Her Devils

by Mae Doyle

  My blood runs cold and I feel sweat break out all over my body. Nobody, not the devils, not Sophia, not even the twins, had told me that Eric had a girlfriend, or I would have been on the lookout for her. She’s got a crazy look in her eye and I’m terrified that she may actually try to kill me.

  “Please,” I beg, but even if she does understand me, she doesn’t care, and she just laughs.

  “Listen, you stupid slut, I want him back. And since you can’t seem to keep your pants on and just let anyone in there who wants to visit your pussy, you won’t mind getting fucked one more time, right?”

  Even though I don’t know what she’s going to do, I start to buck and scream. The rag in my mouth blocks all of the sound, but it feels good to be doing something. I can’t just let her hurt me like this. I can’t stand her and not try to fight her, especially when I don’t know what she’s going to do to me.

  “Turn around.” The girl spins me, keeping her hands tight on my wrists so that I can’t wriggle out of her grasp. As soon as my back is to her, I try to kick back, but she wrenches my wrist up behind my back, causing me to scream out in pain.

  “Stop that shit, Kiera, or this is going to hurt more than it has to,” she warns, and then she kicks my feet out from under me.

  I fall down to my knees, the pain of landing on them on the tile floor ringing up through my body, but before I can try to work through that pain, she pushes me over, shoving my head down so that I’m practically kissing the toilet seat.

  “Good riddance, you piece of shit,” she mutters, and then drops my arm to grab the back of my head and shove. I try to fight her, reaching back behind me and clawing at her, but she’s incredibly strong and focused, and she shoves my head under the water.

  The rag in my mouth makes it impossible for me to scream, but I try anyway, bubbles floating up around my face. My knees hurt, but I kick back at her, trying to catch her in the shin, but I can’t seem to land a kick, and she doesn’t let up the pressure on the back of my head.

  I want to suck in for a breath, but I know that if I do, I’ll never walk out of here. Instead. I grab the toilet and push back, tyring to throw her off balance.

  I can’t.

  I don’t know how she has me in this position, but she’s not letting me go, and there’s nothing that I can do to throw her off balance. She’s stronger than I am, and pissed, and I’m just running scared with my head in the toilet.

  What a fucking horrible way to go.

  With my ears under the water, it’s almost impossible for me to hear anything, but a dull slam that sounds like it’s far off in the distance gives me a surge of hope.

  The girl holding me starts screaming and lets go of my head, letting me finally push back and fall to the ground, gasping and suck in air.

  I’m soaked. Everything that I’m wearing is dripping wet, my knees ache, and I can barely breathe, but at least I’m out of the water and she doesn’t have me pinned in place any longer.

  She’s still screaming and kicking, and I open my eyes long enough to see Asher and Parker pulling her away from the stall and pinning her against the wall. I don’t know what they’re going to do to her, but when Luca and Caspian reach down and lift me off of the floor, I realize that I don’t really care.

  Chapter 16

  “What I don’t understand,” Headmistress Decker says, looking carefully at the four devils and ignoring me, “is what the four of you were doing in the girl’s bathroom. I’m sure that they’re clearly labeled and so you knew which one you were going into, but you didn’t seem to care, did you? Were you all just tyring to get charged with sexual harassment? Was that your goal here?”

  Caspian looks so angry that I think he’s about to lose it. Even though I’m sitting behind the devils and not technically welcome in this meeting, there wasn’t any way that I was going to miss it. Not when Decker is accusing the devils of ridiculous crap, like being peeping toms. Not when they were the ones who saved my life.

  “We heard screaming and banging and knew that Kiera had already been threatened by another student,” Parker interjects, working hard to keep his voice calm. “When we saw Madison Cable pushing her head into a toilet, we knew that we had to intervene.”

  “You have no place in the girl’s bathroom.” Decker is beginning to sound like a broken record, and I roll my eyes. Even though I’m not supposed to be here, I can’t help what I’m about to do.

  It didn’t take long for word to spread through the students that Madison had tried to kill me, and everyone has avoided me all day long. We thought that that would be the end of it, but then Decker paged us and had us come to her office after classes.

  I’m about to be late to my work study, and I can’t lie about the fact that I really want to know what’s going on in the cave.

  I stand up, pushing my chair back a little as I do so that it scrapes on her wood floor. That gets her attention, and she turns her angry gaze to me.

  “There’s nothing for you to say here, Kiera, so I’m glad that you’re leaving for your work study.” Decker knows that I’m not leaving, but she’s good at pretending. Or she tries to be.

  I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere, headmistress, not until you understand what exactly happened in that bathroom this morning. If it hadn’t been for these four guys, I honestly believe that I would be dead. Madison was angry and she was holding my head under the water so that I couldn’t breathe. I don’t – ”

  She cuts me off with a laugh. “That’s a strange story, Kiera. When I spoke to Madison earlier she told me that she just happened to be around to rescue you! It’s sheer luck that you didn’t drown today, Kiera, but it wasn’t these four boys who saved you. We all know that it was Madison who pulled you out of the toilet and kept you from dying.”

