“This won’t end well,” he says, his words like a gunshot to my heart.
“I don’t care,” I say, whispering against the corner of his lips. “I’m yours. Say it.” My fingers graze his jaw. “I need you to say it.”
“You’re mine, Mia. Every.” Kiss. “Single.” Kiss. “Piece of you.”
“Good.” I nod, feeling like a weight has been lifted. “Now let’s get out of here before someone finds us.”
After Bexley and I snuck out of the classroom, we both went our separate ways. But he’d spent most of the day texting me, reassuring me that we would find a way through this.
I’m still smiling when there’s a knock at my door a few hours later.
My stomach plummets as I expect to see Cade on the other side of the peephole. But it isn’t Cade at all.
“Sasha, this is a surprise.”
“I hope it’s okay that I stopped by. I kind of got the impression you’ve been avoiding me.”
“Not avoiding, just… it’s been a strange weekend.”
“How were the parentals?”
“Frustrating,” I admit, welcoming her inside. “How was your weekend?”
“Fairly dull. The guys were… preparing.”
“For the weekend?”
She nods but doesn’t meet my eyes.
“Why do I get the feeling it’s going to be bad?”
“It’s never good where Cade and Ashton are concerned.”
“What’s that?” Her eyes drop to my neck, and my hand drifts there.
“What?” I walk to the mirror, and my eyes widen in horror. “I… uh, nothing.”
“That’s not nothing.” She storms over to me and bats my hand away, pulling the neckline of my tank top down. “That’s a hickey.”
“No, it’s not.”
Her brow arches. “You’re a terrible liar. The question is, though, who gave it to you? Was it Cade? Are you two—"
“What? No!” Disgust rolls through me.
“Oh my God,” realization dawns in her eyes, “it was Bexley, wasn’t it?”
“No, it wasn’t. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I can’t look at her, because I know there’s guilt etched into my expression.
“Oh, Mia, what did you do?”
She steps around me so I have no choice but to meet her sympathetic gaze.
“I like him, Sasha. I really, really like him.”
“But you’re Cade’s prosapia. If he finds out, and he will, what do you think he’ll do?”
A violent shudder rips through me. “You can’t tell him, please. I’m begging you.”
“God, I would never… but you have to end it, Mia. You have to.”
“I can’t. I won’t.” I’m falling for Bexley, and I refuse to accept that we can’t find a way to make it work. Even if it is stupid.
“This isn’t a case of Cade getting his feelings hurt, Mia. It’s a game of life or death, and if he finds out what you’ve done… Bexley’s life won’t be worth living.”
Oh God.
What have I done?
29
Bexley
Mouse: The coast is clear
My heart begins to race as I stare down at her simple message.
We’d arranged for me to sneak into her dorm after school this evening. We pretended it was so we could work on our economics assignment, but we both knew we were lying. No homework was going to be completed once we were alone in her room.
But as if he knew, Cade decided that tonight was the perfect time for him to pitch up to Mia’s dorm to complete his own homework with her.
Mia promised she’d message the second he left, but as the time ticked on, I started to wonder if he was intending on staying the night.
That thought made my blood run cold.
It’s bad enough having the memory of him kissing and touching her in my mind, but knowing he’s lying beside her like I did only days ago… A shudder rips through me, and my fists curl in frustration.
“What’s wrong with you? Need a shit or something?” Alex asks me as I jump from his bed like my ass is on fire.
After spending those short minutes with Mia in the auditorium yesterday, I decided it was probably time to pull my head out of my ass and talk to Alex.
In typical boy style, he took one look at me standing at his dorm room door, asked me if I’d stopped sulking yet, and invited me in as if nothing ever happened.
He made everything seem so easy, and I wished I could go through each day without this oppressive weight pressing down on my shoulders.
Alex is stressed about this Electi thing, don’t get me wrong, but he seems to be accepting it a hell of a lot better than me.
“I’m going for a run.”
“A run? It’s nearly eleven.”
I glance at the time on my cell and notice that he’s right.
“I’m restless. We’ve got some shit heading our way this weekend, and I can’t settle.” It’s not a total lie. What Cade and his goons have in store for us for our final initiation task is never far from my mind.
He’s already drugged us, beat us half to death, and forced us to act like peasants while they lord it up over us. And that’s without mentioning the sluts they sent our way.
This last thing is going to be worse, so much worse. But how?
It’s no secret that they all have more money than sense, and access to anything their hearts desire. And, of course, they’re all twisted motherfuckers. It literally could be anything.
“I know, me too. It’s gonna be brutal.”
“You don’t look too concerned,” I point out.
“They’re not gonna kill us.” He shrugs—fucking shrugs, as if this is water off a duck’s back. “We’re firstborn heirs of bloodlines that will become extinct without us. Their lives wouldn’t be worth living if they offed us.”
Alex has a point, but it doesn’t fill me with much confidence. So they’re not gonna kill us. It still leaves it open to any other sick and twisted games they can come up with.
I collect up my books and shove them all into my bag, ready to switch it with the one I packed earlier that’s waiting in my dorm.
I’m
