Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
My eyes widen.
Does he mean … my eye?
“It’s our first day. I’m so freaking excited!” Irina squeals in my ear. “C’mon, c’mon! Let’s go!”
She hooks her arm into mine and hauls me away from the boys until finally, I stop looking and focus on what’s in front of me. Irina and Brooke drag me toward the school, but I can’t stop thinking about those damn boys.
I take another glance at the fountain, too curious why that one guy tried to save me from wet clothes. But they’ve already turned their backs to us and continue talking to each other like nothing ever happened.
Why am I even thinking about this?
“Who are those dudes?” Irina suddenly asks. “I saw the way he looked at you, and damn, it was eerie as hell.”
Another chill creeps up my spine.
“Phantom Society,” Brooke tells her, and she pulls a can of Coke from her bag and takes a sip. “Sneaky fuckers they are. They’re not at the top of the class; those are usually Skull & Serpent Society guys, but if you ask me, the Phantom guys are much more of a threat to most girls.”
“Why?” Irina asks.
“They have connections to some grimy and dangerous businesses. And none of it is out in the open. Underground stuff you really don’t want to get involved in.”
“Like what? Drugs?” Irina asks.
“Oh much, much more from what I’ve heard,” Brooke replies, taking another big sip. “Gambling, shady deals involving blood money … trafficking.”
“The list goes on,” I say.
“Exactly.”
“So my brother was right?” I ask.
“Well, maybe about some, but not all of them are like that.” Brooke shrugs.
“You just never know which one is the bad apple,” Irina says.
“Exactly,” Brooke replies, winking, but then Irina steals her Coke and takes a sip. “Hey!”
“What? I’m thirsty,” Irina mutters, shoving it back into Brooke’s hand.
“Not as thirsty as Brooke,” I muse.
Brooke snorts. “True.”
A smirk spreads on my face. “Anyway, enough boy talk. Let’s go inside and find our classes.”
Nathan
I stare at the girl chatting with her friends near the door to the main building. The girl with the long, straight black hair neatly combed over her shoulders, bangs at the front, and a red ribbon at the top waving in the wind, drawing attention away from her bright-red dress and black pantyhose. The girl so blissfully unaware of all the fucked-up things I could’ve done to her if she’d stared at Kai for even a second longer.
I know that girl …
She has those same hollow eyes as Felix, only with a much bigger smile on her face.
A smile I’d happily crush in my hands just to get a glimpse at his rage.
I take another drag of my smoke and chuck it into the fountain.
“Should’ve just let her fall in,” I say.
“And risk getting chewed up and spit out by her brother?” Kai responds, pulling his hoodie farther over his head. “No thanks.”
“We’ve been nice enough not to butcher him and his friends on sight after what they did to us. If it were up to me, I would’ve dunked her in myself for having the balls to fall into my lap.”
“Lucky it wasn’t your lap she fell into, then,” Kai says.
My eyes narrow, and I stare him down for a moment. “You … wanted that to happen, didn’t you?”
“Oh, do I hear a twinge of jealousy?” Milo taunts, but I ignore him.
Kai snorts. “Of course not.” He fishes a small metal flask from his pocket and takes a sip. “But I won’t pass up the opportunity to score some points with those fuckers. Keep them from attacking us when we’re weak.”
“Weak?” I snatch the flask from his hand. “Phantoms aren’t weak. Those Skull & Serpent Boys will get what they deserve and you’d better be ready.” I take a big sip and shove it back against his chest. “Now are you on my side or theirs?”
He tilts his head and grins. “Do you really have to ask?”
Milo rubs his hands together. “I can’t fucking wait.”
My eyes land on that girl again. The girl Felix called Lana … His sister. “Maybe she can be our way in to that fucking snake den.”
Lana
After our first classes are over, we eat dinner together and chat about our day. Irina and Brooke are good company, and I can definitely see myself hanging out with them during the coming months. They seem very loyal, and I need that type of friend going to this school as a Rivera. Everyone both reveres our family name and despises it in the same breath.
We’re a family with a lot of power. A dozen brands under my father’s belt like the Rivera clubs make it hard for people to look beyond our wealth and influence. Besides, now that my father is also dean of Spine Ridge University, it makes it really hard for me to walk around anywhere without getting eyeballed from a million different directions.