Beyond The Fury

Chapter Thirty-One

(Song- Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran)
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Hardin's POV

This whole thing is fucking stupid.

Whoever picked this masquerade bullshit as the theme for this shitty excuse of a formal party deserves a boot wedged up their asshole.

Liam snakes a metallic sliver tie around the collar of his white dress shirt as I impatiently wait for him, leaning against the doorway of his room.

"Tell me again why you're refusing to wear a mask? It's a masquerade party, Hardin." Liam says sarcastically like I don't already know that. If Ivory is there I need her to be able to recognise me..

"Okay, so we're doing this again." I push myself off of the doorway and enter further into Liam's room, bringing up my fingers in front of me as I count on them to add emphasis to what I am saying,"One." I start, "It's fucking stupid and the material makes my face itch." My eyebrows knit together at the fond memory of how the sequins usually scratch at my skin.

"And Two." I continue, "Why wouldn't I want people to recognise me? They should know who they are speaking too." I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly. He doesn't need to know the real reason..

I try to remain calm but I can't ignore the buzzing feeling ready to erupt from my chest. I'm so excited to see her.. but what if she isn't ready to see me just yet?

"Because the whole point of it being a masquerade party is so no one knows who is who. It adds mystery. Don't be the guy that ruins the fun." Liam brings my thoughts to a halt and I groan out loudly with annoyance. He isn't going to let me leave this fucking house without a mask, is he?

"Fine." I snap, holding out my hand towards him, "Pass me the fucking mask and let's get this over and done with." He swiftly places the mask into the palm of my hand and my jaw sets stiffly as I tie the black mask around my head.

It looks idiotic but strangely enough, it does hide my identity.. I don't think anyone will recognise me if they don't know that I am at the party.

I swipe a hand down my charcoal suit blazer to rid it of any wrinkles and sneakily tuck my pistol into my handgun holster beneath my jacket.. you never know when you'll need it.

"Ready?" Liam asks as he picks up the house keys from the small wooden bowl sat by the front door.

"As I'll ever be." I reply, opening the door and walking out in front of him. I don't care to wait for Liam, he has long legs so he can catch up with me if he is that bothered about me leaving him to walk alone.

It's around 10 o'clock at night and the streets are an eerie type of silent. It's so weird being back in London.. being back home keeps me aware and on my toes. A lot of bad people want to do very bad things to me and I need to be prepared for everything and anything.

"Are you nervous?" Liam asks as he finally jogs up to my side. My eyes remain ahead of me as I answer.

"For what?" I know exactly what he is talking about- or more precisely, who he is talking about. Liam is harmless but that doesn't mean I should talk to him about things.. some people don't deserve to know me like that. Weakness is a weapon and I won't be responsible for my own death.

"Ivory.. gosh you should see her! She looks fantastic." Liam gushes and I tense my jaw excruciatingly tight to refrain from screaming in his face and punching the smile from his lips.

"Oh, really?" I raise both of my brows and finally turn my head to look at him. He recognises the familiar angry tone I have in my voice and his gaze meets the ground.