Cruel Devils

by Mae Doyle

  As quickly and quietly as possible, I cover the ingredients I’m working with, then cross to the door and throw it open. Mentally, I’m prepared for the headmistress, but she’s not the one standing outside my door.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Normally, I’d be thrilled to see my three friends outside my door, but not today. Not after they disappeared in the quad when I could have used them the most. Frowning, I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe, making it impossible for them to push past me.

  Sophia’s holding a can of soda in her hand and passes it to me, but I refuse to take it. If she thinks that she can simply win me over with a little sugar, then she’s got something else coming to her. When she sees that I’m not going to take it from her, she sighs.

  “Kiera, please let us in. We really want to talk to you.” She sounds tired, and I want to pull her to me for a hug, but I don’t move. I don’t know if I can trust her right now.

  When I don’t respond, Lila pipes up. “I told you that she’d be pissed. Can you blame her? She doesn’t know what’s going on here.”

  That gets my attention more than the can of soda. “What do you mean? What’s going on here?” I ask, but Lila just presses her lips together and frowns at me.

  “We came to tell you why we disappeared,” Sophia says, and as she talks, Clementine casts a few furtive looks back and forth down the hall. It’s almost like she’s afraid that someone is going to come up on us and see us, but that doesn’t make sense, right? Why would she be afraid of anyone seeing us talk?

  Unless they’re not supposed to be here.

  My blood chills and I want to step to the side and let them in, but I’m still afraid of what they will do in my space. If they’re not supposed to be here, though…

  Making up my mind, I step to the side and usher them in. Sophia looks relieved, but the twins both look even more upset. As soon as I shut the door behind them, I whip around. “Tell me what’s going on. You guys sucked hard today when I needed you and I don’t even know that I want you here right now.”

  Sophia sighs and holds out her hands like she’s trying to calm me down. “We were shitty, but that’s why we’re here. You deserve to know what’s going on, okay?”

  Clementine sighs and crosses her arms, like she was forced along. Both her and Lila wear the same expression on their face, and I turn to them.

  “You two don’t have to be here, you know. You can go and Sophia and I can talk it out.”

  “No, they’re fine,” Sophia interjects, drawing my attention back to her. “They’re just scared of getting caught here, okay?”

  It’s not okay, but I nod at my friend. My best friend. Or so I thought.

  “Talk.” I tell her, my eyes locked on her. I trust this girl, or I did, and I want to forgive her for abandoning me, but first I need to know exactly what happened earlier today.

  “Okay. You know that the devils want you gone, but it’s not just because of Asher’s cousin. Well, it is, but it’s not the devils themselves who want you out. It’s Asher’s parents and his aunt and uncle.” She pauses, like she wants to make sure that I’m keeping up, and I flap my hand at her to hurry her up.

  “There’s a lot more at play than simply one guy getting kicked out of school here. Your aunt and uncle are involved and paid a hell of a lot of money for you to have his spot. But the reason that they did that is because they want an heir to come through the school, and they hate Asher’s family, so they were an easy mark when they found their heir.”

  An heir? I want to stop her and ask some questions to clarify, but she’s on a roll now and I don’t think I can slow her down.

  “So, when you fell into their lap, they sent you here and paid to have Eric removed. His parents are pissed, of course, and are willing to do anything to get him back at Meyer’s Grove, including getting their nephew and his friends to torment you until you leave.”

  Now I can’t help myself, and I interrupt. “Okay, first of all, my aunt and uncle don’t have an heir, so that’s ridiculous. I’m just a niece that they hate, so to act like I’m the reason that this all happened is insane. I don’t think that they would have done anything nice for me if my parents hadn’t been killed. Secondly, I don’t get what the big deal is about Meyer’s Grove. It’s a pretty campus, sure, but it mostly seems like a place for rich people to send their teenagers for some babysitting.”

