Hidden River Five: Book 5 in the Hidden River Academy Series

by Strange, KT

  “Let’s wash you off,” he murmured, wiping my face gently.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, sounding small and defeated.

  “Stop apologizing. What did you do wrong? Nothing.”

  I closed my eyes as he washed my face, and then the tears started up again, a rush of emotion that I couldn’t stop. I buried myself against him, so much liked Shawn but so different at the same time.

  “God, Mia,” he said into the top of my head as he held me.

  “I’m a mess, and no one should want me, and what even am I? Who am I? I don’t even know anymore.” Deep down I wished I’d never even come to Hidden River. Things were simple back home in the trailer park. Awful, but simple. Predictable. Here, I was swimming in deep currents that threatened to drag me down.

  “We’re going to fix this,” he said, “and I’m with you. This whole shit show isn’t your fault, okay?”

  A vibrating buzz cut him off from more words and I swallowed hard.

  “The timer,” I said. His eyes widened slightly.

  Now I’d know for sure.

  My stomach clenched down.

  Chapter Twenty

  I got to my feet. It was the moment of truth. Garrett moved with me, helping me up, and I walked over to where the test lay. I didn’t want to touch it. It felt like it could singularly doom me or fix everything all at once.

  “Garrett,” I said, my gaze steady on it, “one line means everything’s okay, right?” My legs tingled, feet prickling, like the blood was returning to them. I looked at him in the mirror reflection. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

  “Depends on what you wanted the outcome to be… I guess.”

  A laugh shook out of me, hysterical and relieved.

  “No complications,” I said. He nodded.

  “Right, well,” he walked over and peered down over his shoulder. “Looks like you got your wish then.”

  A sigh of relief fluttered from my lungs.

  “Oh my god.” I covered my face with my hands. “Oh my fucking god.”

  “Are they even worth it?” Garrett asked, and when I met his gaze again through the mirror, I saw something there that startled me. A sort of smothered longing.

  I froze and then he smiled, and the look was gone.

  “Yeah,” I said quietly, “they keep me sane and drive me crazy. Colt’s usually the down to earth one. Normally.”

  “Well I think almost becoming a dad is enough to make anyone lose their mind a little. Still, he’d better fucking apologize for you.” He turned to me and grabbed me by the shoulders, giving me a tiny shake. “Stop taking their shit, Mia.”

  My mouth went dry and I looked up at him.

  “Right,” I said, tilting my head to the side. “But they take mine too, so… it works out.”

  “Hell no. One to six,” he said, “that’s not fair odds.” I froze.

  “What did you say?”

  His eyelashes fluttered as his eyes widened and he stepped back.

  “Let’s go make sure they’re all in one piece,” he avoided my question with the skill of a high society mother dodging her toddler’s sticky hands at a charity function.

  “Right,” I murmured under my breath as I followed him, tightening the belt on my robe.

  * * *

  Colt had a bag of ice on his face, and he hovered around me for a moment before asking if he could hold me. I agreed, without waiting a beat. I’d missed him so much. I hid my face in his neck and breathed him in.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” I said softly, “but it’s all good news.”

  “I would’ve done it,” he promised me quietly. “I would’ve… Dropped outta school, gotten a trade. Bought us a little house, whatever you needed. Whatever we needed. I’d have gotten it done.”

  Somehow, in my heart, I knew he wasn’t lying. He would have, and I would have hated myself for it.

  “We don’t need to make that choice now,” I reminded him. He sighed in relief.

  “Fuck, I am never fucking you again. Not with my cock anyway.”

  I pulled away to give him a look of horror.

  “Why would you punish me that way?” I demanded. “We’ll just be more careful.”

  “You two done making up? I need to get our girl dressed and prepped.” Reid said from across the guest suite, where the guys were hovering awkwardly by the seating area, giving Colt and me our space. From the way Shawn was pretty much vibrating where he stood, I knew he wanted to come over and be close… but…

  I crossed the room and leaned up, kissing him softly.

