by Ruby Vincent
The Knights strode into the room and headed for the dais. As they sat, I stood.
“Let’s go.”
Kane got to his feet and followed me through the double doors. He was my silent shadow as I made one stop at my locker for my bookbag, and then continued on my way.
The door to the Knights’ room was closed, and by a test of the handle, locked. My eyes swept the hallway while I dug around in my backpack. The academy still hadn’t gotten around to putting cameras in the hallway.
More fool them.
I hefted the hammer over my head...
...and brought it down on the lock with all my strength.
The wood splintered as the metal bent. Another hit and the spiderweb of cracks grew. I hit it again and the handle went flying off, skidding across the floor.
I glanced at an expressionless Kane. “Wait out here.”
“I’d like to sweep the room first.”
I didn’t fight him. Shoving my way inside, I leaned against the ruined door while Kane checked the few nooks and crannies for attackers. When he was done, I stepped aside and he closed the door behind him without a word.
The hammer was held tightly between my fist as I descended on the coffee table. Maverick had been a tough one to plan for. He kept to himself. His only close friends were the Knights. He dreamed of taking over his dad’s company, but so did most of the people around here, and he didn’t have any precious items like a violin from his grandfather. The only thing I knew he really cared about was being able to code and build things, and short of breaking his fingers, there was no way for me to take that away.
The massive virus I had Alex infect his systems with was mostly fair play. He attacked me, so I came for him. But I came in their personal space for another reason...
I smashed the hammer on a tiny little robot thing and watched it burst apart into a dozen soaring pieces. Every single sleek, techy, handmade piece of hardware was reduced to nothing in the face of my wrath. I couldn’t break his fingers, but I could destroy the things those fingers created like he had destroyed my hard work.
There was a beautiful symmetry in what I was doing. I only wished I could see his face when he saw how I had completed our story and brought things full circle.
MAVERICK STUMBLED INTO homeroom the next morning white as a sheet. The other Knights came in behind him all shooting me different looks. Jaxson looked resigned. Ezra like he was barely restraining himself, and Ryder...
I wanted to look away from those eyes but held them with difficulty. Still a feeling like being shoved in a freezing shower overcame me. Ryder tended toward perfection like Ezra did. His uniform was always neat and his hair styled.
Not today. His raven locks were swept up in a wild fashion that made him look like he had just gotten out of bed, and his shirt was half buttoned and half out of his pants.
I sharply tore my attention away from Ryder when two hands smacked onto my desk. Maverick towered over me, blocking the artificial lights and casting a shadow almost as long as the one on his face. “Everything destroyed.”
“Mr. Beaumont,” Wheeldon spoke up. “Have a seat.”
I heard the heavy, rapidly approaching footsteps of Kane and wondered what he was going to do.
“You’re a man of few words, Maverick, but you’re going to have to give me more information than that.”
Maverick’s hand shot off the desk. I stiffened, but it wasn’t me that hand was after. Maverick reached into his pocket and yanked something out. “You destroyed everything.”
I held my breath as he dropped a green piece of twisted metal on my desk.
“This one was for you.”
“Mr. Beaumont.” Kane appeared at my side. “You were told to go to your seat.”
I stared at the green piece long after he left. I didn’t even remember what it had been a part of.
“This one was for you.”
Why would he have made me anything? What am I supposed to do with that?
Unease twisted my stomach into knots as my hand closed over the metal. How had he done that? I had finished our story. Used my revenge to close the door on the boy I had my first crush on, and with one sentence and some stupid piece of broken toy, he cracked it back open.
I SOUGHT SOFIA OUT in the lunchroom that afternoon. She caught my eye and I tapped the tip of my milk carton three times. She responded by taking her hair out of its ponytail and redoing it. It was sad that we were reduced to hand signals and codes, but as long as I got to hang out with my best friend, it was worth it.
I went back to my room after dinner that night and promised I was staying in. I watched Kane disappear from my bedroom window while I shoved on my shoes. I was out the door and running across the courtyard five minutes later.
The main building was locked this time of night so I skirted around it to the quad. It wasn’t late so there were still some people around, sitting on the benches and enjoying the masterpiece of colors from the setting sun. I heard running behind me, but I didn’t pay it any mind until a hand on my arm pulled me back.
“Hey!”
“Where are you going?” The chilled voice that slid into my ear was unmistakable. “And where is your bodyguard?”
Ryder stepped into my line of sight, blocking my path. I pressed my lips together while his silver eyes swept me up and down.
“It’s good that we’re finally alone. We have a lot to talk about.”
“We have nothing to talk about. What more do I need to say?”
“You need to tell me when you fell and got brain damage, because that’s the only explanation for the shit you were spouting outside the gates.”
“It’s not shit.” I took a step back and Ryder moved with me, not allowing a hair’s width of distance between us. “Everything I said was true.”
“Benjamin Shea is my father.”
“He’s not.” I tried again to move away. Ryder’s hand flashed out and encircled my wrist. Not hard enough to hurt, but to get his point across. He wasn’t letting me go anywhere.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I cocked my head. “I don’t know what I’m talking about? I know he found out you weren’t his. I know he couldn’t stand that. The parade of lovers through the media was on purpose—to get back at your mother for cheating on him... and to get an heir that wasn’t another man’s.”
