Chapter 37

Ren jolted awake. He gasped, sucking in the scream that was lodged in his throat. He swallowed his tongue and he choked. His eyes were wide as he looked around.

This was Ashton's room. He was lying in Ashton's bed.

He kicked the thick duvet off. Sweat ran down his face and down his back. His clothes were sticking to him. Small hot flashing ran down his body like chills, but he was frantic as he jumped off the bed, circling it as he surveyed the large room. The sun was shining through the windows. In the daylight, the room was grander than it had been before. The gold details shined and though it seemed Ashton liked dark colors, the bright light made it feel less like a prison.

Ren remembered the pain. He remembered waking up to the Mantels watching over him. And he remembered how Ashton had left him to suffer at the hands of his mother.

Ren was blind to the rage. He grabbed the heaviest thing he could find—a thin lamp. He ripped the cord out of the wall and pulled the shade off of it. The shade fell to the ground and rolled away somewhere under the large bed in the center of the room. He held the base of the lamp tightly in both hands. He walked to the opposite side of the door that led out to the hallway and toward the desk pushed against the wall.

That was about the time when he heard the yelling.

He braced himself, his grip tightening even more, as he heard a flurry of footsteps getting closer to the door.

The yells were muffled until the door flew open.

"Where is he? I swear to God if I don't find him—"

Margret Cornelli stopped mid-scream as her eyes met Ren's.

Ren lowered the lamp in shock.

"Mom?"

There were no words that would make sense to him at that moment. He vaguely remembered her journal and the mention of the Mantels, but it didn't hit him until now that she might actually know them like that.

There were a series of emotions that flashed across Margret's face. First, there was relief. The stress hidden in her brows fell away, smoothing out the harsh lines that made her look ten years older. Then, there was joy. It was different than the kind of happiness that he was used to seeing on her face. This was grander like she'd received everything she'd ever asked for. But the last emotions she settled on was disappointment and anger.

Ren flinched as her eyes narrowed on him.

"You're never leaving the house again. Ever." Ren looked away as her words hit him. His stomach was heavy and his eyes watered. He didn't understand this feeling.

She yanked him into a tight hug. She kissed his cheek, her hands clutching so tight to his back that the hug became uncomfortable, but he didn't try to get away. He basked in the touch, wishing that he could stay in her embrace a little long. He longed for the days when he could ask for small innocent intimacies like this. The days as a child had been stolen from him and he hated being an adult.

"What were you thinking? I thought they got you," she whispered.

He didn't know what she was talking about for a second. Then, it hit him.

The Hunter Society.

She thought they hurt him.

If she knew he'd been held at gunpoint by them, she'd kill him herself.

Someone cleared their throat.

Margret pulled away and turned around.

The Mantels—all four of them—were standing in the hallway. Ren's eyes immediately went to Ashton who was standing with his arms crossed behind the other three. He was slightly hidden by the shadows and he wasn't looking at him. He was looking at the floor, his face void as usual. Ren couldn't just let it slip by. He clung to the obvious disconcertment.

He clenched his jaw.

Mrs. Mantel hitched her one eyebrow higher. "Temperamental as always. You haven't changed at all."

Margret wrinkled her nose. "Likewise. Now, get out of my way."

She steered Ren to leave the room, but Mrs. Mantel was a step ahead of her.

Ren couldn't believe it when his mom didn't move back. She stood her ground even when Mrs. Mantel flashed her red eyes.

Mrs. Mantel, however, wasn't surprised at all. She glowered down at Margret like she was looking at the dumbest animal on the planet, but it was like she'd dealt with it many times before.

Mrs. Mantel didn't try to stop Margret after that. She stood where she was, eyes glowing red, looking regal and feral at the same time. Ren had only half a brain to process what was going on in front of him. The other half of his mind was rolling in a sea of contempt as his body kept remembering the intense pain.

Before either of them could make it further into the hall, Mr. Mantel put his arm out.

The man was thin and tall. He loomed wherever he went and it didn't help that his features were dark as shadows. He was horrifying to look at because this was the type of person Ren thought of when he thought about out-of-control vampires. They took what they wanted because they were at the top of the food chain. They had the power to have everything they wanted and it didn't matter if people got hurt in the end.

"He's not leaving." Mr. Mantel's eyes were narrowed and locked with Margret's. His gaze had almost a softness to it that Ren didn't like at all. It was worse than the cold looks he'd received from him and his wife.

Ren didn't like the implications of the look being given to his mother.

"Excuse me?" It was obvious Margret was at her pushing point.

