Forty five

LEXIS POV

Hayden groaned as I placed the ice pack against his back, his shoulder tensing and rippling with the effort of trying to hold in the amount of pain he was truly in. The cuts and bruises that littered his back were deep and ugly, and the little movement he made caused some of those that had closed up to get torn again, blood escaping the cuts. I alternated between wiping them off and applying the pack to ease his pain.

The doctor said he would be fine in a weak if he didn't do any strenuous activities, and if he took his medication, but some of the cuts were so deep that he could guarantee that they were going to leave scars.

My heart clenched violently. Jade was a monster. I could not believe she would hurt Hayden this way since he was the most loyal person I knew, but what was worse was the fact that Hayden always kept going back to her, no matter how cruel she got. It was like a fucking rollercoaster.

It was as if I was invisible to him and only Jade seemed to exist in his world. It has been a month of him watching over me so I didn't get up to any mischief, and every time we spent together it was for me to hear him sing and moan nonstop about Jade Alvarez every freaking second. He had been so depressed to be turned away each time he went to seek Jade out that I started feeling bad for him myself.

Now looking at him all bruised and hurt, all I felt was blinding anger. And it was an anger that made me actually consider getting rid of Jade.

No, I wanted her dead. I wanted to kill her, that was if I got the chance to. Maybe If she died, since I was the third in line, I could take over. But the thought of it was so dauntingly frightening that I knew the weight of such a responsibility would crush me, and there was also the fact that Jade didn't feel human to me anymore. Jade had become more powerful, and seeing her all healed, with no scars to show for all the wounds she had acquired throughout her life and when we found her in Etral forest, it had me thinking that she might not be the girl I once knew. Something had happened to her in that forest and that encounter changed her. I just couldn't figure out what it was.

But I had to do something, I could not sit back and watch her treat the guy I had fallen in love with like crap.

I was sure Jade didn't even love him, she was just using him like she did everything else. I didn't even think she knew what the meaning of the word love was. Living with her for years made that all too clear, but Hayden was too blinded to see it, and he was going to get killed because of it.

"A bit gentler Lexis, you're about to give me more scars" he got out as I unconsciously pressed down harder, his voice breaking even at his attempt to joke and I freaking lost it.

"And did you have the guts to tell Jade to stop while she whipped you like you an animal" I snapped, flinging the ice pack at the wall and standing up from the bed furiously?

Hayden painstakingly turned his head to look at me and the thought of him being in so much pain made me want to light Jade on fire.

"What are you talking about..."

I scoffed unbelievably, as I stepped towards him. "You are really asking me that. Are those cuts on your back not enough to snap you out of your madness" I yelled, then paced around the room. I was totally losing my mind. "Jade whipped you until she flailed your flesh, and she didn't think to stop after that. Have you ever looked at your back in the mirror Hayden? Jade didn't just give you welts Hayden, she gave you cuts, deep ugly ones and those are going to leave scars forever, and you're asking me what I am talking about. Are you fucking kidding me right now"?

His gaze lowered, his eyes on the bed as if they were suddenly the most important item in the room.

"It wasn't Jade's fault. I offered myself to her even though she said not to... And I can take it, this is nothing..."

Those words. The words that came out of his lips made me want to scream. He was so infuriating. How could he be ok with being treated like an animal, no not just like an animal, because even those were being treated way better than he was?

Hayden was smart and yet he refused to see that no matter what he did or offered to Jade, she would never love him back. Not in this life or the next. Even if he gave her his life, she was still going to trample over it and then look for a replacement once he was out of the way.

"Do you even hear yourself right now, so you are just going to excuse her behavior all because you were the one who offered yourself to her? She is your master isn't she, she's supposed to know when you've had enough".

His gaze jerked to mine, his voice getting bolder in her defense. "She wasn't thinking straight. I knew she was under stress and yet I seduced her, got her to spend time with me".

My heart burned as I listened to him and the urge to shake him until his teeth rattled gripped me with so much urgency, I had to clench my fist to stop. I did not want to hurt him more than he already was.

Hayden was so... I did not even know the words to describe it.

"Jade doesn't love you and she never will" I yelled instead, the burning in my chest intensifying until it felt as if I was gasping for air. "You're just putting yourself through shit for what will never be. Look at what she did to you. Do you think that if she truly loved you she would do this"

"She tried to warn me, but I did not listen. I should have. If I did, this would have not happened. Jade would never have hurt me intentionally. She never had" he said and I stared at him lost for words.

