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Besides, from what he’d seen, the teen couldn’t read or control Stephan’s mind as he could others’. Not that Stephan hadn’t felt him try to break past his barriers. Stephan had, but he’d easily pushed back. Because he was a Lydus blood elf, his mental barriers and magical abilities were stronger than most—a direct result of his ancestors constantly being hunted. Their DNA had evolved to make it easier for them to hide.

  Though, the fact that the young man had such strong abilities at his age was a bit disconcerting.

  He peered at the teenager through his lashes once again. The teen was still wearing the black cotton shirt and pink pajama pants Stephan had given him last night. His other clothes had been sent off to be cleaned.

  Though, Stephan would rather just throw them away. His clothes consisted of a thin short-sleeve top, his jeans had more holes than fabric, his gloves were strips of cloth wound together, and his boots were worn to the soles. None of it would protect him from the elements. While it wasn’t freezing outside yet, in a few weeks there would no doubt be snow.

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  A physical attack was also unlikely. In terms of muscle, the teenager had about as much as he did—which wasn’t much at all.

  They were about the same size, both around five foot two. However, while Stephan was thin, the teen was unhealthily so. No doubt living on the streets had prevented the young man from getting the nutrients his body needed. Stephan planned to change that.

  He was beautiful in the way only a child could be. Stephan, having been a pretty child himself, knew the kind of horrible people his looks could draw in.

  The teenager had pale skin and short, messy black hair that feathered around his face. His voice was deep, but his features were soft—they would most likely harden and become more defined as he grew. But his eyes—God, his eyes—they were completely black, not even a hint of color, and empty.

  Those eyes, they were why Stephan couldn’t walk away. Why he’d trusted him—the reason he’d brought the young man home. The minute Stephan had looked into the emptiness, he had seen himself.

  For a while, after everything that happened, after his parents were murdered, after he had been raped—his eyes had been pure black. All the rage Stephan had felt—it had taken a year before he gained control of it. A year before his eyes turned back to lilac.

  They didn’t stay away though. Stephan had seen them staring back at him in the mirror many times—appearing when his rage broke free. Appearing when he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Eyes void of joy, empty of love, eyes that had given up on the world.

  Stephan hadn’t seen a monster when looking into teenagers eyes.

  He’d seen a child who everyone had abandoned and given up on—a child who had been abused until he’d broken.

  Well, Stephan refused to run away and abandon him as well—

  even if Stephan had to force him to accept help. First, though, he should really find out his name.

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  Stephan cleared his throat, and those empty eyes focused on him.

  “I just realized I never found out your name last night.” When the young man said nothing, he asked, “What is your name?”

  “Jayden. My name is Jayden.”

  “Just Jayden? No last name?”

  When Jayden narrowed his eyes, Stephan fidgeted slightly. “Just Jayden. I probably had one at one point, but I don’t remember it…you never gave me yours.”

  “Oh, how rude of me. It’s Everwood. How old are you?”

  Jayden crossed his arms and snorted. “I’ll tell if you will.”

  Stephan nodded. “That’s fair. I’m twenty years old.”

  “Fifteen.”

  “Young…” Pushing away thoughts of Jayden’s age, he perked up, smiled, and announced, “Well, today we’ll gather information and evidence on the man from last night. And then we’ll discuss your future.”

  “You’re not much older…I…” Jayden stiffened. “What do you mean we’ll discuss my future?”

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  Chapter Three

  Two months later

  His life had spiraled out of control—out of his control, that is. Just months ago, Jayden had been living on the street, spending his days however the hell he wanted, owning nothing, traveling where he wanted when he wanted to. Even if Jayden had been just scraping by, he had been free.

  And what was he doing now? Now Jayden was living in a damn mansion, wearing expensive clothing, and eating three full meals every day, with snacks in between even. Oh, and tutors had become the bane of his miserable existence.

  Was he, maybe, acting a bit ungrateful? Probably, but he couldn’t help it. Ugh, Jayden hated being told what to do. He went from complete freedom to…to…to rules!

  Worst of all, he hadn’t killed anyone in months! Jayden hadn’t had time—not that he killed that many people.

  Jayden wrinkled his brow. How many had he killed? Running through the names, he counted twelve over the last five years. Though only six had been discovered. The other six had been too high in society. Letting them be found hadn’t been worth the risk.

  Still, that wasn’t that many people, a little more than two a year.

  Was a little bloodshed every now and then so much to ask for?

  Richard should have been number thirteen. Unfortunately, Stephan’s plan had worked. The man’s death seemed guaranteed, and he would also pay dearly beforehand—apparently, the Zaytari had no issues with torture.

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  Jayden felt a bit resentful that he wouldn’t be the one to end Richard’s disgusting existence. If he didn’t hurt someone soon, he was going to lose it. That thought probably should’ve worried him—it didn’t.

  He eyed Stephan narrowly—the man was currently looking through a rack of tops. It had only taken one trip to the mall for Jayden to figure out Stephan loved shopping. Eyes shining, the man bounced with excitement whenever he found something he liked.

