James' wound was cared for by paramedics; I was questioned and then taken to St Paul's Hospital by ambulance.
***
Despite a large-scale, nationwide search operation by the police, the task forces had not succeeded in tracking down Frank Moore.
After his house in Vancouver was searched, it was discovered that the professor must have planned his escape long before he was able to escape.
All important personal belongings were missing - however, my front door key was found.
It turned out Mr Moore had an accomplice named Monica Digades. She had been one of his former students and was apparently still in his employ.
Her description matched the woman who had approached me the night before the Strokes and handed me the Black Russian.
Due to the mysterious death of his billionaire ex-wife, Frank had enough financial resources to escape undetected.
All that remained was the horror that stuck to me even after I had long since found my way to safety.
While questioning my surroundings, the police had found out that the professor had been in my bedroom under the pretext of having to check the gas pipes of Bill's villa - disguised as a municipal employee.
Mom had let him in and didn't suspect a thing.
I told you - Karma's a real bitch.
The day of the biannual beach clean-up, I got a call from Xantec.
A friendly female voice, who had called "Benita Brown", told me that an internship position had become available in the environment department.
"You have applied to us so many times before. Your grades are excellent. And as we are currently... making some changes, we would like to welcome you to Xantec."
I swallowed and clasped my smartphone a little tighter.
"That's very nice," I started and took a deep breath. "But I'm afraid I must decline."
"O - too bad", said Mrs Brown. "Well, carry on with your good wishes."
"Thank you."
I threw the phone on the bed and sat on the floor in front of it.
My refusal was a far cry from making amends.
But at least now I was no longer taking advantage of the fact that I had humiliated Chloe Clarice Bell in front of everyone and taken away her affair.
This was the first milestone in my transformation. Blaire 2.0.
I was going to be a better person and become someone worthy of being James' friend.
We'd exchanged texts and talked on the phone ever since the incident.
Nothing earth-shattering, but still.
It was a weird situation. He had saved my life.
It complicated things.
Still, tonight at Bonfire, I would finally make the first move!
***
"If that ass Magnus wasn't here, the evening could actually be good," moaned Lu, while she was combing her brown curls into an elaborate braid.
"Just ignore him," I suggested and slipped into my battered vans.
Lu rolled her eyes and moaned expressively.
"Easier said than done," she replied. "If he were more like Benji, there's at least a chance. But-"
She made a grimace on her face. "He's always trying to be the center of attention, butting in everywhere, pretending to be the greatest guy on the planet! And the craziest thing..."
Lu made a dramatic pause when she turned away from the mirror and turned towards me. "All the girls at my school are really into him! "But he doesn't even look at any of them with his ass! "Instead, he's off hustlin' women Mom's age at the country club! It's disgusting."
I laughed and shook my head. "It's weird. "It's not like he needs to be a gold-digger," I said.
"Who knows what goes on in the sick mind of a king."
Lu reached for the light blue backpack and hung it over his shoulder.
"You said it," I agreed with her knowingly and grinned.
I didn't tell her that Benji and Magnus had a lot in common. She knew him only briefly from seeing him and from my stories - in which I had always left out the bad things.
Magnus Elvis King didn't look like his older brother Benjamin at all - except for the Atlantic blue eyes.
He was blonde and with his man's coat gathered at the neck, his skin slightly tanned in summer and winter, and his ability to smile all the time, he was the cliché of a surfer boy.
(Which in this case fit very well, because he actually surfed!)
Lu liked him about as much as Benji Chloe liked Clarice Bell.
I suspected that this was partly due to the pronounced antagonism between the two.
My sister detested posers and playboys with all her heart.
Unfortunately, Magnus spent a lot of time at the Vice Country Club, which was one of her favorite places in Vancouver because of her infatuation with horses.
Silently, I kept my fingers crossed for Lu, that she would succeed in fading him out as good as possible today.
I wished her lots of fun at the show, whereupon she assured me once again that she would come back next year to collect garbage.
Before I left the house I put on my black cap.
In tattered jeans and double-reinforced down vest I made my way to the beach.
I had been campaigning for less plastic and a clean shore area since I could remember. The sea was really close to my heart.
Nevertheless I was not on the point today.
My mind was only on him: James.
It was possible he might not come this time. After all, he was attacked and injured just a few days ago.
Nevertheless, I looked around for him on a tour. I just couldn't help myself!
Just as I was stretching my head once again, because I thought I saw him behind a corpulent blonde in rubber boots, someone pushed me to the side.
"I deserve another pie, don't you think?"
My heart was pounding as his voice came up behind me.
I turned abruptly.
