very easily gone the other way. When I saw her dad standing there, I wanted to kill him, but I reigned it in for her sake.

  She was terrified but as soon as I spoke, I saw her relax and when she wrapped her arms around me, I could feel her heart beating hard against my side. She’d practically burrowed herself into me and it took everything in me not take her in my arms and kiss her fears away.

  The entire drive home she holds my hand. It’s not a romantic thing. I think she just needs the comfort, something to ground her. She’s breathing fast, even now, and I can see that she’s fighting back tears.

  “Do you want me to stay with you?” I ask when we pull up to her apartment. She’s still holding my hand, so I give hers a gentle squeeze. “Dahlia, I know I’m not your favorite person but if you don’t want to be alone right now, I can stay for a while.” She nods and a tear rolls down her cheek. She quickly swipes it away and opens the door to get out, but her hand is still gripping tightly to mine so she falls back into the seat. “You need to let go of me if you want to leave the car” I tease, and she forces a smile before dropping my hand.

  We head inside and she looks at me as if she doesn’t know me; the shift makes me uncomfortable and I feel like we’ve gone back to her wanting to kill me again but it only takes her a few minutes for her to relax around. She shakes off her jacket and heads to the kitchen and I follow after her.

  “What happened here?” I say touching my finger against an angry scar on her shoulder. She flinches and looks away as she chews on her lip. “Did he do that to you?” I ask as gently as possible, not wanting to upset her. She nods and grabs at the hem of her shirt, she hesitates for a moment, and looks at me hesitantly before lifting it up so I can see her back.

  There are almost identical scars to the one on her shoulder covering her back. They’re thick and jagged. The raised skin is paler than the slithers of unmarked skin between them and many of them overlap. There’s a slight shine to them, and I find myself reaching out to touch her. She cringes as I rub my hand over the raised flesh, but she doesn’t pull away.

  “Fuck Dahlia” I groan as if I’m in pain myself.

  She pulls her shirt down and shakes her head. “Now you know why I’m always covered up.” I had noticed she always wears a sweater or a jacket even when it’s hot, but I didn’t think anything of it. I hate that she feel’s that she should have to hide herself, but I understand why she does it
though.

  She busies herself making us coffee and then we head into the living room. She turns on the T.V. but she’s not watching it. She sits on the couch close to me but she’s careful not to touch me, although I get the impression that she wants to, so I pull her closer to me. She doesn’t protest, she just pulls her knees up and leans into me.

  I don’t think I could ever tire of holding her.

  “Thank you for staying with me Stone” she whispers.

  “No need to thank me. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

  It doesn’t take long for her to start drifting off as I absently trail my fingers across her scars. She looks so peaceful when she sleeps. You would never guess that there was so much stress and darkness living inside of her.

  My phone buzzing drags me from admiring her and I reluctantly open the message that’s waiting.

  Deano: Who’s the girl?

  Me: What?

  Deano: If you want to keep her safe you might want to come outside and talk.

  Me: Where are you?

  Deano: At your car outside that pretty little red heads house.

  Fuck!

  I try to move from under Dahlia without waking her, but her eyes shoot open as soon as I shift my position.

  “Where are you going?” she asks sleepily, rubbing the back of her hand across one of her eyes.

  “I’ll be two minutes. I need to go deal with something outside” I say softly, trying to coax her back to sleep. I really don’t want her coming outside with me.

  “Why? Is everything okay?” she asks sitting upright and I know she’s not going back to sleep now.

  “Everything’s fine, don’t worry” I assure her, and I feel guilty for not being honest.

  “Are you sure?” I can see she doesn’t quite believe me.

  “I’ll be two minutes, okay?” I say again with a gentle smile.

  “Okay” she nods. Her eyes are filled with doubt, but I can’t drag her into this, she has enough to deal with without her worrying about me and the threat from Deano on top of it.

  I stand up and head outside. Deano and his boys are leaning against my car and they know they’ve won. Threatening Dahlia was a sure way to get me to do what they want.

  “Can we just get this over with?” I sigh, looking back over my shoulder to make sure she didn’t follow me outside.

  “Are you in?” Deano asks with a warning look. I look between them hesitating. I really don’t want to be dragged back into this. “We can always take the girl with us” he says taking a step towards the house.

  “If you touch her…” I growl holding him back.

  “What Stone, what will you do?” Deano sneers as he steps toward me, “You have two options kid. Come back and fight or we take the girl. What’s it to be?”

  “Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll fight” I grit out.

  “Good call, I would’ve hated to have had to pull that pretty little thing out here.” He lets out a vicious cackle and my blood runs cold.

  My life is over!

  Chapter Twenty-One — Dahlia

  “What the hell is going on?” I ask as I take in Stone’s defeated expression.

  “Go back inside” he warns, stepping protectively towards me, but I don’t listen.

  “So is this your girl Stone?” a guy with an angry scar down his left cheek asks.

  No I absolutely am not his girl!

  “Yes I am” I say stepping up to the guy. “And I know exactly who you are and what you want him to do but it’s not happening, so you can get back in your car and leave.”

  “She’s feisty” the guy laughs. It’s a venomous laugh and you can tell that his soul is as black as soot just from the sound. “You best get her under control Stone” the guy warns, and Stone pulls me aside.

  “I’ll deal with this Dahlia” he says to me holding me against his car.

