by J Bree
I don’t lock the door, too flustered and angry, and I strip off to climb into the shower, shoving my head under the hot water. If I could drown myself here I probably fucking would, just to get away from having to face everyone knowing all of the little broken parts of me. Having the general and vague details aired was bad enough, having the torture logs written out by the Jackal is just fucking bad.
When I’ve finally found enough energy to wash my hair and I’m rising it out, I hear the bathroom door open and try not to sigh. I expect it to be Avery or Harley, maybe Ash if he’s angry enough at what he’s found, but instead Blaise hops up to sit on the bathroom countertop, his phone in one hand and our shared iPod in the other.
I raise an eyebrow at him and he grins at me lasciviously. “Harley and Ash have gone down to the gym to beat on each other. Avery needs a break from us all so she decided to go to her dance class after all.”
I snort at him and shut the water off, grabbing my towel and stepping out. His eyes drop down to my wet naked body and I roll my eyes at him. “So the file scared them all off? Why aren’t you running away from my damage?”
He tugs the towel away from me, stopping me from drying off, and then grabs my hips to pull me into his chest. “They’re not scared. They’re trying to distract themselves from running down to the Bay and killing the Jackal today, now, for what he’s done. You never told me it was that bad, Star. You never told me he was torturing you.”
His voice is steady enough but the look in his eyes makes me want to die. Even my nakedness can’t distract him.
“And why aren’t you trying to go avenge me then?”
He strokes my hair back with his colorful hands, the stars moving and flexing on his fingers like they’re alive. “I don’t need to avenge you. I need to follow you down to the Jackal’s fucked up den then watch you slit his throat until he chokes to death on his own blood. I need to watch you get your justice, and your freedom, because it’s not mine to take away from you.”
My heart flutters in my chest. “What if I don’t want to kill him? What if… I can’t?”
His smirk is like a knife’s edge. “Then I’ll love every second of doing it for you, Star. I’ve never slit a man’s throat before, I’d be pretty fucking happy with him being my first.”
We enjoy the room to ourselves for the rest of the day.
Blaise bitches me out for being so far ahead in our classwork but still being so fucking terrified of being left behind. I bitch him out for slacking when really, he’s been doing fucking amazingly. We talk about his mother, just a little, and I try my best to not get all stabby about it.
Blaise rolls his eyes at the faces I pull. “At least she’s left the dickhead. If she really didn’t care about me then she would have just fucking stayed with him and I’d never have met Blaire.”
I swallow the giant gulp of coffee I take to try to stop myself from having to answer but he just raises an eyebrow at me like a dick.
“She’s a shit mother. If she cared, she would have left him the second she realised he didn’t really love you, just the idea of a son to follow in his footsteps.” I mumble, shifting the pages around on my bed again and avoiding his eyes. Fuck me, I hate all of this emotional talk and who the hell was I to give my opinions on mothers? I mean, mine didn’t give a fuck about me my entire fucking life.
I guess that made me an expert on shit mothering.
“I don’t care about me. I care about my brother. She got him out, she got him away. That’s what Alice and Iris were both trying to do for the others, they were good moms.”
Fuck.
We’re so fucked that our only yardstick for good parenting are the two dead women. Killed by fucking psychopaths. I feel like that doesn’t bode well.
“Well, I care about you and what your mother does to you. I care a whole fucking lot.” I mutter, still looking at the pages and trying desperately to get the fuck off of this topic.
Blaise snatches the page away from me and grins when I glare at him. “Star, you fucking love me. You told me months ago. You’re in love with me and my dick.”
Sweet merciful lord.
“I’m too emotionally damaged to comment on that. If you’re not going to fucking help me with the information then you need to quit talking.” I snap, blushing and fumbling over my words like an idiot.
He grins at me. “You’ve already told me; no taking that back now, Star.”
By the time the others arrive back for dinner, Ash and Harley have beaten each other to a bloody pulp and Avery is wincing as she moves, having pushed herself too hard and too far.