Ren's heart had dropped to the pit of his stomach. His throat closes uptight. His hands shook as he felt the thing pushing up, trying to take control. The conflicting reactions sent his mind into a whirlwind. However, it was the ghost touch of pain that pushed him over the edge. Without thinking, he pushed Margret behind him and stood up to the pale thin man.

Ashton vaguely looked like his father. He got his hardness, the twist of their mouths when they didn't like something was the same, and the murderous look in their red eyes were similar.

Ren didn't like Ashton, but he loathed Mr. Mantel. He knew a douchebag that thought he was a gift to the world when he saw one. The agenda was written all over his face.

Like all the others, he thought Ren was a disgusting mutt that needed to be put down.

Mr. Mantel looked Ren up and down. "Are you going to fight me?"

There was no amusement in his voice.

Ren practically snarled. "Fuck you."

The bottled anger popped. He punched, aiming straight for Mr. Mantel's face.

He didn't miss, but his fist never came into contact.

Mr. Mantel caught Ren's fist. He pulled Ren forward and forced him to turn around. Ren's arm was wrenched behind his back and up toward the back of his neck.

He hissed as his shoulder was pulled tight. His fangs popped out from his gums and he just knew that his eyes were glowing red.

Margret stared wide-eyed at him.

It was just a second suspended in time, but as he stared at her, it felt like eternity.

Shame washed over him not because he failed to defend himself and her, but because she could see this side of him.

He hated being a vampire. All it ever did was ruin their lives.

But to Ren's surprise, Margret didn't look at him in horror.

"Get your fucking hands off my son."

Bright violet shimmers erupted in the irises of Margret's eyes.

The air in the room was sucked into a vacuum. Ren's body froze. The thing shivered and twisted as it was chained by another force that was emitting from Margret like a light. He didn't know what he was feeling. The air was replaced by something heavy that weighed down on his skin and made his mind go fuzzy.

He wasn't scared though. He knew that it was his mom. His body knew that he wasn't actually in danger, but the thing didn't like it. It fought and yelled. As it became more irritated, Ren became weak to it. He was sick from the inside, but he tried to mask it from the outside.

Sweat covered his face, but he ignored it.

Mr. Mantel dropped Ren's hand.

Ren wrenched his fist away, embarrassed and so confused by what was going on around him. It wasn't just the fact that his mom knew who the Mantels were in the first place, or that she knew them more closely than he was comfortable with.

It was those eyes.

He rubbed his wrist where Mr. Mantel had grabbed him. It ached where he'd pressed his fingers in hard, leaving red marks. Ren gaped at Margret. The purple glow faded, but he could still see the hints of color.

She was a witch. He already knew that.

But he'd never seen it. This made it real. And he'd never come to terms with it.

He had to now. And he was just fucking done with dealing with all this shit at once. His mind wasn't cut out from all the tugging back and forth.

Mr. Mantel stepped back. He wasn't giving up. The spark in his eyes and the hardness of his mouth told them both that he wasn't done. He was simply letting this go because it was easier.

Ren didn't expect to be grabbed by the bicep and hauled away from the scene playing out between them all. He knew it was his mom, but that didn't help calm the thing. It flared up, seeking for a way to break from the chains that Ren was trying to keep it contained in. He was losing the battle, but it was his love and protective nature of his mom that he didn't lash out at her.

The Mantels let them go. But not even halfway down the hall, did Mr. Mantel call out to them.

"They made a contract, Margret."

She halted.

Ren looked back. He didn't mean to search Ashton out. It was instinct, a sad need to know what his reaction was to this.

When Ren met Ashton's eyes, he wished that he hadn't. Ashton's eyes were narrowed. His brown eyes were darkened by the swirling dark emotions inside of him. If Ren wasn't so tired—so drained—he might have been able to know just what Ashton was thinking.

But he could guess.

Ashton knew about Ren. He knew about him being a witch.

When Ashton looked away, that was when Ren felt the most betrayed. It didn't make sense, but it didn't have to. He was angry and so mad that he couldn't do anything. He was helpless, even more so than when he'd been bleeding in Ashton's arms.

There was a brief moment where Margret stared back at Mr. Mantel and Ren stared at Ashton's turned face. The hall was silent except for the chatter of birds. The bright sunlight streamed in through the large glass windows at the end of the hall. Mrs. Mantel and Kai were spectators, but just as much as a threat.

Ren felt it when his mom stopped whatever she was doing. The air wasn't as thick and it wasn't suctioning around him.

She turned around.

"Then you'll do your damndest to keep my son alive."

Ren didn't fight as she pulled him down the stairs and out of the front door.

He prepared the entire way back to their house for the dressing down he knew was to come.

Ren had fucked up.