Page 7 of Necessary Cruelty

I squeeze my fingers into a hard fist, but I shouldn’t have even bothered. He plucks the note from my hands as easily as picking a ripe apple from a tree. His expression doesn’t change as he scans it and tosses it aside.

Vin’s voice is mild and even-toned, but still carries over the din of conversation. “Lunch is over. Everybody out.”

The room empties as quickly as it would if someone had pulled the fire alarm. Zion looks like he wants to argue when I subtly shake my head at him. This isn’t worth the fight, especially with the odds so stacked against him. The Vice Lords obviously don’t have a problem going four against one.

“Even for me?” Sophia Taylor sidles up to Vin’s side, all simpering smile, baby-blue eyes, and wheedling voice. One of the few natural blondes, her hair is done in long ringlets beneath a gold signet woven through a crown of braided hair across the top of her head. Sophia is the only girl at school who pulls off the whole Helen of Troy look without seeming desperate for attention.

Don’t get me wrong, she is absolutely desperate for attention. Just better at hiding it than the rest. And she seems to get a kick out of reminding me of my position at the bottom of the totem pole.

As if I need another reason to dislike her.

Now she stares down at me with a moue of distaste, like I’m a rat that’s been caught in a trap. She is just waiting for someone to crush me under their boot heel.

He doesn’t bother to look at her. “Pretty sure I said everybody.”

“Boo, you never let me have any fun.” Sophia makes a point of stroking her hand down Vin’s arm, like a dog pissing on a tree to let the world know it’s been claimed. “Don’t forget to meet me by the bleachers before basketball practice.”

Vin doesn’t respond. She finally slinks away, brushing her long fall of curls over her shoulder in a wide arc so it hits the side of my face.

He still has a hold of my arm, raising it high enough that the muscles tingle painfully as the blood drains away from the appendage. But I don’t speak a word of complaint, breaking the rules is never worth what comes after.

I’ve had to learn that the hard way.

Zion casts me one more look of concern as he rises, and I tip my head gently to the side as encouragement to leave. The Vice Lords have mostly left my brother alone over the years, and I don’t want that to change. He blows out a sharp rush of air, but stomps out of the otherwise empty cafeteria.

Finally releasing my arm, Vin comes around the table and takes Zion’s vacated seat. The surrounding silence is profound, even to me. This room is too large for so much empty air, and the pressure of it pushes against my skin, making it difficult to breathe.

Or maybe it’s just that I know no one is coming to save me.

Vin picks up the note and taps it on the table. “This was a very bad idea.”

I spread my arms wide and shrug. It isn’t as if I wrote the damn thing.

“This new guy,” Vin muses, playacting as if he doesn’t know Jake’s name. “Is today the first time he’s talked to you?”

My head nods, even though I want to spit in his face. There isn’t a point in pretending things are different than they are. Vin doesn’t ask questions unless he already know the answers.

All of our families have been in Deception for generations. I don’t have the luxury of secrets, not in a town where everyone’s favorite pastime is getting into each other’s business.

The forced silence is meant to hurt me, but it’s done me the small favor of keeping my mouth from getting me into trouble. Because if I tell them what I’m actually thinking, there is no way I’d be walking out of here in one piece.

Vin feigns confusion as he leans forward and steeples his finger beneath his chin, regarding me steadily as if I’m the only thing that exists in the universe. “Have you forgotten the terms of our deal?”

I shake my head, heart fluttering in my chest. Not for the first time, I wonder how far I could get if I decided to run. But that train of thought always derails when I realize there isn’t anywhere for me to go.

But Vin just shakes his head, still wearing the expression of mock confusion. I know him well enough to recognize he is moments from laughing in my face. His voice turns low and dangerous. “You remember, right? The deal that says you aren’t allowed to speak.”

It’s only then that I remember my earlier mistake. I had spoken to Jake, if just to tell him he shouldn’t be talking to me. It was a dumb move, but I liked how sweet his smile had been, and I didn’t want to see his teeth shattered.

Stupid.

Vin studies my face, lips twisting in a sneer as he watches the realization grow in my changed expression. He glances up at the rest of his crew still standing behind me.

“Hold her.”

One of them wraps a belt around my chest and pulls it hard so I’m pressed against the chair, although I can’t see which one of them is holding it. It doesn’t matter. None of them will touch me with their bare hands, though that doesn’t stop them from doing Vin’s dirty work.

I only have eyes for the demon terrorizing my life as he comes around the table. A switchblade appears in his hand as if it materialized from thin air. The edge is always sharp and clean, like he takes care to make sure it’s always ready to be used. I don’t know where on his body he hides the thing or how he manages to get it past the metal detectors, but that doesn’t matter either.

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