Page 10 of Snitches and Serpents

Then he turns to the left and throws my car keys into the forest.

4

TRISTAN

Paul was waiting to pick me up a little farther down the road, but it apparently took Elle almost two hours to find her car keys in the forest. I know because I was watching the street outside my house, so I saw when she came trudging back to her own house.

I smile at the memory while I finish the equation on my paper.

The first two days of the semester have been insanely busy, so I haven’t had the chance to set my plan in motion and start ruining Elle’s life yet. But once I have finished these equations, I will finally be caught up on all the course work for the next few days. Then I can?—

My phone vibrates on the desk.

Pausing with the pen hovering over the paper, I glance at the screen as it lights up. In the brief seconds before it goes dark again, I manage to read the entire text.

Mr. Bracken: Come.

A deep sigh escapes my chest.

I glance back at the paper before me. I only have half of the equations left. And this is the final paper that I need to finish. The very last one. And I really wanted to get it done tonight.

Indecision flickers through me.

Can I get away with finishing this before I drive downtown?

It only takes me two seconds to answer that question.

No, I cannot.

When Mr. Bracken calls, you drop everything and show up. That’s how it works.

Frustration wells up inside me, and I slam my pen back down on the desk before raking my fingers through my hair. Then I shove my chair back and stand up. I only pause long enough to slide my phone into my pocket and grab my keys. Then I’m out the door.

Anger courses through my veins the whole drive into town, and I have to flex my hands repeatedly on the steering wheel in order to try to dispel some of the fury thrumming inside me.

This is all Elle’s fault. If it hadn’t been for her, I would’ve been just a normal student. If she hadn’t ratted me out, I would be back in my own room right now, focusing on my studies, instead of trying to perform well in all my classes while also juggling a highly illegal side job.

But she did. She snitched on me and I lost my scholarship. But I would rather die than lose my spot in the engineering program at Bercester U, so I did the only thing I could. I got the money from someone else.

Rob Bracken, leader of the White Serpents and one of the most successful drug lords in the city of Bercester, agreed to lend me the money for both my tuition and room and board. He expects me to pay him back. And I will. Every cent. As soon as I graduate and get a high-paying job as an engineer, I will start paying him back.

But in the meantime, I work for him.

No, I don’t just work for him.

He owns me.

So when he summons me, I show up promptly. And I do whatever he tells me to do. Without complaint or hesitation.

And all because Elle fucking Summers couldn’t keep her bloody mouth shut.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, I drag a hand through my hair and then take a second to compose myself before I pull open the metal back door that leads into the White Serpents’ main club.

I jerk my chin down in a nod to the guard inside the door before I follow the corridor towards the back rooms. Thumping music and loud voices echo from the bar area, but I steer clear of it and instead head straight for Bracken’s office.

Pausing outside, I raise my hand and knock firmly on the wooden door.

“Come,” Mr. Bracken calls from inside.

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