Page 7 of Wicked Waters

My dad smiled, satisfied. “Good. If Roman Cavendish comes near you, we will ensure he’s expelled. Your mother and I have plenty of influence with the school board, and he already has a record. Stay away from him, and we won’t have to worry about you.”

“Yeah, all of that. I expected that, though. And although they’ve always put a lot of pressure on me to succeed, I have to look at it from their point of view. They’re paying a lot of money for me to be here, and they don’t want me to squander my education.”

Aria’s fingers tapped against the stone floor, her mouth thinning. There was silence while she gathered her thoughts, and then she spoke gently. “I get that, but, Quinn, it almost sounds like you’re a commodity to them. They want you to do well because it makes them look good.”

A lump came into my throat that I desperately tried to ignore. “I know,” I whispered. “But that’s okay.”

It’s not, she mouthed, shaking her head sadly, and I blinked again, sudden tears obscuring my vision.

“That’s not even…there’s something else. I’m not allowed to even speak to Roman. I can’t be friends with him, and I definitely can’t be anything more. If…if word gets back to my parents…it can’t happen. They made it clear that they’d find a way to get him expelled. You know how he was in and out of all those different schools before he came here, and this is really his last chance.” A tear crystallised on my lashes, then fell. “He’s happy here. I could see that the second I saw him with Tristan. I can’t do that to him. I can’t risk it. This is his life, his future. If anything happened and I had a hand in it, I’d never forgive myself. My parents more or less blame him for my rebellious phase. I mean, it was easy enough for them to jump to conclusions, based on his reputation, but the thing was, it wasn’t him. It was all me. I made all my own decisions, and I was the only one who deserved to face the consequences.”

Aria studied me for a moment. “This is fucked up,” she muttered. “You still like him, don’t you?”

I pulled up my knees, resting my arms on them and dropping my head. “So much. It took me aback…I…I wasn’t expecting to still have such strong feelings for him. The things I said to him, I—” My voice cracked. “The way he looked at me, Ari. I feel like the worst kind of monster for making it seem like he was nothing to me.”

“Do you think it’s worth telling him?”

“No. I know him, and I know he’d try and find some way around it. He lives for the thrill of danger, doing what he thinks he can get away with, without being caught.”

“Yeah.” She gave me a wry grin. “His arson stunt was talked about for months. But he’s been quiet since then. I heard he was on his last warning.”

“You see?” I raised my head to stare at her. “This is why I can’t say anything. This is his last chance, and we’re in our final year. I’m not going to do anything to jeopardise that for him.”

“I—”

Whatever she was about to reply was lost with the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the stairs.

4

QUINN

Aria and I froze, staring at each other, before she tilted her head towards the shadowed part of the room next to the stairs. As quietly as we could, we melted into the shadows, and I was glad that both of us had worn thick socks and no shoes. There was nothing to hide behind in this room, so our only hope of remaining undetected was if whoever was coming up the stairs only took a cursory glance around.

A tousled blond head of hair came into view, silvery in the bright moonlight that bathed the bell tower. My body relaxed incrementally, and Aria made a sound that was something between a huff and a laugh, then stepped out of the shadows. “Head boy,” she drawled, somehow managing to look down her nose disdainfully despite her small stature.

“I should’ve known you’d be here.” Tristan matched her disdain with an imperious look of his own, and I clapped my hand over my mouth to hold in my laughter.

When Aria stalked over to the wall opposite my hiding place and leaned against it, folding her arms across her chest and darting a pointed look at me before staring up at Tristan, I figured out her plan. Distraction. Allowing me enough time to get away.

Tristan moved farther into the room, so close to me. I held my breath, not daring to move.

“Come closer, head boy. Or are you scared I’ll bite?”

“You fucking wish.” He stepped up to her, and I caught a glimpse of his curled lip and arched brow before he turned to fully face her.

“Mmm, maybe I do.” She gave him a blatant once-over, exaggeratedly licking her lips, but even in this dim lighting, I could see her eyes sparkling with mischief. After one last sweeping glance, she returned her gaze to his face and bit down on her lip, clearly trying to hide her amusement.

“Sorry, I don’t associate with drug users who?—”

Aria’s hand flew up, and from the muffled sound Tristan made, I guessed she’d placed it over his mouth. “I’m going to stop you right there. Someone as…uptight as you could use a little relaxation. Ever smoked a joint? Or are you as perfect as your reputation suggests?”

Fuck, I really needed to get out of here before I laughed out loud.

Tristan gripped her wrist, lifting it away from his face and pressing it into the wall behind Aria. “I know plenty of ways to relax that don’t involve weed. Do you? Have you ever…” He lowered his head to her ear, and I could no longer hear what he was saying, but I watched as Aria’s mouth dropped open and her eyes flashed with something I couldn’t name before her leg came up and kicked him in the shin.

“Fuck’s sake, what was that for?” he growled out, collapsing against the wall and rubbing at his leg. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that his head turned, and he saw me. Shock registered in his expression, and then his eyes turned hard. “Quinn.”

“Why didn’t you leave? I was creating a distraction,” Aria hissed, and then I had both of them glaring at me.

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