If You Dare (Dare Series Book 3)

by Shantel Tessier

  It’s the same thing she had asked me regarding Demi. I know what he’s getting at.

  “Yes.” She sobs. “Please just let us go. I won’t talk … He won’t talk …”

  “We’re not afraid of you talking, baby.” He smiles down at her, and her body wracks with a sob. “This is what happens to those who fuck with the sharks.” She whimpers. “You can’t beat us, Becky. No one can.”

  “Deke—” She cries my name, about to beg me.

  I interrupt her, no longer caring. “I’ve heard that burning to death is a painful way to die.” I strike the match on the side of the box. “I hope it’s true.” Then I toss it on him.

  He screams out as the flames lick his body. Falling to his side, he rolls, and Cole grabs Austin to pull her farther away from the flames.

  Becky leans forward, screaming out into the cold night as she watches the only guy she ever truly loved burn to death. And I feel nothing for her. For him.

  There are times I wonder how we got here.

  Evil.

  Ruthless.

  But then I remember that we started playing the game a long time ago and that turned into real life. And life is a fucking mess. It’s bloody. If you want to survive, you fight. And just because I’m not afraid to die doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up living. I’ve finally found a girl who I know will accept me for me. Love me for me. And I’m not ready to give her up yet.

  DEKE

  The guys and I stand around Austin as she kneels on the snow-covered ground, pounding away on the guys’ smoldering bodies with a hammer. She has a lot of pent-up aggression after everything they have done. The cold air smells like burnt flesh, and Cole stands next to me, watching her with pride and lust. I’m pretty sure if me and the rest of guys weren’t here with Becky, he would fuck her right here and now.

  She wipes the sweat off her still blood-covered forehead and stands. “Done,” she states.

  “Now what?” Shane asks.

  “Scoop up the remaining ashes and throw them over the cliff.” She lifts her chin over to the right where the ocean hits the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. “Get rid of everything. The grass will show where the fire was, but by the time winter is over, it shouldn’t be that noticeable.” Then she looks at me. “Where are their phones?”

  “I have them,” Cole answers, removing them from his pockets.

  She takes them from him before throwing them to the ground. Then she walks over to Shane who still has Becky on her knees. “Where is your phone?” Austin demands.

  Becky sobs, and Shane pushes her forward by the back of her neck, leaning down and ripping it from her back pocket. He hands it to Austin.

  “What are you doing?” Shane asks her.

  “Gotta get rid of everything.” She looks up at Cole and snaps her fingers, ordering, “Knife.” Once it’s in her hands, she continues. “Who knows how much they shared through texts? Messenger?” Then starts pushing buttons on the phone. “I’m going to uninstall the messenger and Facebook app.” We all stand silently as she does all three.

  Then she begins to beat the shit out of them with her hammer.

  Once she’s done, she picks up a fishing net that she also found in the garage of her father’s house and begins to cut it in three sperate pieces. “Hand me a few pieces from that broken headstone,” she orders Bennett.

  He does so without hesitation, then looks at Cole, and he just shrugs. He’s just as much in the dark as the rest of us.

  She lays the three pieces of fishing net down on the ground and then places a phone and a part of the headstone in each one. Then she ties them all off. Standing up, she walks over to the cliff and throws them over. Turning back to us, she places her hands on her hips. “If the police go looking for the guys, they will be able to pin their last location using their phones. But without the evidence, they don’t have shit. And even if for some insane reason they manage to find one of their phones, they won’t be able to get anything off it after it’s been sitting at the bottom of the ocean. After I took a hammer to them.”

  We all just stand there staring at her in shock that she thought of that. She’s one hell of a shark, and I’m glad she’s on our side. I’m not sure how many of us could have beat her had she not fallen in love with Cole and joined us.

  Shane chuckles to himself. “I knew you’d do well at a challenge.”

  “I love you,” Cole says, pulling her into him and giving her a long kiss.