  “I’m here,” I promised. “Safe.”

  “As you can be,” he muttered, “Barron’s got a long reach.” He glanced over at Buck, who nodded slowly.

  “Sometimes I wish he were dead,” Buck added.

  “How often is sometime?” Reid asked with a snort.

  “Every goddamn day.” Buck replied. Reid tilted his head.

  “No,” Cael said as he walked into the room. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it right now.” Reid groaned.

  “Daddy don’t be like that.”

  Cael pointed a finger at Reid.

  “Do not call me Daddy.” He glanced at all of us, and sighed. “We’ve got guests arriving in under an hour, and I want none of you visible. Got it? We know the Barrons are going to want to cover up this scandal however they can.”

  That sparked at thought in the back of my mind.

  “How did you guys know where to find me?” I asked, glancing between Cael and Reid, then at Buck.

  “Well obviously we knew that Mr. Barron had you,” Reid said, and then shrugged. “And we knew that he hadn’t taken you out of the country, like the freak he is. Servants talk. It didn’t take much to buy off the perimeter security so we could get close. I just forgot about the damn cameras.”

  “They’re new,” Buck commented tiredly. “I think he had them installed before they came back from their trip.”

  “Well, whatever, we got you back, our lawyers are going to fuck up their lawyers, and in a day or two we’ll know about your parentage, Mia. And whether you and Buck broke a rule that even I’ve never thought about crossing.” Reid gave me a crazy grin.

  “I will fuckin’ punch you,” Colt said to the ceiling, as if he wasn’t threatening Reid.

  “Everybody out, Mia, let’s get you unrecognizable,” Reid said, ignoring Colt’s words. I sighed.

  “I hate my life,” I said, then gave them a sheepish smile. “Sort of, anyway.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  There were three DJs, a goddamn stage that Cael had managed to rent and have erected in the field behind his family’s mansion, and I was fairly certain there were over two thousand people who had flooded the entire space. In the time I’d been finding out that no, I was not going to be a mother, the staff had picked the house clean of decorations and valuables, emptying the entire thing out. One DJ was spinning outside, some crazy light show lighting up the night, and two more were in the house, one in the ballroom (which freaked me out mildly because his place had a ballroom?), and one in a more intimate room that you needed a black wristband to get into. I had the black wristband, of course.

  People had started arriving in limos, stretch SUVs, and expensive cars, girls already half drunk, and guys with swagger in their steps, their pants sagging around their asses with the weight of their trust funds.

  I hid in the corner of the VIP room, and tried not to itch my blonde wig. It was cut short in a sharp bob, with a heavy set of bangs that dusted the tops of my eyebrows.

  I hoped I looked invisible enough. Cael had told me to relax, that he’d be managing everything, but I couldn’t. Instead I watched the DJ spinning tracks, her fingers moving over the turn-tables with rhythmic ease, her head bobbing to beat.

  My corner was made up of a large sectional couch, and I perched gingerly so as not to encourage my dress to slide up any further on my thighs.

  I tapped on my phone, a loaner from Cael, some brand new
model that put my last one to shame even, and tried to calm my nerves by watching cat videos.

  “Ugh,” Boots said, as she sat down at the other end of the sectional. Shiv followed her, along with a few other girls from cheer. They didn’t even look my way as they clustered together, Shiv slipping in beside Boots. I buried my face in my phone.

  A kitten chased after its new best friend, a giant Pyrenees. I was feeling so messed up that I couldn’t even smile over it.

  “I thought she’d be here,” Shiv said, sounding sad, their conversation barely audible over the hum of talk in the room, and the DJ. Plus there was the pulse of sound coming from outside on the main stage. I still couldn’t believe Cael had pulled it off. Well, when you had more money than God…

  “I think she ran back to the city, honestly, it was way too much for her, and you know how Paige is,” Boots said, sliding an arm around Shiv’s shoulders. I watched them out of the corner of my eyes, letting the blonde wig curtain off my face. I wanted to say, hey, guys, it’s me, but Cael had told me to keep quiet, not talk to anyone, and look as frosty and unapproachable as possible.