I feel just a little fucking guilty but I’m smart enough not to try to apologize. There’s only so many times I can get snapped at by my family before I learn my lesson.
I fall asleep in Blaise’s arms and wake later to Harley climbing in, grumpy and huffing from attempting to sleep alone. I lay there, listening to the all too familiar sounds of my guys sleeping, and I thank the fucking stars I have them.
And I obsessively plan how I’m going to keep my family safe.
No matter the cost.
Chapter Thirteen
My phone wakes me with a text message, which is never a good sign.
Harley wakes as well, grunting and pulling me into his body tighter until Blaise groans in his sleep and rolls away from us both. He’s always been the precious one about sleep and I huff at him.
I climb over Harley to grab my phone, my gut clenching when I see the Jackal’s number and photos waiting for me. Harley sits up and moves me to sit in his lap, then I click on the photos.
Fuck.
“Aves. We have a problem.” I croak, and she startles awake.
She sits up and flicks the light on, straight into cleanup mode. We all ignore Blaise’s complaints and I send her a copy of the photos. The photos of tongues impaled on the ornate spikes of Hannaford’s wrought iron fence.
There’s at least eighty.
“What the fuck is he playing at? The cops are going to be crawling up our asses in no time and that’s not good for any of us, for fuck’s sake.” Harley snaps, and I get up to start pulling clothes on. I flick a text to Ash, the only person in the other room because he’s a grumpy shit, and then I slip my knife into my pocket. Harley starts to rummage around for clothes as well, no chance of me doing this alone.
I find my Docs and shove my feet in them as Blaise sits up, rubbing his eyes and glaring at us all. I ignore him and say to Avery, “Can you keep the administration away for long enough that I can clean up the… evidence? I’ll call Illi for a pick up and we can figure out what to do about this.”
She nods, her eyes never leaving her phone as her fingers fly across the screen, and then curses under her breath. Her eyes flash as she looks up at me. “Someone has already called the cops. They’re down at the fence already. The Jackal must have waited for them to come in before sending you the photos.”
I groan as the door unlocks and Ash comes storming in, dressed and deliciously sleep rumpled. He makes a beeline to the coffee machine without acknowledging any of us and I feel the same damn way. Gimme some caffeine to deal with this bullshit.
“Why the fuck would he call the cops? Surely someone has to notice a hundred guys walking around with no tongues. Or a hundred dead bodies.” Harley snaps.
I shrug. “He has the Bear on his side. He can dispose of that many bodies all at once easily so there won’t be any evidence for the cops to find. The problem is that they’re going to be hanging around here, questioning everyone, and we don’t know how many of them are dirty and in Senior’s pocket. The two threats are fucking blending together, just like they want them to.”
Avery nods but doesn’t look up from her phone. “Call Illi. Tell him, and I’ll speak to Atticus. We’ll make sure we’re protected before the cops get here.”
I step into the bathroom to call the Butcher so I can hear him over Harley’s bitching. I glance at the clock to find it’s only 5am. Fuck this.
<
br /> “Kid, just because you don’t sleep, doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t need our eight hours.” He snarks and I snort at him.
“Eight? Fuck, I wish I got eight. We’ve had a visit from our friend. He’s cleaned house to make sure he doesn’t have any more snitches, then called it in with the pigs. We’re going to be put into lockdown, possible interference from the serial killer. Just another day at Hannaford Prep.”
Illi groans and I hear the rustling of him sitting up in bed, Odie’s murmuring low and soft. My heart does this weird clench thing in my chest at just how freaking close we got to losing her. Again.
Fuck.
“Right. Get the ice queen to wipe your phones and I’ll come have a chat with some old friends I have in the force. Everything will be fine, kid. Just keep your family safe.” He says, and I listen to the rustling sound of him pulling on clothes.
I sigh and rub a hand over my face. “Yeah, I know we’ll get through this but fuck, I’m tired and Illi, I’m… I’m worried about who he’s going to go after next. Get Odie somewhere safe, ok?”
