Cruel Devils

by Mae Doyle

  “You were up to something fucky, Kiera, and it wasn’t that you wanted to get fucked.” Roughly, he grabs my arm and drags me down the hall. “You and I are going to watch the lacrosse game together, and you better fucking hope that nothing bad happens to the rest of the devils, you understand?”

  Oh, I understand.

  I understand that I’m fucked.

  Chapter 19

  The bleachers are crowded, and there’s no shortage of strange looks being thrown at us when Asher and I sit down. He still hasn’t let go of my arm, and he pulls me close enough to him that our hips and our thighs are pressing into each other.

  It would be dreamy if I weren’t so afraid of him figuring out exactly what I was doing in the locker room.

  “You ever been to a lacrosse game?” Asher asks, tearing his eyes away from the field long enough to look at me.

  I shake my head. “We didn’t have lacrosse at my school, but we did have football, and I get the feeling that they’re similar, right?”

  When he scoffs at me, I can’t help but smile. After a pause, he launches into a monologue about how the two sports are different and why lacrosse is the better option out of the two, not only to play, but also to watch.

  As he talks, I look around for Sophia. She knew that I’d wanted to come to the game tonight, and even though she thought that it was crazy, she’d promised me that she’d be here with me. I don’t see her, though, and as the stands fill up, I get the feeling that she may have looked for me and left.

  Too bad I can’t dig in my backpack for my phone. If I do, though, I’m afraid that Asher may see the empty bottle in there. He’s smarter than I gave him credit for at first, and I don’t want him to figure out what I was doing in the locker room.

  He’s quiet, and I realize with a start that he’s staring at me. Even though the crowd around us is loud, it’s easy for me to pick up on his silence. “Did you say something?” I ask, getting the distinct feeling that he’s about to be really frustrated with me.

  “I asked if there was anything you wanted to confess before the team came out here.”

  Slowly, I shake my head. I keep wondering if it would be better to come clean to him and get the other three devils out of their uniforms before they start to itch or just let things play out, but I can’t come up with the right answer.

  No matter what I do, I’m in trouble. Asher’s only acting like we’re friends and that everything is okay. It’s easy for me to tell that he’s only playing with me, like a cat and a mouse.

  “Then let’s watch the game.” He turns away from me and locks his eyes on the field, but never lets go of me. After a while, he shifts his arm to around my shoulders and pulls me close so that I can’t get away.

  The entire time the players are running around the field, I’m searching the three devils for signs of distress. None of them look worried or bothered, and I’m beginning to think that maybe I didn’t follow the instructions correctly, or maybe some of the ingredients were old.

  The bleachers are all padded and have backs, and I try to relax. Surely, if something bad were going to happen, it would have happened by now, right?

  But the devils all look fine.

  I breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t want to fail, but if Asher is going to know what I was up to, then now is a good time for my plan to fall apart. In fact, if nothing bad is going to happen, then maybe I can actually enjoy myself and the game.

  Grinning to myself, I settle back, even enjoying the weight of Asher’s arm around my shoulders. He glances over at me, but doesn’t say anything. There’s nothing to say. We’re just enjoying the lacrosse game together. It’s an uneasy truce, but one that I appreciate anyway.

  Until it’s no longer a truce.

  Asher spots the problem before I do and lets out a low chuckle. “What the fuck is going on with Luca?”

  Terror streaks through me and I search the field until I see him. Luca’s running after the player with the ball, but he keeps reaching across his chest and scratching himself. As we watch, he stands still in the middle of the field and starts to frantically scratch not only his chest, but also his arms, his legs, and his neck.

  He whips off his helmet and throws it to the ground, where it bounces once and then rests in the grass. Even from here, we can see that he has wide eyes and huge welts appearing on his face.

  Shit. I put a lot of the powder in their helmets, but I didn’t think that it would cause such a violent reaction on their skin. But what about Caspian and Parker?

