Savage Royals

by Callie Rose

  It’s also amazing how even when you think you’ve got a handle on things, even after weeks of keeping it together, the tiniest nudge can push you right back over the edge.

  I pulled on my locker door so hard the entire bank of lockers rattled, and Sable, one of Adena’s best friends, turned to glare at me from a few yards down the hall.

  “Hey, watch it, white trash! Some of us are trying to get our shit here.”

  I clenched my jaw, ignoring her as I gave the locker door another vicious tug. Someone, somehow, had managed to wedge the fucking thing closed, and all my notes for the English Lit test on Monday were inside.

  At least, I hoped they were.

  If someone had fucked with my locker again, who the hell knew whether my notes would still even be there, or whether they’d be intact even if they were?

  My phone rang in my backpack, but I ignored it. I’d forgotten to put it on silent for class, though it hardly mattered—not a lot of people called me.

  Frustration building inside me like hot steam, I pounded my fist against the blue metal door, and Sable turned to me, a sneer twisting her darkly painted lips.

  “Jesus, give it up, you freak,” she hissed. “It’s not gonna fucking open.”

  She shoved past me, clipping me hard with her shoulder so I slammed back into the lockers again, involuntarily this time. Whirling, I pounded my fist hard against the blue door, tears I’d been holding in since I arrived at Oak Park six weeks ago burning my eyes.

  Why the fuck couldn’t I do one stupid, simple thing without people trying to ruin it?

  Why hadn’t they gotten bored by now? Moved on to someone else?

  “Miss Hildebrand.” Mr. Holmes stuck his head out of the classroom across the hall, pursing his lips. “You’re disturbing my entire class. If your locker is broken, speak to someone in the office. They’ll have maintenance come look at it.”

  He nodded decisively and closed the door again, as if he’d just imparted some earth shattering pearl of wisdom.

  Resting my head against the locker door, I closed my eyes, breathing deep and trying not to lose my last shred of sanity.

  “Locker trouble?”

  Mason’s soft tone met my ear from only a few feet away, but I was too tired, too pissed off and exhausted, to bother moving away from him.

  “You know,” he continued thoughtfully, “maybe it’s just that poor girls from Idaho aren’t supposed to be all that well-read.”

  Of course. He did this.

  Well, probably not him. One of his fucking minions. But he was in my English Lit class. He knew how hard the test was supposed to be—knew how badly I needed those notes.

  “What do you want, Mason?”

  I refused to look at him, not even when he stepped closer, the warmth of his body seeping into mine. From the corner of my eye, I could see that he’d taken off his blazer and had the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up over his forearms.

  He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the locker next to me. “It doesn’t have to be like this you know, Idaho. You could always just leave.”

  Before I could stop myself, my head turned sharply, my gaze flicking to him. “Is that what you want?”

  Our faces were close, and his striking green eyes were surprisingly open as he stared back at me.

  “I want you to know,” he murmured under his breath, as if it were a secret only the two of us shared, “that as long as you’re here, it will always be like this.”

  My cell rang again, and I jerked in surprise at the sound. Tearing my gaze away from Mason, I dug the phone out of my backpack and swiped the screen without even looking at it, then pressed it to my ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Talia. You’re out of breath. Have you been running?”

  My grandmother’s polished voice filled my ears, the tone mildly disapproving, as if I’d better not dare answer “yes”.

  It was the first time she’d called me since I’d started at Oak Park, and a twinge of nerves twisted my stomach. I’d gotten used to the radio silence, and hearing from her now made me feel like some terrible other shoe was about to drop.

  I pressed away from the lockers, leaving Mason and my hostage notes behind. “Hey, Jacqueline. No, I was just… um… having a little trouble with my locker.”

  “Well, tell one of the staff members. They have people there to take care of things like that. Whatever the problem is, they’ll fix it for you.”

  Jesus. Adults.

  Was life really that much easier when you got older, or did they just like to pretend it was?