  I turn away from them and pull my cell out of my pocket to call my sister. “Hello?” she answers.

  “How is she?” I ask immediately.

  “She’s doing well. She’s awake …”

  “I wanna talk to her.”

  “One second.”

  “Hey?”

  I let out a long breath at the sound of her soft voice. “Hey, princess. How do you feel?”

  “I’m okay. Just tired.”

  I run a hand down my face, feeling my shoulders loosen. “Listen … I want to come see you, but …”

  “It’s okay, Deke. Is Austin okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  I look up at my friends and watch them toss the ashes of the sorry bastards who hurt my girls over the cliff, and my chest tightens for what they’ve been through. And how it could have ended if not for Cole and that damn tracker. How long would they have been missing before we realized it? Would we have thought to check the Lowes house? I hate that the answers are no. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I promise her.

  After we found Austin shot, Cole didn’t get to go to the hospital right away either. He had stuff he had to take care of first, and that’s exactly what I have to do now.

  “I’ll be here. Shelby said she’s gonna stay with me. And she’s called my dad. He’s here as well. Just stepped out for some coffee.”

  “What does he know?” I ask, wanting to know what we’re up against. I didn’t kill Becky because it would be too hard to explain why she hasn’t been seen or phoned home. But the sharks will see to it that she pays. Plus, I once told Demi that people don’t have to die to stop living.

  “That I passed out and hit my head on the way down.”

  I frown. “And he believed that?”

  “He looked skeptical until Shelby showed him my chart.”

  I let out a sigh. “Let me talk to her again. I’ll see you soon.”

  We say our goodbyes, and then my sister is back on the line. “Thank you,” I tell her.

  “No need to thank me. Just do what you gotta do, and we’ll see you once you’re done.”

  “Ready?” I ask, pocketing my phone.

  “Yes,” Austin answers, slapping her hands together to knock off what was left of the ashes. “What about their wallets?” she asks. “We don’t wanna put those with their phones. It all needs to be separated.”

  Agreeing with her, I pat my back pocket that doesn’t hold my shirt. I’ve got both of them. “We plant the wallets in the glovebox of the Maserati, then drive it about an hour out of town and put it in a river with the windows rolled down. If it’s ever found, the cops will think they drowned and washed downstream,” I answer.

  It’s the best option we have, given our timeframe. This isn’t our first rodeo committing murder, but every time is a different situation.

  “I’m taking you to the hospital,” Cole tells her.

  She looks up at him. “I’m fine, Cole.”

  He fists his hands down by his side at her refusal. “You have a pretty good size knot on your head. You may have a concussion—”

  “Let’s get this over with,” she interrupts him. “It’ll be daylight soon, and I need to go get Lilly once we’re done.” She places her hands in the front pockets of her now filthy skinny jeans and starts walking down the hill, not giving him a second to argue.

  “What are we doing with her?” Bennett asks, looking down at Becky. “We can’t leave loose ends lying around.”

  Becky begins to rock back and forth; her hands still tied behind her
back.

  I walk over to her and kneel. Gripping her face, I force her to look up at me. “I’m not gonna kill you, Becky.” She whimpers. “Death would be too easy for you. No, instead, I’m gonna spare your miserable, pathetic life.” My fingers tighten, gripping her cheeks. “Instead, you will watch your sister get the love that you always wanted.” Her bloodshot eyes widen. “You’ve already seen me fall in love with her. And you’ll live to watch me marry her and her have my children. You’ll watch her be everything you wanted to be.”

  I release her, stand, and look at Shane. “She belongs to us, but at this point, you’re the only one who will touch her.”

  Cole has Austin, I have Demi, and Bennett has my sister. Shane is the only one who can get any use out of her. So she’s all his.

  He gives me a smile, and I turn and walk down the hill back toward the house and Austin. She was right. It’s time to get this shit wrapped up.