  At first, I don’t see them. They’re off in the corner of the field, talking to each other, but suddenly, they both rip off their helmets too. The game is still going on around them and the coach is screaming so hard I’m sure that he’s going to have a heart attack, but none of the devils listen to him.

  They’re all scratching like it’s going to save them. I’m grinning from ear to ear without realizing it when suddenly Asher’s arm tightens around my shoulders.

  “What the fuck did you do, Kiera?” He turns to me his face dark. “What the fuck did you do to them? Did you do it to me, too? Is that shit in my uniform?” He kicks his gym bag and sends it spinning away down the bleachers, but he still doesn’t let go of me.

  Swallowing hard, I shrug. “I don’t know what’s going on out there. Looks like they got into a nest of something or maybe they need to use a new detergent when washing their uniforms.”

  He doesn’t believe me, because he’d have to be stupid to think that I was telling the truth. With a growl, he takes me by the hand and grabs his gym bag, dragging me along with him as he practically runs to the field. I can barely keep up in my stupid heels, but I’m more worried right now about what he’s going to do to me than about breaking an ankle.

  “What the fuck did you do?” I can hear him yelling at me as he drags me along behind him. We reach the fence surrounding the field, but he doesn’t pause. Instead, he lifts the latch and pushes through the gate even though the game is technically still going on.

  The other team scores and the visiting crowd cheers, the sound pressing in on me. I don’t think that I can breathe. I shouldn’t have done this, but I had to stand up to them. Now, though, knowing that the truth is all about to come out, I’m scared.

  I haven’t been this scared since the night my parents were murdered.

  Someone blows a whistle as Asher drams me onto the field, but he still doesn’t slow down. The other players stop and stare at us as we cut through the field to where Luca is standing, still scratching, a look of panic on his face.

  “You gotta shower!” Asher has no way of knowing for sure what I’ve put in their uniforms, but he’s not stupid, and he can tell as easily as I can that the devils have to get out of their clothes as quickly as possible to get this off their skin. “You need to shower, Luca, and get clean! There’s something in your uniform!”

  “No shit.” Luca’s eyes are practically bugging out of his head as he scratches. “Who the fuck did this?”

  As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he turns and looks at me. Before, when he kissed and bit me, I could tell that he wanted to hurt me. He wanted to feel me squirm and take power from me, and he did just that.

  But now? Now I have the distinct feeling that he wants to kill me. Asher’s threatened it before, but now it may actually happen.

  “Her?” Luca stares at me, his need for scratching apparently forgotten for the moment as he glares.

  “Just shower and change,” Asher snaps at him, pulling me with him to go talk to the other devils.

  We don’t make it. The coach rushes at us, his face bright red with rage, his whistle hanging from his mouth as he blows on it, cutting through the crowd of players and pushing his way until he skids to a spot right in front of us.

  “What the holy fuck is going on out here? Did you do something to them? Did you fucking do something, Asher?” When I finally pluck up the courage to look at him, I can see a vein throbbing on the side of his head.


  Holy shit. I knew that the itching powder would cause a stir, but I honestly didn’t think that it would be this big of a deal. Without thinking, I try to take a step back to get away from the coach, but Asher holds my hand tight and doesn’t let me go.

  “I don’t know what the hell happened,” he tells the coach, lifting his chin and looking him straight in the eye. “You know as well as I do that I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the team.”

  I’m terrified that the coach is going to turn his rage on me, but he only has eyes for Asher right now. I guess that I should be grateful about that, but I can’t help but feel like this is all going to blow up in my face later.

  “Off the team. You’re off. Fuck, Asher. Fuck!” Before Asher can say anything, the coach whirls around and stalks over to the side of the field, presumably to talk to Caspian and Parker, who are still dancing around and scratching at themselves like their lives depend on it.

  Asher’s grip on my hand is so tight that I’m starting to lose feeling in my fingers. Although I don’t want to draw his attention to me, we have to get out of here. I have to get him to let go of me. All I want to do is crawl into my bed and hide out from what’s going to happen.