“No.” The word fell from Ryder’s lips so easily. He didn’t look mad. No, at that moment the mask was firmly in place. He was my cold marble statue once again, and he didn’t believe a word I was saying.
“You didn’t wonder why?” I pressed. “Why would the great Benjamin Shea, respected member in the industry, sink so low that the media would trash him and his own board would be pushed to the brink of outing him? He didn’t care about any of that, Ryder. He just wanted to—in his eyes—set things right.”
“You’re a liar.”
“Find his will, Ryder, and you’ll see for yourself. It’s set up for someone else to take your place.”
“No, it’s not.”
I curled my fists. I could take anger, rage, yelling, and violence, but this cold denial was infuriating.
“You don’t have to believe me now,” I forced out, “but I can prove it.”
He raised a brow. “Then do it, Moon. Let’s see this proof.”
“I don’t have it on me.”
“You don’t have it at all. It doesn’t exist.”
I closed the scant amount of distance between us. Rising up, my lips brushed against his as I whispered, “Your denial will only make it sweeter when I prove you wrong. I’m telling you the truth, Ryder. Deep down, you know it’s true.”
“Nothing you say is true,” he replied, “and the only thing that will be sweet is the look on your face when I make you pay for this.”
“We’ll see.” I tugged on my arm and he let go without a fight. I sidestepped him and kept going like he never got in my way. Sofia was waiting in our spot like arranged. She jumped off th
e couch when she saw me.
“Val, finally! Is everything okay?” She grabbed my hand and pulled me down next to her. “I know you got to Maverick, but you should know Evergreen isn’t pleased about the Knights’ room being broken into.”
“Then he should get cameras for those hallways like a normal school, but then how would the Spades sneak around?”
“If only we could put up cameras and find them.” She blew out a breath. “I don’t know what else we can do. We’ve looked at every picture I could find of the party, and I’ve asked around. No one remembers who wore what.”
“I know. I’ve accepted at this point that the only person who can tell me what I need to know is Ryder.”
She blew out a breath. “But he’ll never do that.”
“He might... once I’ve broken him so badly there’s no part strong enough to say no.”
Sofia blinked. “Val?”
“It’s time, Sofia. I said what was between us couldn’t be settled by anyone else. It had to be me and after all this, it’s finally time.”
“Are you sure about this?”
I nodded.
“When will you do it?”
“I’ll know when.”
We stayed on the roof for a bit longer but the mood had shifted. Soon I left and hurried across the lawn to the safety a dozen security cameras could bring. When I pulled the covers to my chin that night, I knew what was coming.
WIDE, TERRIFIED EYES disappeared in the gush of blood. It flowed down the knife—hot and thick and seeking my fingers.
I couldn’t think for the awful, piercing screams that filled the air. They covered the even more horrible sound of frenzied gasping.
I didn’t understand what was going on? The screaming was so loud. It scrambled my already sluggish thoughts.
Why wouldn’t they stop? Why wouldn’t they—
Oh, wait...
I put my hand to my raw, aching throat and smeared it with blood.
The person screaming was me.
EVERYONE WAS EXCITED for the first day of dance practice since the headmaster’s rampage, but my mind was on other things. My eyes kept straying to my backpack and what lay within.
“Valentina, are you with us?”
I shook myself. “Sorry, Yvette. I’m listening.”
She nodded. “Okay, pay attention, everyone.” We were gathered on the mat, forming a semicircle around her. “We missed the regionals’ qualifying competition last semester, so unfortunately, there is no way we can make it to nationals.”
A string of curses fell from a few mouths and Yvette didn’t comment on it. She was as mad as we were about club activities being canceled.
“We can’t change that, but we can work hard to be ten times as good when our chance comes around again.”
Eric raised his hand. “What are we supposed to do this semester if we’re not competing?”
“There is still the opportunity for some of you to enter individual competitions. There is one in particular that I have my eye on for Valentina.”
I perked up. “Really? Me? That would be—”
“What competition?” Isabella broke from the group and planted herself in front of Yvette.
“It’s hip-hop, but they only accept solo dancers.” Yvette found me over her shoulder. “Are you interested?”
“Definitely.”
Isabella moved back in the way. “I am too. That’s not fair. You should allow us all the chance to compete.”
“Isabella, we should discuss this another time.”
“But I’ve been training,” she insisted. “My ballet instructor told Mother that hip-hop teaches dancers creativity and body expression, and after my audition for the part of Clara was named ‘inspired and inventive,’ she hired Vibes Taranto to be my personal teacher.”
Shocked gasps went through the group. My mouth fell open and Isabella turned just in time to catch it before I snapped it shut. She smirked. “I can do the competition, Yvette.”
Yvette was still spinning about Vibes. “You’ve been training with Taranto? Incredible, Isabella.”
Incredible was right. The guy was a legend. A singer-songwriter-dancer and famous member of a hip-hop group that was named after him. A few years ago, he retired and opened his own studio for the rich and famous.
