I wonder what it is about me that appeals to these types of guys. Matteo had hand-picked me out of hundreds of foster kids at age nine to train to someday become the Wolf. Joey had taken one look at me when I arrived at Hannaford and decided I would make a good game. If I knew what it was that appealed to them, I could try and snuff it out, or at least conceal it. Instead, I’m stuck dealing with the ramifications of their desires.
I shove my tray aside and tap out a reply. I can use this opening if I’m smart about it; I want to try and clear my summer break from any Club business. I need some downtime.
I’m fielding a lot at the moment. I’m making some good connections. A lot of future leaders in my classes.
I pick up an apple. I like the wholeness of it. I can see if anyone has tampered with it, so now I’m surviving on fruit. Lauren sits down across from me and gives me a little half-smile. I return it with a sigh.
I’ve heard some disturbing things about you, Starbright.
Ugh, I hate it when he calls me that. I’m sure he is one of the last people on this Earth that knows my middle name. He enjoys teasing me with it. Nothing makes my blood boil quicker than hearing the name my doped-up mother assigned me. Eclipse Starbright Anderson. The second I turn eighteen, I’m changing my name to Claire, or Kylie, or fucking Frances. Anything normal, anything that people just write down without making a smart-ass comment about.
I’m acing my classes and I’m finally looking like a girl instead of a skinned rat. What’s so disturbing about that?
Avery and the guys walk in and line up for food. Harley is back to laughing and joking with them all, my drugged night of vomit clearly forgotten. Avery looks dimmed from her usual smiling overlord shine. I watch them all out of the corner of my eye, and I don’t miss the looks Ash sends me. Curious.
Why does Joey Beaumont want you dead?
My stomach drops. So Joey is running his mouth about me so much that now even Matteo has heard it all the way back at Mounts Bay? Rationally I know the Jackal has eyes here as well, and any of them could have passed the information on, but it still makes a shiver run up my spine. I know how badly Matteo wants to own me, mind and body, so this at least I can work to my favor.
He wants to fuck me. He’s made a game out of it. I have no intention of fucking any guy here, and when I expressed that to him, he tried to rape me. He was unsuccessful and doesn’t take kindly to the word no.
I think Matteo gets a kick out of the idea of me being untouched. I think he fantasizes about being the one and only person to be inside me someday. I know this is the best card to play. Maybe I am learning how to play the political game.
I will pay little Joey a visit. Do not argue with me on this.
I glance over to watch Joey as he presses over his group of flunkies like he’s their king, and smile. Occasionally, it’s a good thing to keep Matteo’s dreams about me alive.
I wouldn’t dream of arguing with you, Jackal.
As I grab my tray to head back out of the dining hall, I see Joey frowning down at his phone, and it feels like a victory to me.
* * *
“You should talk Avery into taking some self-defense lessons.”
Ash stares over the library table at me like I’ve lost my goddamn mind. Maybe I have, but I’ve also lost the ability to give a fuck at this place anymore. I decide it's sleep deprivation. I only got twenty minutes of sleep after finishing the re-do on my math workbook, but I’m confident I’ll get at least an A-minus on it, so it was worth it.
“And why do you think I should do that?” He speaks slowly, dragging out the words like I’ve very simple.
“Maybe next time your sociopath brother takes a swing at her, she can plant him on his ass like he deserves.”
His eyebrows show the exact toll my words have taken on him. He’s fucking devastated, and my heart drops to see it. I guess she didn’t tell him about Joey’s homecoming. I feel weirdly guilty, like somehow it’s my fault his twin was hurt.
“When did you see that?” His voice is as raw as his face. I look down at the page in front of him, and I realize he’s shaking. Fucking Joey, he ruins everything he touches. Even his siblings have been broken by him.
“Last week. I tried to speak to her about it and she freaked. She should at least learn enough to make him think twice about touching her.”
Ash groans and scrubs a hand over his face, all long tan fingers I try not to stare at. It’s jarring to see real emotions on his face this close. He’s usually so reserved, so cut off, that I never see his face without a sneer in my direction. It’s oddly comforting.
“I’ve tried. She said if she fights back, it’ll only make him more violent toward her. We always make sure she has one of us with her.” He groans again and cradles his head in his hands.
There’s so many questions I want to ask him, but I don’t want to break the spell that has him opening up to me. Does his father hit them both, or was Joey lying? What does their mother think about this? How much time are they forced to spend with Joey outside the school year? How does Avery have access to enough money to pay Harley’s tuition, which I know for a fact is over eighty thousand dollars a year?
Why does Ash lie about needing help with his classwork?
I’m still deciding if I’m brave enough to try and ask him any of these questions when Blaise arrives. We’ve been studying for twenty minutes already, so I give him a look. He’s still doing his best to not look at me at all, so he doesn’t see it. My temper flares.
“How kind of you to grace us with your presence.” Sarcasm drips from my words. Blaise ignores me, but Ash chuckles from where his head is still pressed into his palms.