  Lila and Clementine look like I’ve struck them, but Sophia has the grace to nod a little like she agrees with me. Turning, she sets the soda on my desk, then spins back to me and takes my hands, squeezing them tight.

  “Kiera, listen. Sending an heir here is good. It opens up a world of connections for the parents, or guardians, in your case. It’s a great way to make sure that you are in the inner circle and that you have access to an incredible network of wealth. Everyone who’s anyone or who wants to be anyone and has some money to spare sends their heirs here. It’s what’s done. Meyer’s Grove is the birthplace of world leaders and business owners. There’s more money coursing through here and more promises and business arrangements being made behind the scenes than you can imagine.”

  I shake my head but I don’t pull my hands out of hers. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why I’m here. I don’t have the money, I don’t have the prestige, and up until a few weeks ago, I was a nobody. Why the hell would my aunt and uncle want me here and why would it be such a big deal?”

  “You’re not getting it, but I’m not sure if you’re dumb or just what.” Clementine sounds angry and both Sophia and I turn to look at her. “You’re not here on accident, Kiera. Sending heirs to Meyer’s Grove is an incredible way to secure your own future, not just theirs. Some of us here were born simply because our parents wanted the connections that sending kids here would offer them. I think that the only reason our parents were glad that we’re twins is because they would still have a shot to have an heir here if something happened to one of us.”

  I can’t wrap my mind around what she’s saying, even though I know that it’s important enough that I should be paying attention. I just can’t focus. I can’t move past them calling me an heir to my aunt and uncle.

  “Okay, but I’m not an heir,” I tell her, trying to explain it so that she can see. She’s the one who’s acting dumb. “I’m not even supposed to be here. If it weren’t for a freak accident and a random murder, then I wouldn’t be here. I’d still be in West Virginia and my aunt and uncle wouldn’t have anything to do with Meyer’s Grove.”

  Sophia squeezes my hands so hard that I think she’s going to cut off circulation. “Kiera. Listen. You being here is not an accident. Your aunt and uncle, they’re huge players, but they didn’t have an heir to help them make all of the connections that they need to be really successful. You suddenly falling into their lap was the best thing that could have happened to them.”

  Shrugging, I pull my hands from hers. “They sure don’t act like it,” I tell her. “They act like I’m some demon that they have to put up with or they won’t make it into heaven.”

  She eyeballs me but doesn’t respond. I don’t like where she’s going with this, and I’m not sure that I really believe her, anyway. I mean, these three girls were supposed to be my best friends, and they abandoned me only to come back later and tell me this shit. It’s ridiculous.

  “Fuck, Kiera, open your eyes,” Lila snaps, and hearing her talk to me like that shocks me. “Your aunt and uncle needed an heir to further their connections in town. This school is the best place to do that. Think of it like a secret society. They had the money but not the blood. Did the police ever solve your parents’ murders?”

  “No, they were deemed a random act of violence. They didn’t find any evidence and think that it was just a terrible act without any motive.” I repeat the same thing I’ve repeated over and over.

  “It wasn’t random, Kiera.” Sophia sounds tired and sad, and again I want to pull her to me for a hug, but I resist. I’m still angry at her. I still don�
��t trust her.

  “Don’t you think that it’s a little weird that your aunt and uncle needed an heir to make some connections here at Meyer’s Grove and your parents were randomly murdered?” I hear what Sophia’s saying, but my brain’s trying to tune her out.

  “Once you were here, all they had to do was pay to get you a spot at Meyer’s Grove,” Clementine says. “And now they have their heir. You’re one of us now, and on the fast-track to success. Nothing can stop you, not with the connections that you’re making here, and that also means that nothing can stop your aunt and uncle. That’s why it’s such a big deal that you’re here and not Eric. That’s why the devils are trying to get you to leave.”

  “That’s why you guys don’t want to be my friends.” My voice is flat and hollow. I’m not sure that I believe a word that the three have told me, but I can’t deny that it makes sense. Well, some of it does. There’s no way that my aunt and uncle had my parents murdered, right?