  EPILOGUE

  DEMI

  DEKE AND THE rest of the sharks killed David and Maxwell. I wish I could say he killed my sister too, but he told me that death was too easy for her, and I understood what he meant. The more I thought about it, the more I understood his decision. She’ll have to forever watch us together. She’ll watch us live happily in love. Get married. Have children. I love Deke Biggs, and I don’t plan on going anywhere without him.

  Plus, she was theirs now. No matter what she did or where she’d go, she would never escape them. And I understood exactly how scary that would be for her.

  I was released from the hospital the following day. We all got together and had lunch with my dad, sans Becky. She made up some excuse about feeling bad. The sharks didn’t force her to join us because none of us wanted her around anyway.

  We all went back to Texas and fell into a routine. I went to school, and Deke and Cole went to their classes. The guys were busier than ever with swimming, but I saw Deke every day, even if it was just for an hour. I loved him even more for it. And no one knew anything about what happened in the Lowes estate. I feel like it brought us all even closer. A secret that we will all take to our grave.

  “Are you ready?” I ask Austin.

  She nods. A huge smile on her face. “Yes.”

  It’s New Year’s Eve. Eleven fifty-five to be exact. The middle of the night. Cole and Austin are getting married. In five minutes, the date will change to midnight. It’ll be their one-year anniversary. A new year and she’ll no longer be Austin Lowes. She’ll be Austin Reynolds.

  “You look absolutely stunning,” I tell her, running my hands down the black silk dress. It’s got a corset back laced up with a red ribbon. She looks like she belongs on the front cover of a magazine. Cole and Austin aren’t your average couple. And that’s what I love about them so much. They say that opposites attract, but they are a lot alike.

  They chose to get married on the hill behind where the Lowes estate once stood. The one that leads up to the abandoned cemetery. Where they first met one year ago tonight.

  Austin doesn’t know it, but Cole paid a company to come in and clean the property for their special night. Whoever said he isn’t romantic doesn’t know how much he loves her.

  I cried. She cried. I even saw Cole blink rapidly at one point. The guy has a shell that can’t be broken until it involves his sweetheart. The overcast night was dark, and you couldn’t even see the moon, so we decided to light the way with tiki torches. And when they kissed, it started to rain. That quickly turned to snow. It looked like something out of a hauntingly beautiful fairy tale. Her in her black dress and him in his matching tux. And Lilly wore a red dress that made her look every bit of the princess she is. Afterward, we all went back to the clubhouse, and they danced to a song that they chose. It was so them. I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone else who would dance to “I Will Follow You into the Dark,” by Yungblud and Halsey for their wedding song. It was perfect.

  My mother asked me to wait until I was twenty-one to marry Deke, but I said fuck that. He proposed the night of my eighteenth birthday, February twenty-third. I married him a week after high school graduation. That was as long as I was willing to put it off. We eloped to a little bed and breakfast. No blood relatives were present, but all the sharks were there. They’re my family now.

  We spent two days in bed together. I called and told my father first. He asked us to come home and stay with him for the summer. I told him we would come for a few weeks. I didn’t inform my mother of our nuptials until six months later. She said she hoped it didn’t end like hers to my father. That was as much as I was going to get out of her.

  Her marriage ended to my father because she couldn’t stay faithful. She was like my sister. I’m nothing like them. I understand what I have, and I won’t ever give that up. Deke Biggs is my forever, and I’m his.

  THE END . . FOR NOW

  Continue reading for a sneak peek of Slaughter. A dark romance.

  SLAUGHTER

  BY: SHANTEL TESSIER

  This book contains adult situations. Although this book is fiction, it touches on sensitive subjects. If you feel like you or someone you know needs help, please contact the following number.

  24/7/365 Crisis Hotline

  Call: 1(800)273-8255

  Text: “Answer” to 839863

  PROLOGUE

  PRESLEIGH

  Fifteen years old

  “FIVE …”

  I run down the stairs, looking over my shoulder to see if he’s following me. With every step I take, my loud feet give my location away in the large and silent house.