Illi grunts down the phone at me. “Look. No one is touching her. No one is touching you or the rest of the family. We’re fine, stop getting the fucking jitters because he’s going fucking psycho, that’s what he does. We knew it would get bad and his temper tantrums aren’t going to stop us from taking him out. Now hang up and clear your phones. I’ll be there in under an hour.”
I hang up and shove my phone in my pocket, glancing up to find Ash in the doorway with a scowl on his face.
“Did you just get a pep talk from the Butcher? Fuck, we are in trouble.” He sneers, and I roll my eyes at him.
“I’m allowed to feel shitty about this whole… thing, you know. Don’t take your issues out on me, talk to your sister and actually fucking listen to her for once.”
He narrows his eyes at me and grinds his teeth. “Atticus Crawford is a fucking cancer and we need to cut him out now before he gets Avery killed.”
I blow out a breath at him, grabbing a fistful of his shirt to pull him all the way into the bathroom and pulling the door shut behind him.
“Nothing is going to happen to Avery. Not ever, I won’t let my world or yours hurt her but if you don’t pull your fucking head out of your ass she’s going to walk the hell away from you. That’s where this shitty attitude leads, Ash.” I whisper, trying to keep my tone civil but I don’t think I succeed.
He gives me a dark look, one I haven’t seen aimed my way since sophomore year. “She’s not going to walk away, the only way I’m going to lose her is if she’s dead which is exactly where this is going. Atticus is a selfish fucking dickhead, he’s always thought he’s better than what he really is, and if she goes along with him, he’ll get her killed.”
I stare at him for a second and then nod slowly. “Ok. Ok, I’ll do what I can. Just ease up and I’ll do what I can.”
I fucking hate politics.
Especially the family kind.
* * *
Avery has all of our phones wiped before I make it out of the shower. I’d dragged Ash in with me to try to get him in a better mood but by breakfast they’re back at each other's throats. I go back to my default and ignore them completely, and Harley and Blaise seem to be happy enough to do the same.
There are extra men in suits lining the halls and when we walk to our classes we find pigs trawling through the school grounds, taking photos and questioning the Crow’s men. One of them tries to stop Avery to speak to her and at the mere uttering of her name they scatter like mice. I share a look with her; they’ll all be in Senior’s pocket for sure but how much of this little stunt has he hand a hand in?
In our first class of the day we’re told by our teacher to go about our lessons as if there hasn’t been dead body parts left on campus. Half the students in the class look like they’re about to jump out of their seats and run screaming from the room but it’s the other half, the bored half, that holds my interest.
What’s happened in their lives that spiked tongues don’t bother them?
Avery follows my gaze and starts to take note, this could be useful for us and I have no doubt she’ll have a whole new list of filthy rich families under her thumb by the end of the week.
I find myself unable to concentrate for the entire freaking day. Something nags at me and I can't let it go. Something pulling at the back of my memory, and my mind worries over it like an obsessed child until it works it out. It's so frustrating I can't even focus on my classes. Harley notices, he watches me too closely to miss fucking anything, and finally at lunchtime when were in the dining hall together with our family, he snaps.
“What the fuck is going on in your head today? You’re a twitchy mess.”
The whole lot of them stop eating to eye me, Avery frowning and slipping her phone out of her pocket like she’s ready to wage war the second I tell her who’s pissing me off. It’s sweet, a better gesture than any other she could offer me.
I roll my eyes at Harley because I haven’t been that bad. "How did the Jackal know someone had snitched? I can't let it go. The only people we spoke to about it were the Crow and Illi. Illi would never betray us, never, we’re family and he’s all fucking in. But… I don't think the Crow would either. We have a leak and we need to plug it before it gets someone killed.”
Avery's eyes drop down to her phone. My stomach drops, I don’t want to have to tell her she can't message Atticus and ask him about this, but then she places the phone on the table where we can all see it. Harley’s shoulders relax just a little at the show of loyalty to us, her real family.