  “Asher – ” I begin, but he whirls around, cutting me off.

  “I swear to you, Kiera, this isn’t over, and I never want to hear you say my name again, do you understand? Keep my name out of that filthy trash mouth of yours or I will make you regret that you know how to speak.” His eyes travel up my body and he lets go of my hand long enough to reach out and caress my throat. “I will make you regret all of this.”

  Gasping at his touch, I take a step back, but this time he lets me go. He must know that he can’t do anything to me here, not in front of everyone. His fists are clenched at his side and he whirls around, stomping off the field, presumably to go find the other devils.

  To decide what they’re going to do about me.

  I stay frozen for a moment, but then I turn and run off the field as fast as I can without slipping and falling in my heels. It isn’t until I’m in my room, the door locked, the lights off, that I feel like I can stop and breathe.

  I fucked up. Whatever they’re going to do to me, I’ve brought it on myself. As much as I wish that I could blame another person for the absolute shit I’m going to have to deal with, it’s just me.

  Under my blankets, hidden away from everyone, I start to cry. My phone is still in my backpack, and I know that I should check it to see if Sophia ever tried to get in touch with me, but I can’t handle any more. It’s too much.

  Meyer’s Grove is too much.

  I wanted so badly to fight to keep my spot here and prove to everyone that I deserved it and I could handle it, but I don’t want that any longer. I want to go home, but the realization that I don’t have a home to go to anymore just makes me cry harder.

  Chapter 20

  Nothing feels better this morning. I woke up hoping that the past few weeks were just a nightmare, but the full reality hits me over the head.

  I’m the reason that Asher is kicked off of the lacrosse team, and there’s no way that I can think he’s going to forgive me for that.

  I’m not sure what he and the other devils are going to do to me, but I have a very good feeling that I’m not going to want to find out.

  And I haven’t even begun to unpack how I feel about the four of them. Groaning, I roll over, pulling my pillow over my head. My bed is huge, but when I kick out to turn, my foot hits something.

  Immediately I gasp, sitting up and pulling the covers up to my chest. I love sleeping in a plain t-shirt, but since Aunt Serafina took all of my old clothes from me, I’ve been sleeping in a tight tank top. It’s still dark in my room, and I lean over to turn on the lamp.

  Something’s on my bed.

  Or in it.

  The thought makes my heart pound in my chest, and I have the terrible feeling that I’ve somehow managed to summon the devils just by thinking about them. When the light clicks on, I blink, trying to clear the sleep from my eyes.

  “Oh, good morning, Kiera. I thought that you wouldn’t ever wake up.”

  Even though I can’t see him very well, I know Asher’s voice. My body responds like it always does, with my core heating, but I’m also terrified. I never heard him come in. How the hell did he get into my room – into my bed – last night without me knowing about it?

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I’m defenseless against him. All that’s standing between the two of us are a few layers of fabric, but to my surprise, he doesn’t move to touch me. My heart pounds so hard that I’m sure he can see it through the thin fabric of my tank top, but his eyes are locked, surprisingly, on my face.

  “You fucked up.” I would think that he was bored if it weren’t for the way his eyes skate over my body. His voice sounds flat and I get the feeling that he’s more upset than he’s letting on. “You screwed me over, you know that, Kiera? And I didn’t even get to enjoy it.”

  Thinking back, I remember how happy he and the other devils looked in the Meyer’s Park brochure I’d seen at my aunt and uncle’s. None of them had had a care in the world when that photo was taken, but now everything’s changed. For the first time since I met him, Asher looks totally destroyed.

  I wanted to take him down a notch, hell, I wanted to hurt them all, but I didn’t know what it would feel like when I was actually able to crush them. I had no idea that I would actually care about any of them, but that’s what’s going on right now.

