I zip up and march straight toward the door of the pool room with Dylan and Alistair barely on my tail after cleaning themselves up.
“Felix?” Penelope calls out as she crawls off the pool table and puts on her clothes. I hate having to ignore her, but right now, I’ve got bigger troubles.
“What are you doing?” Dylan calls. “Felix, where are you going?”
“I’m gonna talk to your fucking dad,” I reply, pushing past Jason Foley.
“Whoa, whoa.” Dylan runs in front of me and blocks the hallway. “You can’t just barge into his office.”
“Watch me,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Why? What do you think you can even do?”
“Stop him from getting the police involved,” I retort. “Ali, Dylan, you’re coming with me.”
“Wait, what?” Ali frowns. “Fuck no, I’m not going in there when—”
I grab his collar. “You were the ones who got us into this shit. Now you’re going to get us out of it.”
“Hey, I was just following his lead.” Ali points at Dylan, who taps his feet and sighs.
“Thanks, asshole,” Dylan says.
Ali shrugs. “What? It’s the truth.”
“I don’t fucking care who did it.” I shove him away. “But I need this to disappear. Stat.” I ram my finger into Dylan’s chest. “Now you’re gonna tell me exactly what you did to that fucker.”
“We nailed him to the ground,” Dylan says with a low voice, his face darkening. “And burned him.”
Penelope walks out of the pool room and watches us fight, the mere sight of her making me grind my teeth. “Was she there?”
“She helped us do it,” Dylan says.
My blood thickens with anger. “And then what?”
“Well, we buried him,” Alistair replies. “After Pen left.”
“Obviously not deep enough,” Dylan says, shrugging like it’s no big deal.
“What about the other one?” I snap my fingers. “The dude you pummeled?”
Alistair’s eyes grow big. “I don’t know. We just left him there.”
“He wasn’t moving,” Dylan adds.
I grasp him by the collar and seethe at him, “You fucking idiot! One of those fuckers might have been alive and you didn’t even fucking bother to tell me?”
“Chill the fuck down, dude. He was bleeding from his ear when we left him. I didn’t think he’d survive,” Dylan says through gritted teeth, and he grabs my hands and rips them off his body. “And if you wanted a fucking say in it, maybe you should’ve been there.”
My nostrils flare as the thought of punching his gut crosses my mind.
But something in Penelope’s eyes stops me from doing just that.
“Come with me,” I bark as I turn around and march out of the Skull & Serpent Society. “Both of you.”
“I’m coming too,” Pen utters.
“Stay in the house,” I growl at her.
“Fuck that. If they’re gonna interrogate people, I need to be there.”
I turn around to face her. “Why? So you can rat us all out?”
She folds her arms. “So we can align our stories and make sure none of us spills unnecessary info.” She tilts her head. “In case you forgot, I was there too.”
Fuck, I almost forgot about that.
If anyone saw her there, she’ll be implicated too, and people will start to ask questions. And I don’t know if she can handle it.
“Did anyone else see you guys with those two dudes?” I ask.
Dylan snorts. “Oh, plenty. Though most ran off when the fight broke out.”
I roll my eyes and slap my hand against my forehead. “Could you have been any more unsafe?”
“What?” Dylan scoffs. “What was I supposed to do? Just let them casually walk off after telling me straight to my face they intended to fuck with Penelope?”
Fuck. Just the mere thought makes me want to rip this fucking decorative rifle off the wall and hunt down any motherfuckers who dared to lay a finger on either of them.
“C’mon,” I growl.
Several police cars drive onto the property, and the school seals the gates shut. It’s been a long time since I last felt this uneasy.
Everyone’s looking around at all the police cars being parked on school grounds, drawing quite a lot of attention as well as gossip.
Beyond the gates, several ambulances as well as a coroner are parked near Priory Forest. All the students flock near the gates to watch the scene unfold, and we run toward the front, pushing past most of the students until we can finally see what’s going on.
“Uh-oh,” Dylan mutters.
A body bag is lifted onto a stretcher.
Several students gasp in shock.
“Fuck,” Alistair says, taking a deep breath. “Too late.”
A girl with a curly bun and bouncing tits pushes past the crowds, storming straight to Penelope, and grabs her arm. “Pen, did you hear? They found a fucking body on the school grounds,” she says, but it’s only when her eyes travel to meet mine that she finally realizes whose company she’s in. “Oh …”
Pen throws me a quick glance before focusing on the girl. “There’s the ambulance picking him up.” She points at the gates, and Kayla’s eyes follow her finger.
Her face loses all color. “Fuck, so it’s true.”
They both stare at the body as it’s hauled into the vehicle.
“Who is she?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
“Kayla,” Penelope sneers. “My friend.”
She says it like I was about to cut the girl into thin strips.
“You’re actually with them? I thought you said it was just a one-time thing,” Kayla whispers, but I can hear her. “I heard some rumors about a fight in the woods between … them.” She eyes Dylan. “And you were there too.”
Penelope’s whole face glows red, and Kayla sees too. She grabs Pen’s arm and drags her away from the crowd, so I follow suit. “So you were there? Did you see the actual fight?” She slaps her hand in front of her mouth. “Oh my God, don’t tell me you’re involved. I told you they were dangerous.”
I step between them, towering over the girl. “That’s enough.”
