by J Bree
His chest rattles as he begins to wheeze. I nod again like we’ve come to an agreement.
“You’re going to drop out and go home to the Bay. You’re going to keep your head down and never, ever say my name again. You’re going to take a vow of celibacy. You’re going to go to bed every night and pray to fucking God that I don’t come looking for you. You’re going to watch the shadows and remember that I’m watching you. Because I am watching you, Lance. You’ve gotten my attention and, fuck me, you have no idea how bad that really is for you.”
The stupid smile on his face is gone. I’m sure his erection is too but I don’t break eye contact for a single second. I wait until the words have sunk in.
“The mistake you made was thinking the guys who beat you are the predators.”
I flick the lights off and the black light glows. Lance’s eyes widen and he scrambles to get away from me, falling straight onto his ass as he gapes up at me with horror. The whispers in the Bay precede me and tell a hundred stories in the silence between us.
It's only in black light that you can see the ink that covers me. The skeletal structure I've had tattooed to my skin, the jaw opening wide etched in my cheeks with vicious teeth. Every inch of my body is covered in the whorls and arches that imitate the pelt. The black light shows that underneath the human facade I wear the truth of who I am.
The Wolf.
Harley smirks at me when I step out of the photography classroom and straighten my blazer.
“If I asked you what you did would you tell me?” he drawls and I smile back at him.
“Who says I even did anything? We had a chat.”
Harley snort and pulls out his phone, turning the screen so I can watch the video he’s recorded of Lance bolting from the classroom like the devil himself is on his ass. I bite my lip to stop the smug smirk from forming.
“A chat did that?”
I nod and, without thinking, tuck my arm into his like I do with Avery. It’s as close to a hug as I ever get to giving out. He looks down at our linked arms and when I blush and try to move, he grabs my hand and tugs me along with him, our fingers laced together.
“Uhm—”
“Get over it, Mounty, we’re friends now, remember?”
I sigh and let him drag me back up to the girls’ dorm. I drop his hand before we walk through the halls because all I need is a photo of the two of us of the ridiculous fucking gossip website to finish off this week. Avery is waiting for us, and Blaise is cackling over the video that Harley sent them all. I smile at her and then laugh when Harley starts making up stupid stories about how I did it. By the time I get out of the shower Blaise calls out to me, “Did you really slice one of his balls off and crush it under your heel?”
I stare at them, all three guys now Ash has showed up, and just quirk an eyebrow.
“Did you know there are quite a few different ways to castrate someone? Lips has talked me through four different methods. If she took her knife to him he would have lost more than a single testicle,” Avery snipes and they all turn a little green. She looks over at me with a smile and says, “Lance dropped out. Packed everything and called his parents to come get him today. Mr. Trevelen questioned him and he said he doesn’t belong here. The administration tried to talk him into finishing out the year and he said he needs to leave immediately.”
I make a gesture like I’m ticking a box and say, “Off the planner you go, Mounty fuck.”
I sit next to Avery and pull out my notes for history, ready to ignore the TV and the conversations around me. She murmurs into my ear quietly, “Is he definitely out for good?”
I nod. “He understands he is being watched by the Wolf and that is not a position he is happy to find himself in. I think he actually pissed himself.”
Harley notices us whispering and looks like he wants to push me for more but then Avery flings a leg over his lap and tells him to rub her feet. He scoffs at her and then, to my absolute shock, he pulls her shoe off and gets to work. I love Avery, I really do.
But right this very second, I would bathe in her blood to take her place.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lance’s departure from Hannaford makes the gossip website and Avery reads every comment out to me while I cook us both pancakes for breakfast. Some of the theories are disgustingly close to the truth and I know Avery is quietly stewing in her own curiosity at how I’ve actually managed to scare him. I haven’t told her about my tattoos yet; I’m saving that truth to mess with her later. For shits and giggles.
Spring break arrives and Harley decides to go home with Blaise as moral support. I think he’s hoping Blaise’s dad will run his mouth in front of him so he can deal with him. Blaise gives me his iPod before he leaves with a wink and when I listen to it I realize it’s all his new unreleased songs.