  I didn’t know if I could trust them, either. I didn’t know if I could trust their families.

  Or their servants, as Reid had started to really teach me. Servants and gossip was a real thing.

  “At least this way you can get Shawn back,” one of the other girls said. “Now that she’s not hypnotizing half the football team with her pus—”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Shiv said, sitting up right. I stiffened. “You don’t talk about her like that, okay?”

  “Sorry…” the girl said, then flicked her hair over her shoulder and flounced off. The other girls followed, leaving Shiv and Boots behind.

  I’d never done anything to deserve that kind of loyalty from Shiv. I really hadn’t. I bit the inside of my cheek, my heart screaming to say something, to thank her for standing up for me when she had nothing to lose by going along with it.

  “You really have forgiven and forgotten,” Boots commented. “Is it you and Garrett?”

  She shook her head.

  “That was never… that was just… being stupid. Trying to make something happen that was never gonna. That wasn’t good for me, or him. No. I just realized that maybe I need to spend some time on my own, you know, get comfortable with my own company.” She sighed and sat back, closing her eyes. “And maybe I’m at a place where I figure that Mia’s had it so bad, I don’t really blame her for making the wrong choices. We’ve all fucked up.”

  Boots snorted.

  “Yeah, but there’s like fucking up, and then there’s Mia and Paige levels of fucking up.”

  “Oh my god, do not compare them,” Shiv said, Boots’ words like a stab right through my heart. “C’mon, bitch, let’s get shots.”

  She dragged her off the couch, and they disappeared in the crowd surrounding the bar at the other side of the room.

  Mia levels of fucking up.

  I ducked my head.

  She was right. It hurt, and she was right. I sat there for long minutes, quiet in my own feelings, but for the first time I felt like I had enough space from my choices that I could see what I’d been doing.

  Trying to survive, trying to fit in, trying to find love and meaning.

  And making all the wrong choices on the path to getting there.

  My phone buzzed in my hand, a text from Cael.

  They’re here. Watch yourself.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Someone nudged me and I opened my eyes, feeling exhausted, my whole body sore.

  God. Last night. I sat up, and surveyed the wreckage.

  Cael’s room was pure white everything, a pure calmness, the same kind of energy that he seemed to exude from every inch of his body.

  My cheeks flushed.

  Speaking of inches.

  I rolled over and there he was, sleeping peacefully on his back, Reid on the other side of him. Buck was at my back, and Colt was asleep across the bottom of the bed, a blanket dragged up over him. I shook my head. I needed to pee.

  I caught Shawn about to get into the shower and he gestured toward it for me.

  “Ladies?” He asked.

  “I’m fine,” I said, before seeing myself in the mirror. My hair, was kinked and wavy from being shoved up under the wig cap the night before, but I brushed my fingers through it.

  Plus, I liked the way I felt, the scent of their cologne on my skin, the salt of their kisses dappling my shoulder.

  Last night was probably the craziest, sexiest thing I’d ever done and I had zero regrets.

  There was just no way that anything could hurt me. I had them. I was invincible. Untouchable.

  Shawn came over and hugged me from behind kissing the back of my neck.

  “Love you,” he said. I smiled and leaned into it.

  “Love you too. Shower, I’m gonna go get dressed.”

  I walked out to a very different scene than I’d walked away from.

  Everyone was awake. Cael sat on the edge of the bed, his phone in his hand. My stomach swooped.

  “No,” I whispered. Buck made a choking noise from where he sat on the couch, his hands fisted in his lap.

  Cael’s expression matched the white marble flooring of his room, as he looked up at me.

  I started to shake my head, my hand lifting to my lips, trying to cover the horrifying feeling that was blooming inside of me.

  Buck hung his head.

  “No,” I said, “no fucking way.”