  For what? An heir? Me? The person they couldn’t stand having in their house? No, I don’t believe it.

  My head spins. This is a lot to take in, and even if I believed it, I’d still have to think about what they were saying. But I can’t fathom anyone having my parents killed for something as stupid as this.

  Sophia’s practically been able to read my mind since I came to school here. “I know that you don’t want to believe it, Kiera, but look at the facts. There are a lot of things at play here that are beyond your control. Your parents, your aunt and uncle taking you in, buying you a spot here, the way that everyone knows everyone and the devils want you out? None of it is on accident.”

  Without realizing that my legs are weak, I slide to the floor and drop my head down into my hands. The more the girls talk, the more that this makes sense, even though I don’t want it to. I don’t want to believe that they’re right. I can’t.

  “No.” I look up at them, tears dripping down my cheeks even though just a moment ago I wasn’t crying. “I can’t believe this. I don’t know why you’d tell me this.”

  Lila and Clementine both sigh, but Sophia kneels next to me and puts her arms around me, pulling me so that I’m leaning against her.

  “Listen,” she whispers in my ear. “I promise you, I’m telling you the truth. You thought that things were bad with the devils? They’re only going to get worse. Your aunt and uncle aren’t going to let you leave, but there are more and more families who want you gone because of how your spot here was bought for you. They don’t think that it’s right, and they’re working hard to turn their kids against you. It’s not going to be pretty.”

  Tears pour down my cheeks, but I don’t move. Even if I believed Sophia, which I’m not sure that I do, I wouldn’t know what to say. I’m honestly not sure that there’s anything to say, not when my very health and happiness is being threatened here.

  “You still have me.” Her voice is so quiet that I can barely hear it, but that’s probably so the twins don’t hear her. “I’m still here, okay?”

  Before I can nod or acknowledge her, she stands and the three of them leave my room. Clementine pulls the door shut so hard that it slams, and I wince before dropping my head back into my arms.

  This can’t be true. None of it.

  Chapter 17

  I should have known better than to think that my teachers wouldn’t be mad about me skipping most of my classes yesterday, but I’m loaded down with homework. For a moment, I briefly consider skipping the lacrosse game and waiting until next week to get my revenge on the devils, but as soon as the thought crosses my mind, the four of them come strolling towards me from across the quad.

  My backpack thuds into my back with every step, but I pick up the pace, ignoring the fact that the four of them are making a beeline for me. There’s no way that I can get away from them without them knowing that I’m making a run for it, but if I walk quickly, I just may make it into a crowd before that happens.

  Although, if what Sophia, Lila, and Clementine told me yesterday was true, then it won’t matter how many students I’m surrounded by, they’re just going to stand aside while the devils deal with me.

  Everything is starting to make sense, but I haven’t allowed myself to think about the fact that my aunt and uncle could possibly be behind my parent’s murders. Every time my mind starts to drift in that direction, I slam the mental door shut and close off those thoughts. I’m sure that repressing them will mean I have to pay for a shit ton of therapy later, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take right now.

  “Hey, white trash!” Asher’s voice rings out through the quad, but I put my head down and try to ignore him. He’s crazy if he thinks that I’m just going to turn around and greet the four of them. The problem is that at the sound of his voice, a lot of the other students start to disperse.

  If what Sophia told me last night is true, their parents may be pushing them to get rid of me. Maybe they’re not willing to do the dirty work, but the devils sure as hell are, and it looks like other students are happy to look in the other direction so that they don’t have to get involved.

  Taking a risk, I get off of the sidewalk and start to cut across the grass to the dorm, but almost instantly, my heel sinks into the dirt. “Fuck,” I mutter to myself, pulling at my heel. It pops free from the ground and I stutter-step forward, trying to regain my balance.

  I hate these shoes. The devils, of course, don’t have to wear heels, and they easily catch up to me while I teeter along the grass.