James Wyatt Cole gave me a warm smile His green eyes were bright and dilated
"You deserve more than a cake," I answered in a subdued voice.
Then I took his hand - the one that wasn't hanging in a sling.
I was as surprised as he was.
But I had resolved not to let a chance pass when it came to this young man.
"At that time", I began, hooking my fingers into his.
James' prominent jaw tightened as he looked me straight in the eye. "I'm sorry I haven't contacted you more."
I took a long breath and looked at the slowly rolling waves of the sea.
"I was afraid," I admitted, yet again seeking his gaze.
James swallowed. Then he took a step towards me.
We sank into each other's eyes. I felt my pulse racing so fast I couldn't feel it at all.
"James, I-"
Someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I closed my eyes and suppressed a surge of anger.
Disappear, I begged in my thoughts. But the tapping only became more insistent.
"Hey, Blaire!"
I let my gaze linger one second longer on the face of the man I wanted more than anything else in the world.
Then I turned.
"Chloe," I greeted her reluctantly.
"Listen," she replied hurriedly. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm glad to see you safe and sound. About the whole thing with Edwards... Moore, I mean. Just so you know!"
She pronounced the words as quickly as if she had oral diarrhoea
"I stammered and pressed my lips together.
Her facial expressions relaxed.
She nodded, turned around and stomped away.
I took a deep breath and turned back to James.
Diagonally behind him stood Mackenzie.
She was about to speak to him.
Our moment had passed, once again.
"What were you going to say?" he asked me and rubbed his neck.
Mackenzie in the corner of my eye, I replied, "Oh, nothing. It can wait."
I wanted it to be perfect.
It had been stupid of me to spring it on him in the middle of all the others.
I'd think of something else, maybe at his house. We'd have some privacy.
"Hi, James... and Blaire," Mackenzie greeted us with her big, beautiful eyes.
I raised my hand cautiously.
"See you later," I said, noticing James frowning and looking at me as I passed him.
It really was maddening!
I pedantically collected every last piece of packaging with my gripper - until the sun went down.
Like every year at this time of day only the hard core for the bonfire was left.
That's why I was so surprised that Benji suddenly appeared next to me.
He had never taken part in the action before.
"It's meditative, isn't it?" he said softly and in a low tone of voice as he stared at the fire that was several metres high.
Right across from us was Chloe, with Liam. Gulp.
His loyalty, considering the precarious contents of the tape, surprised me.
The corner of Benji's mouth twitched upwards.
"It was you, wasn't it?!"
I put my hand on his shoulder and pressed against it, making him look at me.
The flames were reflected ominously in his eyes and underlined his dark words: "I heard the police were in the dark. Moore was there that night. "It stands to reason that he had something to do with it. Handy if you've got a patsy who doesn't know how to defend himself."
I swallowed.
"You are--"
I shook my head. I lacked the right words to describe his behaviour.
"What?" he asked, turning his face even further in my direction. "No one was hurt."
"That doesn't make it better! I could have you arrested!"
We stood there, our torsos facing each other, our eyes looking like we were about to fight a duel.
"You wouldn't do that," Benji returned confidently.
"How do you know that? You don't know me as well as you think!"
I gritted my teeth.
"You have a thing for me," Benji replied.
A glimpse of a smile flashed across his lips.
As I breathed in and out, I wondered if I should lie.
"Your favor is over," I finally said. "I don't owe you anything anymore."
Benji emitted a satisfied growl.
The corners of his mouth lifted again.
"It's a deal."
I followed his gaze as he suddenly looked right past me.
A deep wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows.
"What is it?" I asked unsuspectingly and turned around.
She had her hands wrapped around his neck, his head bowed down.
"Fuck", I heard Benji say.
The blood rushed in my ears; for a moment I felt like I couldn't breathe.
"I have to get out of here," I said like a robot.
But even when I had long since turned away from them, the sight of Mackenzie and James seemed to have already burned deep into my consciousness.
He had kissed her! Or she had kissed him! Or, fuck it, they had kissed.
"Wait!" cried Benji, reaching for my wrist.
"What is it?" I ran into him and felt as if everyone within a radius of 20 meters could hear me.
"I bet you don't dare drive Mackenzie off the Thorn."
Benji's words hung like thick fog in the air between us.
We looked at each other for a long time.
I knew what he was doing. I knew he was doing it for me.
"Accepted," I said in a husky voice.
Then I walked into the night.
What's next at Thorn?
Which of the five privileged devils loses his heart next?
Does Blaire reveal the secret of her father's disappearance?
What game is Benjamin King playing?
Is Frank Moore so easily beaten?
... and most importantly, does Blaire and James' love stand a chance?
You can find out all this and more in the second part of the Sinners and Saints series!
