Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
My phone beeped me.
Lucien: They’re coming. Five minutes.
Me: What? Already?
Lucien: Hurry
Wesley’s first class of the day was at seven thirty, which meant he usually strolled into the café at seven. What the hell was he doing here at six thirty?
I threw a desperate look at Cato—who stopped everything to flick his lighter on and off, mesmerized by the flames. Closer I moved to the drinks station, my hand tight on my plate, and the little bottle concealed in my palm. Wasn’t even the real emetic and sweat was beading on my back. I could have the best plan and everything still goes wrong. Levi and Wesley taught me that lesson the hard way.
Cato was still playing with the lighter.
“Cato, baby, please,” I whispered. “Please.”
Flicking it on, Cato picked up a paper towel holder and set it on fire. He tossed it at the table of jocks.
“Hey!”
“What the fuck!”
“Psycho!”
They fell out of their seats—running, scattering, bellowing at Cato. Their focus was entirely on him and the open flame in the middle of the café. Not me.
Moving fast, I forced the lid off the top and dumped the drops of liquid vitamin D—our test poison.
“—not going to happen, Mom.” Wesley’s voice pierced my panic. I fumbled and dropped the lid.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Each strike on the floor was an arrow through my chest. Choking on a gasp, I dove for the lid, snatched it, and slammed it on.
“Because Saylor won’t let her.” Wesley broke the entrance the millisecond I spun around. “Langford can’t—” He saw me and the rest of the sentence clogged in his throat. His brows crumpled. “I’ll call you back.”
Wesley fell back into the circle of his bodyguards. He drilled a hole in my head all the way to his seat.
“Put that back on!”
“You’re not allowed to do that!”
Cato’s muzzle went flying. He tore after the basketballers—barking and snarling like they’d committed a crime worse than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The guards snapped to their guns as Cato and the jocks blew past them. One of them didn’t lower it until Cato was out the door and chasing them clear across campus.
I left my love to his fun and joined Rafael. Everything he ordered sounded delicious, and I earned a treat.
“Smooth, baby.”
“Shut up,” I said, laughing. “I think I shit my pants.”
“Sexy.”
“I see why we practice. Wednesday will go much smoother,” I said. “Although, we’ll have to think of another distraction because I’m pretty sure Cato just got a lifetime ban from the café.”
Soon, we got our food and found a table at the back. The opposite corner of Wesley, and still I felt his eyes on the back of my head. Lucien joined us. Naturally, he didn’t glance at our feast. While we ate, the guards got up and poured coffee one after the other.
“We need another distraction on Wednesday,” he said, echoing my thoughts. “Wilder would come in handy for that. He could mess with the lights or rig up another projector.”
“Have you talked to him? I haven’t seen him at all since Wolf shut me down.”
Lucien shook his head. “No, but this isn’t good. Destroying his computers? Dropping off the planet when you need him the most? Wilder has gone up against some fierce opponents, but he’s never reacted like this. Whoever Wolf O’Rourke is... I don’t believe he’s someone we want to know.”
“I need to see him.” I pushed back from the table. “If he is in his prepper bunker, I’m not going away until he opens the door and talks to me.” The guys got up too. “No, stay. You have class in twenty minutes. You’ll be late if you walk me all the way back.”
“So?” Rafael said. “I’m on my career path. I only came to college to find clients.”
“Wilder would be more likely to talk if it’s just me and him. Besides, I’m the safest I’ve ever been walking around campus now. Ever since Saylor’s texts went wide, she, Gabriella, Piper, and Everleigh haven’t been at school. Dregs and Royals are falling at my feet for yanking her off her shining throne. She has zero friends left after those messages were read.”
“Are you certain?” Lucien asked.
“Yes.” I kissed him and Rafael. “See you after English.”
I left for the Gallery, reworking the plan on the way. I didn’t have the club members for the same reason I might not have Wilder’s help. Wolf O’Rourke.
I looked him up and found nothing—not even a porn star with the same stage name. That wasn’t surprising of course, but there had to be a way to reach him if the club founders hired him as the IT guy.
Once I started tricking members into inviting new people into the club, I knew it was a matter of time before I was found out. I just didn’t think it’d happen so quickly, or that Wolf would get a look at me and be able to tell the founders exactly who’s been fucking with their club.