  “That’s a… good idea. I’ll do that.” I glanced over my shoulder surreptitiously to see Mason watching me with glittering eyes, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was eavesdropping on my conversation.

  Jacqueline sighed. “The reason I called is to see what you’re doing this weekend. I—we—would like to invite you to come back to the house and spend it with us.”

  I pursed my lips, stalling for a second as I considered her offer. Honestly, I didn’t want to go back to that cold, empty house. On the other hand, I didn’t have any good reason to say “no”. And I wouldn’t be able to start studying for my test until the maintenance guy fixed my locker anyway.

  But what finally made my decision for me was the pair of icy green eyes that tracked my every movement. Eyes I needed an escape from, no matter how temporary.

  “Sure, Jacqueline. That sounds great.”

  “Are you sure you have to go?” Leah asked for the billionth time as she leaned on the hood of my car. “I was going to suggest a crazy, almost irresponsible level of shopping and then horror movies until we feel like puking.”

  I laughed. “What is wrong with you? And you call me the weird one.”

  She groaned. “I’m being abandoned on this boring-ass campus for the weekend. I’m allowed to be weird.”

  I finished stuffing my bags into the car and walked around it before I poked Leah in the ribs. She swatted my hand away, and I chuckled. I’d stopped by the admin offices and reported the problem with my locker, so hopefully by the time I got back on Sunday, it’d be fixed. That would give me all Sunday night to cram for the test.

  “Next weekend. Shopping and movies,” I promised. “And we’ll study, which I desperately need to do.”

  “Deal.” She perked up, tucking her auburn hair behind her ears.

  She waved as I slid into the car and sped off. The pink monstrosity looked mostly back to normal, although there were smudges of color where I hadn’t been able to completely remove the graffiti. Hopefully my grandparents wouldn’t notice.

  When I pulled up outside the massive mansion, an older man emerged from the front door and took my keys from me before bringing my car around to the private garage.

  I walked inside to find Jacqueline in the study with Philip. He was behind the desk, bent over some paperwork, while she sat in a chair opposite him. She didn’t have a book or anything, and I wondered if maybe they’d been talking before I arrived. They certainly weren’t when I walked in.

  A crystal glass of whiskey sat in front of him, just like before. When I knocked softly on the doorframe and entered, he nodded, but that was about all I got in the way of a greeting from him. I nodded back.

  “Ah, Talia. Why don’t we go out to the garden?” Jacqueline rose and sauntered toward me.

  She wore a pale green dress that made it look like she was about to go out for the evening, though I doubted she was. I think she just likes to look like that all the time. She followed me as we left the study, and I got the feeling she was herding me out because Philip didn’t want to deal with me. When we reached the garden, we settled into two comfortable chairs that faced the ocean. The smell of saltwater and the sound of the waves relaxed me, making me glad for the first time that I’d agreed to come.

  “How’s school?” Jacqueline asked.

  I shrugged. “Not bad. The classes are a little hard, but I’m studying.”

  �
��Don’t shrug. Such a noncommittal gesture.” She looked out toward the water. “And are you getting along with everyone?”

  I dropped my shoulders, frowning. “Um… pretty much. I mean, there are some people who don’t seem to like me all that well, but it’s fine.”

  “Like who?”

  “Oh, it’s no big deal,” I said evasively, tucking my feet under me on the large chair.

  “Talia.” Her voice was firm. “I’m not going to ask again. Clearly, there’s something going on. So spit it out.”

  “It’s nothing,” I insisted, hating that I’d let anything slip. Jacqueline wasn’t the kind of person I wanted to have a heart-to-heart with about this. “It’s just that… some of the kids at Oak Park don’t like me all that much. I guess because I’m poor.”

  “You were poor,” she interjected. “Not anymore.”

  I nodded. “Right, was poor. They don’t want me at the school though. It’s these four boys called the Princes. They just like to tease me and push me around sometimes. It’s okay.”