*With the newsletter subscription no more updates will slip through your fingers! Sign up*: www.alice-ann-wonder.com :-)
*Pssst* For the reading sample from Pretty Privileged (Sinners and Saints 2) turn here -> -> ->
Pretty Privileged
Flap text
No falling in love!
Imagine you're the new girl and you don't want to attract attention under any circumstances.
It's silly for you to take on the biggest bitch at Thorn Elite College.
...even dumber when the guy you fall head over heels in love with from day one is her crush.
Bad luck, you think?
Then wait and see what happens when the hottest guy in her clique finds out your worst secret.
...the one that made you flee to another country to hide your true identity from your fellow students.
Then you're really fucked.
The second part of the Sinners and Saints series.
Consequences
The clouds hung low and heavy in the sky. They had stretched over Vancouver like a grey tent in the most diverse shades.
It was a matter of minutes before it would start raining.
The grandstand was - except for me - deserted.
I sat in my usual place and stared out at the waves.
It was no coincidence that I hadn't approached the sea more than three metres since the Frank Moore affair.
What had happened had affected me more than I wanted to admit.
I hadn't spoken about it to anyone. Not even Lu.
The sheer panic that came over me when there was not enough distance between me and the water would disappear by itself. I just needed some time.
Thunder crashed over me, just at the moment when Benjamin King took the first wooden step of the grandstand.
He looked as always to bite - his sky-blue eyes shone up to me; the brown hair was cut accurately and the blue and gold shirt accentuated every muscle in his body.
"I thought it meant rowing in a boat," I mocked after he squirted a few drops of water from his fingers at me.
"I like adventure," Benji replied in a deep voice, reaching out his hand.
When I grabbed it, it started to rain.
Benji grinned.
"If that isn't a good omen."
He pulled me behind him; I rolled my eyes because of his commentary.
As always, when I had watched him rowing, I waited outside the changing room until he was ready.
Usually the door remained half-leant, so we could talk while he was changing. But this time it was wide open.
I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed, my gaze stubbornly directed straight ahead at the gymnastics benches.
"What's the new coach like," I asked, doing my best to ignore that Benji was changing just a few meters away from me.
I had seen him shirtless countless times before.
But ... something had changed between us after the incident with Moore.
It started at Lisa's party. Or before that... I wasn't sure.
Anyway, there's been this tension between us ever since.
Benjamin King had never been more than a kind of replacement brother to me.
He was far too aloof, self-centered and self-involved to ever see more in him (despite his good looks).
What's more, except for our love of luxury, the will to get what we were craving and the willingness to walk through fire for friends, we had nothing in common.
But for some reason I suddenly saw him with different eyes.
I told myself it had something to do with the fact that he had stood by me in the most painful moment of my adult life.
Benji had immediately understood what I needed without any explanation.
He knew what was going on inside of me and was still giving first aid on the spot.
The needle he had offered me to patch my wound was dull and would hurt when used.
Nevertheless, it reliab
ly made sure that the gaping hole in my heart was plugged.
And that was all I wanted.
"Tanner is acceptable," Benji called out in a dark voice. "Not as fit as -"
He stopped. To spare me, I guess.
"Moore?" I reminded him.
Part of me still wanted to say Edwards.
It was still hard to believe that the man we had mistaken for our literature professor was a sick stalker, kidnapper... and who knows what else.
"He's doing fine," Benji continued, not referring to the pink elephant in the room.
"I'm not going to cry just because you say his name out loud!"
I was tired of him treating me with kid gloves.
I couldn't understand why the men in my life
It was meant kindly, no question. But it didn't change the fact that most of the time it felt like a fraud.
I could handle reality.
"Anyway," Benji continued, tapping my nose as he stepped out of the locker room. "What are your plans regarding the wager?"
Right. Mackenzie Walker.
"You'll see," I said, smiling mysteriously.
"Hmm."
Benji smiled. He shouldered his gym bag, then he put one arm around me. Together we walked to the main building.
Everything was as usual - but somehow not.
That spark that made me hopefully believe I could become another, a better Blaire, had gone out.
James Wyatt Cole was the only man who could break my heart.
I hadn't admitted to myself in a long time that he still owned it.
The moment he kissed Mackenzie in front of me, the feeling inside me that I could ever go back to my former life faded.
People disappoint you. It was better to have the reins in your own hands and not be vulnerable.
On second thought, it was my good fortune that things had now turned out that way.
At least I had not completely fallen for him.
Students - wrapped in thick jackets and coats - streamed towards the stone entrance of the Thorn.
Vicious Bet: Don't fall in love! (Sinners and Saints Book 1) Page 17