by Bella King
“I wasn’t following you.” The moment the words left my lips, I knew that they weren’t believable. I was failing miserably at getting out of this in one piece.
Laney shook her head with her eyelids half-closed. “You’re so full of shit, April. I’m not buying it. Why are you following me? Are you with Andrew?” She asked, leaning in a bit as she said his name.
“I don’t know who that is,” I said, testing how much she would believe.
She chuckled. “April, you’re a terrible liar. So, Andrew was the one who sent you after me. I find it amusing that he found another woman to replace Natasha so quickly.”
I shrugged as much as I could under the strain of the ropes. “I don’t know anything about that. I was honestly trying to get to class,” I claimed, sticking to my story.
Wrong move. A spark of fury lit up in Laney’s green eyes. “Don’t fucking lie to me,” she shrieked, swiping the cold blade against my neck.
I felt a sting, then the slow trickle of blood from my neck. My heart pumped frighteningly fast in response, not knowing how large of a gash she had left in my neck. I could bleed out in a closet at a boarding school, and that would be the end of it.
Laney leaned down to examine her work on my neck and grinned. “I should make that a little bigger, don’t you think?”
I shook my head. “Please, I’m not involved with any of this,” I said, continuing my ruse.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re begging to have your little throat slit, aren’t you?” She placed the blade against the cut on my neck, letting the blood run over the silver blade before holding it up for me to see. “That’s your life, right there, and it’s slowly oozing out of you. Would you like me to speed this up, or are you going to talk now?”
I was frozen in fear, but I still didn’t want to talk. If only I could get a leg free from these ropes, I could break this bitch’s kneecaps before she had a chance to do more damage. The only problem was that she had tied the ropes so tight that my legs barely had feeling in them.
“Have you ever seen how they butcher cows?” Laney asked, coking her head to the side and pouting her thin lips.
I didn’t answer.
“I’ll tell you how. They hang them upside down, and they slit their throats with a long blade, not unlike the one I have here. The cows bleed out in seconds,” she said her eyes dancing with twisted amusement.
“I’m not a cow,” I said dryly.
“No, you’re not. That’s right,” she said, a smile spreading across her face. “You don’t deserve a quick death. You deserve a much slower one.”
My heart skipped a beat at her words. She probably intended to torture the information out of me. There was no telling what she was capable of. This school was full of fucked up people. I had yet to meet anyone who didn’t give of psychopathic vibes, aside from Eden. Even she had a dark side to her.
“Would you like to see how I diced up the last girl who fucked with me?” She asked, an insane smile stretching her lips even thinner than they usually were.
I shook my head. “I have no problem with you, Laney,” I said.
She frowned, and I knew I had misspoken. “How do you know my name?” She asked, bringing the blade back up to my face. “Tell me!”
I stiffened up as the blade came closer to one of my eyes. This wasn’t the time to play games. Laney meant business and cutting my eyes out didn’t seem like the worst that she could do. I was genuinely afraid now, having mostly regaining my brainpower.
I cleared my throat, which had suddenly become quite dry. “Andrew sent me,” I said, my words no more than a whisper. I knew that ratting out Andrew would have future consequences, but I wasn’t about to die for that man. In truth, he had done nothing for me, and I owed him nothing.
“Aha, now we’re getting somewhere,” Laney said, bringing the knife down an inch. “What does he want you to do?”
I shrugged. “He wanted me to watch you.”
She chuckled. “You’re a foolish girl, following his command. You’d be much better on Natasha’s side, but she doesn’t like rats in her ranks. ”
I felt a pang of guilt for admitting that Andrew was the one who had put me up to this, but at the same time, I could use it to my advantage. I doubted that she would just let me go unless I gave her a very good reason. It was more likely that she would leave her mark with that evil blade, giving me a permanent reminder not to cross her again.
“If you keep me here, Andrew is going to find out about it,” I said, watching her face for a reaction. I was looking for a flicker of fear, but I didn’t get one at first.