I have to take a minute to lie down.
Of course, Ash decides to walk in midway through my fangirling and he snorts at me. I glare back and snap, “What time are you leaving?”
“Avery didn’t tell you? Our father has been called away on business and he told us to stay here. You’re stuck with all three Beaumonts this week, Mounty.”
He watches me carefully for a reaction and I shrug. Putting the earphone back into my ear, I try not to shiver lustfully at the heavenly sounds of Blaise’s crooning.
Ash tugs it back out and says, “I haven’t seen my father since you had your mysterious little midnight meeting in Haven. How long should I be expecting this separation to continue?”
I sit up and find Avery staring at me from the bathroom door, a toothbrush hanging from her mouth. “If I had anything to do with your father’s busy schedule, I would think that after graduation you and Avery would both be free of him anyway and the...interference would no longer be necessary.”
Avery nods, wide-eyed, and ducks back into the bathroom. Ash stares at me until he finally scoffs and walks away.
I spend the rest of the week studying and avoiding Ash. Avery does her best to keep him busy and away from me but he sleeps on the roll out bed every night, just in case his brother comes out to find us.
The day before the students return from spring break I bite the bullet and text the Jackal. I’ve put it off for too long and I’m only endangering Avery and Ash with my fear.
I’m calling in a favor.
I roll the diamond between my fingers absently while I wait for the reply. Avery watching the little stone move with something predatory in her eyes. She looks at the diamond the way I imagine I look at Harley, Blaise, and Ash. I hope to God they never notice. I think she’s honestly turned on by it. I start to feel weird about playing with it so I sigh and hold it out for her. She lunges for it like a crack addict.
My phone rings.
“What happened to calling me for help, Wolf?”
I flinch at his tone. I don’t need the memories that flood me when I hear the dark rage I have pushed the Jackal into. Avery notices and hesitates before tucking her arm in mine.
“I don’t want to be a burden to you anymore. I need to stand on my own two feet.”
Dead silence. He must be sitting in his bedroom or maybe in the vault, counting his money. I wait him out. I won’t break protocol but he might.
“Should we meet somewhere to discuss your requirements?” He spits out from his clenched teeth. Fuck. If I meet him I think I’ll be kidnapped and my body never found again.
“Over the phone is more than adequate. You have a customer and I would like him cut off. Permanently and from everything you offer.”
He grunts and then says, calmer, “Your little friend just dropped by to see me. I’ll do as you ask but he has enough to last him a few weeks already.”
I take a deep breath. “I have another favor to discuss with you. I’ll see you at the meeting in the summer.”
He pauses and then says, smooth and warm as he tries to trap me once again, “That’s your last favor little Wolf. I hope it’s worth the cost.”
I hang up
because my voice wouldn’t be level if I tried to answer him. Avery leans her head on my shoulder as she rolls the diamond obsessively like one of her routines.
“What’s your next favor?”
I pluck the diamond out of her hands and roll it back into the little velvet bag, ready to send back to Mounts Bay with whatever thug the Jackal sends to collect it. “I’ve got a plan. A huge, expensive, utterly terrifying plan but I think it’s going to save Harley’s life so it’s going to be worth it.”
Avery tucks her hand into mine and says, “Those idiot boys have no idea how fiercely the Wolf of Mounts Bay guards them.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
You know that old saying ‘when it rains, it pours’? Well, some bastard was out there with a fire hose aimed right the fuck at me.
The shrill sound of Avery’s phone wakes me. She mumbles out a string of curses as she answers it and a quick check of my own phone tells me it’s two. We’ve barely managed to get an hour of sleep. Fuck. I flick the light on and glance over at Avery. She has her Joey face on. Fucking great. I get up and start throwing clothes on.
“We’ll be there shortly. Keep a set of eyes on him until then.” She hangs up, immediately starts a new call, and slides out of bed with the phone pressed to her ear.
