Page 13 of Wicked Court

Cav, Wilder, Axe and Kaspian are untouchable. Feared and desired, approached warily and wistfully. They hold more power than you ever will.

I grit my teeth, begging my subconscious to shut up, breath sawing in and out as I crash through the underbrush, branches whipping at my face and arms. My stomach plummets when I hear the boys giving chase, their footfalls heavy on the forest floor and the sound-waves of their hollers and taunts crawling along my skin like a trail of fire ants.

I have to get away, have to escape whatever sinister ritual Cav and his beasts have planned. The masks, the talk of my ancestry, the blood cauldron—it all points to something I’d rather not know anything about.

Faster, I have to go faster.

I picture Sasha still dreamily chatting away as these fiends prepare to do God knows what to me. I don’t trust them. I don’t want to be near them.

A burst of adrenaline pushes me onward even as my lungs burn until the echoing sounds of pursuit fade.

Have I lost them?

I slow, gulping in air. I lean against a towering oak, its bark rough under my palms as I hold myself up. My legs tremble.

What now? I can’t go back to the party, not with them there. Could I make it back to the dorms undetected? Would Sasha even believe me if I told her what had transpired tonight? Would anyone?

Typical Elara Wraithwood, denying the attention of the most wanted guys on campus. It’s so like her to think she’s better than them, to run from their attention. Lucky bitch.

I scrunch my eyes shut at the aggressive presence inside my mind that would rather suffocate than free me.

I just want to be liked. I don’t want anyone angry with me.

Least of all them.

A twig snaps, followed by a low chuckle. I push off the tree and whirl to find a skull looming out of the darkness.

“Thought you could escape, little witch?” he purrs, his voice like claws scraping over cement.

Fuck. Wilder.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” I ask hoarsely, my arms splayed out like I want to fight him or surrender to him.

I’m not sure which one is more likely to get me killed.

They’re dangerous. No one else at school realizes it, but I do.

Before I can react, he seizes me by the arm, using his other hand to weigh a tendril of my hair while I try to wrench free.

“Red hair and golden eyes,” he murmurs close to my face, despite my efforts to angle away from him. “Witch’s traits, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Let me go!” I hiss, kicking out and connecting with his shin. He grunts but doesn’t loosen his grip.

“Fool me once,” he says dryly.

I do it again, and he dodges the kick to his groin.

“Stubborn, too,” he drawls, moving so fast that my back hits the tree, knocking the air from my lungs.

“What do you want from me?” I pant, glaring while my heart threatens to leap from my mouth.

“Truth is, witches have always fascinated me ... what do you think fucking them was like?”

His honeyed gaze behind the mask flicks down to my mouth, lingering in a way that makes me shudder even as my lips turn hot, my pulse reaching the sensitive skin and throbbing.

His mask rises as his cheeks pull up. “Want to show me some magic?”

Chapter 5

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