  “The Princes.” She rolled the word around in her mouth, looking vaguely disgusted. “Those boys are just as much trouble as they’ve always been then.”

  I blinked. “You know them?”

  “I know their families.”

  My eyes widened. “Like, you know of them or you know them personally?”

  “Personally.” Her gaze cut to me, her brows drawing together. “Roseland is a small community, Talia. You’ll find that everyone important knows everyone else here.”

  “What do you know about them?” I asked, leaning forward slightly.

  I couldn’t help myself. I knew I shouldn’t care about the Princes after the way they’d treated me, but my pulse jumped at the chance to find out more about them. Maybe if I did, I could figure out how to fight back against them. Figure out why they hated me so much in the first place.

  “They’re the oldest sons of the Whittaker, Mercer, Prescott, and Van Buren families. The Prescotts are the wealthiest family in Roseland, and they’ve been grooming Elijah to take over as their heir since he was a baby.”

  Made sense. He seemed like he’d been made for this life, like a thoroughbred that existed for one purpose only.

  “Edward Van Buren has had some financial difficulties in the past—I think losing his wife hit him hard—but he’s doing well now. Mason will inherit a large empire.”

  My hand curled into a fist at my stomach as I blinked at her. Mason’s mom is dead?

  I hadn’t known that.

  Which wasn’t surprising, really. We weren’t exactly having long, involved conversations.

  Jacqueline waved a hand, as if growing bored with this topic. “They’re all being raised to take over their families’ businesses and holdings. A child is a legacy, and they’ll continue theirs through that bloodline.” Then she sighed, her voice softening. “It’s a great thing, to be able to pass down what you’ve worked so hard to build and to know it will continue even after you’re gone.”

  She cleared her throat, and for the first time all afternoon, I saw real emotion in her face. She quickly brushed a finger across her cheek, turning to face the ocean again. I got the distinct feeling she’d wiped away a tear, and pity swelled in my chest. No matter what had happened to drive them apart, my mom had been her daughter. Maybe Jacqueline had cared about her, had missed her when she left. She just hid it better than most.

  “So, they’re all just waiting around to become rich?” I asked after a moment of silence.

  “More rich,” she offered with an arched brow. “The legacies they have waiting for them will give them wealth, power, and vast opportunities. If Charlotte were still here, she would have been given the same.”

  She didn’t mention it, but I could hear her unspoken words. Now that my mom wasn’t here anymore, I was the last part of the Hildebrand legacy—including all the good and bad that came with it.

  I leaned back in my chair, considering what she’d just told me.

  Jesus. No wonder the Princes are so controlling and cruel already. They’ll probably be a thousand times worse once they graduate.

  I wanted to push her for more information, but if I asked any more questions, it would make my intense interest too obvious. I’d brushed off the bullying, making it sound like nothing, and I didn’t want to give her any reason to circle back to that topic.

  We made lame conversation about safe subjects like the weather and the architecture of the house, then ate dinner in silence.

  By the time I left on Sunday, I’d learned more about my tormentors than about my two last living relatives in the world.

  Chapter 10

  It was almost a relief to make the thirty-minute drive back to campus on Sunday morning. Staying at my grandparents’ house had never gotten any easier. I still felt like an outsider there. Philip only acknowledged me when he had to, he and Jacqueline barely spoke, and her calm, cool mask was essentially impenetrable.

  After driving through the black gates, I parked in the student lot and climbed out before snagging my bags from the back seat. Then I shrugged my backpack and overnight bag over my shoulders and made a beeline for Craydon Hall, praying my locker had been fixed over the weekend.

  The building was mostly empty, thank God, and I breathed a shuddery sigh of relief when I pulled on my locker door and it swung wide open, revealing my precious notes inside. I scooped them up, cradling them to my chest as I slammed the door shut and bolted down the hallway. There was only one night left for me to study for the English Lit test, and if I didn’t start cramming soon, I was worried I’d fail.