When she speaks again she looks at me. “Joey’s at the bar in Haven. Ria said he’s cooked, we’ve got to go now.”
I nod as I slip my knife into my pocket and fumble around for my Docs. “Ash coming?”
Avery slips an elegant, tailored coat over her lacy nightgown and instantly looks like she’s dressed to meet some high profile governor. I roll my eyes at her as she smirks at me. “Blaise and Harley are back, too. Blaise will drive us there.”
I throw my hair into a messy high pony and then we’re out the door.
The guys arrive at the stairs as we do and, surprisingly, Ash gives me a respecting nod. I’m thrown a little. Then he tucks Avery under his arm and we head out to the staff car park where Blaise’s Maserati is sitting. “Fucking rich kids.” I mumble and Avery cackles at me.
I end up in the backseat between Ash and Harley, trying my best not to touch either of them. Blaise makes the trip in half the time the school’s town cars do, thank God, and we pull up outside the quaint town’s only bar.
“Park around the back, Ria will let us in the service entrance. She’s lost sight of him, we need to get in and out fast,” Avery says with her phone at her ear. I think I’m going to suggest getting a Bluetooth earpiece to her at some point. Her brothers ensure she’s glued to the damn thing.
Once Blaise parks we pile out and wait by the door. A heavily tattooed woman in her forties opens it and scowls at us all. “It really gonna take five o’ you to git him outta here?”
I raise my eyebrows and expect some fire to spill out of the twins but then Blaise swaggers forward and I nearly choke on my tongue at the smooth, honey tones of his voice. “When have we ever turned down the chance to spend the evening with you, Ria?”
I cast a sidelong look at Harley to find him rolling his eyes so hard for a second I think he’s having a stroke.
The woman sputters and then moves to let us all through. We have to walk through a teeming stock room with boxes of booze precariously stacked floor to ceiling then through a bustling kitchen, a single chef pumping out wings and barking orders at the glassy-eyed waitresses. When we get through to the bar area my eyes have to adjust to the darkness of the room, lit only by fairy lights strung up here and there. During the day it would probably look as charming as the rest of the town but now, in the early morning hours, it was a workplace hazard if I’ve ever seen one.
There are people everywhere and most of them are already wasted. We have to move in single file. Harley takes the lead, Ash pushes Avery in front of him so she’s caged in by them both. I find Blaise doing the same to me and I give him a quick look over my shoulder as we start moving through the hazy room. I feel Blaise’s breath on my neck as he speaks right into my ear. “Two Hannaford girls were assaulted here last year.”
Great. Doesn’t matter where the hell you are, there’s always some dickhead predator looking to destroy someone’s life.
We search the ground floor and then head upstairs. The music is louder up here and there are less people but they’re dancing and making it even harder to stick together. Blaise wraps an arm around my waist and hauls me in tight to his body. Thank fuck it’s dark and he can’t see the exact shade my cheeks have turned. He’s a wall of solid muscle. I try not to melt into him.
We lose Harley for five minutes and I start to panic that Joey’s stabbed him or something. Ash gestures us over to the restrooms and Blaise finally lets me go. Avery grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze, I squeeze back to reassure her. Ash is glaring out at the room of writhing bodies when the door to the disability restroom opens and Harley’s head pops out.
“Mounty, I need you to look at this,” he snaps out and I rush forward, ducking behind him and he starts to argue with Avery as he blocks the others from following me.
Joey is unconscious on the dirty floor, surrounded by his own vomit. He’s foaming at the mouth and he’s going to choke to death on his back like that.
I’m so fucking tempted to leave him.
“Don’t judge me for asking this but I am supposed to try and save him or are we waiting this out then calling it in for a clean up?”
Harley grunts as Ash punches him in the gut and shoves his way into the room. He’s wild-eyed and pale as he looks down at Joey then back to me.
“I die if he does,” he croaks and my body starts moving before my mind does.
