Disgusting. The Delta board needed to go down.
“Why doesn’t he just do it himself? Would be easier.”
Dylan finally turned around, and I flinched at how hard and dark his face was. “When have you ever seen Delta get their own hands dirty? The elder will want no tie to the vault, no matter what, and he’s ensuring that by using his disposable lackies.”
Fuck.“Even more reason to use my plan. If we can’t torture the information out of the old fuck, we need to ensure that there’s a new recruit who requires an initiation video. There are no more heirs, so the only option is Huntley on the final seat. Then we follow the lackey, somehow, and find the location and requirement for entry into the vault. It’s our only shot. The vault is the one place that will have what we need. Evidence that cannot be disputed.”
I crossed my fingers on the hand Beck didn’t hold, praying that this plan might be viable. Because I needed something. And I needed it soon. Even if the five of us eventually took over our roles as heirs, with our parents and the elders still there calling the shots, threatening our loved ones, we’d never be free. The danger would never wane. We had to end this shit once and for all.
“It might work,” Jasper said softly, able to turn a little now that we were almost out of the city. “There’s a chance at least.”
“If it doesn’t work,” Dylan warned, “We’ve added a very dangerous person to our board, and we will lose some control.”
Beck was silent, all of us waiting for his opinion. He was the unspoken leader of this merry band of assholes, and his opinion held a lot of weight. “I think we should give it a shot,” he finally said, and I let out a relieved breath. “Huntley won’t add much more danger to our position—Delta board and our parents have always been the true threats. It’s worth it to see if we can take them down.”
“This will be interesting,” Dylan murmured so quietly I think I was the only one who heard him. For whatever reason, it sent a shiver of apprehension through me.
13
Iclenched my jaw and tried to drag myself out of the foul mood I’d woken up in, but it was no use. I sighed heavily and slammed my locker door shut, just barely missing Eddy’s fingertips—she had only just gotten back from her week at her grandparents, and was as annoyed as me to be at school.
“Sorry,” I muttered to her when she yelped and glared at me.
“No drama,” she replied with a cautious side eye. “Someone have a rough night?”
I heaved another sigh and tossed my hair back over my shoulder. As if the weekend hadn’t been bad enough—what with Carl being murdered and the ominous rose left for me—my hair-tie had snapped on the way to school and I didn’t have a backup. “Yeah, you could say that,” I agreed. Without even meaning to, I searched the halls for Beck.
When the guys had told me the plan for this week, I’d pitched a shit fit that had ended up with Beck sleeping on the couch and me staring at the ceiling all damn night.
“Do nothing.” That was what the plan had boiled down to.
“Hey, why don’t we cut out and go get real coffee?” Eddy suggested, linking her arm through mine. “You look like you could do with a break... from everything, and I missed you while I was gone.”
I almost waved her off, but the odd note to her voice had me looking closer at her. “I’m fine,” I assured her with a small frown. “Just not sleeping well since... you know.”
Her lips pursed, and she nodded. “Since your best friend and my casual lover got accused of murdering one of our classmates? Yeah, that’s sort of what I meant.”
She paused, spotting the guys coming toward us down the hall. “Have they…?” she broke off, biting her lip as she kept her eyes on the four kings of Ducis Academy. “Are they being assholes about it? I know they’re the ones who beat Dante up back when you took that week off school.”
Startled, I stopped walking, spinning her to face me. Something else was pushing this doubt from her, something more serious than she was letting on. “They’re totally fine,” I replied, “they’re helping to come up with a plan for getting Dante released, seeing as we all know he didn’t do it.” I peered at her closer. “Is everything okay with you? Was it okay at your family’s? Your parents haven’t been causing drama have they?”
Eddy shook her head and gave me a tight smile. “Nah, all good. Grandmother was same old—busybody bitch. But it was a nice escape. Parents are MIA as usual.” She eyed the guys one last time. “Anyway, I better get to history.” She hurried back down the hallway right before the guys reached me, and I frowned after her, confused as fuck.
“What’s her deal?” Evan asked, wrinkling his nose as Eddy disappeared into the swarm of uniformed students.
“I have no idea,” I murmured in response. I didn’t bother telling them she’d just said she needed to get to class when it was the beginning of the lunch break. She was avoiding the guys for some reason ... I made a mental note to corner her later and find out why.
Beck slung his arm around my shoulders, tugging me in close and nailing me with a seriously intense kiss. Startled, I let out a squeak and pushed him back. Eventually. It wasn’t like I didn’t want him kissing me, I was just confused as to why PDA was suddenly a thing for us.
“Uh, hi?” I squinted up at him, even as he tucked me into his side while we headed for the cafeteria.
“Hey,” he replied with a cocky smirk.
Shithead. He knew exactly what I was asking.
Jasper snorted a laugh as he held the lunchroom door open for us, and I speared him with my suspicious glare.
“Start talking,” I demanded, knowing he was the easiest target.