Laney grinned, but her smile wasn’t a happy one. I could see the first glimmer of distress in her jade-colored eyes. “So what?” She said in a shrill voice.
“He knows about you, and he’s in love with me,” I said, bluffing on the second part. “Why do you think he brought me into the gang in the first place?”
Now Laney looked nervous. If what I said was true, then that meant she was toying with her own life by keeping me here. She was obviously afraid of Andrew, as was Natasha. She may have stepped over a line before, but she knew better than to fuck with him directly.
“Don’t lie to me,” she said, shaking the knife at me.
“I’m not,” I said calmly, regaining some of my composure at the signs of her weakness. “He’s going to be rightfully pissed at you when he finds out about this.”
“Don’t you dare tell him,” she said, waving the knife around wildly in front of me.
“Listen, I don’t want to get you in trouble. To be honest, I think this whole gang war thing is a joke, but Andrew is going to hear about this if you don’t leave me alone,” I said, pulling out whatever I could from my imagination to create a compelling story.
Her face relaxed a bit. “You’re just as screwed as I am, huh?”
I was confused by her words, but I nodded anyway. “I don’t like any of this, but Andrew and I are in love, so I do what he says.”
Laney lowered the knife. “I got pulled into Natasha’s mess because she said she would kill my boyfriend if I didn’t cooperate with her,” she admitted.
I felt a little glint of empathy toward her. If she wasn’t fabricating this, then she was in just as much of a bad situation as I was, if not worse.
“So, that’s why I have to do this,” she said, lifting the blade back up to my throat. “I’m sorry, April, but I don’t want to lose my soulmate.”
Fuck, no! Was this really the way things ended? I had done everything I could to avoid this moment, and now she was going to kill me anyway. It wasn’t fair, but life had never been fair to me.
I closed my eyes as her hand trembled against my throat. I could feel the blade slowly pressing deeper into the wound she had already made, splitting fresh skin into two parts. I was done.
Chapter 10
A fist pounded against the door behind me, causing both Laney and me to jump. It was heavy and urgent, and probably was the only reason I survived this encounter with Laney.
The handle to the door jingled behind me. They, in a sudden burst, the door behind me flew open, shining raw daylight into the room. I let out a sigh of relief as a fist flew past my head and landed squarely into Laney’s soft jaw.
I could smell a pleasant cologne as the figure behind me swept around me, throwing another fist at Laney. She crumbled onto the floor, knocked cold by those two hits.
I looked up at my savior. Daniel was here.
“You’re lucky I saw you, Rose,” he said, shaking his head and looking me over. “You’re in a tight mess now, aren’t you?”
I nodded. “Get me out of here before I kill this cunt,” I said, glaring at Laney’s limp body.
“I might have already done that for you,” Daniel said, kicking a foot into Laney to check if she was still alive. Her body moved, curling up to defend her from further blows. “Eh, she’s fine. Let’s get you out of this,” he said.
I gasped in fresh air as the roped that
bound me to the chair were cut loose, freeing my body from the prison that I thought I would die in. I gazed down at Daniel’s handsome face as he cut the ropes that held my feet to each leg of the chair. He was my hero today.
“Wow, so I guess she did a real number on you,” he said, standing up touching the blood on my neck.
His fingers stung against my open wound. I winced, retracting my head. “Is it bad?”
He shook his head. “Not the worst I’ve seen. You’ll be fine.”
I stood up but sat back down just as quickly. My legs felt like overcooked pasta and I was a bit dizzy.
“I guess you need some help,” Daniel said, bending over and offering me his shoulder to wrap my arm around.
I took a breath and tried to stand up again, this time using Daniel as my crutch. He was sturdy and helpful, lifting me up with him as he stood straight. Even though I felt wobbly, I knew that he would keep me from falling over.