She ignores him, giving me a curt nod and says, “It has to be one of his men. Atticus wouldn't play these games or go back on his word. That's not who he is, even Ash would agree."
Ash doesn’t notice any part of the conversation except the bit where Avery is defending Atticus and now he looks about ready to murder someone. It’s plain to see that the possible question of his loyalty makes Ash positively giddy with murderous intent. "We didn't know he was the Crow, Floss, what makes you think we know enough about him to say whether or not he would betray us?"
I sigh at him and knock his foot with mine under the table. It's a little hard considering I've got to go around Avery but I make it work. I'm pretty impressed with Avery because she manages to control her own murderous intent, everything except her hand tightening around the handle of her knife. "I know you hate him. He's not my favorite either right now. But can you honestly tell me you think that he would do this?"
Harley cuts in before this turns into a full blown Beaumont Bullshit session, "I agree with the girls, it's gotta be one of the men. The real problem here is we didn't discuss with the Crow what had happened."
And then it hits me like a baseball bat to the back of the head. I stand abruptly and curse viciously under my breath. Everyone else goes on high alert and Avery snatches her phone back into her hand ready to run after me or call for backup.
"Someone's bugged our fucking room.” I grit it out between my clenched teeth.
That gets a reaction.
Avery’s fingers fly over the screen of her phone as stands, walking away from the busy table. Ash snarls and takes off after her, cursing Atticus’s name six ways to freaking Sunday until every eye in the room follows him out the door.
Harley shoves my plate back at me and gives me a glare. “Avery can sort it out, finish your fucking food.”
I glare at him, my food situation isn’t an issue anymore, but Blaise crosses his arms and joins the fight. Fuck’s sake.
I sit and shove a forkful into my mouth, chewing without tasting a goddamn thing. “I need to call the Coyote, he needs to come and upgrade every-fucking-thing. We need our own surveillance in the room too.”
A slow smirk spreads across Blaise's face and a blush starts creeping across mine. I know that smirk. I fucking love it when he gives it to me, but only when we’re alone and certainly not when we’re surrounded by students.
“We should probably make sure Avery isn’t the one monitoring it. She wouldn’t be too happy to find out I bent you over her bed while she was at ballet.”
Fuck.
I do not need to be reminded of that particular memory, not right the fuck here, and not while Harley is sitting there with raised eyebrows and a fucking smirk that mirrors Blaise’s.
“And here I was thinking Avery’s shit was off limits.” He draws, and I steel myself against the shiver that tries to work its way up my spine.
“It is. Blaise just… caught me off guard for a second there. Can we stick to the topic? We have shit going on.”
Blaise shrugs at me, sharing a look with Harley. “There’s always going to be something going on, Star. I’d rather talk about all of the sex tapes we’re about to be making. Can you ask the Coyote to make it a live feed straight to our phones too? That way I can keep tabs and make sure Harley isn’t being a selfish dick.”
Harley scoffs at him and shrugs. “You’ll learn some valuable fucking lessons on how to keep our Mounty satisfied.”
Fuck.
I’m out. I don’t need the two of them to turn this into a competition in the freaking dining hall of all places. I stand and stalk away listening to them both roar with laughter as they follow me out.
Today has been a fucking day.
* * *
After classes end for the day, we head straight to the chapel for the assembly that was called to deal with the aftermath of the Jackal’s visit to Hannaford. There’s an air of sheer, blinding terror amongst the students as we walk into the room together, and I notice there’s a small bubble around us, as if the other students are afraid of bumping into us and losing their heads. Good. Fucking great.
Avery frowns down at her phone and when I move to direct us to our usual seats at the front she stops us, tugging me by our joined arms to one of the bench seats at the back of the room. Harley mumbles something under his breath at her but she ignores him until we’re seated. Ash takes his seat next to me with Blaise on his other side and Harley next to Avery. When Avery cuts me a look my stomach drops.