  The same question kept running through his head. Why, oh why had the man, yet again, taken him out shopping? Jayden already had three new shirts, four sweaters, a winter coat, three pairs of pants, a dozen socks, two pairs of shoes, a pair of boots, and underwear for every day of the week—not to mention a variety of other wearable stuff. What else could he possibly need? Jayden looked on in disgust at the growing pile of clothing in Liam’s arms. Ugh, he was going to be forced to try all that shit on.

  How much would Stephan spend today? The realm’s currency used to be something foreign to him—besides the copper dollar—as he never had much of it. Now he knew all about it. From least valued to most went copper dollar, silver dollar, gold dollar, and then finally the mighty jade dollar. A hundred copper dollars was equal to one silver, ten thousand silver dollars was equal to one gold, and one million gold dollars was equal to one jade.

  He sighed, his shoulders slumping. Jayden didn’t understand what was going on. He wasn’t an idiot. He was fully aware that Stephan was trying to take care of him—that he was only trying to help—but Jayden couldn’t figure out why he was giving in.

  Jayden was a cynic. He didn’t trust anyone. He had also never willingly listened to anyone, so what made Stephan different?

  At times, the man seemed sickeningly sweet. And unlike most, Stephan didn’t seem afraid of him.

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  He blinked—was that it? Was Jayden now living the “good” life because Stephan wasn’t afraid of him? That had to be it. When Jayden tried to argue, Stephan argued back.

  It wasn’t right. It wasn’t normal. He was scary, dammit! The man should have given in and run away like everyone else.

  Gripping the shirt he’d been pretending to look at, Jayden froze as a chilling thought entered his head—was he no longer scary?

  No, that couldn’t be true. People were still be afraid of him.

  Jayden had to make sure…
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  Turning his head, he stared at the man browsing beside him.

  When the man noticed him, Jayden slowly smiled. In very little time, the smell of fear drifted up. The man’s mind raced as his panic took over, and then slowly he began to back away.

  Eventually, the man gave up his backward retreat and turned, then sprinted out of the store. Once he was gone, Jayden sighed loudly in relief. Yep, he was still scary.

  “Is something wrong, Jayden?” Stephan asked, eyeing him.

  Jayden blinked slowly—a move that usually scared people—and replied, “No.”

  Stephan wrinkled his little nose. “Okayyy, well, let’s go try these on.” Stephan walked off toward the dressing rooms.

  Shoulders sagging in defeat, Jayden started to follow—only to stop in his tracks when he heard a soft chuckle.

  He narrowed his eyes at Liam—the bastard was laughing at him.

  Growling, Jayden stomped off toward the dressing rooms. Hours later he was still struggling in and out of clothes.

  Why the hell was trying on clothes such a workout? He would kill for a shower right now. Of course, killing wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice for him. Whatever…

  Sweat dripped down Jayden’s back, his hair was wet and plastered to his scalp, and he felt sticky. But did that stop Stephan from throwing more shit at him? No, of course not. The man just kept treating him like a frickin’ doll!

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  Well, at least Stephan had stopped with the pink. God, what was with the man and the color pink?

  Jayden lost his balance as he tried to pry off a pair of jeans, then grunted as he knocked into the wall of the changing room. Huffing in frustration, he banged his head against the wall.

  Jayden had the strongest urge to rip the damn things off. The harder he struggled, the more they stuck to him. Sweat and jeans did not fucking mix.

  Voice muffled by the door, Stephan called out, “You okay in there?”

  Breathing in and out of his nose, he quietly mumbled to himself,

  “You’re fine, Jayden. Relax, relax…relax.” Once he’d tamped down most of his irritation, he replied, “Yes.”

  “Well, there’s just a few more, and then we’ll check out.”

  It was almost over—thank the heavens! Jayden couldn’t wait to get out of here. He hated shopping, but most of all he hated crowds.

  Highly populated areas sucked—everyone’s thoughts clawed at his mind. They never shut up—if he hadn’t already been crazy, he’d have been brought down quickly by them alone.

  “I’ll bleed them all…the screams, the screams…the delicious screams…”

  Jayden cocked his head at the malicious thought that drifted through his mind. All the other voices faded into the background as it shoved its way through.

  “Such a beautiful woman. She’ll scream like the rest. They always do. No one will know…”

  He closed his eyes. His mental energy branched out like tendrils, stretching out, searching for the source of the violence.

  “No…no! It’s too risky. She won’t work. It has to be someone no one will miss. They won’t notice then…”

  Information about who the man was, where he lived, and what he had done dug itself a spot in his memory.

  “Jayden? What’s going on? You’re really quiet.”

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  Jayden shook his head. “I’m fine.” Later—he’d deal with his new

  “friend” later…

  He quickly blew through the rest of the clothes. After paying the ridiculous bill, they were on their way home—surrounded by bags.

  Jayden briefly wondered how much money Stephan had to feel nothing about dropping a few thousand gold on clothes.

  When they entered the foyer, Stephan smiled and declared, “That was fun.”

  Rolling his eyes, he deadpanned, “As fun as getting punched in the face.”

  Stephan giggled. “Well, why don’t you go put your new clothes away? Liam can help. I, unfortunately, have a meeting to go to.” He glanced at his watch. “And if I don’t leave now, I’ll be late. Have fun, guys.” He turned and started back toward the door.