“Thank you,” I said, looking again to Laney, who was still curled up on the floor in a fetal position.
“No problem. It’s kind of my job to protect you,” he said with a wink.
What was that about Andrew liking to share his women? I wondered if Daniel was included in that. If not, he certainly should have been. I was super attracted to him after he saved me. It was a bit silly, but my emotions were never something I had much control over. I liked who I liked.
“Andrew is going to kill me,” I said as Daniel dragged me out of the closet into an empty hallway.
“Why is that?” he asked, smiling with his brow furrowed.
“Because I told Laney that he had sent me.”
Daniel chuckled. “He’s pretty tough about snitching, but Laney was in there about to kill you, so I think he’ll understand. He’ll probably just give you a larger task for initiation though, so that you can make up for it.”
“Oh, great,” I replied sarcastically. “So, somebody else can kill me instead of him.”
Daniel laughed. “You’re cute when you’re angry, Rose.”
I gripped his shoulder tighter as I felt myself starting to fade back out of consciousness. I knew I was in good hands, but I still struggled to hold myself up now that the adrenaline was wearing off. I didn’t want to slip away into the darkness again. Unfortunately, I had no choice. The dark closed on me once again, lending my life up to fate.
◆◆◆
“She’s fine, man. Stop freaking out,” a deep voice said from above me.
“I don’t know. She’s been out for over an hour.”
“She’s been patched up. She’ll be fine,” he first voice assured.
My eyes fluttered open, and I was greeted by the sight of four attractive men, all with dazzling bright eyes, standing over me. I was lying in a white bed, like I had died and gone to heaven.
Wait a minute. Had I died and gone to heaven?
I jerked my body upright, nearly hitting my head against Troy’s head as I rose.
“Woah, relax,” Andrew said, patting my legs from over the covers. “You’re safe now.”
“What the hell happened?” I asked looking around at my new surroundings. We were in the men’s dormitory, and guys shuffled around us like we weren’t even there.
“You’re a tough girl, Rose, but not tough enough. I think you need better training,” Andrew said, shaking his head. “Laney got the better of you so easily.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m aware,” I replied drily.
“I thought David was supposed to give you a weapon,” Andrew said, looking beside him at David.
“I’m working on it,” he said, holding his palms out. “It takes time to get these things.”
Andrew shook his head. “Do better next time. I don’t want our members to get killed by little redheads who should be easily shanked if they get too close.”
To be fair, Laney had sprung on me unexpectantly. It was entirely my fault that I had been captured by her. Even with a weapon, I wouldn’t have had time to defend myself. It wasn’t Daniel’s fault, but I didn’t say anything. I still wanted a knife or something from him.
“What time is it?” I asked, unable to figure out how long this ordeal had lasted.
Troy looked at a gold watch on his thick wrist. “Six in the evening. School is officially out.”
“Which means its time to party,” Martin said, looking excited.
Daniel placed a hand on my shoulder as I sat upright in bed. “I think Rose isn’t in the mood to party.”
Andrew shrugged. “She’s welcome to join once she feels better. You got a hold of those blunt wraps, right?”
Daniel nodded. “They’re mango flavored.”
Troy and Martin rubbed their hands together, licking their lips at the thought of smoking something fruity. I was rather partial to it myself, but I probably wasn’t going to partake in the festivities. I needed to get some rest.
“I think I’m going to relax for a bit,” I said.
Andrew nodded. “That’s fine. I can escort you back to your dormitory.”
Wait a second. I had to go there? Somebody would probably kill me after what had happened between Laney and me. There was no way that place was safe at all. I was afraid even to sleep there now. Why couldn’t I stay in the men’s dormitory. Nobody here seemed to mind.
“On second thought, can you guys wait for me while I get changed? I want to join you,” I said, pushing the sheets off my body and bringing my legs over the side of the bed.
“Are you sure?” Daniel asked, knowing firsthand how damaged I was from my encounter with Laney.
