Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
“For help—” He glares at me, but the corner of his mouth curves in a smirk. “I did it for help.” I hate to admit it, but he’s a little cute. If the whole wounded puppy thing did it for me.
Or maybe it could. Since War decided to have his little toy land directly on my lap, why not wind that bitch up and let it dance?
“Ew. I can’t believe our weekend is ruined,” River complains, tapping on the passenger seat. “Hurry up, asshole. Get out so we can leave.”
“You know, you guys are all quite charming. Anyone ever tell you that?” He reaches for the door, and my eye twitches when I realize he’ll leave blood there.
“Yes,” I answer sweetly. “My daddy does every night when he tucks me into bed.”
He laughs but stumbles out. I shove my side open and follow behind him, rounding the front of the car. Devil’s Cockpit is the Riverside meetup, where everyone who attends Riverside Elite University and Riverside Prep comes every weekend.
This is the starting point, which then carries on through the back of Riverside against the cliffs that drop out to the ocean, before looping around once you hit the fence line of Elite Kings Estate and coming back to Devil’s Cockpit. This isn’t your average track. It’s rough. If you’re not skilled enough, you die. Point blank.
It’s more their little game that they participate in behind the guise of the races and partying that no one knows about. It’s all a decoy for what’s really going on deep in the forest. I don’t know much about it since we never spent time around here. In fact, we made it our mission to be as far away from Riverside as possible when we could, much less during weekends.
Until their subject jumped out in front of my car.
“Halen!” Connor, one of the varsity players who attends Riverside Elite, nudges his head up at me, while lifting his red Solo cup. I smile but it doesn’t reach my eyes. He’s only ever bold enough to say hello to me when he’s drunk. Bunch of fucking idiots. All of them. All too afraid of the Kings to actually talk to any of us.
I can’t say I blame them.
My headlights beam onto where chopped logs are splayed out behind the fire. War, Priest, and Vaden are all sitting there with an array of girls around—or on—them.
Priest empties his drink and shoves the girl off his lap. Stumbling, she lets out a yelp before hitting the ground.
“How embarrassing,” Evie mutters below her breath. “I’m getting a drink.”
“Don’t even fucking start.” I glare at my brother as he gets closer.
People separate farther away from us, stumbling and dancing amongst each other. The music is loud enough that people can’t hear our conversation, but me and Priest fighting is nothing anyone hasn’t seen before. I love my brother. Even when we’re fighting. Even more so when we’re fighting because at least he’s showing something. I have to keep him here, in his humanity. Even if that involves rage.
“Why did you bring him back here?”
“Where the fuck else was I supposed to take him?”
“Fuck.” Priest grabs the guy by his arm, forcing him over to where War and Vaden are.
I turn slowly to face the girls, annoyed. Evie’s hiding her laugh behind her hand.
“Are you laughing?”
Her hand slips. “Yes?”
“We should have just left him,” River complains, following Priest. Stella looks between the both of us, coming up to my side and hooking her arm in mine.
“I didn’t dress for this kind of vibe.”
“I’ll postpone Bayonet Falls.” I widen my eyes at her, and we all follow Priest. My phone’s vibrating in my pocket but I know that if I take it out now, the questions will start. When I say I can’t breathe without one of them knowing how many breaths I’ve taken a day, I mean it. It’s almost like when you have strict parents, but all it does is make kids disobey—kind of like that. Except we’ve been smart about it for years and they don’t know anything.
Fire crackles through the air, its flames stretching out into the vacant night, as the Milky Way dusts the sky in a decoration of stars and the full moon.
Priest shoves the guy down onto the ground. “Shut the fuck up and you might actually live to see your teammates.” He looks towards War, but I resist the urge to follow his gaze.
War is a ho. All of them are, with the exception of Vaden. Priest is selective with who he sleeps with, in a sense that he usually just hovers around one or two girls and bounces between them both, but War has a collection. Tillie told me he got it from Nate, and you know what? I can totally picture that.