Chapter 4 Underwhelming

Kerensa's POV

The next few days at the Royal Hockey Academy were a tightrope walk. Every morning, I woke with the first light, my body already tense with the need to be on guard. Every interaction was a calculation, every word a potential misstep. Sharing a dorm with the twins was a special kind of hell, a constant, low-grade hum of danger that vibrated just beneath my skin.

I developed a routine. Wake before them. Shower. Dress. Leave for the training grounds before they even stirred. Return only after the last light had faded, hoping they would already be asleep or out. It was a fragile strategy, and it was bound to fail.

Tonight, it did.

I pushed open the door to find them both there, lounging on their respective beds. Hunter propped himself up on his elbows, shirtless, his chest a smooth, sculpted landscape of muscle. Xavier leaned against his headboard, a book in his hands, also bare-chested, his skin pale in the soft lamplight. The air hung thick with the scent of clean sweat and something else, something primal and distinctly male.

A smoldering atmosphere pressed against me, making my own skin feel too tight.

I tried to walk straight to my bed, head down, footsteps silent. It was a foolish hope.

"Look who's finally back," Hunter drawled, his voice lazy and mocking. "Playing hard to get, Rhys? We've barely seen you."

I kept walking, my hand reaching for the privacy curtain I'd rigged around my bed.

"Hey. I'm talking to you." Hunter's voice lost its lazy edge. I heard the rustle of sheets and knew he was getting up. "Where have you been hiding? We have some questions for you."

I stopped, my back to him, my hand clenching the curtain fabric. A trace of cedar reached me even from across the room, and my pulse gave an unwelcome kick.

"I've been at training. Same as you."

"Training, right," Hunter scoffed, circling around to block my path. He was so close I could feel the heat radiating from his skin, that cedar scent wrapping around me, warm and insistent. "We're not talking about training. We're talking about before. About why you're here. We want to know where she is."

I finally looked at him, forcing my expression into a mask of cold disdain. "Who?"

His jaw tightened, irritation flashing in his eyes. "Don't play dumb with me. Kerensa. Your sister. Where is she?"

I let out a short, humorless laugh. "You're asking me about my sister? After all this time? Why, so you can pick on her again? Find new ways to make her life miserable? Grow up, Hunter. It's been seven years."

His face flushed with anger, and he stepped closer, his voice dropping to a growl. "That's not why I'm asking. We just want to talk to her."

"Right," I sneered. "I'm sure you do. The big, bad twins suddenly grew a conscience. I don't believe you for a second."

Xavier finally spoke from his bed, his voice calm and cutting through the tension. "He's telling the truth, Rhys. We just want to apologize."

I turned my sneer on him. "An apology? After what you did? After your mother framed my father and ruined my family? You think 'I'm sorry' fixes that? You're even more arrogant than I remember."

Hunter's frustration boiled over. "Why won't you just tell us? Why are you being like this? You're not the same person. The Rhys I knew would have - "

"The Rhys you knew grew up," I cut in, my voice sharp and brittle. "You made sure of that, you and your family, same as the rogues did. Now get out of my way."

I tried to shove past him, but he grabbed my arm, his grip like a vice. His scent surged over me at the contact, cedar and skin, and my heart lurched traitorously.

"Not until you tell us what happened to her."

I struggled, trying to yank free, but he was too strong. "Let go of me!"

"No," he said, his face inches from mine, his eyes burning with frantic intensity. "Not until you tell us where she is."

"Get your hands off me," I seethed, heat creeping up my neck at his nearness despite the danger in my voice.

"Or what?" he challenged, his grip tightening. "What are you going to do about it?"

I stopped struggling, my body going still. I looked him dead in the eye, my voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "You really want to know what happened to her? I'll tell you. Something in her broke seven years ago, right after your mother tore our family apart, and the night your father's men dragged her father away in chains. She's gone because rogues tore her apart seven years ago. So there. You have your answer. Now let me go."

For a moment, the shock on his face was almost comical. His grip loosened just enough for me to wrench my arm free. I stumbled back, rubbing the sore flesh, my chest heaving with exertion and rage.

I looked from Hunter's stunned face to Xavier's, who had sat up, his book forgotten in his lap. He looked stricken.

The sight gave me a vicious sort of satisfaction.

"You're pathetic," I spat, my eyes landing on Hunter's bare chest. "You think you're so impressive, walking around here half naked like you own the place. Let me give you a little advice. It's not doing you any favors. In fact..." I said, letting my gaze drop pointedly, "it's a little underwhelming to be putting on such a show. You might want to keep that covered up. No one wants to see it."

His face twisted with rage. "You little... I'll show you underwhelming."

He moved so fast I didn't have time to process it. One moment he stood across the room, the next his fingers had hooked into the hem of my shirt and yanked upward.

I twisted away on instinct, hands flying up to shove him back, but he was a wall of solid muscle, and the fabric tore higher before I could stop it, baring a strip of skin at my ribs.

The binding.

My heart stopped.