~Brielle
Ren looks reluctant.
Who knows what Chase will do to me if he takes over Ren. There is no one in this place that would be able to help me if he decided to attack me. After what he did to Charlie, it is not out of the realm of possibility that he would do that to me. However, I have the feeling he wouldn’t do anything. I’m not sure why, I just do.
“I’m not so sure that is a good idea,” Ren says skeptically, raising his eyebrows at me. He shifts uncomfortably on the couch, but I don’t pay attention to his defiance. I know why he is anxious about it, but I have to speak to Chase.
I breathe in slowly. “Let me talk to him, please. Maybe I can find out why he is coming out more now that I’m here. Who better to speak to him when you can’t?”
Ren loosens a sigh.
“He can hurt you. I don’t know his motive and neither do you,” Ren reminds. He might be right, but I’m feeling foolish enough to take the risk. I don’t want the girls back on the island to continue living in fear of Chase every night. It can’t be long until he picks his next target to terrorise.
“He would have killed me by now if he wanted to,” I tell him firmly. “He’s come across me once of twice. I was an easy target for him.”
Ren’s jaw clenches, and I can tell he’s delegating in his mind whether this is a good idea or not. It most likely won’t be, but I don’t need to remind him of that. If worst comes to it, I’ll run onto the road and make a scene. Chase surely wouldn’t make the mistake of touching me then.
Ren closes his eyes for a moment. “Fine.”
“I’ll get answers, I promise,” I tell him securely, to which he only nods in response. I’m not sure why a flutter of excitement graces me, but it does.
I watch as Ren leans back into the couch, closing his eyes. He breathes in a few times, steadying himself. I can hardly believe I’m about to watch him transform. It’s something I never assumed anyone could be able to pull off. But here I am, about to watch it happen right in front of my eyes.
The entire process seemed calm and easy. Ren’s jaw clenched for a single moment, he shuddered, and when he opened his eyes, the green irise that somehow embodies Ren has dulled right down, while the blue one alights with vibrant colour.
I’m sitting beside Chase.
He shakes his head a few times, rolls his shoulders and lets out a breath. “Finally, some freedom.”
Immediately I can tell there is a shift in power, a difference between the two entities, or whatever they are. Chase’s voice is rougher, less refined and intellectual. It’s the first telling difference I’ve seen aside from the eye colour. He cracks his knuckles a few times before he finally seems to notice me.
“Let me tell you darling, it’s not so nice being trapped in that head of his,” Chase mutters. I watch him wordlessly, unsure of what to say or do. He seems more interested in himself than me.
He stands, walking over to a small mirror slung on the wall. He frowns at his appearance, quickly ruffling his hair with his fingers.
“Much better,” he mutters.
“You’re Chase, right?” I ask, my voice hoarse from nerves. I need to strike up conversation at some point, otherwise he might leave and my chance will be gone. Finally, he acknowledges me, turning around to face me. Suddenly, he is all the more daunting. There is no kindness in those eyes. Only a blank, emotionless void.
He takes a few steps toward the couch. “Do I know you, pretty thing?”
I swallow back a remark on how much I don’t like that nickname, instead concentrating on my current objective. “We have met before, yes. If my memory is correct, you’ve pinned me up against a wall before.”
A wicked grin I’ve never seen on Ren’s face before appears. I have to remember that even though it’s Ren’s body, it’s Chase controlling it. This isn’t Ren, and what Chase has done in this body isn’t Ren’s fault, either.
“Ah yes, of course,” he says, the delight in his eyes almost feline. “The girl who sticks her hands down Alpha’s pants. Am I next?”
I grit my teeth. “I was working.”
“That’s one word for it,” Chase muses, moving across the room. I watch him walk across the room, taking off the dark jacket Ren had been wearing before pushing the sleeves of the tunic up his arms. Slowly he is transforming in Chase right in front of me. Aside from his physical attributes, it’s almost impossible to see Chase as Ren now.
“Regardless, I’m here to talk to you believe it or not,” I tell him flatley. “I would appreciate it if you would sit down and not make remarks like that.”
I knew Chase would be difficult to work with, but I didn’t know he would be this difficult. It’s almost as if Chase’s personality is a demon that has possessed Ren. Maybe that’s the case, just like the legends the girls share around to scare each other.
“Quite the audacity for a small girl sitting here at my mercy,” Chase mutters.
He comes back, finally adhering to my words despite his attitude. He sits down on the couch beside me. A little too close, so I move to the end to give some space between us, in case his words aren’t as empty as I assume they are. He seems to enjoy my action of fear. Little does he know, I don’t fear him at all.
I’m not sure why, either.
“Why are you appearing so often since I arrived?” I demand. I don’t want to play his games anymore.
Chase chuckles to himself. “And vain too.”
“Me and Ren both know that ever since I arrived on this island you’ve been appearing almost every night. Am I wrong?” I ask him. I know I’m not, which only makes me want an answer even more.
“Is it common for you two to plot like this?” Chase asks. I can’t tell if he is genuinely curious or if he is teasing me. I can tell he is trying to get into my head in order to not answer. “Are your hands in his pants that quick? I honestly thought he had no game, or is this all on you?”
I swallow vicious words. Ren has no interest in me other than as an assistant. Even if him taking me to his sister’s wedding made me think otherwise. He felt comfortable to share that information with me...Stop these thoughts.
“I work for him, that’s all,” I reprimand. “Now tell me why you keep showing up so often all of a sudden?”
“Why don’t you tell me why you care?” Chase offers.
For a moment, I don’t know how to answer. I can’t tell him it’s because of my own personal curiosity otherwise he is going to accuse me of being vain again and I won’t find anything out. And if I tell him it’s to help Ren, he will sure balk and not help me out of spite for Ren. From what I’ve gathered, the two don’t get along very well.
“Because you hurt Charlie,” I decide to say. And that is true. What if he hurts all the others who are innocent just looking for work? Those girls don’t deserve it. “I’m not letting you hurt anyone else.”
“Charlie hurt herself. I didn’t lay a hand on her,” Chase tells me. I remember her telling me she was compelled to do it by him. That he made her feel like she had to.
“But it was your doing,” I remind him.
“I’m not pretending to be a good man. I’m not pretending like I couldn’t kill you right now. All I’m saying is I haven’t laid a finger on one of Ren’s workers,” he tells me, leaning back casually on the couch. There is no guilt, however, I’m not buying it. I don’t trust him as far as I could throw him.
“You sleep with them,” I say, remembering the mistress he had discarded as if it meant nothing to him. I’m not surprised by that.
Chase raises an eyebrow at me. “Are you trying to keep a man from his pleasures?”
I’ve decided in this environment I’m not going to get anymore out of them. I’ll have to come up with a better plan another time if I’m going to stand any chance against him. Maybe Ren will be able to help me.
“You’re disgusting. Give me Ren back. I don’t want to speak to you anymore,” I snap.
“Well, if it interests you Brielle, I have been appearing more now you’re here,” Chase admits, a devious smile coming across him. “But I think I like the idea of not telling you why.”
Before I can question him anymore, he closes his eyes, and Chase vanishes.