  “Didn’t you hear me calling your name?” Asher asks as he grabs my arm and swings me around to face him. His fingers are tight on my arm and I know that I couldn’t pull away from him if I tried. For the first time all day, I lock eyes with him. He drinks me in and I slowly let my gaze drop down his strong jaw, his gorgeous neck, his pendant.

  His pendant? That’s new. I hate that I’ve stared at Asher so many times that I can easily pick out something different like his necklace. The pendant is made of clear glass and on a tight cord around his neck. Most people probably wouldn’t look twice at it, but there’s something about what’s inside the pendant that makes my stomach turn.

  Hair.

  My hair.

  Asher notices my gaze on his neck and he grins, using his finger to lift my chin so that I’m looking up at him. “Do you like my good luck charm? All of the boys here wanted one, but I told them that they had to get their own thing from you for good luck. What do you think they should take?”

  My breathing quickens and I try to focus. Up until yesterday I honestly didn’t think that they would do anything to hurt me, but now? Now I’m beginning to believe that there’s nothing so vicious that it wouldn’t be off the table, especially if that meant I would leave and his cousin could come back.

  “I want some of her blood.” Luca’s voice is terrifying and when I turn to look at him, my heart stops. He licks his lips, his eyes locked on mine, and my core tightens.

  Yeah, that’s another thing that I need to try to figure out – why everything that the devils do turns me on. I should be terrified of them, but I can’t seem to get enough of their hands on me. I can’t seem to get enough of knowing that they want me.

  They could kill me, but I think I’d be begging them to kiss me first.

  Yet another thing I’m going to have to go to therapy for when I’m older. I’ll need to start a running list.

  “You guys need to leave me alone. I don’t think that my aunt and uncle will be happy to hear how you’re treating me.” Defiantly, I lift my chin and jerk my arm out of Asher’s grasp. He lets me go, an amused look on his face, like he can’t believe that I’m actually trying to stand up to him.

  I can’t either, to be honest.

  “You think that your aunt and uncle care?” It’s Parker this time, and he walks forward, getting close enough to me that I can smell his cologne and could practically count the threads in his shirt. “They got you here, little heir, and now it’s up to you to do the best you can to survive.
”

  “I don’t know about that.” It’s Caspian, and I turn to him, hoping that he’s somehow going to come to my rescue. “I don’t think they really want her dead or damaged, they just care that she makes it through the rest of high school. You sure that you want the Lampleys coming after you?”

  I want to thank him, especially when I see the flicker of doubt in the other devil’s eyes. That flicker dies out in Luca’s though, and he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me to him so that I’m pressed against his body.

  “I think that they won’t mind if she gets a little damaged. You know the same things that we do, Caspian, and it’s not like they’re the most maternal figures ever. Am I right, darling?”

  He’s right, but I’m not going to admit it to him. If they know that my aunt and uncle aren’t going to protect me, then I’m fair game, and there’s no way that I want to give them that information.

  In the end, it doesn’t matter.

  They know more about me than I know about them or even myself. I don’t realize what Luca is about to do until it’s already too late and his lips are crushing mine. This is not how I wanted my first kiss to go, and I try to pull back from him, but he keeps his arm wrapped tightly around my body, pinning me in place.

  Planting my hands on his chest, I push him away, but he doesn’t budge. It’s pure muscle twisting under my hands and, without thinking, I dig my nails in, gripping him as tightly as he is holding me. He forces my mouth open with his and his tongue slips in between my teeth, tasting me.

  I should clamp my teeth down on him. I know that I should do something, should push him away, but my body is betraying me and I can’t help but like it. He’s so strong and warm, and even though I know that he doesn’t really care about me, my core is wound tight and I’m getting wet in his arms.

  Before I know what he’s doing, he’s pulled back a little and he suddenly bites my lower lip, his sharp teeth cutting straight through the thin skin. Yelping, I try to jump back, but his hands and his mouth are too strong.