  “I’m worried about you Stone” I mumble. His hand caresses my cheek and my eyes flutter shut.

  Why does it feel so good when he touches me?

  When I open my eyes again his gaze is on my lips and his eyes are dark with desire. My breath hitches and he leans in “Stone?” I breathe, and he closes the distance pressing his lips to mine.

  Oh my god Stone is kissing me!

  His hands tangle in my hair as his tongue dances over mine. His lips are soft, but his kiss is hard, full of anger and passion. My stomach flips and I sink into him further and he swallows a low moan that escapes me.

  He moves away, both of us breathless, and then he must realize what he we just done because he looks as shocked as I feel.

  “We’ll talk about this later” he says gently pushing me back toward the house.

  “Damn right we will!”

  And that includes that kiss.

  I head back inside and try to busy myself in the kitchen, but when he still doesn’t come back inside after twenty minutes I start to worry. I chance a look out the window to see what’s happening, but they’re gone. Stone’s car’s gone too.

  He left without even saying anything.

  I know I have no right to be angry with him but I am. I’m absolutely furious. Grabbing my phone I jab at the screen until I pull up his number.

  How the hell could he just leave without a word?

  The phone rings and rings but he doesn’t answer, which makes me even more furious. I throw my phone down on the couch and scream in frustration.

  The more time that passes my anger turns to worry and nausea. Surely if he were okay, he would let me know, right? What if his silence means something has happened to him? I grab for my phone again and type up a text with shaking hands.

  Stone are you okay? Can you please let me know that you’re safe?

  He doesn’t reply and he doesn’t return my calls, no matter how much I stare at the phone willing it to ring.

  Where the hell is he?

  I pace the house frantically and every time I hear a car pass by, I run to the window hoping it’s him. My nails are all chewed off by the time I decided to give up and go to bed.

  My mom pops her head in my room around midnight when she returns home from work and I’m thankful for the distraction but its short-lived when she asks me why I look so worried.

  “Stone was here, he took off and I have no idea if he’s okay, he’s not answering me.” I’ve spoken about him to my mom before but never in a way that sounded like I gave a damn about him, so I understand why she looks a little thrown by my sudden concern. Just to be clear, my concern is only because he was outside with the guys who he said could kill him.

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine sweety” she says after assessing me for a few moments. “Boys do this kind of thing sometimes.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right mom” I say knowing she can’t give me serious advice when she doesn’t even know the whole story, and I’m not so sure I should be telling her. “I’m just going to try and get some sleep.” She smiles and then quickly leaves to go to bed herself.

  I don’t sleep all night because every time I try, I’m plagued with terrifying scenarios of what those guys could have done to Stone. I don’t even know if he’s alive. He told me they would kill him if he didn’t do what they asked of him, so I convince myself that that’s the case. That they’ve tortured and killed him because he refused to fight in their stupid illegal fight club.

  That has to be it. Why else would he not answer and tell me he was okay?

  When I get up the next morning, I’m exhausted, I barely manage to drag myself from my bed. I check my phone for the ten billionth time and Stone still hasn’t responded and my stomach bottoms out at the thought of him lying dead in a ditch somewhere.

  When I see his car pass my house for school an hour later, I’m absolutely livid. He’s alive. He’s alive and the asshole ignored me. He let me think that he was dead all night long. Who the hell does that?

  What a fucking douche nozzle.

  Chapter Twenty-Two — Devlin

  “Where the hell have you been?
” Dahlia practically growls as she slams my locker door shut. I look at her in disbelief and I can see she is absolutely pissed at me. I know I took off last night without telling her, but I couldn’t face her. Not only had I brought trouble to her door, but I kissed her. I fucking kissed her. What the hell was that all about?

  “What the hell is your problem?” I ask forcefully, trying to act like my usual obnoxious self in front of the audience that’s watching us. I pull my locker open again but she swiftly slams it before I can reach inside.

  “I’ve been worried sick.” I swear there’s steam coming from her ears and if she doesn’t reach out and wrap her hands around my throat I’ll be surprised.

  “Woah, is something going on between the two of you?” Caleb asks a little too excitedly.

  “No” I snap pulling Dahlia away before she has a chance to tell him about last night. I can’t have Caleb knowing I kissed her, he’ll never let me live it down. “What the hell Dahlia?” I hiss making my anger clear to her.

  “You couldn’t have let me know you were alright? Did it even occur to you to tell me you were alive?” She slams her palms into my chest in frustration and I grab her wrists holding them still against me.

  “Why did I have to tell you anything. I’m not your boyfriend.” It’s a lame response because she did deserve to know I was okay especially after she tried to defend me against Deano.

  “Ohmigod you are such an asshole! I saw who you were with, I think I’m entitled to worry about my sort of friend slash enemy.”

  “Yeah, well don’t” I deadpan.

  “Oh, so you can worry about my thing with my dad, but I can’t worry about you, is that it?”

  “I’m fine. I can take care of myself.”

  I know she’s imagining castrating me right now. I can see it in those hellion eyes of hers.

  “What about the kiss? Don’t I deserve some sort of explanation after that?” I look over at Caleb and he’s grinning. He definitely heard her. “Ssshh” I say trying to quieten her, which just seems to anger her more. “It meant nothing. It was for show for Deano and the guys.”