I stepped forward and grabbed him by the back of the neck and yanked him away from Neve.

"What the—" Mr. Moron said as I spun him around. I closed my hand around his throat. I wanted to kill him, the anger inside me wanting me to put my hands on him and let my energy smother the life inside of him. Before, there wouldn't have been any thinking, he would have been dead already. Anger raged inside of me like a wildfire.

"Mason," I heard Neve whisper.

My hand tightened, cutting off his oxygen and he clawed at my hand, fighting for his survival.

"Mason," she gasped.

My eyes found her lying on the floor. Her eyes were wide as she watched me. I battled against my need to tighten my hold on his neck and squeeze it till he stopped breathing. I wanted to so badly.

"Stop," Neve whispered as she tried to sit up, her face grimacing in pain. "I'm okay," she tried to reassure me, but I wasn't blind. She could barely sit up. Pure anger spread through me.

I turned my gaze back to Mr. Moron, who was still gasping for breath. A cold smile spread across my face as my eyes bore into his. The evil inside of me that I'd kept at bay seeped into me.

"If you ever come near her again I will kill you," I assured him in a deadly tone. His eyes widened.

"Mason," Neve whispered again. Her voice pulled me back and I felt the evil slip back into the deepest, darkest place inside of me. She'd managed to keep me from killing him but there was no way he was making it out unscathed.

My fist connected with his face. I let go of his neck and he dropped to the floor. He was out cold but at least he was still breathing. He had Neve to thank for that. I tightened my fist but the sound of a whimper brought my attention back to Neve.

I knelt down beside her. The side of her face was bruised already and her right eye was starting to swell. She winced and clutched her side as she tried to stand up. He'd hit her multiple times. It took all the control I had not to turn around and beat the shit out of him.

"Please, I can't let Tyler see this," she whispered. Her eyes met mine. A tear slid down her face. I laid her back down on the floor and reached for my phone.

Her brother picked up on the third ring.

"Neve's running late and asked if I could give her a lift home later," I lied. It was such a weak excuse and I didn't expect Tyler to buy it.

"Okay," he replied after a few moments of hesitation. I could hear he was confused as to why she would be asking me for a lift. In the short time I'd been a part of the Archaic group, I'd noticed he was extremely protective over his sister and I could hear the hesitation in his voice.

"Sure. Tell her I'll see her at home." Then he ended the call. I was surprised it had been that easy.

A groan from Neve pulled my attention back to her. I shoved my phone in the back pocket of my jeans. I had no idea what the impact of healing her would have on her but there was no way I was going to do nothing and leave her in pain.

She groaned as I put my hands down on her stomach and allowed my energy to flow inside of her. There was no major damage, just severe bruising. I struggled to cope with the fact that I'd been just outside the door when he'd done this to her.

Minutes later I could see the pain ease in her face and I lifted my hands off her.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

I remained quiet as I helped her to sit up.

"I never expected him to do that," she tried to reason but her voice hitched on the last word and a tear formed in her eye before sliding down her cheek. I caught the moisture with my fingertip and brushed it away.

"I did," I revealed. She looked at me with confusion.

"I saw you with him last night in the forest," I said. She looked surprised and then she gave me a questioning look.

"When I checked on the trackers last night I noticed you had snuck out so I found you and I saw what happened," I explained. Her eyes remained wide. "You warned him to stay away but I could tell he hadn't listened to you. It was just a matter of time before he tried to corner you again. I didn't step in since I thought you could handle him." Another tear formed in her eye and slid down her face.

"Not this time," she whispered as more tears gathered. I wanted to comfort her but I didn't know how. I leaned closer and put my arm around her, pulling her closer. The smell of her did something weird inside me. She cried as I held her awkwardly, not sure if I was doing it right.

After a few minutes, I felt her pull away and I dropped my arm, putting more space between us. Her touch still tingled on my skin. She brushed her tears away.

"I'm sorry," she murmured while she stood up. I straightened up next to her.

Her eyes hardened when she saw Mr. Moron still unconscious on the floor a couple feet away. The firecracker was back. She walked purposefully to him. She kicked him in the stomach, then she turned to me.

"Okay, I feel better now," she said with a genuine smile on her lips. It was like she'd completely wiped away what had just happened from her mind.

I couldn't help but smile back at her.

The hallway was empty when we stepped out of the janitor closest, leaving Mr. Moron still out cold on the floor. When he awoke, not only would he have a bruised face, he'd have some bruised ribs as well. It made me feel better that he would feel the repercussion of his actions a lot longer than Neve had from the attack.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked quietly while we walked back to the entrance of the school.

"I didn't see the point. You handled him. I kept an eye on you today because I had a feeling he was going to try and corner you again," I explained with a shrug. I was good at reading people.

"He just can't seem to take no for an answer," she muttered as she tentatively touched the side of her face he'd hit.

"Why did you go into the closet?" I asked, wanting to know why she'd put herself into a dangerous position.

"He'd gotten one of his friends to ask me to meet him there after school. I thought if I explained that I wasn't interested one last time he might get the hint, but he didn't," she muttered as she brushed her fringe to one side.

"Why were you sneaking around with him?" I asked.

"Tyler warned me about Alex," she began to explain. "But I was stubborn enough to ignore the warning. My brother was right, he's an asshole."

I gave her a side glance. So Mr. Moron had a name: Alex. Nope, I thought "Mr. Moron" suited him better.

"I don't want Tyler to find out because he'll never let me live it down. I can already hear the lecture."

"I won't say anything," I assured her with another shrug.

My anger at the thought of what he'd done to her hadn't ebbed. If she weren't walking with me, I probably would have gone back to do more damage. He deserved more than one meeting with my fist.

I heard her sigh before she continued.

"I was tired of doing what everyone else wanted me to. I wanted to be able to make my own decisions even if they turned out to be mistakes. They're mine to make."

With those few words she revealed a part of herself that few people knew. Her eyes flickered to me for my judgment but I shrugged my shoulders.

"It's your life," I said quietly as we exited the school side by side.

"Thank you," she added softly as I opened the passenger door for her when we got to my car. It was the first time I'd ever had someone else in my car. It put me on edge.

"It's fine," I replied as I closed the door and walked around the front of my car to the driver's side.

"Just promise me you won't put yourself in another situation like that again," I said. I got into the car and started it up.

"There is no way I'm going to let him near me after..." she said. I glanced at her and saw the emotion on her face. There was no wiping that feeling of being a victim. I reached for her hand, not really understanding my need to console her. My hand rested on hers.

Her eyes met mine. Long eyelashes framed her wide child-like eyes.

"I won't let him hurt you again," I assured her, keeping her gaze. She nodded her head before I removed my hand from hers. I didn't like the loss of warmth of her skin against mine.