  I stare at her. “What? What in the world are you talking about? No, that’s not what happened. Madison wants to kill me so that her boyfriend can come back.”

  Decker shakes her head and stands up, putting her hands flat on her desk to push herself out of her chair. “Stop lying, Kiera. It’s an ugly trait for ugly people. Madison saved your life. The problem that we’re dealing with now is what we should do with these four boys who lied about why they were in the girl’s bathroom. They know full well that going into that behavior is not allowed at Meyer’s Grove and is punishable as I see fit.”

  As she sees fit? My stomach drops as I think about what crap she may try to pull on my sweet devils.

  “No!” I don’t know how much trouble I’m going to get into, but right now I can’t worry about that. “You have it all wrong. Madison tried to kill me. It was these guys who saved me and pulled me out of the toilet. If they hadn’t pulled her off of me then I would be dead!”

  She regards me coolly. “If they hadn’t yanked poor Madison off of you then her arm wouldn’t be dislocated. What do you think about that?” She turns her attention to the devils, completely dismissing me. “You four are in a world of trouble right now, and I hope that you realize it. Her parents are thinking about pressing charges, but I imagine that I can get them to back down. We don’t want that kind of bad press, you know.”

  The devils sit in shocked silence. Even Asher, who has a temper, doesn’t know what to say right now and is just staring at Decker.

  When she sees that none of us are going to argue with her or talk back, she claps her hands together. “Now, I think that Kiera has a work study to go to. I know that three of you should have lacrosse practice, but you’re all off the team now as a part of your punishment. You’re dismissed, but if there are any problems with any of you in the future, you better believe that you won’t last much longer at Meyer’s Grove.”

  My jaw drops open and I prepare to argue with her, but she stops me with a look. “Run along to the library, Kiera. I’ll finish up with Asher, Caspian, Parker, and Luca.”

  I don’t want to leave, and I consider ignoring what she’s told me to do, but Caspian turns around in his seat to give me a smile. �
�Go, Kiera,” he says, his voice stronger than I thought it could be. “We’ll handle this, okay?”

  I can’t believe that I’m leaving them there with Decker, but I don’t really feel like I have any choice in the matter. All four of my devils can handle themselves, and that’s what I keep telling myself as I race across the campus to the library.

  “You’re late.” Ms. Taylor is leaning against her desk and watching for me, the key hanging from her finger. She gives it a spin as I walk in and stop in front of her.

  “I was with the headmistress,” I explain, but she just waves my words away.

  “I don’t care where you were or if you were with the fucking prince of England. What matters is that you get here on time when you’re supposed to be here or you have to stay late, do you understand?” She’s enjoying having this power over me and I can’t help but wonder if she doesn’t normally get this much control over someone.

  “I apologize.” The words taste bitter in my mouth, but they make her smile.

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  This time as I follow her down the hall, I’m not filled with dread, but excitement. I have no idea of knowing what I’m supposed to be doing with her, but I can’t wait to find out. There’s something going on in the cave, and I just hope that it’s something good, since apparently I’m going to be staying late today.

  I turn on the fans as soon as we enter the cave and the air immediately starts to smell better. As I watch, Ms. Taylor goes to one of the doors on the side of the room, unlocks it, and swings it open.

  Even though I have no idea what to expect, I still take a step backwards. The devils did a good job of filling my head with the possible horrors that she may keep down here.

  Torture devices?

  Old pathways to underground rooms?

  She leans in and turns on the lights. They immediately flick on, flooding the room off of the cave with bright iridescent light, and I have to squint to tell what I’m looking at.

  Even now, though, I’m not so sure.

  “I’m sorry,” I tell her, after a moment. “But what it is?”

  She laughs, the first time that I’ve actually heard her sound happy. “This? This is my secret project that Decker and I have been working on. She knows how much I want to bring it to fruition, so when you needed a place to work, she sent you to me. Isn’t it great?”

  I still don’t know what it is, and I’m exhausted. I’ve had my head shoved in a toilet, had the headmistress laugh me out of her office, and my devils are being punished for protecting me. I think that it’s easy to see why I’m not in the mood for her stupid little games, no matter how happy she seems to be when playing them.

  “I have no idea what the hell that is. It looks like a bunch of junk.” I figure that this will get her attention, but I didn’t think that it would make her look as angry as she does.

  “Junk?” Her voice is higher than normal and she stomps towards me, leaving the door behind her open. “This isn’t junk! This is the new way forward for Meyer’s Grove! No longer will we have to rely on rich kids and their stupid parents. You know that we make connections, right?”

  When I nod, she continues.

  “What you don’t know is that we also are working on building weaponry. As soon as we monetize, we won’t have to worry about building bridges and forming relationships for the wealthy families here. We can make all of the money we need, in-house, without having to cater to you little shits.”

  She grins at me and my jaw drops open.

  Like, literally open.

  That’s never happened before, but I’ve also never been hanging around a madwoman before.

  “So you’re building weapons below the library? And the headmistress knows about this and is okay with it?” I just want to make sure that I have all of my facts straight before I lose my shit or start laughing at her.

  “Brilliant, isn’t it? And of course she knows about it. It was her idea to start this little project of ours. Now, do you know how to weld?” She turns and grabs a helmet from a table and tosses it to me.