  Ah, a meeting. Jayden had wondered why the car hadn’t been put away—not to mention, it answered the question as to why the man had worn a full suit just to go shopping.

  “Let me drive you, Stephan,” Liam called out.

  Stephan waved his hand in dismissal as he exited the mansion.

  Looking around at all the bags, Jayden sighed.

  The door clicked as it reopened, and Stephan popped his head in.

  “Don’t forget you have a lesson with your new language tutor in thirty minutes. Please try not to scare this one away.” After saying his piece, his head disappeared and the door shut once again.

  Jayden groaned. He so wished Stephan hadn’t found out he’d only attended school for a few years. All the tutors that plagued him throughout the day made him wish he could still cry.

  Ignoring Liam, Jayden gathered up as many bags as he could carry and started toward his room.

  His days were filled with math, reading, writing, science, and a shit-ton of other lessons—it was awful. Reaching his room, Jayden ended up having to juggle to open his door. After dropping the bags

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  upon entering, he wandered over to the bed and flopped face-first onto its softness.

  The only tolerable lessons were ones Jayden had with Liam—the only ones Stephan hadn’t set up. The straitlaced man had approached him and asked about his abilities.

  Jayden hadn’t wanted to tell him anything. He had some trust issues. Big surprise there.

  He gave in eventually, though it was more like he caved after constant prodding. After days of Stephan’s encouragements—

  nagging—he told Liam all about his powers. When the man offered to teach Jayden how to build up his mental walls, how to block the voices, Jayden said yes.

  Liam had been honest up front. There was very little chance that Jayden would ever be able to shut everyone out. His mental powers were too strong.

  Apparently, it would have been painful for him to try—something about pressure buildup. The goal was to make it manageable. Jayden would admit he was slightly disappointed by that, but it was better than nothing, which was what he’d been doing.

  Sighing, Jayden flipped onto his back. His other classes just sucked and added to his overall frustrations.

  Was he making progress? Yes, but at a snail’s pace. And through his painfully slow progress, he had discovered something.

  The condescending “I’m better than you” looks on some of his teachers’ faces annoyed the hell out of him. Truthfully, Jayden didn’t care what they thought of him. Go ahead, call him stupid to his face—

  that wouldn’t have bothered him. If that’s what they thought of him, whatever.

  What ticked him off were those who pretended to be nice as they smiled snidely down at him, because they didn’t have the balls to berate him to his face.

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  Jayden hated fake people, not to mention liars—they always had something to hide. Though…considering all he was hiding, it was a bit hypocritical, not that Jayden cared.

  That hatred was why the number of tutors he’d gone through was in the double digits. Very few of the originals were still there.

  The ones remaining—while Jayden couldn’t say he got along with them—for some odd reason wanted him to succeed.

  The liars, hah, they didn’t last long—not to mention the ones who were easily intimidated. Some quit the first day, running away as fast as their feet could carry them.

  Jayden grinned. Apparently, they found him scary, not that he would ever do anything to frighten them…too much.

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  Chapter Four

  His clenched jaw popped and began to throb, Stephan’s eyes becoming mere slit
s as he continued to glare at Edwin Ebersole, owner of Ebersole Construction. The man looked so smug, as if he had won something. Ivan Alessandrin—renowned interior decorator and owner of Alessan Recreations and Design, and the only other person in the room—appeared as irritated as he was.

  Stephan grabbed the ludicrous contract Ebersole had thrown at him and ripped it in half. The man sputtered in shock at his actions.

  Relaxing his jaw, Stephan calmly placed his folded hands on top of the board table. His voice was cold and hard as he spoke. “You must think I’m an amateur, Mr. Ebersole. I’ll tell you now, you’re very mistaken. You’re also seriously misinformed if you think you have any right to demand anything from me.”

  “I have every right! It’s my land,” Ebersole sneered.

  “Yes, it is your land. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be working with you at all. Your reputation is rather tarnished, Mr. Ebersole. The minute you wouldn’t sell, I should have explored other land options in Bram for my resort. I realize now I was being stubborn. No piece of land is worth dealing with your ignorance.”

  “You should watch your words, child.”

  Stephan seized the larger man by his shirt, then dragged him forward until their faces were inches apart.

  Stephan hissed, flashing his small fangs as he released a taste of his raw energy. “Listen here, you annoying twit. I don’t care what you think of me. You signed a contract. If you think I’m going to alter it just to gain access to additional land, land that’s size pales in

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  comparison to that allotted in the first contract, you are insane. You are also wasting both my time and Mr. Alessandrin’s. My patience for bullshit only goes so far!”

  Ebersole’s eyes were wide, and his look of arrogance had disappeared. Apparently, the man wasn’t used to others calling him out.

  “Now listen very, very closely. You have two options.” Giving Ebersole a chilling smile, Stephan released him and casually sat back in his chair. “Option number one—you can continue to be a pain in my ass, which will force me to make up my losses by starting a hostile takeover of your company. An action, I assure you, that will end with you living in squalor on the streets.”