I nodded. “Really, I think I’ll be fine.”
“I told you,” Andrew said, almost dismissively, turning around and starting to walk away.
“Aren’t you going to escort me back?” I called out.
“You’re healthy enough to go by yourself,” he replied, waving a hand without looking back at me.
I huffed, crossing my arms and standing up. “Okay, but will one of you guys escort me?” I asked, looking around at the three remaining men.
Daniel held up a hand. “I’ll go with you. I’m the one who brought you here in the first place.”
I smiled at him, then shot a contrasting glare at Andrew as he walked away. He didn’t have to be so harsh about me, but I understood that he might have been a bit pissed off that I got caught so easily. He didn’t seem to be in the best mood. I hoped he didn’t view me as weak after this. I was far from that.
“Come on,” Daniel said, waving his hand as he walked away from the bed toward the dormitory exit.
I jumped out of bed and followed after him, smiling back at Troy and Martin as I left. They stood with their arms crossed, smirking as I left. I knew that they enjoyed the view.
“You’re lucky to be alive,” Daniel said, stating the obvious as we exited the dormitory.
“Yeah, and so is Laney. I’ll make that bitch squeak next time I see her,” I replied with exaggerated aggression.
Truthfully, I didn’t really want to have anything to do with her anymore. If her story about being forced to join Natasha was true, which it sounded like it was, then she was in just as much of a desperate situation as I was. It wouldn’t be fair to harm her, even if she did try to murder me.
On the other hand, if she ever tried something like that again, I would have to fight back with equal fury. I wasn’t going to let some haughty rich girl get the better of me.
“Next time you want to sneak around at night, or you’re looking to avoid the main staircase into the women’s dormitory, you should take the secret entrance in the back,” Daniel said casually as we walked down the hall.
“There’s another way in?” I asked, looking up at him.
He nodded. “I’ll show you.”
On the way to the women’s side of the building, we took another route, circumventing the main hallways where the bathrooms were, and circling around to a part of the school that I wasn’t familiar with. There weren’t very many people there.
<
br /> “You’re going to have to trust me on this one,” Daniel said, pulling me into an abandoned classroom and shutting the door.
I looked around us. There didn’t seem to be any way out of this classroom, aside from leaping out the window. “Is it like, a secret passage?” I asked, wondering if it was some kind of wall or bookshelf that would flip around at the press of a hidden button.
“Sort of,” Daniel said with a mischievous grin. “I’m the one who discovered it. I was looking for a way to get into the women’s dormitory without being noticed.”
I laughed. “So that you could spy on the women?”
He shrugged. “No, so I could steal stuff.”
I stopped to watch him as he walked up to the window and unlatched the lock on the top. He pulled it up and motioned out of it with his hand. “After you.”
I pointed to my chest and raised my eyebrows. “You’re good-looking and everything, but I’m not jumping out of a window for you,” I said.
He chuckled. “You’re going to have to trust me on this one. There’s a ledge that you’ll hit about five feet down.”
“You first,” I said, slowly walking up to him.
“I want to make sure you get through,” he replied with a smile. “Trust me.”
Should I have trusted a man who was aligned with Andrew? Probably not, but he had saved me before, so I doubted he wanted to kill me. I knew that we were four stories off the ground, and the ceilings were high on every floor. If there wasn’t a ledge below the window, then I would be little more than a pile of broken bones when I hit the ground below.
“How do you get back?” I asked, sticking a leg out the window.
“You go out the front, usually, but you can get back this way if you leave the window open. I wouldn’t recommend it though. I don’t want other people to find it. The school will shut off this area if they figure out that you can sneak into the women’s dormitory from here,” he said.
“Got it,” I replied, sticking another leg out the window and sitting on the edge. I looked down, but I didn’t see much. I certainly didn’t see a ledge, but I would have to lean out pretty far to see what was directly below me. By that time, I would have already fallen.