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This chase is about consent in all things. That’s funny when it comes to the Devils and how we’ve treated Noor, but we don’t always follow the rules, even when they’re ours.

“We have something for the Devils!” Alexa huffs out, carrying something between several people.

God, she acts as if we’re royalty. Ci, Draven, and I trade glances because we’re learning Alexa is dangerous as well as batshit crazy. She’ll bend over backward to get Ci things and it’s becoming creepy.

You’d think that with Noor gone she’d fuck off, but far from it. She’s become the school snitch. The information is all solid, and we’ve had to handle some internal issues with our classmates, but fuck is she intense.

Kelsie looks over at Alexa and her friends with a sneer before paling. That more than anything makes me take a step forward. My relationship with my step-sister is very confusing, but she doesn’t baulk easily.

“What do you have there?” I ask, my gaze narrowing. Our masks have X’s for the eyes and a cruel smile. This means that no one can see our features, or the fact my lips are twisting in worry.

“The only senior who wasn’t planning to attend,” Alexa says, before unceremoniously dropping a body at our feet.

The person’s body is clearly a female, and she’s wearing a tiny set of pajamas meant only for bed. The material is too thin for the weather tonight, and I can see the outline of her breasts. Her skin is covered in goosebumps and my eyes move over her in worry. She’s too quiet and still, and there’s a hood over her face.

She begins to scream and thrash as Alexa grins, but her little friends appear less than thrilled by our silence. In fact, do I see some guilt that they let their friend talk them into kidnapping someone?

Interesting.

Ci makes a strangled sound and I look around at the sea of seniors. Everyone is accounted for except Caleb Pearson. He broke his leg last weekend skiing with his family. That’s an automatic pass.

Gazing down at the bound girl at my feet, I shake my head as if it’ll make my brain cells fire off faster. I know I’ve had some pretty intense knock down, drag out fights with blows to the head on the ice, but this is ridiculous.

“Who?” I whisper, but a part of me knows those pretty thighs. Even if I can’t see them in the dark, I know that if I run my fingertips along her skin, I’ll be able to feel the thin, white scars on it. I intimately know the stomach where her shirt is riding up and the nipples that are hard as diamonds underneath it. Fuck, we said we’d leave her alone, yet here she is.

Universe, you’re a dick.

Draven stomps over to grab the hood the girl is wearing and pulls it off, nearly growling as he sees Noor’s angry and petrified expression.

“She doesn’t go to Chesterfield Prep anymore,” Kelsie says haughtily. “Keep up, theater girl.”

“I thought she was just doing virtual,” Alexa says, eyes wide. “Did I fuck up, Ciaran?”

Yes.

“I brought her clothes,” she adds helpfully, dropping a bag beside her.

Moving over to Noor, I lift her up, pressing my lips to her ear as I hiss, “Play along, Noor. This will suck otherwise, and I don’t want to be a dick to you. Understood?”

Noor’s head bobs up and down without a word, and I can even see she’s freezing. Her chest heaves from thrashing, and I can see her pulse fluttering wildly at her throat. Draven pulls out a knife and cuts her loose, while Ci pulls the gag from her mouth. God, they were very thorough, weren’t they? How the fuck did they get her here?

Why did they leave her gagged the entire time? I have questions I can’t get answers to right now, and it’s pissing me off.

“You did great,” Ci says half heartedly, digging through the bag to find a hoodie, thick sweatpants, and boots. It’s frigid out here, so she’ll need these. “Maybe I’ll see you out there, Alexa. Yeah?”

She blushes profusely as she nods, and I decide she’s going to be a problem we’ll need to handle very soon.

“What are the rules?” I yell, deciding this is the best way to clue Noor in on how things will work. I can feel her still trembling beside me as Ci pulls clothes over her head and helps her into the pair of sweatpants he has in his hands. Noor gasps in breaths as she looks around wildly, taking in the large mass of people in the woods with her.

Draven takes the socks from Ci and helps her into them, and then she’s fully suited up in her shitkickers. She must feel completely out of her depth.

I suppose it does appear kind of scary from the outside. We aren’t part of a secret society that I know of, and this is a tradition that started when the school opened. It’s a bit of fun for very bored high school students.

“Stay within the lit path,” Kelsie says coolly, her head lifting as she glares at Noor.

“Pay attention to if someone is inviting a queer encounter or male-female,” Ci growls, his sightless gaze sliding over the crowd. “Gang bangs are encouraged. This is our time to enjoy a little debauchery.”

“Listen for the blow horn to tell you when the Chase is over,” Eamon says, his eyes moving over Noor.