  As I turned a corner, planning to cut through Hammond Hall, I plowed into someone hard. We were both thrown off balance from the force of the impact, and my notes scattered over the floor.

  I looked up, about to apologize, but the words died in my throat when I saw who it was.

  “Watch where the hell you’re going, bitch,” Adena snapped.

  “I didn’t see you,” I muttered, dropping to my knees to gather my shit.

  “Clearly.” She crossed her arms over her chest, angling her head to look down at me. “Is that because your head is up your ass?”

  I sighed. “I’m just trying to get to my dorm.”

  Adena moved closer, her fat feet stepping on a pile of my notes. Her face twisted with gleeful malice when she noticed my frown, and she twisted on her heels, scuffing up the papers and tearing them raggedly.

  “Jesus!” I leapt to my feet and shoved her, hard. “Get the fuck off those!”

  She stumbled back a few steps, and when her blue eyes snapped to mine, they were narrowed to slits. She bared her teeth like an animal about to attack, her whole body shaking.

  “I know what you’re trying to do here, slut,” she hissed. “And it won’t fucking work. Why don’t you pack up your crap and go back to the middle of nowhere where you belong?”

  I snatched up my remaining notes and clutched them in my fist in a crumpled up wad, my body tense and alert in case she decided to bum rush me or something.

  “All I’m trying to do is go to school,” I said in a low, shaky voice. “If you’d leave me the hell alone, we wouldn’t have any problem. I haven’t done shit to you, and you know it.”

  She huffed a laugh, a cruel smirk tilting her lips. “Oh, honey. It’s not me I’m worried about. I can take care of myself. But you better believe I’ll defend what’s mine.”

  Then kicked at my notes one more time, flipped her long, straight hair over her shoulder and stalked away, leaving me staring after her.

  What the hell? I knew I shouldn’t have pushed her back, but she’d pissed me off. What had I done wrong? Walk to my dorm? God, she’s the fucking worst.

  I quickly retreated to my room and dumped my things before I flopped onto my bed, doing my best to smooth out the crumpled, torn pages Adena had stepped on. They were salvageable, but barely.

  When I had everything straightened out, I yanked my phone out of my back
pack and tapped Leah’s contact.

  “He-ey!” she sang. “What are you doing, loser?”

  “Dying,” I muttered. “What are you doing?”

  “Studying. I’m seriously buried in fucking poli sci notes. There was a party on Friday, and I was so hung over I hardly got anything done yesterday.”

  “Wanna meet up and study? We can use the Wastelands common room.”

  “Sure,” she chirped. “Be over in ten.”

  I gathered up my stuff and headed down to the common room. Maggie hung out here a lot during the week, but she went home every weekend and didn’t usually get back till late on Sunday. She had a family that actually loved her and wanted her around—a concept that was so foreign to me, I never knew what to say when she talked about them.

  Thirty minutes later, because Leah was never on time for anything, the two of us were sprawled out on the large couches, notes and books spread around us.

  “So, how was your grandparent’s house?” she asked as she flipped through a massive political science textbook.

  “Weird,” I answered honestly. “My grandma apparently knows the Princes’ parents, but I can’t tell how much she likes them. Plus, she and my grandpa act like they’re practically strangers, and I really don’t think he wanted me there at all. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad to be back at Oak Park.”

  “Damn!” She laughed. “Must’ve been pretty bad then. Unless you’re actually starting to like this place?”

  “Not likely.” I rolled my eyes. “The Princes still fucking hate me, and Adena’s out for my blood. As soon as I got back, the first thing she did was threaten me and talk shit. What the hell is her problem?”

  “Oooh, I think I might know. At the party on Friday, I saw her and Mason get into a huge fight.” Leah sat up, abandoning her book.

  “What? Why? What was it about?”

  She arched a brow at me. “Calm down, overeager. I have no idea. They were yelling at each other out by the pool. A bunch of us were inside watching them, but I wasn’t about to step out there and risk getting fried by her laser beam eyes. Forget that.”