  “The chances of you not being Bernard Barron’s daughter,” Cael paused, a tremble in his voice.

  “Are you shitting me?” Colt blurted out, looking flustered and furious. Shawn came in from the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist.

  “What-“ His eyes flicked over all of us and he looked ill.

  “Are one in several, several million,” Cael finished, his voice barely above a whisper. Buck surged to his feet, and I lowered my eyes as he stalked across the room, and with a roar, slammed his fist into the tall floor-to-ceiling mirror. It splintered, and he cried out, yanking his hand back. Shawn sprinted across the room to him, pulling him back as the mirror began to shatter, falling to the floor in a loud crash.

  It echoed in the large room, the only sound after, Buck’s heavy breathing.

  “Well shit,” Reid said, and I glanced at him. He actually looked surprised. “That really wasn’t what I expected at all.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The news changed everything.

  I got dressed. Cael got the doctor to come up to the house, and Buck disappeared with him and Shawn, presumably to get stitches.

  Reid was quiet, never leaving my side for a second.

  Colt was my other shadow. We went downstairs, passing estate staff as they cleaned up from the party, and encouraged sleeping teenagers and young adults to get up and get home.

  I sat in the kitchen at a long bar island, an area that had been safe from the ravages of the party and felt sick to my stomach.

  Reid poured himself a scotch, neat, and Colt hovered.

  I wanted to die.

  When Cael came in, he was alone.

  “Where’s Buck?” I asked, anxious, feeling dirty and wrong for wanting to see him, but also needing him. He was my first. I… it couldn’t be true. The test had to be wrong.

  Cael walked over and looked at me.

  “I can’t stop what’s about to happen. I can help you, but it’s going to take time.”

  “She’s not going back,” Colt said fiercely. “We’re not giving her back to that fucking monster.” Reid slammed his glass down on the counter top, his face burning with fury.

  “Over his dead fucking body,” he added.

  Cael looked like he wanted to vomit.

  “There’s only so much I can do,” he said.

  “Well do more,” Colt yelled and I jerked at the sudden volume increase. “What the fucking point is all this goddamn money if you can’t fix this?!” H
e wrapped his arms around me. “You’re not going anywhere, baby, not anywhere. I’ll fucking rip his throat out. I’ll kill him before he touches you.”

  “Did you really want to go back to jail so soon?” That voice, like hot, creeping oil, it slid over me and I shuddered.

  He stood there, impressive in a suit, a sick smile on his face like he’d known he’d won. Behind him stood several police officers.

  “Come, Mia,” Bernard Barron said, reaching out his hand. Colt made a sound like he was dying and Cael reached for him, dragging him back. Reid started at Mr. Barron and then looked at the cops.

  “You do know he’s a kiddy-diddler, right? Fucks teen girls and everything?” Reid spat out, his eye twitching. “And you’re just going to give her back to him?”

  The police officers walked into the room as Colt fought Cael, the two of them a match for each other.

  “Babe, tell me what you want me to do,” Reid said, looking at me, and I knew if I sicced him on Barron, that would be it. He’d be dead before he made it across the room.

  “I’ll go,” I said, getting up, as Colt howled. “No, it’s fine.” I walked over to Barron and stared him right in the face. “But you touch me, and I will kill you. I don’t care if you’re my father.” I swallowed hard, knowing I was condemning myself by going, but what choice did I have? These cops, they weren’t there to save us. They were there to defend my ‘father’. That made me sick.

  “That was much easier than it could have been,” Bernard said, because even thinking that I was related to him made me ill. He offered me his hand. “Come along,” he said. I ignored it and walked past him, every inch of my body screaming at me to run. Colt’s scream tore after me, and then went muffled with a grunt. I looked back. Reid had piled on top of him, helping Cael to keep him from going after me.

  My heart felt like it was being ripped apart by angry bees from the inside.

  There was a limo waiting for me outside, and I slid inside it, feeling like the trap door had come down on me as the door shut, Barron getting in after me.