  Somehow, I manage to grab it, even though I’m still struggling to wrap my mind around what she’s telling me.

  Meyer’s Grove isn’t just a school for the uber-rich. It’s also a facility that’s trying to develop weapons. I slip the helmet on over my head, grateful that Ms. Taylor can’t see the look on my face. I’m shocked.

  But more than that, I’m wondering if this is how we take them all down.

  Chapter 17

  “She took my phone.”

  Asher and I are sitting on a bench outside the dorm, watching students walk by in the quad. He’d brought me some dinner since Ms. Taylor made me stay late, and the rest of the devils are off cleaning up under the bleachers by the lacrosse field as a part of their punishment.

  It’s nice to have some one-on-one time with him, but I wish it were under happier circumstances.

  He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “Ours, too. In fact, from what I gather in the cafeteria, everyone had their phones taken and the school has turned off the internet.”

  I gape at him, forgetting that I have a bite of veggie burger in my mouth. “Are you kidding right now? How the hell are we supposed to do research for projects? Why in the world would they want to disconnect us from the rest of the world like that?”

  He shrugs and reaches over to gently close my mouth. “I think that you already know, don’t you? I mean, what the hell is Ms. Taylor thinking? I can’t believe she told you everything, and now they have to make sure that nobody can get information to anyone outside of the campus.”

  “That’s insane. I mean, that’s some North Korea level of crazy shit, you know that? What in the world do we do about it?” My mind can’t slow down and I’m having trouble focusing on anything right now. It doesn’t make sense that Meyer’s Grove would risk their reputation to become a weapons manufacturer, but then again…

  Money talks, and this school is the best example of that that I’ve ever seen.

  “What’s wrong?” Noticing the dark look on Asher’s face, I reach out and take his hand, giving it a squeeze. “You look upset, so talk to me.”

  “I think we need to leave.” His voice is low and he sounds worried. “Don’t look around, but students are staring at you and kinda gathering nearby.”

  His words make me shiver and I scoot closer to him, trying to keep from making it look like I’m scared. “Should we leave? What do we do?”

  He nods and grabs my hand, pulling me to my feet next to him. “To my room, ready? Just walk like you know what you’re doing but also like you’re not afraid of anything.”

  That’s easier said than done, especially since I can feel the eyes of our classmates boring into me. “What do you think they’d do if they knew the truth about the cave?” I whisper, leaning close to him so that only he can hear me.

  This close, I can feel the heat radiating off of his body, and I can also smell his delicious cologne. My skin tightens and I feel my heart start to beat faster as I think about being able to spend some time with him.

  The circumstances suck, but I’d be a fool not to enjoy being with Asher.

  “I think they’d call you crazy and kill you. We got lucky this morning, Kiera, but there’s no guarantee that someone isn’t going to come for you again, especially if we believe what Abigail told you in her room.”

  We pick up the pace as we realize that some of the students are starting to follow us. They’re walking in a clump, and although they’re talking to each other, I can’t hear what they’re saying.

  All I know is that I want to get away from them as quickly as possible.

  “The back stairs, come on,” Asher says, yanking me around the dorm with him.

  I remember these stairs, but I’ve never actually gone up them. We tear up the flight of stairs, ducking out onto the boy’s floor and Asher leads me down the hall. We’re running now, just trying to make sure that we make it to his room before anyone ca
tches us here.

  As soon as the door slams shut behind us, I lean over, grabbing my thighs and breathing hard to catch my breath.

  It’s not that I’m out of shape, but I’m scared. When I woke up this morning, I didn’t think that I’d have someone shove my head in the toilet and try to drown me or that I’d find out about secret weapons being built under the school.

  “Kiera! Are you okay?” Asher wraps his arms around me and helps me stand back up. His hands are strong as he supports me, and he runs them down my arms, obviously feeling for any damage.

  “I’m okay.” My breathing has slowed down and I lean against him, enjoying how it feels to be supported by someone so strong, so loving. “I was just scared that someone was going to catch us and that we weren’t going to make it.”

  In response, Asher lifts my chin, his fingers light on my skin, and kisses me. His lips are light on mine at first, but I deepen the kiss immediately, reaching up and looping my arms around his neck so that I can pull him down to me.

  He responds by grabbing my waist and picking me up, allowing me to wrap my legs around his waist.

  He’s demanding now, his lips hard and furious against mine, kissing and crushing my mouth. I pant into his mouth, moaning as I grind against him.

  Everything about Asher is sexy.

  Still kissing me, he walks to the bed and tosses me gently on it. I hurry to sit up, but he’s already on top of me, leaning me back as he kisses me, one hand tangled in my hair, the other sliding up under my shirt.

  I can’t breathe.

  I swear, this is heaven. Here with Asher, his hands on my body, my body aching for him, I can’t seem to breathe, but I don’t care.

  I could die happy like this and never miss being alive.

  “Kiera, I want you,” Asher pants, leaning back on me. He’s straddled me, his strong thighs pinning me in place. Reaching out, I trail a hand down his chest, hook my thumb in his waistband, and give it a tug.