  “I didn’t mean for you to get kicked off the team.” My voice is quiet, but the room is silent except for our breathing, so I know he can hear me. “I just wanted you and the other devils to back off a little. I needed you four to leave me alone. I can’t…I can’t leave here. And I certainly can’t beg my aunt and uncle to take me back, not after what I just learned.”

  There’s no way that I want to think about what the two of them did to my parents. I can’t fathom hiring someone to kill anyone, but especially not your family. If what Sophia told me is true, though, then that’s exactly what happened.

  I swallow hard and reach out for him. His arm is thrown carelessly over the top of the blankets, and he doesn’t flinch or pull away when I touch him. Lightly, I trail my fingertips up his arm, enjoying how warm his skin is.

  He’s just a guy. He’s just like me, totally fucked over by forces outside of his control.

  “I’m sorry, Asher.”

  What the hell? I can’t believe that I’m apologizing to this asshole, but he looks so upset. There’s a good chance that Asher Reed isn’t a terrible person. As I watch, a tear slides down his cheek, but he doesn’t move to brush it away.

  “I know why you did it,” he says finally, pulling his hand away from my touch and sitting up. My sheets slide down, exposing his perfect chest and stomach, and I have to tear my eyes away from his muscles. How long did he have to spend in the gym to make sure that he had that perfect V leading down his torso? And what would it be like to run my hands across his stomach?

  Before I’m able to let myself think anymore about that, though, he keeps talking.

  “You did it because you didn’t have a choice.” He sounds like he’s talking as much to himself as he is to me, but I keep my mouth shut and just listen. There’s no way that I’m going to interrupt him now, not when I think that I may finally get some answers.

  “I would have done the same thing. We all do fucked up shit when we don’t have a choice. That’s what this is, Kiera. None of us have a choice, have you figured that out yet? We have to do what we’re doing so that we can survive. All of us are pawns, that’s all we are, and then you had to come and ruin everything.”

  “I ruined everything?” Even though I’d promised myself that I would stay silent and let Asher speak, this is just too much for me to handle. “I didn’t do a damn thing, Asher. In case you don’t remember, I wouldn’t be here if someone hadn’t murdered my parents.” My voice is getting higher
and louder, but Meyer’s Grove made sure to make the walls between rooms nice and thick. There’s no way that anyone is going to hear us, no matter how loud we get.

  “Yeah, and we all know who was behind that, don’t we?” As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he clamps his lips shut.

  Pain courses through me. It was one thing to hear Sophia tell me that my aunt and uncle are the reason that my parents are dead, but something completely different to hear it from Asher. If it were just one of them telling me this, then I wouldn’t believe them.

  But two of them?

  I can’t help the sob that bursts from me. “I don’t know how this happened! I didn’t want any of this. You don’t understand. None of you do! This isn’t what I wanted and now I’m here, stuck here, at Meyer’s Grove, and it’s basically my hell and there’s nothing that I can do to get away because the people who sent me here are the ones who killed my parents!”

  Throwing back the covers, I jump out of bed, ignoring the fact that I’m in boy shorts and my tank top. “And now you,” I continue, pointing at Asher, who still hasn’t moved, “broke into my room and had the audacity to get into my bed! What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you even here? What do you want from me?”

  My voice is getting higher and higher, but to his credit, Asher doesn’t move. After a moment, he opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but then snaps his jaw shut, obviously thinking better of it.

  “What?” I’m irritated, and he still hasn’t gotten out of my bed. “What were you going to say? You want to tell me the reason you broke into my room? You want to tell me what the hell you’re doing in my bed? Speak up, Asher, I’m all ears.”

  Instead of answering me, however, he flips back the covers and gets out of bed. He must have stripped down before he climbed in with me last night, because he slowly pulls on his pants and then yanks a shirt on over his head. The entire time, eh doesn’t say anything, and I can’t help but stare.

  “You don’t need me here.” To my surprise, he sits on the edge of my bed and pulls on his shoes without saying anything else.