“Well, if you feel you’re ready, you’re welcome to enter the competition with Valentina.”
Her triumph was clear on her face. Was I supposed to feel honored that she was working this hard to top me? All I knew for sure was that she could hire as many instructors as she wanted; I was not losing this competition.
I made it through the rest of practice and walked with Kane back to my dorm. I slowed down when I saw the lone figure leaning against my door.
Kane put an arm out in front of me. “Are you expecting him?”
“Yes, I am.” I pushed his arm down. “Can you give us some privacy?”
“I will not listen, but I will keep you in sight.”
That would have to do. Sighing, I stepped up to Jaxson. “You shouldn’t have come,” I started, skipping over the hello.
“I told you I was coming.”
He peeled himself off the door and stepped to the side. “Let’s go inside. It’ll be like last time.”
I wanted that. Damn, it hurt me how much I wanted that. But I couldn’t do it.
“Last time shouldn’t have happened. I’m so thankful you saved me, but I was scared and not thinking straight. There is nowhere for you and me to go, Jaxson.”
His grin faded. I said I never saw serious Jaxson, but he was becoming all too familiar to me.
“Why do we have to go somewhere? Why can’t this just be what it is?”
“It’s not that simple. How can it be after everything we have done to each other?”
“I’ve forgiven you.”
“But I haven’t forgiven you.” The words struck him nearly as hard as it struck me. Jaxson staggered back as the band wrapped around my lungs. “You don’t know what that day in the auditorium did to me, Jaxson. You broke me. I cracked under Ryder, Maverick, and Ezra, but it was you who delivered the killing blow. You don’t get to just say a few sweet words to make it all go away.”
“And what will make it go away?” Bright spots of color stained Jaxson’s cheeks. So many emotions battled for dominance in his expression that I couldn’t place one. “Will wrecking Maverick’s computers do it? Turning Ezra’s mom against him? Breaking a violin? Is that what’s going to put you back together?”
“It can’t make things worse.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, mama.”
I swallowed, not trusting myself to say anymore.
Shaking his head, Jaxson came closer and did something I wasn’t ready for. He placed a light kiss on my forehead. “I don’t have the right to push after what I did. If you don’t want this, I’ll go.”
A thousand replies sprang to my lips but I didn’t voice any of them as Jaxson kissed me once more. I watched him go until Kane prompted me to go inside. I went in without comment. I had things to do. Names to cross off a list. I couldn’t think about Jaxson Van Zandt and something that never was.
Chapter Eight
I stared at the dais. My class blurred around the edges of my vision as I focused solely on Ryder.
He got closer and closer until I realized I was moving. My feet were carrying me to him. In my hand, I held one single sheet of paper. Silence descended on the room as I stepped onto the dais. The Knights stopped talking mid-stream and four pairs of eyes looked at me.
It was good I was doing it this way. For once, I controlled the situation. No Ryder tracking me down and demanding I meet his terms. I placed the paper in front of him with no flourish—almost like setting down a menu.
“You wanted proof,” I announced. “Here it is.”
“What?” He didn’t look down.
“Everything I said was true, Ryder. See for yourself.”
I was backing away when he fi
nally glanced at the paper. Off the dais and past the lunch line when his eyes widened and he snatched it up. He began shouting when I reached the doorway, and the last thing I saw before it swung shut was him fighting to get out of Jaxson and Maverick’s hold.
THE NEXT FEW DAYS, Kane stuck to me like glue. The man was no dummy; he saw in Ryder’s eyes the same thing I did. I had thought that Ryder was beginning to crack, but giving him that paternity test took away all doubt. The icy mask had been pulverized, and all that remained was the real him.
Ryder tried more than once to get to me. Kane stopped him in the halls and in class, but that didn’t prevent him from banging on my door in the middle of the night, shouting for me to come out. The guy was unraveling like a frayed shoelace, and every day, he got more rumpled, sleep-deprived... and angry.
Saturday saw me in my room with no plans to come out. I was getting comfortable with my laptop when I heard another knock from downstairs. That it wasn’t wild pounding made me get up and see who it was.
I blinked through the window. Sofia waved.
“What are you doing here?” I asked when I threw open the door.
“Relax. I made sure no one saw me.” She came inside and we went up to my room. “I wanted to see how you were doing. The last few days have been insane.”
“I know.” I flopped on my bed. “Ryder’s taking it about as well as I thought he would.”
“He’s not here you know.” The mattress dipped as she lay down next to me. “He got permission to go off campus and left this morning.”
“I hope he’s gone all weekend. I’d like one night without his banging.”
“Gus should get him to stop that.”
“I don’t think he’ll do anything unless the guy breaks in. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried that.”
“Val, I think he’s losing it. I know it must be hard finding out your father isn’t who you think he is, but I didn’t think he’d react like this.”
My eyes traced the curves and beams of the four-poster bed. “I did. I knew this would reach him like nothing else would.”
She placed her hand on mine. “At least you’ve gotten back at the Knights. You can cross Ryder off your list now and move on.”