The realization that there was nothing I could say that would ever change his mind crashed in on me from all sides, but I had to try anyway. "And what if she falls in love with someone else, what if she is already in love with someone other than you".

Hayden blinked, then stared at the floor. "She has kept me by her side for so long, do you think she did all that for nothing. I am the only one she can be with".

"Because she gets too freaking control your life and does shit to you, knowing fully well that you're so whipped for her, you'll never leave, or rebel. You make me fucking sick! If she loves you so much why isn't she here taking care of you, or let me guess, her job is just to mess you up and then she sits back and watches while you pick up the pieces right!" I screamed, shoved the items off the table, and walked out of the room.

I wanted to punch something. I wanted to scream. I wanted to kill, but I did neither. Instead, I got into my car, shoved the keys into the ignition, and revved the engine until the tires screeched before I took off.

I increased the speed the farther I got from the prison jade kept me in. There was fucking nothing she could do about it since she'd decapitated the watchdog she had appointed to watch over me.

Thinking about Hayden made me want to drive off a fucking cliff, or scream and as I increased the speed of the car, I gave in to the latter.

I screamed, my hands beating against the steering wheel until I was forced to slow down and stop. It was not fucking fair.

Minutes passed in silence and I slumped against the steering, the pain in my chest not lessening even after my outburst.

I hated Hayden just as much as Jade because he refused to open his eyes and see what Jade was really doing to him. He refused to see me even though I had been right in front of him all this while.

The rasping of a knuckle against my window made me a jerk, and as I turned to see who it was, my heart flew into my mouth when I saw Ryland.

He yanked the door open before I could hit the locks, his eyes the same soulless orbs they had always been.

"Hello little Sis," he got out eerily, then yanked me towards him, the seatbelt creating resistance. "We need to talk".

I glared at him. "I have nothing to say to you, you murderer" I spat and he scoffed, unaffected by my outburst.

He let go of my shirt then got into the car and sat down beside me.

"I will not apologize for my actions since you sided with the enemy to get rid of your only family. You joined Jade and tried to have me killed".

"Fuck you! You wanted to kill me too, and you still want to, so don't give me that crap about family. You are a fucking monster".

"Says the one who poisoned her father," he said and I stared at him incredulously. "You could have disagreed when I told you to, but deep down, you have always wanted him dead didn't you, you just needed a little push right".

I wanted to gouge out his eyes. "Fuck you!"

He rolled his eyes, then brought out a bottle. "I want you to put this in Jade's drink," he said and shoved a bottle into my hand. It felt like Deja Vu all over again.

"And why will I do anything that you tell me to".

"Because I know you want Jade dead just like I do. I know about your foolish feelings for Hayden, but I am not even surprised that you would fall for the man that was supposed to have been your killer..."

"Yeah well, he didn't kill me. He choose to save my life instead even when my own brother wanted to take it".

"Aren't you curious how I know about your feelings?" he said, raising one of his brows in question.

"I do not care about anything that has to do with you..."

"I have a witch that can tell people's feelings even without meeting them".

I shook my head, knowing he had finally lost it. "Well good for you. Now, will you get out of my car? I will not be doing anything for you..."

"Jade is not human," he said, his voice becoming darker all of a sudden and I turned to face him, my curiosity getting the best of me. "She is a monster and she is going to kill Hayden just as you have been imagining if we don't get rid of her before then".

I stared at him, trying to make sense of everything. Yes, I had suspected that Jade was not human but could I trust Ryland after what he tried to do to me? I knew Ryland when he was really serious about something, and right now, he was dead serious.

"How do I know this is not some grand ploy of yours to have me killed? You have me go up against Jade so I lose my life. Is that what this is all about?"

He shifted closer to me, his hands reaching to take my hand, but I pulled it out of his reach at the last second.

"You are the only family I have now Lexis. Let us forget about what happened in the past. This time, I swear, I am going to treat you right. Once Jade is out of the picture, then it will just be only us again. One big happy family. What do you say? Are you going to do it or not" he asked, his gaze fixed on mine, the eagerness in his eyes not quite concealed.

My hands clutched the bottle tighter, my thoughts becoming a scattered mess, but I knew as clearly as day that I was willing to kill Jade all on my own without being pushed. This was the only way I could save Hayden. Jade had to disappear. "Yes."