  When I hit the landing, I grip the brown wooden banister and use it to spin myself around. I drop to my knees, my jeans allowing me to slide on the tile and yank open the little door that isn’t visible to the naked eye. You have to know it’s there.

  “Four …”

  I quickly crawl inside the small space and pull the door closed. Placing my back against the interior wall, I pull my knees to my chest. It’s dark in the small, confined space. I clamp my hand over my mouth to quiet my heavy breathing as my heart races.

  He’ll find me. The question is how long before he does?

  “Three …”

  His voice booms through the thick walls, and I have a moment of panic. I should have run outside. At least then I could have kept running. Now I’m trapped.

  “Two …”

  My knees start to shake, and my heart pounds. My head snaps up when I hear his footsteps on the stairs I’m hiding underneath. His aren’t rushed like mine were, though. He’s taking his time, drawing it out.

  He chuckles. “You’re terrible at hiding, Bunny. You know I always find you.”

  He’s right. You would think after years of practice, I’d be a little better. Smarter. But then again, maybe I want to be found.

  I hear his shoes hit the tile and then silence. I look straight ahead at where I know the trap door is. I can’t see it, but I can almost hear him breathing on the other side.

  “One …” The door is yanked open, and a set of blue eyes stare into mine as he kneels in front of my hideout. “I found you, Bunny.”

  I drop my hands and stretch out my legs. “That’s not fair,” I whine.

  “What’s not fair? You always hide in the same spot.” He gives me his winning smile. The one I’m in love with.

  When he reaches his hand in, I take it, and Avery pulls me out. “Plus, you’re getting a little too big to fit in there.”

  I gasp at that statement and shove him. He grabs my wrists and pulls me against his chest. His right hand caresses my cheek, and it makes me blush. “I found you, Bunny. You know what that means?”

  I smile shyly and drop my head. My heart pounds just as hard as it did when I was hiding from him. Only for a different reason now.

  His fingers grip my chin gently, and he raises my head, forcing me to look up at him. “You’re not playing fair,” I say, nervousness starting to bubble up in my stomach.

  “I never do.”

  Hi
s lips come down on mine and give me a sweet kiss. I open my lips for him to deepen it when he pulls away from me quickly, leaving me disappointed.

  “Get out of here, Vaughn!” he barks.

  I look over to see his older brother standing at the other end of the hall. He’s holding a video camera, recording us.

  “Go ahead, Avery,” he taunts. “Show me what you were going to do to her.” He pulls the camera away from his face and winks at me.

  Avery stiffens. “Go upstairs, Bunny. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “But—”

  “Go!” he orders, interrupting me.

  Vaughn lifts his chin and puckers his lips to blow me a kiss. “Yeah, go wait upstairs for me, Bunny. Make sure to undress before you crawl into my bed.”

  Avery runs straight for him. He clocks him in the face, making Vaughn fall back onto his ass. The video camera hits the tile with a clank.

  “I’ve warned you, asshole!” Avery growls.

  “Come on, bro. I’ll share any of my women with you,” Vaughn continues.

  “Keep your hands off her!”

  “ENOUGH!”

  I take a step back, hitting the wall I was just hiding in, when their father enters the hallway and yanks Avery off Vaughn. “You two knock it off,” he orders.

  My father chooses that time to join us, and I pull my shoulders back when he glares at me with his dark brown eyes. There’s only one reason he’s here. And it’s not good. “What did you do?” he demands.

  I open my mouth to answer, but Vaughn beats me to it. “We were just playing around.”

  I say nothing, and Avery glares at him.

  “Well, knock it off,” their father orders. Then he turns to Avery. “Meet me in the cellar in ten.”

  I swallow nervously, and my stomach knots up at his words. The cellar? We all know what he does down there. That’s why my father is here. They are in business together. They sell anything and everything. Drugs, guns, people. Well, more like girls. I was born into a world where anything can be for sale for the right price. No matter what. They will strip you of the life you know and bind you to an eternity of servitude.