Kayla’s eyes flash between mine and Penelope’s, but she doesn’t budge. “If you lay even a single hand on me, I’m gonna rat you guys out like no tomorrow.” She grabs Penelope’s hand from behind me. “And I’ll make sure she’s protected from the likes of you.”
She’s got a lot of balls, that’s for sure.
Dylan snorts. “It’s cute you think that threats work on us.”
I lean in. “I don’t even need to lay a single hand on you.”
I flick my fingers.
“Kay, I love you, but …” Penelope swiftly releases Kayla’s grip and takes a step back. “It’s safer if I go with them.”
She frowns. “Those sick boys? Safe?”
“She wants to be with us. Just like she chose to be our plaything,” I add with a smirk. “So I’m gonna give you one fucking second to turn around and walk away.”
Kayla’s expression turns even more horrified. “Or what?”
“Shoo,” I growl, my hand slowly drifting to the pocket where I keep my knife, but her eyes follow. “Before I change my mind.”
Her whole body begins to shiver, and she suddenly bolts off toward her sorority, but not without throwing another glance at Pen.
“I’m sorry, Kay!” Pen yells after her. “You didn’t have to be that much of an asshole.” She punches me in the side so harshly my knees almost buck. “She’s my fucking friend, and I’m not gonna lose her because of your possessive ass.”
“She was a threat, and I got rid of it,” I hiss back, grasping her by the hoodie. “Ditch her.”
“Over my dead body.”
“She’s a liability who knows too much,” I growl.
“I don’t fucking care.” She folds her arms, despite the fact that I’m gripping her clothes tightly. “I trust her.”
Grinding my teeth, I try to focus, but all I can focus on are those plump lips just begging me to show her who makes the fucking rules.
And something about that makes me irrationally angry.
Why do I fucking care so much?
“You trust too easily,” I retort.
“I trusted you,” she says, momentarily catching me off guard.
She … trusted me?
And I fucking broke that trust when I tried to go after her instead.
My nostrils flare. “And look where that got you.”
“Felix Rivera …” A stern voice makes me look up. “Put that girl down.”
Dean Caruso comes walking up to the crowd, and he doesn’t seem the slightest bit amused.
As I place Pen back down on the ground, her whole body begins to tense, and even my veins pulse with adrenaline. But worst of all is the fact that the entire crowd is staring at us now.
Dean Caruso glares at all three of us. “Follow me.”
“Who? Him?” Dylan points at me like I’m the one to blame for his murder.
His father snarls, “All of you.”
Sighing, I glance at the boys before we follow him inside.
“But we haven’t gotten our stories straight yet,” Dylan says.
I shove my elbow into his side and whisper-growl, “Shut up. People are listening.”
All around, people stare at us for all the wrong reasons as we walk toward the big building in the back and head inside under heavy scrutiny.
“What’s gonna happen? Is he gonna kick us out?” Pen asks.
When I glance at her over my shoulder, Ali’s hand snakes through hers, and it makes me want to fish this dagger out of my pocket and throw it right at his heart.
Fuck. Since when did I become so fucking possessive I can’t even look at someone else holding her hand? Have I gone insane?
I shake it off as the dean walks us up the stairs to the top level of the building. Along the way, a multitude of students looks at us and visibly gossip, unafraid to be speaking about us in public. They all knew we were dangerous before. No one just ever expected the cops to get involved.
A familiar face bearing a smirk at the last staircase makes me halt and stare.
“Nathan …” My body feels like it’s about to combust. “You’re responsible for this?”
“I didn’t do anything. I’m gonna enjoy this, though,” Nathan replies, grinning like he’s on drugs.
And fuck me, I’m gonna end this motherfucker’s life.
I immediately go for my knife, but Dylan grasps my arm and stops me midway. “Don’t.”
“Listen to your buddy there, Felix,” Nathan spews. “Or this might get a whole lot uglier.”
“Nothing as ugly as your fucking stump of a finger,” I retort, tilting my head when the anger flashes across his face. “I guess my snake Nessie will enjoy a tasty meal soon.”
His pupils dilate, and he charges at me, punching me in the face.
Dylan’s father growls, “Hey! Get off him!”
A police officer standing near the stairs jumps in and separates us, drawing his gun at Nathan. “Step back!”
Nathan stops midair with a second punch and glares at the police officer before lowering his fist. And I can’t help but fucking smile at him.
He hisses, “You motherf—”
“Not another word,” Dylan’s father quips, and he nods at the police officer. “Show him the exit, please. I don’t want any more fighting on these school grounds.”
The police officer grabs Nathan by the arm and pushes him farther down the stairs, forcing him to break eye contact.
I know that fucker hates me for what I did to him, but he deserved it after threatening Penelope and possibly even hurting Eve.
And I thoroughly enjoy tormenting every single inch of his soul.
But if he’s the one who ratted us all out to the dean to settle a score, I’m gonna make sure he pays.
We’re alone with Dylan’s father, who turns to us like a bull getting the whip. “You motherfuckers better give me one good reason not to kick you out of this school right now.”
“Uh …” Dylan mutters. “Maybe because I’m your son?”
He glares at his son before sneering at all of us, “My office. Now.”
“Wait, me too?” Penelope asks.
His eyes narrow at her. “All of you.”
We follow him up the stairs and into his office, but the second the door closes on us, Alistair practically loses all the color in his face.
Because next to the dean’s chair is the police chief in charge of the entire city as well as this school.
And Alistair just mutters, “Hi, Dad.”