I know for sure that he doesn’t mean it like he’d be so torn up or furious if his brother died. He loathes him. This is the real reason Avery guards Joey’s life with such intensity. Someone is threatening Ash. Christ.
I roll Joey to his side and wince as I clear out his mouth. His hacking breath starts to even out and I prop his head up to help his breathing stay steady.
“I can call a doctor. What does he need to reverse this?” Avery asks and I hear the door close and lock behind them. Harley kneels down next to me, right in a puddle of puke, and helps to support Joey’s twitching body. Ash starts rummaging through Joey’s pockets and finds the little clear baggies, so damn familiar to me with their grinning Jackal stamps on them, with a little of the white powder residue still visible.
“There is no drug to reverse a cocaine overdose. They just treat the symptoms.”
“Fuck. Okay.” Avery is starting to panic and I look up to meet her eyes.
“He needs an ambulance and 24 hour care until he gets through. Look, it’s not too bad.” I lie. I feel his pulse and it’s not great but Avery’s eyes are like saucers and I can’t bear to stress her out anymore. The bubbling around his mouth and the jerking also make me wonder if he was having a seizure before we arrived. Harley meets my eyes and he reads me better than Avery can in her state.
“Is there anything we can do while we wait?” His voice is low and calm.
“Recovery position and we need to make sure he doesn’t choke on his own tongue. That’s it about all we can do in this restroom. We should call an ambulance.”
Avery and Ash stare at each other and I start to believe they have some mystical twin connection that lets their minds talk. I can feel their conversation hanging in the air around us. If Ash’s life is in danger then we can’t sweep this under the rug, we need a professional.
“I’m not waiting for an ambulance, we need to move him now.”
I cut a look at Harley and gesture for him to follow me out of the room. Ash and Blaise kneel to take our places besides Joey to keep him where he needs to be. Harley doesn’t speak as we descend the stairs, his protective arm around me, and it’s not until I point to the black van on the curb out front that he raises an eyebrow at me.
“Boost it. We’ll drive him in and dump it at the hospital.” I text Avery to get them moving down to us.
&nbs
p; “And why do you think I know how to do that?”
I grin at him and wag my finger in his face. “I was at your court hearing last year, remember? You’re quite proficient in the ol’ grand theft auto. Come on, impress me, Arbour.”
My challenge lights a flame in his eyes. His grin is savage and beautiful and he has the van unlocked, motor running and ready to move in less than a minute. It’s like watching a pro and I must be seriously damaged because it excites me more than sweet words would. Avery slides into the front seat with him and I help the other two load Joey into the back. Ash drops him with such disgust that I think he’ll have a concussion but that will be the least of his concerns if he ever wakes up. We arrange his body so he won’t suffocate on his own tongue and then sit around him.
“So, we’re criminals now? We just take things whenever we want them? I’m not sure I have enough black in my wardrobe for this, someone should have pre-warned me,” drawls Blaise as he wipes his hands on his jeans.
“We were always a little criminal, Morrison,” says Ash and I try to ignore their banter. I don’t need their input right now.
“Lips, if we can’t take him to the hospital is there somewhere else we can take him?” Avery asks, her voice finally losing the authoritative tone and she sounds like the scared sixteen-year-old girl she really is.
“How the fuck would she know?” Ash snaps and we both ignore him.
I glance down at Joey. His condition hasn’t gotten any worse. I think he’ll make it to Mounts Bay.
“Yeah. Head to the Bay. I’ll give you directions once we hit the city.”
Harley nods and then we all fall silent.
I’m jostled around by the movement of the van since we’re just sitting in the back without proper chairs or seat belts. The guys are both fine, they’re big enough that they’re stable, but I’m a scrawny Mounty girl and every corner, every pothole, has me lurching and slamming into the sharp metal interior. Finally, after ten minutes of collecting new bruises, Ash rolls his eyes and grunts at Blaise, digging his elbow into him. Then, I’m dragged over by them both to be wedged between their giant frames, their hands landing all over me and gripping firmly. I panic a little but then at the next corner I’m held steady by the hands on my hips and legs.