“No, I had a run in with her brother and the best friend. I wasn’t exactly welcome.”
Kalen comes running back towards us.
“Uh, guys, so...Amelie just left.”
“What do you mean, she left?” Sawyer demands.
“She got in a car and it drove away.”
“Fuck!” Sawyer snaps. “Let’s go!”
We parked Onyx’s car in valet parking, because screw navigating through the cheaper car parks, so we take off in a rush to find Amelie. We all hurry in silence to the car, worried. Amelie doesn’t know what she’s walking back into at Knox; she isn’t exactly a crowd favourite right now and she will need our protection.
I pull my phone from my pocket. I don’t want to make the call, but I have no other options. Amelie is more important than pride. The call rings once before he answers.
“Calling in your favour?” I hate the smug glee in his voice. “I do remember you saying you would die before asking for my help…”
“Fuck you, Branson.” I spit. My brothers’ heads snap in my direction at the mention of our enemy’s name. Disbelief, horror and resignation are etched on their faces.
“Unfortunately, you don’t have the anatomy I require for that, but by all means if you want to suck my dick…”
“It’s Amelie,” I say, cutting him off.
“Then tell me what you want me to do before I hang the fuck up,” he snaps back, instantly serious and focused.
“She’s on her way back to Knox. Without us.”
He curses and now knows why I called him. “Fine, but this is us even.” He cuts the call. Of course he would use a favour, even when I know he likes Amelie. For some strange reason he’s had her back since she first arrived and it’s obvious he likes her. Not enough to cover this one for free though.
“Why would you call him?” Onyx huffs getting into the driver's seat.
“Because he’ll beat us there. She’ll need protection, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out she wants nothing to do with us.”
The drive back to Knox Academy is long, thanks to the rush hour traffic. One of the disadvantages of being an institution forcriminals is that the school isn’t in the best of neighbourhoods. We drive right by our “Elite” campus, where our father insists it breeds our future connections. Having lawyers, doctors, and politicians in your pocket is something he takes seriously. He really wouldn’t if he had to meet the dicks that go there. Too much money and way too entitled. They do throw killer parties – not that they invite us – but when we show up, they know to bow at our feet. They don’t know why we’re important, but when the name Knox is thrown around, they know their place. Below us.
“We have a fight night scheduled for tonight,” Onyx declares randomly as we drive past. Yes, we fight the rich kids because what else are a bunch of reformed criminals supposed to do? “Taco’s associate called earlier.”
I have no idea why the kid is called Taco, he’s as white as they come. He has a talent for organising underground fights and taking bets. Since Knox is invite-only, a lot of kids are from poorer areas, despite Amelie’s early assumption that it was a school for rich kids that fuck up. Yeah, we have a few kids from rich families, but most are scholarship kids and they could use the cash. A lot of the fighters are part of The Order of The Snaidhm, or they will be if we deem them worthy enough. The fights are an excellent way for us to scope out potential pledges. Initiation is coming up soon, and Amelie has taken up so much of our thoughts that we’ve slacked at making this year's picks. That includes Amelie.
I’m not looking forward to initiating her; there is no separate initiation for girls. We are basically using Amelie as a test dummy, but I still don’t fully understand why it has to be her though.
Sawyer will amp up her training in the coming weeks to make sure she is ready, then before the term ends she will be in or out. Right now she is unaware of what being in or out actually means.Hell, right now, she has no idea The Order even exists. But that’s going to have to change soon.
When Onyx parks the car, we all head inside to face our father. This is going to be fun. He is in his office as usual, and all four of us step inside and close the door. Even with all of us in here, there’s still plenty of room.
“Where is Amelie? Did you drop her off on campus already?” He frowns. “Shouldn’t someone stay with her? I thought I made my instructions with regards to her safety very clear.”
Oh that’s a great start. He’s already pissed and he doesn’t even know the truth yet. I push Kalen forward.
“We kind of lost her,” he says, with too much humour in his voice.
“You what?” Dad booms. “How do you lose a girl that small?”
“She’s swifty, she ducked outside and jumped straight into a car. It pulled away before I could see who was driving. Plus, like you said Dad, she’s small. Hard to spot in a crowd and all that.”
“Could it have been that friend of hers, the girl, or Branson, that picked her up?”
“Highly unlikely. Elsie isn’t happy with her, and Branson didn’t sound like he knew when I called him,” I say. Father takes in a sharp breath and glares at me.
